NT5224

Nev, I wish you’d come up to my place in the Top End and explain to all the thousands of scorpions that they don’t belong here and should bugger off to the desert instead! And if you can draw away the King Browns too, like the pied piper, it’d be much appreciated…🤣 Alan

A couple of months ago I quipped about a tree falling and crushing a runway marker on my strip… And received some very amusing responses. 🤣 But now I have another aviation incident to report. Or, in truth probably not report… So I got stung by a scorpion in my aircraft. I wasn’t actually flying at the time but was at an out field to refuel. After getting back in and starting up I felt sharp sting in my lower back under my shirt. But since I was strapped in, I couldn’t move freely to investigate. I assumed it was a wasp or a horsefly and thought nothing more of it. Uneventful flight home but putting the aircraft back in the hangar found a scorpion under the pilot seat. Chucked it out. I have no doubt the scorpion originated from my own hangar. I have seen them around the hangar and regularly spray for them and other vermin. But now ten days later I have a big reddened blotch on my lower back which is still a bit sore to touch at the sting site. im not sure what lessons can be learned from this experience. Should preflight checklist include a detailed inspection of every nook and cranny of the aircraft including within seat covers? Is that practical? I spray in and around my hangar and around the undercarriage of the aircraft to discourage passengers boarding… Should I have flown home after an assumed insect sting? I know some people suffer can anaphylactic reactions, but I don’t. Anyway, who is to say how long a reaction will take to have effect? Do you wait two hours, four hours, six hours? Losing the light would be a greater risk than some possible effect of an insect nip. Will this stop me flying? Absolutely not. I’ll keep spraying the hangar and have a good look in the cockpit and brush down my seat before a flight, but hey this is the Top End… Alan

Hi team a very simple question. I use my IPad as my primary flight device but last week flew a few circuits with only my IPhone. I have OzRunways installed on both devices, same account. The latest flight was logged on my IPhone but doesn’t show up in the flight log on my IPad. Can somebody explain how I might copy the last flights over to my IPad? Can I sync the two devices somehow, or do I need to export those flight logs? Could somebody explain how I do that? Thanks in advance Alan

Reporting an aviation incident -of sorts. The Boy and I were on our afternoon stroll along the airstrip when I noticed a tree fallen down directly onto a airstrip marker Gable, crushing it.. What are the chances of that? I will remove the tree and fix the Gable. They are hand-me-downs from RAAF Tindal so have some heritage significance. Who knows….I might even find time to go flying some time? Alan

For those of you that know this stuff… Do military aircraft operate on the same frequencies and ATC systems? Flying in the Top End I have had both fast jets and helicopter pass close to me/under me, and assume they didnt even know I was there. I was carrying ADSB but they weren’t on it… How would separation normally be maintained between a military helicopter and a commercial airliner? Alann

Yes this is all true. My 0320 would run fine on Mogas and I believe may be certified to do so. However, what Lycoming does not approve is switching intermittently between fuel types. I might do so in an emergency ( if no other fuel was available) but basically stick with Avgas. Incidentally, just from personal experience I find Avgas runs smoother and cleaner on various power tools around my property. The small two strokes prefer the lead lubrication and don’t get gummed up with all the aromatics and stabilisers they put in unleaded 98. Scaling up this observation to an aircraft engine, I assume it runs better on specialist aviation fuels. Have not personally experienced plug fouling with Avgas. Cheers Alan

Good point Skippy. But as I don’t use 98 unleaded in my Lycoming that’s of little interest to me…Will be more significant to those flying with Rotax or Jabiru motors… Alan

Hi Team I have a question. Every year I get repeat billed by the ‘Country Airstrip Guide’ people for their latest update. It isn’t cheap, (probably upwards of $50) and they don’t make it easy to unsubscribe. But as far as I can tell there are very few updates and differences year to year. So you keep paying for the same document on repeat. Furthermore, the ‘pilots touring guide’ that comes packaged in Ozrunways seems to contain virtually identical information and Ozrunways itself provides the airstrip diagrams. Can anybody explain to me what is the advantage of a subscription to the Country Airstrip guide? How does it compare with the pilot touring guide, and is it worth having both? Maybe there’s something I’m not getting… Cheers Alan

As a Territorian I must admit I find peoples fascination with crocodiles bewildering. Don’t you blokes have Brownsnakes and red back spiders? Do you try to eradicate them from the southern states? Crocodiles are the same. I have plenty living here on my property ( not marine crocs, granted) and am always pleased to see them. They are a species that has persisted millions of years virtually unchanged and no more deserve persecution by humans than we would deserve to be eradicated other species who could. Live and let live. Alan

Nev gotta say I disagree with some of that. The Top End is warm true, but when the job needs doing, you do it! My wife and I are currently in the middle of a tough concreting job, despite heat and humidity. I like to believe we are also capable of rationale thought, although possibly not to the same level of elevated intellect as you southern intelligentsia 🤣 Alan

Plenty of reasons to live here Nev. 🤣 Alan

That’s spectacular footage but I would personally be rather nervous flying so low with a two stroke behind me…

Really saddened I recall occaisional chats with Mark and remember him as a top bloke with a real passion for aviation and education.

This could well be somebody out of MKT on a Sunday. What a tragedy! Condolences to the friends and family of the fellow aviator we have lost… So many fatal accidents/incidents in the news lately… It’s disconcerting. Is this just the way these stories are being reported (e.g conflating different categories of aviation) or there something else…? A sad day Alan

Hi All Great, very instructive video. I hate to criticise, the emergency was well handled, but I thought the pilot landed very long at high speed. In a real off strip situation you probably want to glide at best rate to make of your touch down point, but then slow things up when you’re sure you’re in. I’ve had two engine out emergencies in real life flying, but am still learning. Helpful to see this exercise. Alan