boleropilot

THANK YOU jim188 for your post - I have 200 hours flight experience as PIC that I have taken 10 years to accumulate - based on that frequency I believe that my need for an ASIC is NIL in that 200 hours I have NEVER flown into a regional airfield that has required me to produce any kind of ID whatsoever - I did get an ASIC card at one stage because I believed all the c r a p about the need for one for my trip to Cooktown in 2018 I intend to avoid at all costs airfields with RPT - if I think I may want to use one I will ring ahead - if there are problems then I will go somewhere else BP

OK, here's the plan - I am going to fly my Drifter from Boonah to Cooktown (and back) in 2018 - I do not have an ASIC card, although I did have one in the past I am not going to get it renewed, I am simply going to get a red identity card with my photo on it and carry all my personal I.D. on my person and if anyone asks me for it, I won't say anything, I'll just hold up my little red card that's hanging around my neck and see what happens next... and if some Nazi says "that's not an ASIC card" I'll just say "I didn't say it is, I'm just giving you my I.D." So - what's the worst thing that can happen? And, more to the point, wotcha reckon WILL happen - watch this space.... BP

thanks franks, that's exactly the sort of info I want to hear - I'll address your comments below: yeah it is very short - I won't be using the strip unless I'm light on fuel and no pax, plus good conditions inc. hopefully some light breeze down the strip - I will have 'turbulence markers' everywhere my intention with landing is to approach from above and spiral down to the point where I would be able to do a glide approach to the touchdown point South approach - if you stand at the touchdown point and point at the horizon the angle is less than a Drifter glide approach - so the best option for engine failure will be straight ahead deadstick North approach - much the same as the South except I must remember to take into account that little turn to the right just before the touchdown point for take-offs I will be getting on the throttle quicker than I normally do and getting as much speed up as possible before zooming up, flattening out, and turning to the West there are quite a lot of fairly flat grazing paddocks lower down in that direction and I would expect to reach one of those if I get EFATO - problem here would be fences and creeks... I will be doing a lot of walking in that area before my first flights in/out of here to check out what the best options are I intend to do a LOT of practice at a private local strip using the methods above, it's at Roadvale, about 6nm North of Boonah, marking out the 200 metres during testing if it turns out that it's all just too dangerous I will enjoy the best RC strip in a backyard anyone has ever seen, and keep 0455 at Roadvale and finally, if I manage to get in/out fairly comfortably but braking is an issue, I will fit disc brakes to 0455 and see if that helps - if not, RC only bottom line is I actually enjoy life and if any of this starts getting too uncomfortable I will just go back to the RC field idea. thanks again for the input m8, much appreciated BP PS.....at this point in time I have ruled out using the airfield unless my wife is at home

would love to see some comments about the two approaches to Woolooman airfield - pls let everyone know the videos are here and to let me know what you think I reckon it's gonna be the bees knees meself...can't wait to get 0455 in the air so I can try it out !!!!!!!!! gonna mount a camera to my RC Drifter and send the video to my FPV goggles - what a way to practice ! BP

sounds good to me SAJ - IF we can get 60 knots ground speed it will be SO helpful for my navigation...... I will definitely be in my Drifter btw

wow, Drifter landing areas aplenty.... BP

g'day SAJ, you're welcome to come along for any sections you like - would you be joining us at Thangool? we'll probably be coming South via Longreach / Augathella / Roma, so you could head back towards Thangool from anywhere along that route, perhaps even going across to Chinchilla ? btw, what sort of aircraft do you fly? cheers BP

there's a road west of Ipswich/Boonah called The Road to Nowhere - and it is aptly named - it just stops in the middle of - you guessed it - nowhere !!! BP

just found this 6 year old thread while surfing for info on Lakeside Airpark - our little jaunt from Boonah - Cooktown up da coast (kinda) and back inland (maybe) will hopefully be spending a couple of nights here as a refresher cheers guys, BP

looking forward to it m8 - I'll be the little old bloke with the grey beard, big fat gut and red helmet !!!! BP jayzus, just saw your numbers - running around 50% for likes per messages - you should be callin' yaself Yoda, not Yenn....ah - actually, so am I...who wooda thunk - both of us are old and wise, we are.....

remember the sign on the gate at the Beenleigh Lion Park? POMMIES ON PUSHBIKES ADMITTED FREE ah, them were the days....... g'day Frank

