maxamos

Sound's great, see you there !! I am hoping to be there on the Thursday. Kirk

Congratulations from me as well. It's a beautiful thing having an unrestricted licence. By the way, noticed that you are flying out of Cooma and in an LSA-55. Is that hired out of Polo Flat ? If so is the Jab available for general hire and what is the rate and contact details ? Thanks Kirk

Glider Height record Do you have any links to this story. Sounds like an interesting read !

Unfortunately, here are the details of another fatal accident. Once again my sympathy to the family. Last Update: Monday, February 26, 2007. 8:44am (AEDT) Police to investigate fatal glider crash Air crash investigators will today arrive at the Lake Keepit airstrip in north-west New South Wales to piece together how a fatal glider crash happened yesterday. A 38-year-old Sydney man died in the crash. Police say the glider was being towed by an aeroplane yesterday shortly after take-off, when the planes were hit by a sudden gust of wind. Senior Constable Michael Moy from Tamworth Police says the pilot of the towing plane then released the tow line in order to clear a line of trees at the end of the airstrip. "What we've been told is that there's been a rapid sinking of air so that the tow-plane and the glider haven't been able to achieve the height they wanted to," he said. He says as the glider fell to the ground, its pilot attempted to bounce it over a barbed wire fence. "The glider did not bounce and has crashed into the fence," he said. "The force of the crash has torn the top of the canopy off the glider." The 38-year-old passenger died at the scene and the glider pilot escaped with minor arm injuries. Sen Const Moy says the investigators will try and piece together the final movements of both planes. "They'll be assisting with investigations at the scene of the accidents, they'll be looking at both the aircraft involved and talking to witnesses to the collision," he said.

RV - 4 Crash Yes, it is another sad day. From what I read, in the Herald, it was an RV-4 that crashed. Here is the report from the Australian. Two killed in Melbourne plane crash <LI class=byline>By Julie Tullberg February 23, 2007 TWO men are dead after a light plane crashed on a farm south-east of Melbourne. A witness told police that pieces from the plane were flying off its body before it crashed into a paddock near Officer South Road in Clyde North about 5.40pm (AEDT) today. The men were thrown from the plane as it hit the ground and burst into flames, police said. Country Fire Authority (CFA) crews rushed to the scene just minutes after impact. "Initial assessments indicate that the plane exploded on impact and went up in flames,'' a police spokeswoman said. "It appears the two male occupants were ejected on impact. The men are yet to be formally identified and police are still to determine the flight path of the plane.'' A CFA spokeswoman said the cause of the crash was unknown. "The fire is now out and police are investigating the crash,'' she said. Clyde resident Tony Wilson said he did not hear the crash but said many planes, including those practising aerial stunts, were often in the area. "A lot of planes fly from the Tooradin airfield and the pilots perform acrobatics from out of there,'' he said.

Congratulations Lee, Congratulations ! ;) If you are about to start cross country training, then obvioulsy you are the proud owner of a pilot certificate. How does it feel :big_grin: Fantastic. When did it happen, and who signed you off ? All the best Kirk

Great to hear that you enjoyed your first fly in the J-160. Must be just about brand new which would be an added bonus. Who were you flying with out there, and how does the new RAA school seem ?? Regards Kirk

The second incident mentioned in this thread was well covered in the newspapers, but I haven't found any mention about the first. Godrey Wieness is hosting the Paragliding World Championships at his site at Manilla, outside Tamworth NSW. First time that the paragliding world champs has been hosted in an English speaking country, let alone Australia. At the moment there are a lot of paragliders up there doing pre competition training, and this is where the second incident occured. There were about 100 pilots in the air on the day that it happened, (from what I read) and they were warned about the building storm systems at the pre flight briefing. Both the pilots that were caught up in the system were very experienced para gliders and I believe that the woman is the German womens champion. Incredible that she survived, but it doesn't sound like her survival was anything to do with skill as she passed out and came to over an hour later, with frostbiten ears. If she wasn't wearing a flight computer (recorder) no one would really have known what happened. Apparently the coroner was going to look at the flight computer of the deceased chinese pilot, but from what I read they hadn't confirmed the cause of death, but speculating about hypoxia or hypothermia. Regards Kirk.

