Ed Herring

Hi Dave

Make sure you have your "Checklists" in order! You will know the sequences that you are likely to be put through...Because that is what you have been training for...! It's important and a "MUST" to not only recite a Checklist but pysically "do the action". For example it wouldn't be the first time that a student has called "Fuel on and Sufficient" without actually checking that the Tap is on...! So my advice is work on your Checklists OK Dave! Good luck, relax and have fun!

Best Regards

Ed Ed Herring

"Extract from the August 2006Pacific Flyer Magazine"

"FLY SYNTHESIS, manufacturers of the carbon-fibre Texan and composite Storch sports plane are pleased to announce that the NZCAA have recently accepted the registrations of the Texan Top Class and the Storch S.

Furthermore the TEXAN is allowed to fly to the MTOW of 544 kg, the current gross maximum weight allowable in the New Zealand microlight class.

Whilst the factory built Texan has been designed for a MTOW of 600 kg, current Australian rules only allow the Texan to be flown to a MTOW of 454 kg or 476 if fitted with a Ballistic parachute.

The exception being the Kit built Texan that is permitted to fly at a MTOW of 544 kg in Australia.

Caz Monteleone, the importer of the Fly Synthesis Range www.flysynthesis.com.au say's "The Factory is comitted to the new LSA and expects in time to see most of their range come under the LSA category.

The first Aircraft to meet the LSA will probably be the Texan Top Class with a MTOW of 600 kg followed by the Storch Amphibian"........"

My guess is that the weight increase in Australia is just around the corner....Dave, i am enjoying your Blogger website and its been good following your progress. Keep having fun Mate! Now you can post some of your experiences on the Texan Users Group!

Best Regards

Ed

Ed Herring

A great project Stephen....keep the photo's coming mate!

Regards

Ed

Hi All

OurFly Synthesis http://www.flysynthesis.com.au Texan TCis all we expectedher to be...Take off and landing performance is very impressive. The performance figures are just as the book said it would be! Well done to the Italian Factory! Now that we have a Texan Users Group up and running we can share the experience!

Best Regards

Ed

Hi Stephen

If you are at Serpentine make yourself known to Gwynne and Ed Smith and Maureen and Ted Sharpe. They are great people who will make you very welcome. A great group of flyers...!

Regards

Ed

A link to the CASA Flight Safety Magazine:-

Turtle's opening in this post has the CASA link to the Magazine! It is downloadable and a very important read for us all.....!

Regards

Ed

Hi Stephen

Its great to have you with the Forums. Congratulations on taking on such an interesting project and especially for sharing it with us. You will no doubt find the forums valuable as there are many members with all sorts of experience if you have any questions. Also enjoy the Gazelle, its a great aircraft. Where in Perth are you training?

Best Regards

Ed

Hi Peter

I am of the opinion that we all need to be very careful not to fall in to the trap that a few would like us to.

Let us not throw stones at each other, but work together for the future of recreational flying.

To paint a word picture for you, i have a very good old friend who is a recreational aviator yet has never been in an "Ultralight". It is not because hehas neverwanted to it is simply due to his size! He is not wealthy but he still flys his old Cessnathat he has owned for nearly 40 years, and he considers that he is very much a recreational pilot...!He would be very happy to be in a category administered by a body with the "runs on the board" such as RA-Aus.

Iam of the opinion thatwe should focus more on ourselves as pilots in this debate. Together we are recreational pilots from all walks of life and we fly all sorts of aircraft in a great range of categorys.

Have you ever noticed how a pilot will always check out any aircraft no matter what type, just because it's there? I am sure you do the same! Sometimes it is in admiration...sometimes we are thinking ( not for me ) but we always have respect for the pilot...! A 747 Captain still considers a Tyro Pilot a Pilot for example....! ( it's ok "Tappy" )

In previous posts i have pleaded for all the Aviation Groups to work together for our future... and i am still pleading for common sense to prevail...funny about that!

Regards

Ed

Ed Herring

Your Storch is a very nice example of the breed indeed. Welcome to the Forum.

