naremman

Why make distinctions by gender? I find life is a bit easier when I treat the individual I am interacting with as a PERSON, rather than classifying them in terms of either male or female. Some of the most natural pilots I have flown with have been ladies, my late first wife and daughter among them. It was only 30 years ago that we observed the process that Deb Wardley was subjected to in order to get into the right seat of one of Mr Ansett's aeroplanes. It is exceedling rare these days than any exception is taken to the gender of the pilot.

One is never lost, temporarily uncertain of position maybe, but never lost!!

Navigation in the WA Wheatbelt is a very pilot friendly activity. Nice and flat, fences generally aligned with he compass points to help orientation, magneteic variation close to zippo, and Co-operative Bulk Handling conveniently building substantial white grain silos at most towns. When I learnt to fly in the 1970's GPS was not on the scene, so it was a total reliance on map, compass and a watch. I had the good fortune to have an ex-Army pilot as an instructor, who had a great love of navigation and he generally managed to instill his enthusiasm into his students. He always loved to incorporate a fair component of 500' AGL into a Navex, something I have silently thanked him for many times over when flying in crud. I had the same instructor for my Class 4 Instrument (NVFR these days) rating. When a Motorola T12-C manually tuned ADF was THE navigation aid, being well versed in the fundamentals in navigation was a decided benefit. I do use a handheld GPS when flying, but always regard it as an AID to navigation, not the principal reference. When flying aircraft with a cruising speed of around 100 Kts cross country, finding the best level with wind can have a lot of time benefits.

Try David Ford at Mackagri Aviation.

Great thread Ozzie. Yep, three books as Xmas presents, which given my prediliction for reading is no surprise. Due to the Never Ending Harvest not a lot of reading has been done. Two of the tomes are aviation related, but remain unread. The only book that I have opened so far is the one given to me by my son, "Paramedico- Around the World by Ambulance" by Benjamin Gilmour has been captivating. As an NSW Paramedic he uses his holiday time to practice his skills in other countries. Recounting being in Thailand at the time of the Tsunami, ambulance services in Pakistan, or being a paramedic on Venetian waterways provide incredible perspectives. Can't recommend it enough. Read this book and you will never make an adverse comment about pre hospital care in Australia, ever!! Paramedics, always the last blokes we ever want to see, but on occasions the blokes we are happiest to see!!

Half you luck to get that opportunity Tomo. Can you expand a bit more on your impressions of its handling characteristics? The Ercoup is featured in Eric (Winkle) Brown's book "Wings of the Weird and Wonderful". Can recall seeing one in Wagga Wagga in 2003. An open hangar door is always an attraction to any pilot, and was initially attracted when I sighted an Airtourer, which turned out to be Bob Gilmour's former stead, MOG. Tucked in behind the Airtourer was a beautiful red Ercoup. Talking to the owner he had just completed a protracted and frustrating restoration programn. Apparently the Ercoup had been dropped when unloading it at the wharf and it had experienced substantial damage. The challenge of restoring it had deterred most, but the end result certainly was testimony to the mammoth effort. It has some ridiculous Total Time in Service. Now that you have Ercoup time in your logbook Tomo, see if you can add Mooney Cadet (which was a development of the Ercoup), Beagle Pup, Rallye 100 and the Airtourer 100 and you will really be able make an extensive comparison of some 100 hp two seaters.

What about those aspiring Auster drivers who have been lead away from them weeping and wailing!! I'm a clod foot enough, without facing the challenge of those heel brakes. Had a mate who had a J2 Arrow, with a C75 engine and would get a 65 Knot cruise, going slightly downhill. Give him his due though, his mastery of that machine was something to behold. When Reg and Shirley Adkins used to bring their Tiger Moth up to the Bruce Rock fly ins, Reg was delighted that he something to pass in the Tiger!!

Nah Ian, I would rather abide by the motto of the Ulysses Motor Cycle gang:"GROWING OLD, DISGRACEFULLY". As I mature I don't mind getting fatter, having hair face the dilemna of going grey or falling out, or slowing down, but the thing that really gets up my goat is losing my visual acuity. Requiring a pair of specs lock wired on is a pain. I suppose it is a reasonable compromise in order to maintain a Class 2 medical, but I don't like it!! It certainly is a relevant article, and given that the mature end of the spectrum are present in spades within the aviation community, should invoke some comments.

