Ben Longden

Soooo.... did the earth move for you? Sorry.. had to be the first to say it! Up in Shepparton and Echuca, the only ground movement was from the ever present tractors laser levelling the paddocks - and using the wind to send their topsoil north to Deni.. Ben

Yep. I take risks. Every time I cross the road. When its with a plane. Then the answer is NO. Tristo an Stewballs hammered Risk Management in to me during my training, and quite a few hours spent chatting with Pip outside his hangar also taught me that its not acceptable to take risks with flying, and that the rules CASA came up with are there for a bloody good reason. That reason being simple; Going home to Angela after a flight. Ben

Never thought I would see a Wx forecast like this... its still fire season! 10:00 UTC, 04/03/2009 AMEND AREA FORECAST 041100 TO 042300 AREA 30/32. AMD OVERVIEW: UPPER TROUGH YMER/YFLI 11Z AND EAST OF AREA BY 13Z. SCATTERED SHOWERS SEA/WINDWARD COASTS EXTENDING TO LAND ON/S RANGES NEAR/W OF TROUGH, FALLING AS SLEET ABOVE 5000FT. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS AND HAIL SEA/COAST E OF 145E, CONTRACTING E AND CLEARING BY 17Z. SEVERE TURBULENCE BELOW 10000FT S OF 38S GRADUALLY EASING FROM THE WEST (CHECK LATEST SIGMET). AREAS OF BUSHFIRE SMOKE, NEAR AND EAST OF FIRES. ISOLATED RAISED DUST NORTH OF YBOR/YSWG UNTIL 15Z. Ben

About a week ago I was lucky enough to film Pip in his Pitts Samson practicing his Avalon routine. Ben RIP, Pip. I learnt so much about flying from you.

A few guys at Shepp use this technique - even Gawnes with their sleek cessna Chancellor . At Echuca, they used to have a light wire aircraft shaped frame covered with hessian hanging like a false ceiling above the club plane. This worked really well for many years, but has been taken down with recent construction work inside the hangar. My thought is to guy a couple of up market car covers - the ones with non scratch lining, and modify those. Ben

Er... there are three great spots to view the north south runway flightpath... The first is at the southern end near the golf course. There is a small car park there. The next is near the Airservices facility (Melb Centre) which gives a good view from the middle, but its a little lower in elevation, so you dont get the best view of AC on the strip.Besides, the fence does not do much for filming. The best is on the northern end, on the Sunbury Rd. But if you look a little up the hill on Sunbury Rd, you will see a church. From there you get great side on shots... but you have to be good with your whip panning technique! However, back to the north car park. Its easy to get to and can accommodate 50+ cars, and usually there is an ice cream van, sometimes two there of an evening... :big_grin: As for it being a pashing park, most of the folks there are out of the car, watching in awe as the aircraft fly overhead. Ben

I bet your professionalism stunned the other pilot. Well done.:thumb_up: Ben

Geez... get well soon... Ben

See... using the transponder does pay off! Well done, and thanks for sharing that story. Ben

Perhaps the first thing to check would be NAIPS... if it has those magic words "severe turbulence" and an altitude.. Thats the first thing. The second thing is just how warm the cabin is going to be... if the planes been parked in the sun, then it will be 70+ inside. Both are certain to make a trip unpleasent.. Ben

Well.... horses, eh? Might have to introduce them to the sharp bit on a horse whip for that comment... ;) Ben

Only one thing wrong with The Lightning; Its not a factory built job. Dennis, can this be overcome? Ben

