Coop

Great report, Darren. Certainly some spectacular (and varied) scenery around Auckland- that is, when the fog will let you see it!

 

Regards

 

Coop

 

 

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/quimby.htmBut - why not heard of, I know not, other than having to plead guilty to a degree of male chauvinism (:redface:)

Well, there is that. But check the date.... anything come to mind that might have swamped the media...?

 

Coop

 

 

July 25th 1909 - Louis Bleriot crossed "La Manche". Although much longer flights had been made by this time, the aerial bridging of Europe and England was seen as a pivotal event in world history.

Yep- nice to see the event recreated in a genuine machine of the era, too. Although his landing was a considerable improvement on the original....

 

Now, does anyone know who was the first woman to fly the English channel. And if you have never heard of her, do you know why not...?

 

Coop

 

 

Yep, that's pretty much what I would done- obviously depends upon the situation. For example, if you have electrically operated flaps then you might want to save as much battery as possible for the landing- while flaps are not essential, it does make the landing slower and safer. Certainly get rid of the lights- they'll flatten the battery very quickly and are not essential. Yep- the transponder is one of the bigger power users, so after notifying ATC (if in CTA) then turn that off too. And the radio can go too. If you are in G airspace and coming in to an airfield that has RPT you might want to turn the transponder back on when about 15 miles out- if you are going to encounter an RPT its likely to happen within that sort of radius, and their TCAS can then pick you up if you happen to cross their path. You could turn the radio back on then too- it doesn't draw that much when recieving and you could keep your tranmissions brief. The instruments don't draw much- nor does the GPS, you might want to keep the GPS running to back up your nav to the diversion airfield, especially if you are not familiar with it.

 

Most aircraft will fly on quite happily with the Master switch off (I'm not sure about some of the modern RAA-AUS machines with CDI ignition). I tried this once- accidentally- in a Cherokee six. Thought I was turning off the fuel pump, but turned off the Master instead. My mate was sitting there wondering why all the fuel gauges were reading "empty"!! Most embarassing- but a useful learning experience.

 

Looking forward to your next trip report.

 

Regards

 

Coop

 

 

Well in that case depending on where we were in Flight we would divert to the nearest Airport which would have either been Tyalgra(spl) the grass strip near Byron bay, YBNA YLIS or YMUR(Murwillambar) and once we were on the ground call the flying school to come pic us up and the plane fixers maintance guys will come and fix it and fly her back so yeah i would in that case divert to the nerest .Other then that i would not have a clue but i would turn any electrics off that is not needed to just save some battery i suppose

Spot on, Mattie. Get it on the ground asap and reduce electrical load to save the battery until you've landed.

 

Now, what would you turn off? Obviously some things are more important than others, so what would your order of priority be?

 

This is a "desktop exercise", and it can be a way of continuing your training while waiting for your next flight. Hopefully, you won't have to face anything like this, but if you ever do, having gone through a "what if" exercise can help in your decision making if it ever does happen.

 

So, if you had a reasonable distance to go to a suitable landing ground, what would you switch off to save the battery?

 

Coop

 

 

Well during the Run up all was good nothing showed up but once we got to the Holding point my instructor called Ready and he then glanced at ALT and he said o we got an Alt faluire and we told tower we wernt ready they were fine with that and it went but if it came back would just have to reset it.

If it comes on and stays on in flight (and won't reset) it means your battery is no longer being charged and all your electrics will eventually cause the battery to go flat.

 

So, what would you do if it came on and stayed on? :-)

 

Coop

 

 

Some very weird control positions in some of those shots- obviously these things don't fly like conventional machines- but I already knew that. It's just weird seeing the results show up in the position of the control surfaces...

 

Coop

 

 

Mattie,

 

Given the Alt warning light that you got at runup, did you take any precautions during the flight?

 

What would you have done if it had come on again, and stayed on, during the flight?