Best Regards

Ed

Hi Michael

Welcome to the Forums. I am sure you have some interesting flying experiences and we are looking forward to you sharing them with us.

Best Regards

Ed

Hi Guys

I too am hoping that someone hastried the DC X11at OshKosh where theywere due for release.

http://www.davidclark.com/X11/index.htmlhttp://www.davidclark.com/X11/faq.html

The price seems to range from US$799.00 - US$865.00 Use a currency converter to checkAUS $. http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi

The AVSHOPhttp://www.avshop.com/prodinfo.asp?number=6944is a sample of the cost range in the USA...But dont forget the freight component ect...! And just perhaps consider looking after an Australian Dealer!

Regards

Ed Ed Herring

Hi Arthur

If you send me the details i will put it on our SAC calendar!

Regards

Ed

Well done Middo...! Our organisation is very forunate to have such a dedicated and seemingly tireless ambassador that has carved our future into stone. It's up to us all to use that stoneas the foundation for the future of recreational aviation in Australia.

Regards

Ed

Hi Steve

I am almost certain that Tony Peters was the designer / builder at Goolwa SA. He now lives in Sale, Victoria. I am sure he wouldn't mind if you phoned him. Tony is a great guy! ( 03 5143 2482 )

Regards

Ed

Hi Roger

I agree with Ian's comments on the Gazelle! We have one in our school and she is an absolute delight and excellent for "mature age" students. However most of them are now aging and as they are out of production schools are now looking at replacement with new generation aircraft. We had Caz Monteleone's demo Fly Synthesis Storch ( http://www.flysynthesis.com.au ) at our school for four months this year and she well and truly convinced us that she wasa worthy school trainerthat would satisfy the needs of both the mature age people and the also younger students.Well built, roomy, comfortable and forgiving with great performance arejust some of herattribrutes. At a similar cost to the J160 the F/S Storch is well worth adding to the list!

Regards

Ed

Hi Shifty

Either Dash mounted or the traditional placeare both options.

Regards

Ed

Hi Arthur

YMBD is just a nice hop on a Saturday for a cuppa...i would love a close look at your machine!

Regards

Ed

Hi Ben

You have summarised in many fewer words that i, the core of how the majority of recreational pilots from all sectors feel about the situation. Thank you!

Best Regards

Ed

Hi Arthur

Welcome to the Forums. You will find them great fun, particularly if you have any questions while building your Jodel. A lot of experienced flyers and buildersfrom all directions use this site. Your Minimax looks a lot of fun and you fly with a great bunch of people at Truro Flats Airpark. See you there soon!

Best Regards ;)

Ed

Hi Bruce

I am curious to find out what the SAAA membership thinks of their leaders promoting another organisation. Why didn't their leadersput the SAAA forward with all the members experience and expertise instead of LFA? What do you and the SAAA membership think?

Regards

Ed Ed Herring

Hi Geoff ( and All )

( I am surprised at thecriticism of LFA, the SAAA &their keyExecutives in this months RAA magazine, let alone the vehemance of what the Pres & others have said. )

With great respect Geoff, the heading of your post has prompted me to respond. Below is a small part of an email i sent to several from both sides last week beforeRA-Aus Magazine came out.

( The Leisure Flight Australia flyer that came with my AOPA Magazine prompted this email, with the reference that the RA-Aus could not work with the best interests of Private GA, and the LFA Website comment (Ultralights should continue to be administered by Recreational Aviation Australia without interference from GA, and GA should be administered by GA organisations without interference from Recreational Aviation Australia. ) highlights to me, rightly or wrongly just how fundamentally ridiculous it is to waste the opportunity of working together for the same cause. I am of the opinion that all Aircraft and Pilots once airborne deserve equal respect.)

I have now recieved my RA-Aus Magazine and read John and Paul's articles. They are disturbing but having been around the scene for several years, Pauls version of the facts is in paralell with how i have viewed it.