I got a call early Sunday morning to go with a St John Volunteer ambo crew (Im a volunteer paramedic in my spare time) and was sent to Alexandra, where the Marysville survivors were located. I did a 12 hr shift there, and on arrival I was told these folks had escaped by the skin of their teeth, had a fire plan and only made it with the clothing on their backs; everything in the town was lost. There were 350 people my partner and I had to look after, but the DHS already had counsellors in the community, the Red Cross was catering (with help from Lions) and the fire crews were always on the go. A human tragedy beyond belief. Certainly the worst disaster - natural or man made, in recorded history. Talking to a colleague in the CFA, whom I work with in my day job, I had the easy task. He was assigned to search parties to look for "teeth and jewellery". The best thing that you can do to help is donate to the Red Cross appeal. They have enough clothing to cater for the immediate needs. While they say they have enough accommodation for the victimes, they are always on the lookout for spare houses - not shared accommodation or billets. Having said that, if there is any fire victim needing accom, let me know. (pets welcome) Ben

WIMP.... should have tried a go around..;) Seriously, that was one very niceley done flight. Beautiful landing. Ben

Guess who scored a warbird flight for his birthday? ;)

I scored a Warbird flight for my birthday... :big_grin: These are a couple of stills from the vid.. http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v355/Cally460/?action=view&current=Image8.jpg[img/] http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v355/Cally460/?action=view&current=Image7.jpg[img/]

Got that right. Bloody brilliant pilot. Watched him at Temora - even met the man. Huge loss to us all. Condolences to his family and friends. Ben

So true.... Ben

Also, if the reporter HAS correctly reported the incident, why not let the editor know? Ben

I have to agree with the blokes here... Its a nogo for flying if you have blocked sinuses. To illustrate the point, I went diving with someone who had a blocked sinus. At depth of only 10 metres the air inside the sinus was pressurised to two atmospheres, and the sn*t forming a tight plug on the opening. On ascent, the pressure inside the sinus literally blew the sn*t plug out, and filled her mask with blood. It was a good day or so before the bleeding stopped and of course that was the end of diving for her on that trip. While water pressure at depth is greatly different to air pressure for the equivalent height (due to the density difference) the pressure differential does cause pain that can be overwhelming, and although they might not get a bleed, it makes for an unpleasent flight. This is the reason why a headcold is an automatic nogo for a dive. Even though the dive in question was 1994, I remember that one like it was yeterday. I believe the term used was :sinus barotrauma Ben

Sadly in the print media this is all too true. Which is why the editor MUST be made aware of errors in reporting. Ben

I'm with Matt on this... But I do wish we could get on with things and use the term "light Aircraft' for anything smaller than a 737. (Apart from Deccas 727.. ;)) My the way, as a news camera operator for a major network, the truth is rather stark. News directors base their contents on what makes ratings. Ratings are the number of eyes glued to the set. Disasters and tragedy are what people want to watch. Therefore news directors strive to satisfy the wishes of the public. High ratings equals income. Income for the station equals jobs, which also ensures the survival of the station to broadcast other entertainment. Ben

Er... with a O320, 160 horse motor, the MTOW is 453Kg. Would this mean that it COULD be RAA registered? Ben

For the mount, I use either a small tripod (about 18 inches long when folded) and mount the camera on that in the appropriate spot. I use this a lot for in car work. Secured with gaffer tape. I also use a portable DVD player mount (Jaycar) that is designed to clamp a small screen to the rear of a headrest in a car. With the Tecnam, this clamp allows for 'easy' mounting. Once done switch on the image stabilisation in the camera. The easiest way to get the sound is to borrow an aviation headset, place a lavalier mic in the earcups and gaffer tape the headset together. Plug that into the intercom as usual. Plug the other end of the mic into the aux mic input on the video camera. This is usually a 3.5mm phono plug. If its a canon three pin XLR, then an adaptor can be found at trickey dickey (Or make your own). When you go to edit the vision, you will find you will still have to play with the audio levels even though the compressor has adjusted them. HTH Ben

I am one of the deadset lucky people. Not only did I meet her, but did a photoshoot with her AND she sent me a personalised copy of her book "My God. Its a woman". I did the photoshoot in 97 and for one of the pix, it was her at home; in the cockpit. She jumped into the plane faster than a kid. A truly inspirational person, and one of the worlds greatest aviators. Fly in Peace Nancy-Bird. Ben