 

Coop

 

 

Ah Sizaudin... we get many days warning of cyclones so we can do what's needed to protect our planes. They don't come barrelling in like cold fronts.<snipped>

We've all got our own 'scary stuff that the locals take in their stride and others reckon, "Not for ME"

Yep, like this (In the March 2006 entry)

 

http://www.aircentre.com.au/aircraft/news/2006/mar06wk3.htm

 

Coop

 

 

"Good flying weather has been hard to come by of late. "Now Coop ... In Queensland!

Even the wettest winter I remember, me mate Mal flies the Gipsy in shirt sleves in the middle of the day.

 

Put his coat on at four but still was wearing shorts for that late fly.

 

Naturally you have things we don't... can.t think of them tho.

It's the things we DON'T have that count!

 

Like cane toads...... :tongue: Pauline Hanson..... :tongue: Corrosion and Rotting mainspars....:tongue:

 

Coop

 

 

Good flying weather has been hard to come by of late. Beautiful sunny crisp and calm days during the week have been interspersed with thunderstorms, rain, low cloud and howling winds on the weekends. I'm not knocking the bad weather- the cockies need a good season. But I'd appreciate it if whoever arranges the weather could get it into sync with the weekends.

 

This weekend looked much the same- forecast on Thursday was for showers on both Saturday and Sunday, with strong winds between two fronts. So it was with some surprise that I noted late on Saturday night that the general forecast for Sunday was for fine conditions with light winds- seems the weather had relented at the last minute.

 

Sunday dawned with blue skies and light winds as forecast. By the time I arrived at the home field Tim's Tiger had already departed (he lives closer to the field than I do). I chucked the fuel in as fast as I could, shut the hangar doors and swung the prop. Dorothy was reluctant to start (I suspect the timing on the impulse maggie has drifted a little) but eventually she caught and we were away.

 

The air was alive with aircraft- the radio was busy with trainees, parachutists, sight see-ers, whale watchers and people like myself just out for quick run around the traps. I could hear people calling in the circuit from as far away as Port Lincoln, Renmark and Jamestown, and all places in between.

 

A few puffy white clouds were busily decorating the sky, and Dorothy bobbled along in the light turbulence as I gazed down at the verdant green paddocks and full dams that had been practically dry only a couple of months earlier. I could hear Phil in his Jabiru somewhere down near Goolwa, and Barry in his Tiger near Pt Elliott, and Ivor in his Yak chimed in from somewhere down south. Overhead Noarlunga and I could see the modellers in their adjacent field with their tiny aircraft glinting in the sun as they spun and flicked in the cool air. I gave them a wide berth, and side-slipped Dorothy down onto the freshly mown grass of the Noarlunga strip. Surprisingly the hangar doors were all shut and the only bloke about was a photographer taking pictures. I chatted to him while he took a few of Dorothy, and then Phil landed and opened the hangar (he'd been down looking at a lone whale off Victor Harbour). I'd come to Noarlunga to have a rummage through the old ribs removed from Pitot Pete's Auster (they'd been removed when he rebuilt his wing with new pressed steel ribs). I'd been advised to keep an eye on the nose ribs on my machine as there was some evidence that they could crack just behind where the leading edge aluminium sheet stops. None of mine showed any signs of cracking, but Pete's had almost all had repairs done to them, providing some evidence that the problem was mostly found on the later models like his J5 (perhaps due higher MTOW).

 

Anyway, another Pete who had helped with our wing repairs happened to arrive, and since he had nothing better to do, I suggested he join me flying to Aldinga for a coffee and lunch. He readily agreed, so we strapped on again and headed south along the coast past the nude beach at Maslins, over the wreck of the Star of Greece (still visible on the bottom when the water is calm), and then into the Aldinga circuit. We dodged a couple of Jetstars (er...shooting stars?..nope... er...Starfighters?..nope...er... SPORTSTARS!!) and dropped onto the grass alongside the main strip.

 

[ATTACH]446.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Barry and Steve were there in their Tigers, Tim had just left in his, and we heard Bob in his Citabria departing just as we were joining the circuit. Martin taxied out in his Tiger just as we were shutting down. Everyone was getting out. It was plain to see I wasn't the only one starved of flying lately.

