Bandit12

If it was the Bantam, you were probably pretty safe

Definitely drag flaps, not for lift!

....**shudders**

Wow....building a real aircraft would have been easier!

.....that was as likely as Tubby still fitting into his debutante ball dress. "Tubby wore a dress to the ball?" questioned Andy. "Yep, but after seeing how Madge now plays the game, you try to get Tubby to admit to it" replied Ratty. "Seems like no one is prepared to admit to anything" interrupted the Footlong "including who owns that pile of bull......

....that there will be a resurgence in pink jackacricket sales. Especially once the gentlemen from the deep south realise that they would be permitted to carry their.......

....agreed to his terms. Sadly, on the day I was to depart for the Hotel and Walt's third favourite girl (the first two were already booked by the Rat), I had overindulged on my own medicine the night before, and woke to find....

Welcome, I passed through San Antonio for a couple of days last June. Spent some lovely hours floating down the Gruene river too, and cheered for the Spurs when out for dinner one night (we didn't want to look like Miami supporters and get lynched!)

"For example" explained Turdy "if you are like me and get a bad dose of chafing between the legs in the humid months, a little metho dabbed on, rubbed gently with a rat, and allowed to airdry can really help." This was of grave concern to the Rat himself, who even more was convinced of Turdy's madness. He pondered to himself whether a referral to a doctor may help Turbo, before deciding to.....

....clean his pet rat. Which isn't anywhere near as weird as what Turby does with metho, which is.......

....Bandit had obviously been on the metho, after giving everyone at least one creative to show his disdain for.....

Kudos to the tow pilot for jumping in and helping to contain the situation long enough for all to end well.

Looks like a nice day out. I can't spot it, but then if it was moving (rather than still photo) I would have a better chance (I hope!).

....sculled a beer, stood on his head and sculled another beer, then punched B12 in the head and sculled another beer. "Ow" exclaimed the Footlong, falling to the ground. "Right, you're nicked" said the Rat, reaching for hs fluffy handcuffs and cuffing the belligerent Tubby. "Under the new one punch, three beers legislation, I have the power to sieze your......

....the real criminal was in fact the windblown Rat on his Benly (a manly bike if ever there was one.....) then there was a good chance that the crime was not only organised, but...... Note: the B12" would like to observe a moment of silence in respect of all those trashed bikes, who have gone to the great wrecking yard in the sky. Afterwards, he requests that the NESers all join hands and sing kumbaya.

You probably are still with me Frank - the problem is that regulators will quite happily fire off their own solution to the end problem without being bothered with the underlying real causes. You are absolutely right that the correct solution has to be found and applied, but at the moment the problem isn't even well defined. The consequence is (people dying) but the cause isn't. Sometimes it has to start with doing something, and seeing if it makes a difference. An educated "something" for sure, but if you have to wait for a proper evidenced solution, by the time there is one, you may have been regulated out of the air...... Look at the HF exam - by most comments it seems have been implemented poorly. So is it under review? Is there an active ongoing process to improve it? Or Bob's suggestion with regards to maintenance. Without making a judgement about whether it will dramatically improve anything (limited data to make any calls), no one can deny that improved maintenance standards won't make some difference. So do something, so that when the regulator starts breathing down the collective neck of recreational aviators, at least someone can stand up and say that we are doing A, B and C and are seeking to improve them continually.

Assumptions are the bane of any statistician - they come back to bite you no matter how careful you are in allowing for, controlling for, or otherwise explaining why they might not be as big a concern as others may think. I think Bob has done an admirable job of justifying his assumptions, but they will never be accepted until proven properly. Which will never happen with the amount and quality of data available. Another factor that must be accepted is the perspective of the researcher. An engineer will look for a design/maintenance problem. A psychologist will look for a human factors problem. An educator will look for a training problem. A DAME will look for a medical problem. A regulator will look for a blame problem.....(okay, maybe that's a little cynical). Put a team together of all of them (except maybe the last) and decide together what data needs to be collected by each to investigate the problems effectively, and go out and collect it for a decade. Then maybe there will be no need for assumptions. In the mean time, cover the assumptions as best can be done, and then do something. As sure as anything, with fatalities on the rise in recent years, if RA-Aus doesn't do something, the regulator will.

The list is long but hardly distinguished. KE175 - first bike, might buy and restore one day IT125 - good fun DR250 - first bike used on the road GSX400R - bought after someone had written it off, restored and used for a while. Fun baby gixxer. R90S - should never have sold. Still kicking myself CBX750F x 2 VF1000FII GPZ1000RX - ended up with a 900R engine after a conrod punched through the cases Bandit 1200 x 2 - all round favourite. Coming up to half a million ks on them. CBR1000RR - lot of fun but not licence friendly so it was sold. Z50R - best amount of fun for the dollars. Postie bikes x 5 for the farm (spend more time fixing after the kids break them than ever used riding!) Suzuki A100 - currently restoring Suzuki GT250X7 - restored and sold Suzuki T20 - partially restored then sold RD250LC race bike - fitted with TZ700 top end and tuned pipe (scary fun) And a few more I can't really remember. Mostly dirt bikes I think.

If in doubt, get their reasons in writing, approach your GP to explain the situation and ask to be referred to an appropriate specialist for another expert opinion. I believe that AVMED are very risk aversive, so need to be overwhelmed with your evidence if anything is out of the "normal" box.

....epaulettes and new safety placards were handed out. The placards read.....".....

Tough way to learn the lesson though....

Or do beat ups - with the appropriate licences, training, dispensation by relevant authority, plan, and in something other than an air ambulance, which might be needed for a more important cause than personal entertainment and thrill seeking I feel for the medic. The co-pilot had the training, ability, and even authority (and responsibility, although acknowledging that it is very difficult to overrule the boss) to do something to prevent the crash, but the poor medic was along for the ride.

....discounted burgers at McDonalds. Too many of them however, and you might find it a little difficult to squeeze into the TurboCataWing and stay under the MTOW of.......

....called for a volunteer to try out the new TurboCatWing. "I'll have a shot" suggested 12inchesofbandit, climbing in, and reaching for the controls. "Just wait a sec while I start it" yelled Turbo, reaching for his.......

...a cold and wintery summers night in Melbourne, when out of the mist emerged the Lightwing. Gliding gracefully down into Moorabbin (gliding, because the engine had fallen off; gracefully because Madge had also fallen off), it kissed the tarmac at Moorabbin, and rolled to a gentle stop, resting against Turbo's truck manufacturing plant. "Hmmm...." mused the Turdster "No engine, no Madge, what to do?".....