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Ben Longden

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Everything posted by Ben Longden

  1. Plenty of room in mine after my cleanup.... Ben
  2. Just sort of puts things into perspective really... Decca said wot I wanted to (but got there first). Ben
  3. Hows this for a great BoM weather picture (19.1.08) for those in the eastern states. As I look outside, I can see the dust getting a green tinge to it..... perfect as the farm is almost out of feed.. 25mm of soaking stuff so far.. and it looks like its staying for more than five mins!!! Only two problems; I dunno where the gumboots are, and Ive forgotten how to use the windscreen wipers in the car! Ben
  4. THAT is great news Neil. Ben
  5. You have definite bragging rights... First Solo is the most wonderful experience.. Congratulations on this milestone. You will remember this day for ever. Ben
  6. Sounds good to me... Years and years ago, I was introduced to a bloke near Forbes, and he offered me a ride in what looked to me as a Kitchen chair with wings and a fan. I accepted the ride by the way, and got some top piccies of the Flatlands Hang Gliding - air to air shots, which was used by the local paper and the Telegraph. Ben
  7. Imagine the applause (and donations to the RAF) if they HAD launched the missile. Every motorists dream coming true...;) Ben
  8. This was the subject of CONSIDERABLE discussion at the club, and with fellow pilots at work. I'm looking forward to reading his story... and 10/10 to him for having the sheer courage to stand up amongst his fellow aviators, and say "I stuffed up." Ben
  9. Good rule of thumb is the number of bums on the aircraft cannot exceed the number of seats. If the passenger is too small for the fitted seatbelt, then a special attachment is used. Personally, Gaffer tape works well...... ;) Ben
  10. Rick-P said "Some have argued that if you turn off the fuel to a 912 and forget to turn it on at start up you will get of the ground before the engine stops. I don't know if it is true but it really isn't relevant, is it!" I decided to test this one day - ON the ground I might add, and taxied from the front of the club rooms to the hangar. The engine was coughing and spluttering before I even got halfway, which is only 200 metres. The test reinforced to me the training about physically dip checking the bloody fuel is there, IN the tanks and that the relevant taps are on. The training in this area is, to me, not some instructors whim, but an instructors desire to see that you learn to fly safely. Ben
  11. Tristo went through this with me during my initial training . He asked me why it might NOT be a good idea to think of a roadway as the first option. "Too many things to hit", I replied, saying that there were primarily cars, trucks, tractors, roos, cows and those big thick brown sticks with green stuff at the top that always grow next to roads - perfect for shortening the wingspan. "Correct answer" he said, pointing out the zillion suitable paddocks around for a safe emergency landing. One of the things he also taught me was on the initial climb, to look for a suitable landing area in case of EFATO, and to remember the physics of what happens in steep turns at low altitudes with low speeds, and search for something 30 degrees either side of runway heading. Since then, I have always gone through an EFATO checklist before firewalling the throttle. Ben
  12. Also sounds like the local petrol cartel.... Ben
  13. Isn't that the bomb release switch.... you know... for the BIG one.... ;) Ben
  14. Absolutely irresponsible... and he had the hide to give mororists The Bird. take his licence away from him for life - thats if he lives to do his next landing. Ben
  15. Yup, Know exactly what you mean. Cousins hubby drives VC10s for RAF 10 Sqn, and all he can talk about is the weather, and how the RAF issued stopwatch works.. and them grumbles something about the "bloody self loading cargo"... Ben
  16. Me too..... Ben
  17. OMG Not steel wool....:;)2: Ben
  18. Its definitely a Cardinal... and I understand it has the cessna 210 wing. BTW, I thought the sweet ship at Shepp had a fuel contamination issue causing the forced landing... the tanks became full of air. Ben
  19. A truly great aviation joke, from a truly amazing gentle man. Vale George. Ben
  20. Strewth! 3996 was the first plane I learnt in!! It had an amazing airconditioning system - and in winter you soon learnt to wear a coat with a collar to block the howling gale down the neck. Also you learnt to include a "sock removal from the cabin heat on pilot side" on the preflight checklist as Nathan would tend to plug the pipe so the instructor got the warm air... Ben
  21. That would be a wonderful gesture, Ian. Like the others, I felt a kinsmanship with George through this forum, and if any of his family or friends are reading this, George was a true gentle man, with a wonderful sense of humour who has left a truly great legacy for us all. Ben
  22. Mike, Ive seen those a few times around here over the past couple of years -and I could never find out what the bloody hell they were called, or the process that made them. Thanks for that. Ben
  23. But I still wonder when eyebrow tweezers are declared as an offensive weapon.... Anyone read the news report that airport security checks such as frisking are a waste of time? I had a biz trip to the Apple Isle recently, and was frisked after setting the beeping thingo off - they wanted me to remove my super lethal cotton shoe laces, but were happy when I asked for the ok to remove the belt.. and that kept the machine quiet. (belt buckles are made of ferrous metal... shoe laces are not, okay?) Then I was asked (TOLD?) to be subject to a random explosives check. At least the guy laughed when I said I had not eaten baked beans that day.. Oh, and you know when they ask you if yo dont mind being checked... well, turns out the legal side of things is that you do have the right to refuse. BUT, you wont get past the checkpoint, and you wont be boarding your plane. I'm ok with making airports and flights safer, but, hey.. a bit of common sense mixed with science would not go astray. Ben
  24. Email it to me and I can fix that one for you... Ben
  25. I was chatting with a Bonanza owner who flys in and out of Tyabb and other places in the area, and he fumes at the number of ultralight aircraft who fly without radio. Every airstrip should become a CTAF®, and every bloody pilot should have a radio, switch it on and use it. No radio, no flight. His sentiments, and mine Ben
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