 

Lunch was a bowl of hot soup and some toast and a cappuccino on the veranda of Adelaide Biplanes clubrooms while watching the various aircraft coming and going. Then we wandered over and checked out progress on various projects before cranking up and heading back to Noarlunga. While taxiing out I couldn't help noticing the shark fin in the middle of the dam at the end of the airfield. (Seems the periscope that was there a few weeks ago had disappeared). I gave Pete the controls on the way back while I fiddled with my camera. The Noarlunga Tiger was in the circuit so we followed him around on his touch and go and landed behind him. Shortly after touchdown we noticed he'd turned around and was approaching from the other direction (there was practically no wind), so we scuttled off the runway, but he had his eyes open and went around anyway.

 

Ivor had returned in his Yak but was loading up another bunch of friends to do another run down to the lonely whale so we hung about and watched him take off.

 

Then I bid farewell to Pete and the others and headed back to the home field. After shutting down at home I wandered over to see what Graham was doing with his Glassair. He said he was just taking it out for a run to ensure the battery was charged, and would I like to come for a run? What, go for a run in a glass two-seater with a 300hp engine and all the bells and whistles? Well, if you insist....

 

[ATTACH]447.vB[/ATTACH]

 

The seating position was reminiscent of some of the hotter glass gliders I had flown a few years back, and there was a bewildering array of instruments, dials and switches (auto pilot, IFR panel, digital/analogue engine instruments, etc., etc.). The growl from the engine as Graham opened the taps at take off was only surpassed by the kick in the back as it launched us down the runway. At something like 75 or 80 knots (it was accelerating too fast to be sure), Graham raised the nose wheel and with a couple of chirps from the stall warning we rocketed into the sky. With gear and flaps up, and cowl flaps closed, I noticed we were climbing at 140 knots (Dorothy's Vne) and 2,500' had already gone past. Levelled at 3,500' we soon had 190kts on the clock and Graham handed over to me for a bit of a play.

 

The controls were light and very responsive. Like many short-coupled machines I've ridden in, this one also had a slight tendency to fish-tail, so the rudder was best left alone- any tendency to correct it only made matters worse. Graham suggested we turn around and head back before we left the country, and I handed back to him as we came over the top of the field. He lined up the runway, the stall warning was again just beginning to chirp at about 80 knots as we crossed the fence.

 

[ATTACH]448.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Graham hauled the nose into the air and we dropped onto the main gear with the nose gear coming down firmly almost immediately afterwards. I noted with some interest that his final approach and touchdown speeds were close to Dorothy's cruising speed. It all seemed much, much too fast...

 

I thanked Graham and went back to finish cleaning and covering Dorothy. The sun had set by the time I headed for home, and I reflected that this had been a great way to spend the shortest day of the year.....

 

Coop

 

[ATTACH]17905[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

G'Day Paul,

 

Well, you've got the bug now... assume you will be poor (financially) but rich (in experiences) at the same time for the rest of your life. You will see the world from a point of view that few people get to experience, and most of them won't understand, even though you try to explain it to them. Some will regard you as akin to a god, while others will think you are nuts when you tell them how much it costs. You have to watch the first ones because they can lead you to believing what they believe, until you are brought back to earth- hopefully not too suddenly- the first time you make a mistake. The second lot can be safely ignored- they'll never understand that it isn't about the money...

 

Good luck, and safe flying,

 

Regards

 

Coop

 

 

I attended a funeral this morning to say goodbye to one of the pioneers of aerial agriculture in this country.

 

Pat Crowther began his agriculture operations on Kangaroo Island in 1955 with one Tiger Moth, dumping superphosphate over paddocks for soldier settlers, including the neighbour's paddock where I first saw him. I was aged about 5 at the time.

