Ben Longden

On The Trot perhaps? Ben

What ever you do, don't stop. I see so many abused kids in the 'ospital its literally a crying shame. Ben

I consider myself privileged to have met the man, and did a story on him when he flew his restored Spitfire. Col, you were a bloody legend then, and you always will be. Rest in Peace mate. You went doing what you loved - flying, and helping people. Ben Col Pay ... feared dead. Photo: Orlando Chiodo Arjun Ramachandran December 7, 2007 - 3:14PM An "icon" crop-dusting pilot is believed to have died after his plane crashed into a lake in NSW today. Police divers were searching the lake for the pilot, who they believe was a 75-year-old man, a police statement said. The yellow plane had been scooping water from Lake Liddel near the New England Highway near Muswellbrook about 9.30am when it crashed into the lake, said Harley McKillop from Pay's Air Service. "What can I tell you - we've crashed into Lake Liddel ... the pilot's in the wreckage and they haven't retrieved the pilot or the wreckage [from the lake],'' said Mr McKillop, who is also a pilot.. "This is a huge loss for us - it's our livelihood.'' Despite earlier reports that there had been up to three people in the plane, Mr McKillop said only the pilot had been aboard the plane when it crashed. The plane, an Airtractor AT-802, can only fit one person, he said. Pay's Air Service, which operates a fire-bombing service, had been testing new equipment when the crash occurred, Mr McKillop said. However, it was not yet clear whether the equipment being tested had contributed to the crash, he said. Staff from the company had been at ground-level at the lake when the plane crashed, Mr McKillop said. They rang triple-0 as soon as the crash occurred, he said. Scone Aero Club president Neville Partridge said the pilot of the doomed plane was Col Pay, an experienced pilot and crop-duster from Scone. "He's an absolute icon in the crop-dusting industry,'' he said. "He's got a squillion hours up - he's been doing it for so long. "We're all pretty shattered.'' Mr Pay was also one of the country's best known collectors of warbirds, he said. He had once owned the only flying Spitfire in Australia, as well as a Mustang, Tiger Moth and a Kittyhawk. He was well-known for flying the warbirds at airshows, including his home-town's Scone Airshow. A Westpac rescue helicopter has flown to the crash site from Newcastle, and police and ambulance crews were already in attendance. Sydney Morning Herald - with Dylan Welch

I was on one of the jurno forums (I do night and weekend news camera work, by the way) and I put forward the very question of accuracy - four seat Ultralight and all that... and sadly, the reaction was "who really cares? we are too busy" and "thats what the cops told us, so blame them", which is fairly common. I just shook my head, as my old editor always taught me to "get the bloody facts right". Ben

It'd be a great boon here... there are a lot of people who have to plan their trips - interstate, or accross town on where the loos are. Ben

Some wise sage once said the only time you can have too much fuel is when you are on fire. The Tecnam has two 45 litre tanks, so having it rounded off and up to two 50L tanks makes things easy for fuel caclulations as well as weight and balance... My vote is for two 50L tanks. Ben

You mean asking the editor of the paper to put up a wall of shame in the staff tea room. That would be more effective, especially when you tell them that if they print 50,000 copies of the paper, then they have just made 50,000 mistakes - and that will live with them for ever, as every newspaper printed is stored in the Mitchell Library. Ben

Whenever I put a DVD in my PC, it crashes.... and thats only when I want to WATCH a movie on the PC.... Ben

I always hear Tristos voice when Im in the cockpit... keep your eyes outside, and look. Thats what he would say, and learning to look properly is a skill in itself. Hearing today of the mid-air in Victorias south, where the the Avid 992 ultralight and the Cessna 172 were coming in to land reminded me starkly of the day at Shepp where Tristo and I were nearly run over by a student on a solo navex in a brand new 172. We were turning base, and I was in front, when a second after I made the radio call, the Cessna guy did... Tristo looked over his shoulder and said he swore he could see the cooling fins on the engine... I firewalled the throttle and got out of there. "It appears the Cessna has hit the ultralight while both were attempting to land and the Cessna came in on top of the aircraft during the final approach," I wont comment on this case at Morwell, but in my case the cessna driver, a chinese student with naff all english skills was not keeping his eyes out of the cockpit to SEE and AVOID. Ben (Quotation source; Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) spokesman Peter Gibson. From Nine News on the Morwell incident)

