.Evan.

Hey David, welcome! Don't worry, I had trouble coming to terms with this landing business. Having the ground coming up towards me at 130 km/h made me nervous, but I found decent videos on YouTube and watched late final to touchdown bit over and over until I was de-sensitised a bit. Worked for me!

Glad to see another trombone player out there!

Yep!!!

Wow! A Jabiru with a Rotax... That's unusual! Did the owner do the changeover or did he/she purchase it like that?

Hey Col, How are you finding the J170? I'm flying the J160 at the moment, but could possibly have the opportunity to fly the 170 as well! Let us know how you go with your training and your decisions!

Great to hear, Ben! My Dad let his flying lapse for over thirty years! (Hmmm, about as long as I've been around!) He is back and loving it again. He's also thinking of joining me and all of you in the RA club!

Sorry to hear about that, BP (on both counts)! Hmmm.... Would it look something like this? :hittinghead:

A little while ago, I purchased those cheap Chinese rudder pedals from eBay. Like these: When they came, I was disappointed to find that each pedal are both on separate axis. Not much help for flight sim, which wants one axis. I don't want to take funds away from actual flying, so I decided to mod them so they wouldn't be wasted. So I went down to the local hardware store and got an offcut MDF board and put screws in around it so it doesn't move. Then I put an eyelet in behind the pedals and drilled a hole in each pedal. I had some nylon string-type-stuff sitting around, so I figured that will be slippery enough to easily move through the eyelet. The trick was to get the right tension on the string so the pedals would only return to the middle of their throw. Because they're individually sprung, they return (close) to centre by themselves. The down side is that I have to remember to lift the non-operating foot when I'm using them (something which I do naturally, anyway!) I set the flight simulator up to only care about one axis, and it actually works pretty well! I'd love a Saitek or a CH, but that's a couple of hours of real flying that I could be doing! Maybe one day... Just thought I'd share...

Cool. I've flown on a couple of the last few Mondays! Tweety was buzzing about. Ahahaha! Sounds a lot like me! (am 32 y/o) ...Except my Wife didn't tell me to go and do it!

Hi Pookemon! I'm in Ballarat too! I'm flying the little Jabiru from Inbound Avation. We've probably heard each other on the radio!

You've probably heard us at AABM practising our marching displays and outdoor concerts, then Ian?

Thanks Andrew!

I think the maintain runway heading until 500' rule applies to non-controlled situations. Is that right? ATC can ask you to do things that you wouldn't normally do at a Class G aerodrome (within reason!).

There sure is a trend here... I didn't mean to derail the thread! A Recreational Flying Band at Natfly sounds like fun, though!

Looks like great weather!

Love the comment in that video Tomo: "It'll land eventually!"

Awesome stuff, Winsor! Did you or your passenger get a chance to snap some pics? I'm looking forward to being able to share costs, too!

Quite true... I certainly wouldn't turn one down if it was offered to me! Could they be in the need of some new marketing or something? I think a couple of people around these forums own them. Maybe they could chime in with some thoughts?

Glad I'm using autogas.

I have given my Wife the first option. Unfortunately, the weather has been s:censored:t recently so I haven't been able to take her up! All the best for tomorrow. Please let us know how it all goes!

Yep.

These are extremely beautiful in my eyes... http://www.aerosport.com.au/ Not sure exactly how much they're going for here in Aus...

Interesting read, Russ! Thanks for sharing.

Hey Matt, firstly: I would say buy a new RA and rent a VH when you want more than one other person on board. I know you're not thrilled with the J170, but I'm a big fan of the J230. Ample room in the back and excellent access for luggage, etc. 120kt cruise. You could order all the bells an whistles and still have cash to spare (to put into more flying!) Edit: the other posts came in as I was typing this (slow typer!) Sorry! Exactly, Walter!:thumb_up:

Looks old-skool cool!