David Isaac

An awful lot of fatalities in that accident list in just one model which is relatively new.

Why LSA. Why not certified with a Certificate of Airworthiness, not a Special COA as is the case with LSA. There are too many ongoing problems of ownership if the manufacturer goes out of business. I believe the Sapphire originally had a COA. It was / is a great little aircraft hitch was developed into a world class aerobatic aircraft called the Ultrabat that participated in the world aerobatic championship.

Yeah Matty, same for me. I miss Ray's old 185. Nothing like being up on two wheels or even one in a crosswind and 300 GGS howling out the front.

I must admit I have a bias towards Cessnas for a bunch of reasons. Especially the models with the little wheels on the tails. I love the real utility value and the rough field capability they have. I have seen them stalled above runways and 'banged on' with such impact your eyes would water and after inspection still serviceable. Try and get away with that in an LSA. My favourite without doubt is the C180. The C182 RG is also a beautiful aircraft.

Oscar, I don't want to be a nit picky bugga, but since when does 'if it started a spiral' that it means a stall and spin entry? Its either spinning or spiraling and if these things are notorious at not coming out of a spin, and it was in a spin, it would be spinning.I noticed another comment from someone assuming that the cirrus would enter a spin in an engine failure ... where the hell does that BS thinking come from. The BRS is on a Cirrus because of certain spin modes were unrecoverable. If it entered a spin upon the engine failure the PIC must have stalled it and why would that have happened. He possibly pulled it up to slow it up to blow the chute ... who knows. But it was a good result if there is nowhere else to go. Did anyone notice the N rego on it. Was it an import?

Steve, A quartering crosswind can be either quartering head or quartering tail. A quartering cross wind from the left (head wind) is a bitch in a C180 heavy with meat bombers, it is also a bitch in the DC3. LOL

Thanks Steve ... real sad that one. Only a kid flying too. Tragic waste of lives.

He he he ho ho oh ha ha ha

Well done Howie, that is really what ultralight flying is about ... The adaptability. Please keep us posted on your flying progress. I am particularly interested if you use normal float technique on take off ( stick full back, full power, up on the step, stick forward, accelerate to take off speed and rotate), or is she so light she just stays on the step and lifts off. I am looking at fitting floats to my Javelin, so am particularly interested. BTW. Watch out for that ol Cannuck, he will lead you astray ... Have you seen the mob he associates with??? ROFLMAO

If you have a crane it is not so difficult. I have seen it done with a 4wd at Cessnock and it wasn't pretty, but she was totalled anyway. Without a crane you will cause more damage, usually to one wing tip.

Matty, Paul is the pilot.

You are of course correct old mate. Just call me cynical, some CFIs out there have a bad rap in this regard. If you already have the RPL it should NOT be a problem ... we hope.

may be so, but the BFR will have a xcountry component, so you better be up to speed.

Dazz, something tells me that a GA CFI wont accept the RAAus Xcountry endo without extra training. Remember the PPL X Country training is twice the hours of RA Aus. I think this area is going to be a problem when converting from RAAus to RPL.

Well said Paul, And the bonus was ... you survived to tell the tale. Oh yes we have all stuffed up on occasions, I have in grand style, nearly got badly bitten by the Citabria twice, flew into cloud once ( I wrote a long account of that incident on this site), but thank God no one put a Ferris wheel in the splays at Warnervale. The old saying comes to mind ..."There but for the grace of God go I ..."

Or if he had managed to keep straight he would have missed it completely. But he was legally entitled to be where he was and the Ferris Wheel wasn't.

A short field technique approach in a 172 is very effective especially with the ones that still have the 40 degree flap capability 58 knots at MTOW, less as Potts said with only 1 POB. (not as good as the Auster though with a short field approach at 40 knots ). Landing into a short strip requires a good spot landing technique. If it becomes evident you are going to land too far in, then go around before the wheels touch until you can get it on the right spot. A C172 responds well to a go around (especially with only 1 POB), as long as you go back immediately to 20 degrees of flap. You shouldn't need aggressive braking unless the strip is really short and if it is, and the grass is wet ... think again ... can I stop before the end?

Seems fairly logical doesn't it Don, if you realise you aint gonna stop early enough, go around, there was only 1 POB, a C172 with 1 up has quite reasonable performance ... but we weren't there so don't really know the dynamics of what was happening. Cant even see the fence in the photograph.

Ha bloody ha Riley. I enjoy more taking the pee out of bloody old Cannucks. LOL

Sounds like we have the same number of birthdays LOL. I was born in NZ 60 years ago, so born the brunt of sheep r@@ter jokes for years ... except no one hardly can tell now so every now and then I take the pee out of the odd Kiwi or two as well. LOL

Yep and if you really stuff it up, use that little wheel on the back and the principle of moments and accelerating G forces and ground loop the bugga ... before you hit the fence. It just might stop you and you may only damage the tailfeathers.

Aha, that's an admission Neil, now we can have some fun at your expense (says he who is trying to add some humour to this discussion). Some of my best mates are UK boys ...LOL

Sad but true Nobody .... PPRune really is quite a vitriolic forum. Deskpilot, Don't worry about starting an unintended debate, it was a good post and obviously educated a few that didn't understand that is a normal procedure.

As far as I know it is legal here I cannot imagine why not and I am reasonably certain it is done at Bankstown.

Mark perhaps your comment would not have received such a reaction if you had asked "is this illegal?" Rather than make the statement "this should be illegal" . I cannot see for the life of me why you would need a special endorsement for this. It varies very little from a standard takeoff, someone else (the trailer) is keeping you straight, it is a normal full power take off and when the tow vehicle is at takeoff speed pull the stick back enough to lift off and from that point it is normal. Not much different from a glider tow really.