 

His operation at Snug Cove (Coveair) wasn't all that far by air from our place, and my parents knew him well. So next time he was over our way he buzzed the house- putting Mum under the kitchen table. On another occasion he tried to stir a response from Dad by buzzing the dairy. This was during milking and the consternation within was predictable. Dad expressed his disapproval by stepping outside and waving a shovel full of cowsh*t at him. A couple cows jumped the rails and took off down to the river flat. Pat disappeared, and a minute or two later the cows re-appeared, at high speed, with the Tiger beating backwards and forwards behind them, shepherding them back up the hill.

 

Driving to Kingscote, it was not uncommon to hear the roaring of a Gipsy engine, and a glance sideways would reveal Pat flying along, just above the telephone lines, keeping pace. There would come a cheery wave, and he would pull up and go on his way. He gave my older brother a ride in the hopper one day, and opened the chute while in flight- it was only a 6" gap, but my brother reckoned it looked like 6 feet.

 

But it wasn't all flying- I remember trips to Snug Cove to go fishing and riding down an extremely steep track in an old Jeep with Pat edging towards the steep drop to provoke screams from my mother and sister.

 

Eventually we left the Island, and our family lost touch with Pat and his family. In the 70's I got involved with gliding and subsequently my Restricted Pilot's license, and occasionally I would see one of Pat's Pawnees with "Crowthair" on its side- so I knew he was still about the place. Then I ran into him again when he delivered one of Waikerie's new two-seaters by aero-tow. A possibly apocryphal story had him challenged to fly his Pawnee through the new hangar (a Bellman) before the doors and roof had been fitted. He never admitted to doing it, but an acquaintance who claimed to have seen it said his comment afterwards was that it was the easiest $200 he'd ever made.

 

He left my sphere of operations again, and during this time I wasn't aware (until today) that he'd developed new spray nozzles, loading techniques, and in conjunction with Roseworthy Agricultural College researched spray patterns and methods of measuring them. I have no idea how much of today's technology associated with aerial agriculture he helped develop, but I understand it to be a substantial contribution. He also conducted agricultural operations in South Africa and the UK.

 

About 20 years later I got my hands on a Tiger, and then an Auster, and I began frequenting some of the airfields South of Adelaide, and I ran into him again. By now an older man, he still possessed that ascerbic wit and "grumpy" demeanour (a total facade) and distaste for anything bureacratic that got in the way of getting the job done. His opinion of the "Department" was expressed in his interpretation of the letters "DCA": Dumb........ (You can figure out the rest). Yes, he took some risks from time to time, but any pilot that makes his living in this field for most of his life and lives to a ripe old age has learned some lessons that we'd do well to emulate.

 

He frequented Noarlunga airfield during his last years, acting as a mentor and source of aeronautical knowledge for us less experienced pilots.

 

I hope someone writes his biography. I only know a small fraction of the man's life and I've got stories enough- a complete account would be a great read. I only wish I'd had more contact with him, and learned a little more of what he knew.

 

Goodbye Pat, and thank you for lighting the spark all those years ago.

 

I dunno what they are gonna do in heaven. I don't think angel's wings come with interplane struts and bracing wires, but I'm sure they'll figure something out.

 

Coop

 

 

Great report Coop. I was in Mildura at the weekend and I was going on Saturday but woke up to the rain and as the forecast was not good we gave it a miss.Been to Wentworh a couple of times and found it very friendly, as are all of these events. Does Eric still fly his Auster?

Typical council. When you want them to do something they run a mile but when people look like enjoying themselves........ Anyway I suppose you cannot blame them with with the legal system the way it has become.

Thanks folks.

Yep, Eric is still flying his Auster. He has been at a number of fly-ins in recent times.

 

Nobody was too upset at the council folks. They were just doing their job as they saw it, and they did have some valid points. Getting the airfield registered was probably the main miscalculation. With an unregistered field you get your advice from the locals by phone or radio and then its up to you whether you use the field or not. The lighties could still have flown in, (with suitable warnings about staying on the hard stuff) but heavier machines could have been warned off.

