sfGnome

Yep. Was going to fly today for the first time in a couple of months (been away and then works been all-consuming). I reckon I would've just about needed a snorkel if I'd tried! i_dunno

I've just had the joys of learning a (very little bit of a) new language for travelling purposes, and it came as a great surprise when people over there actually understood the gibberish I was spouting (can't say I understood much of their replies, but that's not their fault! :) ). The radio was a bit like that for me too. For a while you're trying to remember what you're supposed to be saying, word by word, and then one day you spout a full sentence without really thinking it through and all of a sudden you're away and flying (so to speak :) ).

I seem to recall singing, but I couldn't tell you what it was. All I remember was that it was the first time I could sing in a plane without the CFI looking at me very strangely... Mind you, I think that I did a fair bit more talking to myself than singing. I still talk to myself all the time when I'm flying solo - a blokes gotta have some company. :)

Thanks for your thoughts. As always, they've given me plenty to ponder on!

Being relatively new to flying and having only flown two very similar types, I currently only use memorised checklists. However, I'm thinking of changing that for two reasons; * just occasionally, I find that I've missed something - nothing yet that's bitten me, but one of these days... * my beloved is a somewhat nervous flyer - she comes with me as a favour, not because she likes it - and I was thinking that getting her to 'call' the lists might both give her something to do and also distract her from noticing that there's not a lot under her feet! :) What do you think? Reckon it'd work?

I'm not sure which would be better - being up there or being down in the snow. Either would be better than being at work... :big_grin:

Nah! Building = Good. No need for psychiatric assistance! (take it from an old engineer :) ). I'd give my back teeth to (have the time and money to) build. Interesting about the 160 at Cessnock. I've been having fun at the Oaks (flew a mate down to Goulburn this morning just for the helluvit), but something bigger than the LSA would be good to get back to. Anyhow, enough hijacking (Sorry folks!).

Ozzie, It was strange reading your initial post. All the time I'm thinking, hmmm... my wife's family came on the Maitland... lots of people died on the trip... brothers and wives and kids... settled in the Hunter... Anyhow, I went and looked it up and they arrived in 1830 so it wasn't the same family. Looks like coming to Oz on the Maitland was a dangerous undertaking!

Don, small hijack time. What are you thinking of getting?

John, How much do you expect to get completed at Taree, and how long are you going to be there? Are you aiming to skin the fuse, or just get the framework in place? Wings? Tail feathers? So many questions... :)

Hmmm... Clearly I'm going to have to come over to Perth one of these days. Anywhere that can manage an airstrip in such a beautiful location (even if it isn't used much) has to be a bit special! :)

Learning with your partner. I'm jealous! Welcome, lucky one.

What's the story with that centre photo? Not often you see a plane taxiing next to what looks like major roads.

Step by step, day by day, section by section. It's much easier to take in a small amount every day than an indigestible lump just before you need it. ( p.s. I wish I'd known that when I was at school! )

I reckon cficare's hit the nail on the head. Your question got me thinking, and I came to the conclusion that every new thing has been a real buzz. Solo, Area Solo, Nav Solo, first passenger (my beloved - I've never flown so carefully :) ), different a/c, different field. Hanging out for the overnight nav and then the big trip.

All things come to (s)he who waits... (blame Disraeli for that one :) ). Now you can head back to the field and casually say those magic words - "Oh, I'd like to hire a plane for an hour or two".

I thought the same when I first saw it, but it's actually much better for fine control than the later Jab push-in, pull-out throttle on the panel when it comes to making small adjustments. I would have preferred the old control was moved across to the left had side of the seat. I wonder if you could mount it on the door?? (Oops. Getting a little off topic. Sorry! i_dunno)

I used to be quite happy with the size of my knee board until I recently flew a Jab LSA where the throttle was between my legs and I found that I couldn't reach the throttle any more. For the cruise section I just reached over to the lever on the right hand seat and then took the knee board off prior to landing, but I'm going to have to find a better way if I'm going to keep flying that plane.

Going a fraction off-topic (congrats on the solo by the way!), how much practice did people get at last minute go-arounds before they went solo? I mean, your instructor always says "if anything goes wrong, just go around", but when they're in the plane with you, things don't seem to go wrong enough, do they? I think my first attempt at a serious go-around was early in the solo stage, and because the flaps were still in the basement, when I hit the power the a/c pointed itself at the sky and sort-of hung on the prop until I got everything under control again. Bit shaky afterwards...

Nothing wrong with talking to yourself while you're flying. Hell, if there's no one else there to talk to then you might as well chat to the one person who won't disagree with you! Keep talking, keep flying, keep enjoying, keep learning. Sounds good to me. :thumb_up:

Does being printed in the US mean that it'll have the US holidays on it, or is that part of the layout that the designer (ie you) do?

That one of the Jab 5488 is excellent. Captured it beautifully.

Why do we have to choose? I want to go to all those places (plus more!). Having been watching Le Tour all night for the last few weeks (and dragging around work barely awake during the days), I'd love to fly through some of those valleys. They are just awesome. Then again, who could go past Lake Eyre, Uluru and the Bungle Bungles for contrast. Hmmm... Then again, landing on a deserted beach in the Whitsundays wouldn't be exactly painful either. Oh, the choices!

I'm presuming that it was a head-mounted camera? The way that the a/c was bouncing around on finals a few times there was made all the more obvious by the stability of your head! Who needs steady-cam when you've got a steady head! :)

Lots of good answers here, but there's something else just as important as getting a good instructor; it's being a good student! If you don't understand something and you don't ask (again and again), then you're not a good student. If you dismiss something that you're told because you think you know better, then you're not a good student. If you go off in a huff because you've been ticked off by your instructor, then - you've guessed it - you not a good student. How do I know these things? Umm, because I'm not a...