Hi, To all you Jabiru kit builders. I was wondering if you could give me an idea of what you spent to get your kits completed. I have a pretty good idea of what the various kits are worth to purchase, but would like to know what to expect to pay over the top of the basic kit. I also realise that this could be an open ended question as the price would be very dependant on the avionics and accessories fitted, but every answer would sure help to give me more of an idea of what to expect, and especially if the replies listed the equipment, or even left the avionics out. Somewhere on the forum, I can recall a thread where there was mention of putting this information up for public viewing. Anyway if you have time to add to this thread with some first hand information I would be very grateful. :big_grin: Cheers Kirk !

Ian, ther is no rush, as I won't be doing anything for some time yet. Just interested if it is also a possilbility. I think that the last entry about this was in August, so I don't need an answer this week, or next week for that matter. My main problem is the amount of fantastic a/c that have come on the market, .......... oh yeah, and a lack of funds !!!!!!!! Have been enjoying the information that I have picked up about the CT's on your website, and would be interested in having a good look at yours at Avalon. See you there. Kirk

Ian, Have you heard any more about the CT kits ?? Thanks Kirk

I am keen to go to Avalon, but cannot get out there on the weekend, but was planning on going during the week,...........until I discovered that the week days are classified as trade only and not open to the general public. Is anyone aware of what consitutes being in the trade, and if my RAA pilot ticket or GFA is enough to allow my entry ?? I would not be impressed if I lobbed up there and found out that I couldn't get in What days are other people from the forums attending ?? Regards Kirk

Brent or anyone else, What does the Jabiru factory assist involve. I realise that it is building your jabiru kit at the jab factory, but are there various programs / stages or just one, how long does it go for, and what is the cost. If you go the factory assist option, do you still qualify for the owner built regulations ? Thanks Kirk

Whilst up in Sydney over the last Xmas holidays I organised to fly the Victor 1 route down the coast. I am now living SE of Melbourne, but was born and bred in Sydney and lived on the northern beaches - Harboard, Sydney beaches - Coogee, and the Illawarra coast - Thirroul at various times. Also did some paragliding at Stanwell Park, so the idea of flying Victor 1 has appealed to me since I heard about this access route about a year ago. Victor 1, for those that don't know, is an access route along the coast of Sydney, with one of the main points being a flight level of 500 ft from North head to south of Cronulla. (Victor 1 is clearly defined in Ersa and also in publications from Air Services). Sounds fantastic to me. ;) Organised to hire a Jabiru LSA 55 from Sydney Jabiru at Hoxton Park in advance to fly the route, then waited for a clear day with calm conditions. When a day arrived with the right conditions and a permit to leave from my wife; my intended passenger, my brother, couldn't get the morning off. There was no way that I was going to miss the opportunity so off I went. Had a quick chat to Robert at Sydney Jabiru, borrowed a life jacket, checked the flight plan and off I went. Did a quick circuit, touch and go at Hoxton Park, to familiarise myself with the local surroundings and ensure that I would be able to find it easily on my return and also to get familiar with this Jab. All good, so let's head for Hornsby. Had a nice trip up to Hornsby, then hung a left and headed for Mona Vale, where it was time to descend a bit to ensure that I was under the 1000 ft step by Long Reef. It was a beautiful day to be flying down the coast. I had also done some gliding in the past at Long Reef but there wasn't much time to hang around as I cautiously checked for other aviators, changed to the Victor 1 frequency and made sure I was at 500' before North Head. The passage down the coast was as good as I had heard, but before long I was at Cronulla, and getting prepared to exit Victor 1, and climb a bit to give myself a bit more insurance ( with height that is ). Continued on my way with a slight diversion to Wombarra to fly over a friends house and waggle hello before turning around to head back to Stanwell and re-join my flight plan. Then it was around past Wedderburn to Appin for my next turn point before heading back to Hoxton Park. All in all a fantastic day, but a bit more work than I had thought, especially by myself, trying to change radio frequ, stay outside controlled airspace and continually monitor for other a/craft. It would also have been nice to have someone to share it with, but that will have to be next time, as I will certainly be doing that trip again. :big_grin: For those that are interested give Sydney Jabiru a call Kirk