 

Better luck next year. We do seem to be striking bad weather at the wrong times this year. I suggested to the folks that they consider charging the local farmers a service fee- to be refunded if it doesn't rain, and retained if it does....

 

Regards

 

Coop

 

 

Hear hear. Nice to read about real aeroplanes and adventures and people.Beware of Cu. I was looking up at one in Brissy on a summer day and saw a mini tornado shoot about 200 feet out of the bottom and turn parallel to the base and swoosh off about a kilometre in a couple of seconds. i rang a friend who could tell me which jet was nearby (couldn't see it) and I contacted Qantas and asked if they'd sus out the captain and get him to ring me.

He did and we talked about what he saw on the radar and what I saw.

 

He saw a bit of red but nothing scary. I reckon if he'd have flown through that thing he'd have gotten a big surprise.

Thanks. Perhaps an even wider berth is justified. I certainly am wary of the things, but your experience suggests bigger margins would be a good idea.

 

Regards

 

Coop

 

 

Wentworth for Dinner- Part 2

 

Eric had negotiated some hangar space for me with Wynn, another ancient aviator who only recently decided to cease acting as pilot in command. She was going to advertise her C150 as “Only ever flown by a little old lady on Sundays”- a statement very close to the truth. However, a local identity knew a good aircraft when he saw one, and so Wynn didn’t have to advertise it at all. (Pity).

 

However, she hadn’t sold her hangar, and with some pretty poor weather forecast for the next 24 hours, I was very pleased to get Dorothy under cover overnight.

 

[ATTACH]402.vB[/ATTACH]

 

The Hungarian goulash exceeded expectations (that's Eric in the grey, standing on right), and about 50 people turned up. The pot that Eric used was reminiscent of a witch’s cauldron (hubble, bubble, toil and trouble…) and the brew, together with some spuds and damper, had most of us calling back for seconds. An altogether most convivial evening.

 

[ATTACH]403.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Overnight, the heavens opened and it poured. I was warm and snug in Eric’s caravan, and I was pleased that Dorothy was tucked into Wynn’s hangar. The following morning reports of 6-9mm of rainfall in the local area were common, and some areas of the airfield were looking distinctly soggy. A large puddle had formed where the sealed taxiway joined the sealed portion of the strip, and one member quipped this was the decontamination bath for any Victorians visiting that day…..

 

[ATTACH]404.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Eric and I wandered over to Col’s place where we had been invited for breakfast, and discussion soon turned to the state of the airfield.

 

[ATTACH]405.vB[/ATTACH]

 

Some time back it appeared that someone had made a tactical error and had the airfield licensed. The unfortunate result was that earlier that morning, the council employees had been out to conduct an inspection and placed a white cross on the intersection of the two runways, effectively closing the airfield. The club expected many people to fly in that day, so this decision (and the accompanying NOTAM) was met with some consternation, as you can imagine.

 

The forecasters had informed me that if I was coming back on Sunday, it would be best to return as early as possible (consistent with the fog lifting) as there was more bad weather forecast about mid morning. The weather that gave us the rain overnight appeared to have moved on, so Mick and I decided to leave later that Saturday afternoon. The sunlight and steady breeze were rapidly drying out the field, and by late morning the main runway was obviously safe to use, provided you didn’t venture off the hard stuff. With this in mind I moved Dorothy up to the bowser and refuelled, then I parked her on the grass and washed off all the mud that had accumulated while moving up the track from Wynn’s hangar.

 

[ATTACH]406.vB[/ATTACH]

 

(Dorothy on the grass while Eric and Mick discuss the finer points of Austering.)

 

At this stage a white 4-wheel drive appeared with a flashing yellow light, and two council inspectors examined the strip and the rain gauge. When they returned to the clubhouse they were surrounded by a small group of club members eager to convince them to put out the dumbbell and remove the cross so that people could fly in. But they couldn’t, and their argument was that if they opened the airstrip, it had to be open for aircraft up to 5700kg, not just the hordes of Jabiru’s that frequent Wentworth. They promised to come out again on Sunday and see if they could open the strip.

