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Ben Longden

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  1. Ben Longden
    On 5 January 2007, a Piper PA-28R-201 Arrow, registered VH-TBB, was approaching Port Macquarie Airport, NSW, in class G airspace under the visual flight rules from the south. The aircraft had descended from 2,500 ft above mean sea level and was approaching to join the circuit on left crosswind for runway 03. At about the same time, a de Havilland Dash 8 aircraft, registered VH-TQZ, and a Piper PA-31 Mojave, registered VH-PGW, both operating under the instrument flight rules, were preparing to depart from the airport. The airspace surrounding Port Macquarie Airport was designated as a common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) ®, where the carriage and use of very high frequency radio was required. On short final for runway 03, the pilot of the Arrow reported seeing the Dash 8 enter the runway. He immediately broadcast his position and prepared to initiate a missed approach. The crew of the Dash 8 saw the approaching Arrow at the same time as the Arrow pilot's broadcast. They advised that they would vacate the runway without delay, vacating via taxiway B1 as the Mojave pilot manoeuvred his aircraft to assist the Dash 8's runway departure. The pilot of the Arrow continued his approach and landed
  2. Ben Longden
    Were you able to do it using words of one sylable or less? BTW, The Age has a really nice story online today. As in, positive to aviation, and sympathetic to the tragedy. Ben This is from the police media; Man killed in Mornington plane crash Release date: Sun 11 January 2009 Last updated: Mon 12 January 2009 A 54-year-old Tyabb man is dead after crashing his light plane in a Mornington residential street this afternoon. Around 4pm the plane narrowly avoided a house and private tennis court on Craigrossie Road before crashing into bushes. The sole occupant of the plane died at the scene. Police are investigating the cause of the crash and will prepare a report for the Coroner. Glen Atwell, Media Officer
  3. Ben Longden
    Not at all. The bushby Mustang is a great plane. Make that; a bloody great plane. There are a few flying in oz, and a mate at Newcastle has a two seater... 150 kt cruise :thumb_up: My sincere condolences to the owner, the pilots family, friends and relatives. Ben
  4. Ben Longden
    I'm not basing it on maths.. just 27 years of experience. The best thing is to grab a camera, head to the airport and go play. Ben
  5. Ben Longden
    Not even the weremacht could do it in. It took a bloody snowstorm! Here's hoping they rebuild her... and house her as well. Ben
  6. Ben Longden
    Dad and his brother were in the RAF during the war, and so life at home always related to flight. We would go to every airshow around including Farnborough. All of my books at home revolved around flight, Spits, ME109s and Wellingtons. Uncle Ted stayed in the RAF, and despite being refused pilot status during the war, working as a nav, radio operator, gunner in Sunderlands, Liberators and Lancasters he ended up being a test pilot for the air force, and was given the AFC for his services in perfecting mid air refuelling techniques (or so he says, as at the time he was with 101 Sqn doing spook stuff over Russia at the height of the cold war) Once we came to Oz, I lived in Moree for a while and worked for the cropdusters as a flagman - that was so cool ! I always wanted to fly, and as a 12 year-old I said to Mum I wanted to be a pilot with the Air Force but she dismissed it one day by saying "you wear glasses". If I had known then what I do now, things would have been different. Ben
  7. Ben Longden
    No need for the interruptor gear... If you work with a shutter no faster than 1/125sec you wont see the fan blades. About 1/500 has them blurred, which is prefect for shots where you want the appearance of motion. 1/1000 and above freezes them, so they look, well, frozen... and is not a natural look for a flying machine off the ground. The advantage of a slower shutter is there is less focus error (depth of field stuff). Experiment with various focal lengths, but the best shots will be from the wide end of your stuff. Ben
  8. Ben Longden
    If you head to Wallan make sure its in a fully loaded F111 and drop a shipload of ordanance on the developer... Locksley is just east of Managalore and if you feel like lunch on saturdays, try my fav place Shepparton. Its 31nm north of Mangalore and is an easy peasy nav. One of the most friendliest clubs around. Also Avgas and Mogas available (just see Nathan or Sue at the school first)
  9. Ben Longden
    Happy birthday mate!! Ben
  10. Ben Longden
    And they don't last that long in the job. The only trouble is trying to repair the damage they cause. Well done John Brandon, Mike and RAA exec for taking this issue by the horns and for the success in getting the Age to say they were wrong. Ben
  11. Ben Longden
    Happy birthday Doug! I managed to lose 3kg in 2 hours..and I don't recommend the method even though its effective. The view is not that scenic, .. besides, everytime I move, I bang my head on the chain.. Ben
  12. Ben Longden
    Make that; Bloody good shots there Bas... The pre race stuff is excellent. Brilliant composition. 10/10 Ben
  13. Ben Longden
    Just when I thought I had it nailed, my instructor tells me that these b'stards are in the PPL exam.... :broken_heart: Oh well..... Ben
  14. Ben Longden