Interesting that the C180 pilot, who probably faced the highest degree of difficulty score, was the bloke who appeared to handle the conditions best. Aileron into wind does not seem to be applied to good effect in too many landings. In 30 years of 172 ownership I have found it nearly impossible to screw in too much aileron in a severe xwind. How many times did the landing aircraft end up with only the out of wind main wheel as the only point of contact with terra firma? On the very few times that I tried this configuration during my training, my instructor was nearly apoplectic through severe hypertension. I reasoned that it was beneficial to avoid this configuration at all costs!! Tomo, I endorse your comments re full flap for xwind landings. The sooner that it is pinned firmly on the deck the better. Some great footage, and the running commentary was at times classic understatement.

David, am greatly reassured that I share similar tendencies with you. In the circumstance that either of us stack an aeroplane, and survive the event, we will be easily identified as the one who will be greatly concerned that we allowed our Macho and Self Confident components overwhelm the Worry factor!!

G'day David. Had a look at the "five hazardous attitudes". The first assessement made me feel like that I was expected to choose the least objectionable option for a scenario I would have worked hard to avoid. In the event of putting myself in a situation through poor decision making, in reviewing it I'm normally thinking along the lines of how to make sure that it never happens again. The second assessement was more appealing, and I feel relevant. Left me a bit confused though. The three above average scores were: Macho, Worry and Self Confident!!

I think I recall my Flying Instructor of old having a saying: "upon turning on the Master Switch, he commenced a sequence of events over which he had little or no control."

This thread opens a whole heap of memories. Longest single trip was in a Airtourer 100 taking 55 hours to depart from and return to the Central Wheatbelt in WA to Toowoomba, via Victoria twice, and incorporating the Airtourer Association Convention in Parkes in 1980. Avgas at <50 cents a litre was a real bonus. Best backside bender was Ayers Rock to Bruce Rock, via Forrest and Kalgoorlie in an August day, first light to nearly last light. 940 Nm with a 95 knot cruise. Best distance in a day was Mildura to Bruce Rock in a C172M, which i think is about 1210 Nm. Craziest journey was to accomodate a mate who purchased an Airtourer 100 in Sydney and wanted it relocated back to WA in 1985. Two and a half days on a Deluxe Coachlines (remember them) to get to Sydney, a day spare in Sydney, and another two and a half days to get back home. The coach seat was a lot tougher on the backside than the Airtourer seat!! If I remebember correctly I gave my mate $5 change from the $500 he gave me for the whole trip. Under ideal circunstances light aircraft are great at chewing up distance. Under less than ideal circumtances. lets just say that can they be frustrating and character building!

If you really want to try out the long legs of the Jab look at Yulara-Leonora, which is about 560 Nm, and might be a go. There are a number of Aboringinal commnities along that way that have Avgas that might be a possibility, but prior permission would be required. By looseley following the Great Central highway there are more options from a safety perspective. Laverton used to have Avgas, but not aware of current situation. Did the then Ayers Rock-Forrest direct in an Airtourer back in 1984. There is a whole heap of nothingness on that journey, and a good pair of boots might be handy. Was mighty relieved to see the hangar at Forrest appear on the nose after four hours over that country!! Sounds like a great trip. Have fun, and keep us posted.

Had the good fortune of doing an AFR with Poteroo in his magnificient C170A just before he and the aircraft parted company. Poteroo is out of the "wheeler" camp, wheras I was out of the "3 pointer" camp, which in essence meant that neither of us was wrong, but the "creative confict" was robust!! I quite happily align myself in Facthunters camp and favour 3 pointers. My first tailwheel experience was in a Chippie, and by pure ass nailed a presentable wheeler at my first attempt at landing. Given the challenge from the back seat to "do it again", I in complete ignorance repeated it. The explosion from the back seat was memorable, and has not been forgotten, even 35 years hence. I took me another 2 hours banging and nearly crashing the poor old Chippie til I had some tenuous hold of the concept of a "3 pointer". Progressing to the Tiger Moth and C170/180 were made easier in my opinion by having a sound "3 pointer" technique. There will never be a good outcome to the respective merits of both persuasions. At the risk of invoking Facthunters wrath: There are are only two types of taildragger pilot; those who have, and those who are about too!! I, somewhat luckily, remain in the camp where the backend has yet to pass the front. just!!

I showed the original post to my wife, and suggested that she print it out and pin it to the staff noticeboard of the school where she teaches with a 100% female staff. Whislt she laughed at the original post, she firmly declined the latter challenge!! Now I know why she asks me to get cash out for her whenever I go near an ATM!!

