rgmwa

For what it's worth, the RV-12 has a return fuel line. rgmwa

OK, I wrote all that down. Can't wait to get my beer and meet the press gallery now. rgmwa

Ah, a nicely balanced relationship, Bex. You're a lucky man! rgmwa

I did it recently. Joined mid-field cross wind and flew a right hand circuit, which was the correct procedure for the same runway on a neighbouring airfield that I've often flown out of. Fortunately no other aircraft in the circuit at the time. All too easy to do if you're not careful. rgmwa

That's what I said to my wife too, but she didn't believe me. However, I proved her wrong because it was a huge investment in time and money. I think that's what she meant, anyway. rgmwa

No, it's true. I really did have about 300,000 points, although I admit I may have left my run a bit late now. rgmwa

That's fantastic news! I had no idea. Luckily, I still have about 300,000 Ansett points locked away in the family vault, so I'll give them a call and see how I go. rgmwa

Joost Conijn designed, built and flew this bizarre looking plane from Holland down through Spain, across the Strait of Gibralter and then across Africa from west to east in 2010. I hadn't heard of him until just recently when I was given a copy of his book. Although he doesn't go into details of the plane, I read on another forum that the wings are made from a Blanik, and the fuselage and tail are fabric covered. The engine was a Subaru. This was his third homebuilt. Conijn is a well known Dutch artist/adventurer, and once built and drove a wooden car across eastern Europe. Good to see there are still a few unconventional travellers out there. Flying that plane by the seat of your pants across Africa would not be for the fainthearted. Technical details here: http://avia-dejavu.net/photo OK-NUL-43.htm The following video has snippets of his first plane and the one above: His website (in Dutch, though): http://www.joostconijn.org/index2.php rgmwa

Thanks Sav. I remember watching the series quite a while ago now, but certainly worth another look. rgmwa

Thanks Dinger. Will get in touch if necessary closer to the date. rgmwa

Thanks PM. I'll be complying with the rules regarding life jackets and skeds, etc, and transport and fuel should not be problem as I have relatives there. The biggest factor will be the weather, but I believe Mar/April are about the best months to make the trip, so hopefully I'll have a good run. rgmwa

I'm considering flying via Cape Otway to King Island next March. There is some good trip information in previous posts regarding crossing at the eastern end of the Strait, and also the recommendations in ERSA, but has anyone got any first hand experience of flying to King Island? rgmwa

You're right Gnu. Creation is truly unbelievable. rgmwa

That's no fun! It used to take me 40 minutes just to admire the picture on the box, carefully unpack the contents, study the plans, identify each part and imagine the end result of many weekends of painstaking assembly. What is the world coming to? rgmwa

That's certainly a pretty poor review session IMO. For my last GA BFR, apart from a 40 question test paper (which you can do in your own time beforehand), my instructor took me flying for about an hour and a half, which included 10 mins on instruments, steep turns, stalls, slips, incipient spin recovery, a forced landing, a series of unusual attitude recoveries on instruments (at my request), and finally a short field landing on returning to Jandakot, which is a Class D airport so I got a workout on ATC procedures too. Under Part 61, which I just missed out on, I think they now have to do some kind of navigation review too. rgmwa

RACWA also does training at Murrayfield near Mandurah. They have an office/hangar, instructors and aircraft based there. That's a CTAF airfield. Would be a good choice if you live in the area. rgmwa

Don't take any credit cards to the airfield. rgmwa

Probably nothing more subtle than "we've got it, so let's use it .... and if it impresses the Russians too, then so much the better". rgmwa

Landed at Jandakot today. Not that unusual, as I've done it many times before in various Cessna's. However this was the first time in the RV-12. I'm based at Serpentine, and given the rarity of this aircraft on this side of the country, I'm pretty sure that it's the first time that Jandakot ATC has ever heard: "Jandakot tower, Vans RV-12 light sport, six south, one thousand five hundred, received Foxtrot, inbound". Winds were 20/25 kts with max 15kts crosswind, but fortunately the landing was fine. Parked on the grass in front of the RACWA building where I started my training 6 years ago, and enjoyed a cup of coffee in the upstairs lounge. Took off again for YSEN. I've been looking forward to making this flight for the last 4 1/2 years, so it was a good day! rgmwa

OK, here's another theory.... a) air is not `flowing' anywhere, least of all over the wing, b) any molecules involved are just moving more or less perpendicular to the wing surface. rgmwa PS. That's just my opinion. And as Groucho Marx said, "if you don't like that one, I've got plenty more!"

Yes, I thought it would be a bit of a joke when I did my test. No so! Some of those recorded accents they have you decipher are not so easy. A lot of overseas students train around the Jandakot area, and they are often hard to understand on the radio even when you more or less know what they are trying to say. Not their fault. It must be very difficult to train in a foreign country. rgmwa

I think you mean the Hornet, Nev. Winkle Brown said it was one of his all-time favourite aircraft. "Overpowered perfection", if I recall his quote correctly. rgmwa

Shocking news. I can't add anything to what has already been said. I only knew Ross via the forum, but his character came through in his many posts. He will be sadly missed. My condolences to his family and friends. rgmwa

Interesting. I do have the trial version of RWY on an Android tablet and was waiting for it to be upgraded until the OzRunways guy recommended going with the iOS version because it had a lot more features. Maybe I'll wait a bit longer and see what happens with RWY. I don't really want to buy another tablet and system. rgmwa

I spoke to one of the Ozrunways guys at a seminar a couple of weeks ago, and was told that some problems with their third party supplier of the mapping engine software had put development of the Android version on the backburner for some months now, but they were expecting to get things sorted out in the near future and continue further development. I was waiting for RWY, but will probably end up going go for the iPad version rather than waiting for RWY to catch up. rgmwa