I guess I fall into the motorbike and aviation category as well. Had a procession of bikes starting when I was an apprentice with a Yamaha RD 350, that taught me how important it was to anticipate what was about to happen with the traffic down the road as I commuted around Sydney. Progressed through various jap bikes including a Kawasaki 750 then 1100, which also got me called a temporary Australian by a few friends. Went off touring around the bottom end of Australia, including Tasi for a couple of months on a Yamaha XS-1100, which had a better touring position than the Kwak, and shaft drive. Came home and bought a Moto Guzzi Le-mans that I absolutely loved. Very different to the Jap bikes and easy to maintain. Also had a very memorable trip from Darwin whilst living there in the late 80's on an XJ-900 round to Broome, Perth, Adelaide then back to Darwin on a 2 week holiday with a girl that I had just met in Darwin. That was one fun trip. Now I haven't got a steed at all, although I am often procrastinating about it, looking at Bikes for Sale, (Guzzi's and BMW twins mostly), and then deciding that the money would be better used for the family. HO Hum. Flying is helping to make it easier to bear not having a bike in the shed. Kirk

Geoff, I thought that there was a requirement for oxygen when gliding over 10,000 ft, or is it that you need to have oxygen installed once over 10,000 ft ??? I am a novice glider pilot, and not too sure ? Kirk

Lee, Have also read some of the excellent posts about syndicates on this forum; so thought it may be a good idea to have a dedicated syndicate area, as there may be a bit of traffic for people in different areas across this big brown land. Don't get out to Tooradin much on the weekends as I work week on / week off and therefore only get one weekend of a fortnight so I try to spend most of it with the family, and the kids do lots of sports on the weekend anyway. Would be interested in having a chat though, and will shoot an email to you as well. Kirk

Ian, Would it be possible to start a new forum for Syndicates; for those of us that would be keen to look at forming syndicates in their local area to share the cost of buying / owning / operating an aircraft. Kirk

Thanks for the replys one and all. This site has gotta be the best thing I have found since finding RAA in 2005. I have spent a lot of time reading through various columns and cannot believe what a fantastic forum you have here. Absolutely impressed ;) . I am very keen to get more involved with flying, finances dependant as much as everyone else. Still trying to get out there and fly whenever I can, read everything that is available, and also flying gliders to get my experience up. Really enjoy flying the gliders, and the cheaper price is a bonus. Learning all the time and still so much more to learn. That's one of the great things about flying;........always learning and enjoying the experience.

Lee, I am another one that learnt at Tooradin on Jabiru's and also went through a bit of extra crosswind training before I got the right day when I could go solo. After soloing the first time, also then found it wasn't easy to get the right days to be able to get out there and practice solo due to the conditions, ( and my lack of experience to handle them). Sure does make it easier in the long run, and makes you a more competent pilot.

Have thoroughly enjoyed looking through your postings, and getting an idea of what it is like to build a Jab. thanks. It is good for us considering building to get a first hand idea of how it happens, and it is even better when I can see the amount of help and camaraderie that you are getting from others on this forum. Really looking forward to seeing the finished article, but I am sure not as much as you are. ;) Kirk

Thanks for your replies. I have been in contact via email, with Bruce, a couple of months age, but as he is in NZ it makes things a bit harder. Wouldn't mind catching up this guy at Tooradin, for a look, but $150k is out of my price range. Sure looks like a nice plane in the photo's and good specs too. Does he get out to Tooradin much Brent, and where is he based. Regards Kirk

Brent, Pretty sure I have met you before, at some of the Tooradin social nights. Not too sure when I will be down there next, and I don't get there much on the weekends, as I only get every 2nd weekend off so I spend most of it with the family. Mostly I go flying during the week; it's also a bit quieter then. 250 hours sounds pretty incredible, and 500 more what I would expect. I would have thought that a lot of people would take longer than the Jabiru stated 600 hrs ?? Just trying to get a feel at the moment as I debate what aircraft would suit me best. I am not ready to buy anything at the moment, but just fact hunting. Regards Kirk

Build times I realise that this is a very difficult question, and dependant on a huge amount of factors, but,............ does the Jabiru stated 600 hrs build time seem about right ? I am considering building a j-170 but have all the normal conflicts to hurdle first. Also has anyone seen the video 'Building a J-160' and be able to tell me if it is worthwhile to buy and watch. Thanks

Does anyone have any experience with either of these aircraft. I have been doing a lot of looking around for various kit build planes and these are two that appear great. Would like to get some more information, apart from what I have been able to dig up from the web. Have noticed that there is an ad in the last RAA mag for the Dynamic.