 

Mick and I decided to depart anyway, as the strip was perfectly safe for our operation. So as not to create any tension, we decided to wait until after the council employees had departed before we cranked up and headed for home.

 

We sat at 500’ AGL for the run home in order to avoid the stronger head winds up higher. The rain had freshened up the paddocks we were flying over and a visible tinge of green was becoming more obvious. I hope they all get bumper crops this year- they certainly need it.

 

About 30 miles from home Mick and I observed a plug of cloud descend out of the base of a large cumulus just left of our track. It appeared to be rotating, so we decided to give it, and the rain shower associated with it, a wide berth. It dissipated in about 3 minutes, and even though we were about three miles away as we passed abeam, we noted an increase in the mild turbulence we had been experiencing until then.

 

Soon afterwards Dorothy’s wheels slid onto the wet grass at our home strip, and we quickly had her tucked away in her hangar.

 

If you are heading West, I recommend Wentworth as a stopping place. Their well-appointed clubhouse has toilets and a shower, and if club members don’t ply you with food, there are frozen pies and pasties you can nuke in the microwave. Avgas is available, and Eric is the voluntary refueller. He lives on the field, so there’s no call-out fee. The club members are very hospitable and since some of them live on the field, you are certain to get some help if you need it.

 

(The forecast turned out to be wrong, and we could have come home on Sunday without difficulty. Ah well, nobody's perfect...)

 

Coop

 

[ATTACH]17895[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

My employer had been cracking the whip a little heavily of late and owed me some time off. So I added a couple of days to the beginning of the long weekend to make a decent break of it.

 

The Navigator is in the middle of wrapping up some major study, and although she had expressed a wish to accompany me to Wentworth, I sensed a reduction in her usual enthusiasm as she contemplated the mound of reading she had to complete over the next week or so. The clincher came when a recurring hip problem raised its ugly head the night before our departure, and she decided to pull out of the trip to save herself some discomfort and get the reading done.

 

This left me with a vacant seat, so I rang my good mate Mick who has himself been unable to aviate of late due some pretty serious difficulties that came damn close to equipping him with his own set of wings and a harp. He was delighted to get my call as he had been planning to drive. As he said: “I’d rather spend 2 hours in an Auster than 5 hours in a Ford ute”.

 

Why Wentworth? Well, another Auster Driver, an ancient Eastern European refugee by the name of Eric, is famous for his Hungarian Goulash, and he cooks it once a year at a fly-in at Wentworth in support of the local flying club. I’d never sampled this delicacy, and was keen to do so after hearing a rave review from Mick and others last year.

 

Friday morning arrived, and Mick met me at Callington at about 9:30am. The early morning fog had appeared as forecast, but rapidly burned off as I did the pre-flight and refuelling. Mick had solved the problem of getting into the Auster in spite of his somewhat recalcitrant legs by climbing in the left side and sliding across. We chucked his crutches in on top of our bags, shut the hangar doors and blasted off.

 

The air was dead smooth, and Dorothy settled into her stride at 2,500’ as we skirted around the Murray Bridge CTAF and headed out across the wheat paddocks east of the Murray River. Mick (who is a LAME) asked if I’d had the prop balanced. I said I hadn’t but wondered why he’d asked. He replied that he could read Dorothy’s instruments, an indication that the engine was running smoothly and the prop was nicely balanced. Dorothy accepted the compliment!

 

[ATTACH]397.vB[/ATTACH]

 

The trip to Wentworth was so smooth as to be almost boring. We didn’t encounter so much as a ripple until about 20 miles out. There was little traffic, and I managed to put Dorothy down gently onto the gravel of the main runway without any embarrassing skips or hops.

 

[ATTACH]398.vB[/ATTACH]

 

We parked in front of the clubrooms where Eric was hard at work cutting up some prime goat meat (this is the authentic cuisine, folks!)