It is a fact that RA-Aus ( formally the AUF ) has been managed very successfully to where it is today, while other organisations have floundered for survival. While no organisation is allways perfect, the RA-Aus strong category and membership should prove to all that it is in an enviable position to manage our recreational aviation future.

Surely the time isNOW forall parties to recognize that recreational aviation is all of us that fly for our recreation in what ever aircraft we fly. We MUST encourageall aviation sectors with theirexperience and expertiseto join together to have one very strong voice to form an organisation thatwill promote the growth of aviation in our best interests.

It is NOT too late to repair the damage. But our leaders must do just that...LEAD. It is them that will be recorded in History for the success or failure of their decisions.

As individuals we can sit back, do nothingand blame every one else when we are not happy with the results or we can do something and at least know we tried. Consider your own position. Show your suport in the way you think best.

Best Regards

Ed

Ed Herring

Nosmo

In reply to your concerns re RA-Aus getting into the "lower" end of GA...Why does the EAA work so well? Answer...because they are one very strong and powerfull organisation that encompasses all the groups working together...!

Regards

Ed Ed Herring

Hi Nosmo

I had a couple of long conversations with Gary Spicer at Natfly and i am sure he would have mentioned this to meat the timeif what you have mentioned was the case. Gary in fact had a good time and enjoyed his time there just as he has done in the past.Isn't Gary one of theteam wanting to work as a team? I have since communicated with Gary and have another version of what you have stated. From that it is easy to understand why youwrote what you did. An unfortunate situation indeed!

Regards

Ed Ed Herring

Hi Bruce

If only this particular situation was as simple as that! I agree with your tactics and history in the fullness of time will prove you to be correct. But if "they self devour" we also willdisappear in your proverbial puff of smoke. Because even though some may not recognise the fact, we are ALL in this together. A very good reason to pull together. In fact some of the issues already haveahistorywhich promotes concern.

The problem is all of us involved in recreational aviation are a part of this issue and we must suport the group which can best manage our interests. The fragmentation amongsome of thegroups must cease. All the organisations involvedhave expertise which is invaluable for the growth of recreational aviation in Australia.

Consider this fact...Recreational Aviation is any aviation activity in any aircraft from any sector that is not part of a commercial activity. ( Recreational Training GA or RA-Aus is included )

Surely the time has never been more appropriate than now forall the aviation body's in the countryto work together to form a strong alliance forour future growth.The leaders of these groups must bury their ego'sof the past and be brave and humble enough to admit that they could do it better and be strongerif they were part of the sameTeam.

They are the decision makers and we must encourage them to make thecorrect decisions for us.My message to allis, Do Not lose the focus on our recreational aviation future and we must work hard to encourage our leaders, because all of them have good intentions in their own minds.

Each one of them are intelligent people withthe knowledge that they are the ones that will be in the History books and as individuals they wouldprefer History to bekind to them.

Best Regards

Ed Ed Herring

Hi Shifty

I think that in reallity it is not important what you initially learn and get your licencein.Importantly however, you must be convinced thatthe training is conducted in a proffessional manner in a facility that offers you what you expect from it. It is very important that you are comfortable in the Aircraft and with the Instructor and the Environment.

To give you a clue, it is smart to be patient and just hang around a school for a while and judge the atmosphere. You will soon work it out if you are going to "fit" or not. This is important because you are going to invest a lot of time and money there!

A convenient location is next on the list of prioritys and of course it needs to fit with your personal budget! Once you have your licence is the time to try the others if you still find the need. There are so many types that are very nice aircraft and available to fly. You finish up with a much better understanding of your personel wishes and needs once you have a Licence and some experience.

My guess is you will change your mind on your preferences a lot as you go ( yes us blokes do it too ) So don't worry too much about the type just yet. Eventually you will settle on the type that suits your needs.

Remember the meaning of patience andin the interimgo flying with an agenda to have fun in an environment you can afford and are comfortable with.

I probably haven't really answered your initial question and because you have some experience you will have the situation nutted out but an individuals aircraft preference is very much a personal choice so my message is simply to enjoy your flying!

Regards

Ed Ed Herring