    I got mine on special... bundled with the "Great Achievements of President George Bush (senior) " One problem; Only 250 pages per roll, in that one. Ben
  15. Ben Longden
    Mostly Nikon digital SLRs... It had to be, as I was using their lenses for years, and they work when used on the digital series. My favourite is the F4 (film) but for a sheer satisfying, Pi$$-the-pro-golfer-off shutter CLACK, you can't go past the F2 with motor! The nice thing was doing the sport... my 400mm f2.8 instantly became a digital equivalent of a 600mm! which meant less cropping in the darkroom (or in Photoshop) and this meant better, closeup action piccies. In my website, there is a pic of a FA18 superhornet doing a topside pass towards camera. To show you how things have progressed, I used a 15 year old Nikon 80-200 zoom on a new digital SLR body, set to full auto (focus, shutter, etc). The FA18 was moving at Mach 0.9 down the runway at Avalon. I still love the wet darkroom, but when you compare things with digital, such as the time taken to get the finished prints on the bosses desk, you cant beat digital. Especially if you are interstate! Ben
  16. Ben Longden
    Oh dear... I cant function without my 15 cups a day... (which explains an awful lot, I guess) Sweet ship, Mike. very sweet. Whats the latest on it? Is the Storm in production, costings etc.. Ben
  17. Ben Longden
    Ahh, but the people who matter - the editor and chief sub-editor WILL have seen the letters, and they now know Bibbys' reporting is not up to par. What usually happens, is unless the complaint is on a solicitors letterhead, there will never be a rewrite / correction / clarification or retraction. Ben
  18. Ben Longden
    I used to do it for a hobby... then it became a career working with the newspapers.. I got my first camera when I was six. I developed my first film when I was nine. When I worked at the paper, folks used to know where I was by my 'fixer' aftershave.. I took two newspapers into the full digital era, and although I love the darkroom, a digital setup is so much easier. These days I only pick up the stills camera for myself, the missus and friends. Instead, I just use a video for the news work now. Ben www.benlongden.com
  19. Ben Longden
    I got another PC, supposedly to network with the main one to reduce video edit render times... but the b'stards wont talk to each other! Other than that, a set of sheepskins for the car and a little navman.. and a new VicRoads mapbook as well! Ben
  20. Ben Longden
    With the 'visit Germany" one, I swear this is true. As a lad, our neighbours were Germans and Leo asked Dad if he had ever visited Germany.. true to form, dad said the obvious... Only at night... To his credit, Leo burst out laughing, grabbed dad on the shoulder and gave him a drink. They were mates for years. Ben
  21. Ben Longden
    While I feel many folks rely on GPS to do everything like wash socks and turn IMC into VMC.... I confess I DO carry an old Magellan hand held with me as a backup to my mapwork. Its usefull to see what it says once you program the locations in... like confirming your heading, track and ground speed. Its a different kettle of fish if you are doing a GNSS approach - but then we only fly VMC, dont we? ;) Ben
  22. Ben Longden
    The ASIC is a total woftam for the flying community. Fergawdsakes, the US does not have them, and they were the ones who copped the full brunt of 9/11. The federal govt at the time introduced them as a means of securing airports to prevent a 9/11 happening here. The govt sees it as another form of tax, and I agree that it should be scrapped. What I would like to see is every politician who has to fly anywhere (RPT or charter) be forced to buy one out of their own money to see just what a waste of time and money it is. When it comes to overzealous council workers, my tip is to ask them there and then how they spell their name, and which department they work in, and who their supervisor is; then make a written complaint about their abusive nature. Once they get the closed door session with their manager they might wake up to themselves. Either that, or they continue to get complaints and then get 're-assigned'. Ben
  23. Ben Longden
    Once submitted, the next thing is to learn patience.... CASA is a tad slow with the paperwork. Having said that, the medical section people are reeeeally nice to deal with on the phone and are really helpful. Thats serious and not being sarcastic. OOPS, now the cats out of the bag; the public service actually have decent folks to deal with!! Ben
  24. Ben Longden
    Yesterday I did my first flight as a GA sudent, in Gawne's C150 at Shepparton with Mr Aviation, Allan Cole.. This evening I did a series of solo T&Gs in the clubs Tecnam. To me its the best of both worlds.. but with GA, I can take Angela AND the kids with me, and go places. My biggest thought is to do things the way Matt at Air Shepparton used to do, and Nathan , his successor does; teach RA students to a GA sylabus, and have them do the GA standard for all the exams up to GFPT and PPL. If you only have an RA standard BAK, then to convert to GA, you will need to have a PPL standard - adding heaps of $$$ to your training. The other pain in the rear is to get the CASA medical stuff sorted.. you have to have one with your CASA Student licence to go solo. Ben
  25. Ben Longden
    Always... Common sense really. Not only that, but the safety brief concerning EFATO reinforces in my own mind what to do should things turn to mud. Ben
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