 

Mick had been to Wentworth numerous times before, so we took a stroll down the line of houses which flank the main runway to catch up with some of the people he knew. Our first port of call was John’s workshop where he is constructing a 90% scale Spitfire homebuilt.

 

[ATTACH]399.vB[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]400.vB[/ATTACH]

 

As you can see from the photographs, this is not a project to be taken on lightly- the amount of work involved is quite staggering and should only be attempted if you have sufficient patience and attention to detail to stay the course! This is going to be one damn fine machine when it is completed- a 200hp engine is expected to deliver about 150knots in the cruise.

 

We wandered back and examined Rod’s Jodel D-9. Mick used to own one of these, and showed much interest in the electronic fuel injection which Rod had fitted instead of the conventional carburettor. This was still undergoing some debugging as the engine was presently running too rich and was not yet delivering the performance required for test flying.

 

Later that afternoon I decided to go for a local jaunt to take a more detailed look at the area around Wentworth. This is where the Darling River joins the Murray River, and the junction is plainly visible from the air.

 

[ATTACH]401.vB[/ATTACH]

 

I was a little surprised to see that the Darling is actually much smaller than the Murray. It was also interesting to note that Wentworth is built within a cut-off loop of the Murray such that it is almost an island (and certainly will be if we ever get another flood).

 

(Continued)

 

[ATTACH]17893[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]17894[/ATTACH]

 

 

 

 

Yes- couldn't agree more about the looks. But great little load carriers- ideal for touring- or so I am told, haven't managed to get my bum in one yet, but impressed by the number of (sometimes large) bodies that tumble out of the Tri-pacers at various fly-ins.

 

Coop

 

 

G'Day Wingnut,

 

Yep- nice machines the little Grummans. Have flown a couple Tigers. Took me a while to get used to the castering nosewheel, but.

 

Coop

 

 

That piccy was taken after it landed with a broken axle at Parafield. It damaged the wing and people have been trying to organise the funds to fix it ever since. If this had happened in the USA it would have been flying again within 12 months....

 

Coop

 

 

G'day CoopAnd three more Austers that arrived

 

Scottw

Nope, hadn't seen any of those before... I think.

ABI and ABJ must surely be stablemates.

 

Hopefully we'll see all these at the Auster Rally in Broken Hill later this year (October 3rd/4th).

 

Thanks for the pictures,

 

Regards

 

Coop

 

 

G'day CoopSome lovely Austers arrived through the morning

 

here is one to kick it off

 

Scottw

A full flap landing, eh? Bet he bounced it!

Seen Ray's machine before, but looks like it's had a facelift.

 

Thanks

 

Coop

 

 

Aaargh! Lucky devils! Cloud down to 400' AGL with intermittent rain at my place today. Lousy weather this weekend. Lousy weather last weekend. Probably explains why I'm so grumpy of late.....

 

Anyway, nice to see someone's getting good flying weather and that some Austers can get out of the hangar!!

 

Coop

 

 

Understand the concern Coop. Saw alot of it in my past job.

Yep. Seen too much of it myself. And I don't even work in a field that would necessarily bring me into contact with it. Out in the sticks once and tried to help the survivors of a bingle which simply involved high speed on a country road- single vehicle accident (too fast- lost control). Six in the car, two dead when I arrived, and ultimately only two survived. All young people (as I was, then). I was there for about an hour trying to keep a 16-yr old breathing. That sort of experience gives you a whole new perspective on speed and power on the road.

But enough of this doom and gloom. Robbo, I commend your pristine record, may it long remain so, and may you never witness (let alone be involved in) any of the consequences of a "rush of blood"

 

Coop

 

 

Now you can drag Paul !!!!I had no hope in the SS :( I kept loosing you guys in traffic :( Then I had a old grandma in my lane :(

I suspect some "cognitive distortions" here Robbo. You mean to say that "I kept loosing you guys in traffic" means you were on a drag strip? With a grandma in front of you?

 

Just take it easy on the roads, eh?

 

Coop