shu77

Yeah I can offer support on RA Newcastle, I've been flying with them for years, Keith is a great guy.

Somersby is a bit of a peculiar strip, short and with a slope they prefer operations that are landing up hill and taking off down hill, I'm in Hornsby and I normally fly out of Cessnock due to the aircraft available, but if I was coming in I would go Warnervale and then the Oaks at a stretch.

So I'm going to be on the South Island of New Zealand at the start of may for the annual family holiday.

As best I can tell theres no big airshows coinciding with our visit, but does anyone have any good pointers or websites for local flying days or events?

Great effort, I started my certificate out of Bankstown, I found having some experience with towered comms was a great leg up when I started moving to CTAF aerodromes.

In The J170, Embrace the float! :)

Welcome aboard, Where are you flying from?

10K, hey, doesn't itmake you an expert when you've done something 10,000 times?

I believe Theresa couple 500s with flying schools, I haven't heard of a 600 in Aus, but it would definitely be my LSA of choice.

Welcome aboard

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For those of you that are interested here's a video of the Blackshape leaving the carrier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23HEQT8nVxc

Theres a dead looking twin at Cessnock, Its been there long enough for the grass to have grown up past the wings where the mower cant get.

The Tecnam isn't buffeted anywhere near as much as the Jabiru, but I have been noticing a lot more engine management is required in the recent conditions. Full throttle climbs that I normally would have completed without a second thought have the oil temperature creeping up through the yellow band requiring a mid climb cruise to let everything cool back down and even cruise needs to be managed a couple hundred RPM slower than I would in July. Not to mention the temperature gauge still showing >20 degrees when sitting at 4500 ft. The experienced guys tell me they don't bother this time of year and wait until it gets cooler.

Yeah The FK51 would be my choice of replica warbird, the styling seems much more accurate than many of the other replica warbirds on the market today. I still think the Blackshape is remarkably cool

Yeah the blackshape was previously the Millennium Master, Its an LSA specced machine and could be RA-Aus registered, but with an MTOW of 472Kg, its a little light on for most of us. I would still love to fly one, but the second seat would really only be useful for a bag.

From the Blackshape Facebook Page:

BLACKSHAPE AIRCRAFT showcased for 5 months in 19 countries in the Arabian Peninsula and Africa

Monopoli, November 12, 2013 – The Italian naval mission which will promote the technological and industrial excellence of Italy in the Middle East and Africa for 5 months will have among its leading players on board the aircraft carrier Cavour three hi-tech companies belonging to the holding Angelo Investments, the investment fund owned by Vito Pertosa: Blackshape, manufacturer of carbon-fiber aircraft intended for basic flight training of civil and military pilots; MERMEC, developer of measuring trains and railway signalling systems; Sitael, operating in the design and development of earth monitoring satellites. Leg after leg, port after port, the three companies will testify to the talent and high professional level of Apulian industry in strategic sectors for development of the countries visited. The Italian naval mission, which involves, in addition to the flagship of the Italian military fleet, the frigate BERGAMINI, the logistic support vessel ETNA and the open-sea patrol vessel BORSINI, will call at 7 countries in the Persian Gulf and 11 African countries and its objective will be to showcase the best of Italian production, research and technology in a series of countries that represent opportunities for public and private cooperation in addition to investment for the Italian economic and industrial system as a whole.

The naval group will set sail for its long international tour on 13th November 2013 from the port of Civitavecchia and will return to Taranto on 7th April 2014 after visiting the countries of the Arabian peninsula, crossing the Suez Canal and sailing right round Africa. In addition to promoting the excellence of Made in Italy products, the naval mission will carry out both peace-keeping activities (anti-piracy and training the navies of the African countries bordering on the coast) and humanitarian activities (operations will be performed during the voyage as already done in Haiti by surgeons and eye specialists).On each leg of the tour, during which the fleet will stop over in the ports of important cities such as Jedda, Gibuti, Abu Dabhi, Kuwait City, Doha, Dubai, Monbasa, Maputo, Cape Town, Dakar, Casablanca and Algiers, a series of activities, events and conferences have been organised in addition to official meetings with the institutions and local partners in collaboration with the Foreign Ministry and the international network of the Italian Embassies abroad.

The promotion mission involves the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry for Economic Development, Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Tourism and the Institute for Foreign Trade, with the participation of Fincantieri, Finmeccanica, Federlegno, Expo 2015, Pirelli, Piaggio Aereo, Beretta, Elt, Intermarine and Mbda, in addition to the above-mentioned Blackshape, MER MEC and Sitael.

I don't suspect they are hooking it up to the catapult though

https://www.facebook.com/blackshapeaircraft

http://www.blackshapeaircraft.com/blackshape-on-tour-on-the-aircraft-carrier-cavour

I had a nice trip up to a glider field called Lake Keepit to see some friends. Not a bad day for flying, though it was smokey in the Singleton area coming back. 3.7 Hours round trip which I think is more than the last couple months of bad weather combined.

Had the opportunity to visit there a few years back for work. Some really interesting flying in parts

Ah an AAFC member, welcome aboard mate!

Welcome aboard!

I've seen some fantastic aeros in a tecnam Sierra on Youtube (and posted here I think) The FK Lightplanes FK-12 Biplane can also be used for 'Gentlemans' aerobatics according to their website. I very much wish we could get this added to the endorsement list

Welcome aboard!

You finally got there :) Congratulations mate, glad to hear

When I was about 14 I recall attending a fly-in at Woodside Airstrip in SA and watching a cowboy in an auto gyro do a lolly drop on the main runway. Must have been his first time as we discovered quite quickly that a boiled sweet and a wooden pusher prop don't mix. After the impromptu landing we observed the last 6 inches of the prop had splintered. I still remember the younger kids running onto the airstrip to retrieve the lollies when the *crack* noise came from the airframe. Some times I wonder how I got out of the 90's in one piece.

That is quite amazing.