Fron Nine News An ultralight pilot was killed in a fiery crash in southeast Victoria after being hit from above by a light aircraft as both tried to land simultaneously. The 65-year-old pilot died when his ultralight plunged to the ground and burst into flames, west of the Gippsland town of Traralgon, about 11.30am (AEDT) Saturday. The ultralight disintegrated on impact and wreckage was scattered across an area about 500 metres north of the Latrobe Valley Regional Airport. The light plane landed safely and the solo student pilot escaped uninjured. Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) spokesman Peter Gibson said the Avid 992 ultralight and the single engined Cessna 172 were coming in to land when the accident happened. "It appears the Cessna has hit the ultralight while both were attempting to land and the Cessna came in on top of the aircraft during the final approach," he said. "The aircraft has hit the ground and burst into flames." Country Fire Authority (CFA) spokesman George Ellis said the ultralight was destroyed in the fireball. Four fire units and about 20 firefighters were called to the crash. But there was nothing emergency services could do to save the pilot. "No one could get close to it to see if anyone survived," Rural Ambulance Victoria (RAV) spokesman John Mullen said. One of the airport's two runways was closed and the body had yet to be removed early Saturday afternoon. Police spokeswoman Alison Noonan said it could be some time before the pilot was formally identified. "The body was unrecognisable so I'm not sure," she said. A team of Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigators flew from Sydney to examine the crash site. "The ATSB is going to investigate ... it's a midair collision and they're very rare and obviously very serious," Mr Gibson said. Latrobe Valley Regional Airport manager Noel Cooper said the shock of the incident had yet to sink in. "Like anyone else I was out there to do a job in these circumstances, no one likes to hear of any kind of incident let alone one like that," he said. "I think people have been doing what people do in an emergency. They've all been pulling together working, making sure that everything was done that could be done. I don't think they've had time to be shaken up yet." Mr Cooper said he did not know the ultralight pilot personally but he was most likely a member of one of the local flying clubs. Gippsland Ultralight and Leisure Flyers member Vin Martin was anxiously waiting for news of the pilot's identity. He said the club had an excellent safety record and the incident would not put him off flying. "The club's been going for 20-odd years. There's been a few fatalities in that time but there hasn't been too many to speak of."

Thats gross.... gross negligence from the pilot in command, for not looking after the welfare of his passengers. Ben

A pilot was killed when his ultralight plane plunged to the ground and burst into flames following a mid-air collision at Gippsland, in southeast Victoria. The ultralight and a light plane collided near the Latrobe Valley Regional Airport, west of Traralgon, about 11.30am (AEDT) today. The impact sent the ultralight crashing to the ground where it burst into flames, killing the pilot, police said. The pilot of the other plane landed safely and was uninjured. Country Fire Authority (CFA) spokesman George Ellis said the plane was destroyed in the fireball. "A small plane has come down and been destroyed by fire on impact," Mr Ellis said. Four fire units and about 20 firefighters were at the crash site. Rural Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullen said nothing could be done to save the pilot. "No-one could get close to it (the plane) to see if anyone survived," he said. An investigation team from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) was making its way to the airport to piece together the circumstances of the crash. "We're getting a team together to go down there today," an ATSB spokesman said. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) had been notified of the accident but would not be involved in the investigation since no passenger planes were involved, spokesman Peter Gibson said. AAP

Thought saw it go overhead early this morning.... looks a sweet ship... Ben

Hard to say which way to go. I like Mikes idea of peace of mind, but then Mick brings up the point about bent airframes when deployed. When I was in Road Accident rescue, we had to do a special course in dealing with pranged cars that had undeployed airbags.... we had to whack a sticker on the windscreen to alert others, and then bolt an octopus thing over the wheel in case it deployed while we were extricating the driver. Sometimes, if the windscreen was gone, we would be working through the hole in front to support the drivers neck and airway while Ambos were doing their thing. Not a pretty thought to contemplate if the bag self initiated. As for its value, I attended a high speed T-bone collision, where the deceased in a merc was hit side on by a Holden wagon at highway speed. It was unsurvivable. The airbag in the Holden deployed, and the driver got out of the car without a bloody scratch. Likewise his toddler son. Airbags, I loove them... but am always wary of them. Which brings me to another question, based on ignorance I guess (and the late hour).. What particular circumstances would warrant the BRS deployment, other than say an EFATO? Ben

I would keep it as an optional extra. On that subject is there any solid research that shows them to be of benefit? Ben

Getting back to controls.... The Tecnam has left hand on stick, right on throttle. braking is by a separate lever on the floor console. Harking back to the flights in the Gazelle, it was the same, except with toe brakes. My mate Johns' Bushby Mustang 2 has the same scheme.. as does Cessna and Piper.... so why not keep it to the same standard? Ben

Well,if Mike (Pelorus 32) needs a professional photographer and video dude to thouroughly document the aircraft and make promo vids.., then look no further....:) Ben

A few months ago at Shepp, the active was 18 and there were a few AC in the circuit. Then a VH registered Chipmunk does a straight in approach on 36 without any radio calls, (I was on base leg) takes the main taxiway to the refuelling bowser and parks in the middle of the apron, so no traffic can either taxi past or go to refuel. I checked the cockpit of the Chippy, and the VHF was fitted... B'stard. BUT, on the other hand we had the annual comp against the RVAC at Shepp last weekend, and there were an average of six planes in the circuit at any one time, and the airmanship had to be seen and heard to be believed. It was brilliant. Ben

I would have thought it would indicate the wear and tear on the airframe during its lifetime. Ben

I had to read it from next door, the font was that big....;) Ben

With the speed being 150+ and all thats up front is a 100 horse Rotax, what do other manufacturers say about the design of their craft in terms of drag? Ian, you swore me to secrecy weeks ago.... now all I want to know is can it come in Silver with Black trim? Ben

Its a bit like asking what plane to buy.... :;)2: Surely a major consideration would be the capability of it plugging into a car kit - that is mic and speaker to a box of bits that can be connected to the intercom, as well as an external aerial. Now this leads us to the next question.... how to connect it into the intercom system... anyone? Ben

The cynic in me suggests that once Flightwatch is gone, they will use the safety aspect of the former safety monitor as a reason to inflict ADS-B on general and recreational aviation Ben

See the rudder action in the last one! Ben

One from work; How many psyciatrists does it take to change the light globe? One. But the light globe has got to WANT to change. Ben