I think ya boss must be paying ya too much Tomo to be flittin' around in a C206. In my day we we were lucky to scounge enough to get 30 mins in a Cessna 150 every week, even if it was $15 an hour!! Super petrol was 48 cents a gallon, but car still stayed in garage. Beer was $2 a jug, but we stayed thirsty.

Since Tomo opened this thread on Monday we have had posting on physics, aeronautical theory, and many examples gleaned the hard way through experience, and being fortunate enough to share the knowledge. Whilst the numbers of posters has probably not exceeded 40, those who who have followed this thread would be many times more, and what would be the perspective of someone who is the initial stages of attaining RAA Pilot Certification make of the progress of the thread? ALL aircraft are capable of stalling, with varying degrees of severity, and each with their own quirks. High standards of instruction are decidely beneficial to making old pilots. Taking oneself out of the comfort zone with a generous altitude buffer to explore the extremes of an aircraft has no downside. The times when we require superior recovery skill are when height, airspeed and knowledge are not in abundance!!. I have ticked the "like" box for posts from both Facthunter and Turbo throught this thread for their incisive thoughts. Is anyone capable of an effective summary as a consequence of this discussion that provides the one gem that saves a least one neck?

[ I have developed a diabolical air exercise for them where they have their eyes closed and I fly the aeroplane quite comfortably to where we are in a vertical dive at low airspeed but stalled. I hand over, they open their eyes and notice the obvious - we are in a vertical dive so need to pull out. The situation invariably and suddenly gets much worse because they have not identified that the aeroplane was stalled. Few, if any, of the symptoms of an approaching stall existed. I think I know where you are going on this one DJP. The key element here is the angle between the relative airflow and the chord line of the wing, irrespective of airspeed or where the nose is pointing. Those of us with aerobatics experience probably have gained an insight to this on the occcasions when in the latter parts of a loop or stall turn, the windscreen is full of green and we have then overcooked the back pressure, followed by some form of protestation from the airframe. Most of my aeros have been done in Airtourers and the buffet over the tailplane is usually the initial indicator that the limits are being approached. Chucking a roll of toilet paper out, with a good amount of height under you, and going streamer cutting is a great way to establishing the limits of both the pilot and aeroplane.

Well said Nev. Every pilot needs this mantra constantly repeated to them, starting initially in the early hours of training, especially when they are let loose as training is completed, and certainly whenever a pilot starts to take an aircraft forgranted. We could add mustering to the activities that have given some pretty dramatic examples of how ugly the stall/spin scenario can get. I still recall the images of some Cessna 150s that have "candled" mustering.

You are not incorrect Mazda, but in the run of the mill RAA aircraft a stall induced by a whole heap of forward stick is probably going to be pretty ugly. Can remember being briefed for a Royal Aero Club WA Aerobatic comp by Squadron Leader Don Pollock when a half reverse Cuban was part of the sequence. He stated that while Mr Arresti required the right way up and inverted component of the upward 45 to be equal in distance, but glancing around at the apron and seeing a collection of Aerobats, Airtourers and Tiger Moths present, he said he was very comfortable to be on the ground judging in case anybody got too keen on pushing the upwards inverted!! To pick up on the thread. How can you tell when an aircraft is stalled? In some aircraft not too easily. I have flown a few where they have just mushed about with no well defined nose drop. The Tiger Moth and Airtourer are both out of the textbook for stalling. My experience in J160 and Foxabt both, in the flapless configuration, did not produce a defined nose drop no matter how aggressive you approached it, In a Warrior, if you ignored the VSI, you would call stalling a non event. I suppose as a traditionalist, any good trainer should display an identifiable stall. All other aircraft should at least have a stall where a pilot is aware that the airflow over the wing is disturbed, lest we run the risk of the ground coming up to smite thee.

I grew up in a generation when the motivation to get spelling and grammar right was avoiding an impact upon thy backside. No such motivation exists today. I observe the frustration of my wife, of a similar vintage to myself, attempting to teach and mentor her students in an environment of social media where the basics are so easily discarded. My late first wife was a journalist and she used to read the parish pump newspaper with a red highlighter in hand. It was astounding how much of the copy would be highlighted red!! "Duel Baptisms" was the absolute clanger. Baptismal water at 10 paces!! She was inclined to "cite" this publication for getting site and sight wrong in three consecutive editions. A dog-eared copy of the Macquarie Dictionary is a permanent fixture alongside the computer.

Tomo, other than the alientating 50% of the populace, the early onset of dementia in someone sub 21 is a significant concern!!

Find a LAME that keeps Victa Airtourers in the air. Pop rivets have kept the old Victas together for close on 50 years!!