g'day SAJ - because of weather and possible mechanical 'glitches', I'm trying to leave the end time a little 'open' the plan is to leave Boonah on the 24th May and fly to Monto via Kingaroy, one night at Monto and a quick hop to Thangool for the Fly-In on Saturday morning, Friday/Saturday at fly-in, flying out Sunday 27th. I have booked a bed at Monto and Biloela, and I would suggest anyone not camping under wing should get in now because accommodation is running low in both places for that time - if you book with Booking.com you can cancel without payment (check each place in case it's different) right up to a couple of days before the booking date. my attitude is to fly 3 or 4 hours from early morning start, maybe max 200nm or so, half way stopover for a break somewhere, spend the night BUT if the place is spectacular (or the weather is crap) then stay another night...or more....my attitude is that if anyone doesn't want to stay any longer they should head off and hopefully the gaggle will catch up sometime soon. when that happens we'll get in contact and try to arrange an agreed catch-up place my suggestion to anyone thinking of tagging along is to join the mob for as much as you like wherever you like, and just bale when you need to. I'll repeat now that all navigation and accom bookings must be done by the aircraft crew - if you would like advice in relation to my personal bookings I am happy to give that but can take no responsibility for outcomes - I have heard horror stories about guys booking for a group and then having to pay big bucks when someone "changed their mind" - ain't gonna happen to me...my nav planning will be IFR (I follow roads, railways and rivers) but will vary if there's a safe shortcut I'm a bit out of the planning stage at the moment due to a nasty eye injury, even typing this post is not fun - hope to get back into it in a few days cheers for now BP

thank God my Drifter's not draggy...or slow - looking forward to my little jaunt to Cooktown in 2018 - much fun it will be, said Yoda... hey, just did a flight on my simulator (FSX) in the Drifter for an upcoming navex - Boonah - Gympie - it is awesome how the sim shows you where the high bits are, not to mention roads and HT power lines - fab stuff, folks I've now amended my tracks (around the Conondale Range mainly) and put that onto the map - looks gr8...will 'fly' it a couple of more times before I do it in the flesh did the same thing before my trip to Lismore a few years ago and it was just as good then as it is now. ya definitely can't trust it 100% but it is so close to the real thing it's just a brilliant pre-flight exercise for navexs if ya haven't got into FSX yet you are really missing out on a lot of fun... BP

I won't be reading any more posts to this thread - had a gutful - got better ways to P myself off if I'm in the mood.....

have you seen the Chinese Air Force (coughs BS into fist) helmets on eBay for about $65 - available in lots of different colours (I went for red) and they all have a big star on the front... TWO built in visors (clear and tinted) and enough room to add earphones if you like - they look great but I wouldn't trust it on one of my corgis, let alone MY precious head!!! ask me nicely and I might just post a piccy....they're just a toy but if you've got a youngster you need a xmas present for, this is a cracker - one size fits all btw BP

did you hear that Massey Davidson riders are claiming loud exhausts are a safety factor? because other drivers can hear them so they know they are there? (coughs the word BS into fist) if they want to be seen they should put a huge red strobe light on top of their helmets (like the ones on C17s - that would do it) there's only one reason they want to make that damn noise and it has nothing to do with safety - a lot to do with "Wow look at me, I'm so TOUGH" I reckon I'm just sayin' BP PS we live FIVE KILOMETRES from a main road and we hear those things every weekend - louder than trucks !!!!!!!!!!!!

older helmets were definitely poorly designed and constructed - a doctor once told me to leave the strap undone so it would fly off in an accident - he reckoned my chance of survival would be higher that way - he went on to say that a lot of fatal motorcycle accidents were caused by broken necks and he blamed that squarely on heavy helmets these days most 'good' helmets are made of much lighter materials, the best ones are made of carbon fibre. the major problem is simply G forces to the brain - it doesn't matter how good the helmet is, if the head inside the helmet gets a 10G force applied to it (or a lot less I would imagine) the brain simply can't withstand that kind of punishment, mainly due to the fact that it is a squishy soft thing inside a bony structure btw, as a Drifter driver I do wear a quality helmet (not the old white one in my avatar) - the thing that scares me about pranging in the Drifter is the removal of said head due to going through a barbed wire fence at speed, or a big level vertical impact that could damage the fuel tank located under the fuselage.... when it comes down to it, if you spend your life worrying about what might happen to you (people die falling off ladders!) then you'd never get out of bed! BP

hey Pearo, sit tight m8, I'll come and get ya in my Drifter - by the time I get there, that ash cloud will be just a 'unfond' memory... BP

yeah OMU I know but it's amazing how many are still using the Model A engine - I'd have it off there and on the end of me anchor chain in a flash !!! love that Stampe that was on the cover of SA recently too...

some of those chickens can be quite vicious...and why does the media talk BS? because that's what they do! even if they know the truth they will change it to something more dramatic and this big headed know-it-all clown suggests if you don't like what you're reading here, stop looking at it.... I'm just sayin' BP PS as my dear old granny used to say - don't go away angry - just go away

hey Rolly, you watch the footy last night? BP

welcome Paul, finding this forum is the absolute best thing that could possibly happen to you (apart from winning Lotto and getting a team of 18 year old nymphomaniacs to build your Pietenpol for you) I envy you (and all other Pietenpolers) - did I just invent another word? magic little aircraft BUT I don't get the idea of having a clunky old Ford A motor up front (not to mention that damn radiator!!!) BP and of course I must now apologise to the myriad of PCers I just offended...sorry....no, really....well, maybe...

thanks again jaba-who, hope you are going to be available for advice at the time we will be doing that section of the trip... cheers, Dave

imagine Wilbur and Orville doing a walk around of an A380.....

and about one hour later, nearly half way to Auckland, FL410 and 495 knots - if only I could invent a time machine and bring back the Wright brothers for an hour to see this... BP