Coop

G'Day Again Evan, That's an impressive LSA machine. Like most LSA aircraft, the weight can be pretty limiting. According to the specs I see on the website, with a payload of 210 kilos (Max weight 544 minus MT weight 334) you could carry 4 hours of fuel (55 litres at 42 kilos) leaving enough for two 80 kilo occupants and 8 kilos of luggage. Not much luggage for a long trip. But if you could do that at 110 knots with good short field performance it would still be a neat tourer. If you were by yourself, of course, you could carry 6 hours of fuel and all the luggage you ever needed. I was specially impressed by the "camper" version. There aren't too many light aircraft you can sleep in- let alone LSA aircraft. The only other one I have seen is a Cherokee Six! Now that should help to keep the motel bills down! What fuels can you run in the Subaru? Regards Coop

G'Day Evan, Welcome! What sort of machine is this Terrier of which you speak? RAA? GA? Any relation to the Beagle Terrier (a variant of the Auster built in the 60's)? Regards Coop (Who flies an Auster variant)

Be careful checking out valleys- they sometimes string powerlines across them!! Great pics! Regards Coop

I don't know if we were just lucky in SA, but I know the SA police put in a big effort monitoring anyone previously convicted of arson- especially on fire ban days. I think they also monitor anyone charged with arson who wasn't convicted (perhaps because of limited evidence). They also patrol areas known to be frequented by firebugs on fire ban days. As I said, maybe we were just lucky, but it may also be that this effort is having some impact. If it is, then perhaps it is going to cut down the number of such fires that get lit every year. THe chap arrested a few days back fits the pattern- socially inept, limited intelligence, fascinated by fire and pornography. Life may very well be the outcome in his case. In the meantime, keep your eyes open and don't hesitate to call in when you see smoke. You might be the first one to see it. Coop

THanks for the comments, but I forgot to mention, this was about 2 years ago. When the Harrogate firebug was doing her stuff (subsequently caught and prosecuted). But we still keep our eyes open. Coop

G'Day Guys, In this era of firebugs, as you blatt around the countryside, keep your eyes open for smoke. We all have a very good view from the air, and you may be the first to report a fire. We were returning from a local jaunt through the southern Adelaide Hills and spotted smoke and flames a little off our track. We called Adelaide Approach and gave them the details. They asked if we could orbit, and since we had plenty of fuel we did so. After about 15 minutes the SAPOL chopper appeared and took over from us, so we went on our way. We saw CFS vehicles heading that way as we left the area. The fire wasn't very big and I figure they would have dealt with it fairly quickly. It was a relatively remote area, so might not have been reported so soon had we not seen it. So keep your eyes peeled- I suspect most firebugs don;t look up in the sky much when they go about their rotten pastime. We were getting close to IFR at Port Augusta on Friday afternoon- the smoke from the Vic fires had come all that way and was limiting visibility all the way up to about 10,000'. Coop

Ah, the joys of vintage aviation! A minor fabric repair job today turned into something more substantial requiring bending and rivetting bits of metal and would be more easily undertaken with the wings off. So, the navigator and I have decided to cancel our Tassie trip this year and use the time to give Dorothy's wings a bit of a birthday. (A few other niggles may be sorted out as well). So, to those of you intending to visit Echuca during the AAAA fly-in around April, I look forward to seeing you there. Dorothy will be the Auster with the all-white wings and red trim (as compared with the current off-white with bright white uneven strips and other blotches from earlier repairs). Regards Coop

While the fighters are very impwessive, all they prove is that if you put enough power onto it, you can make anything fly. Now, I prefer the finess of an aerobatic glider doing silent aerobatics with an inverted pass under a streamer for a finale'. Or the precision of Bob Hoover and his unpowered demonstration in a big twin. Or the skill of a Waco driver who can taxi the whole length of the runway with his tail up and execute a 360 ground loop without putting his tail down. Or the formation aerobatics of the Southern Knights. Now that's real flying.... Coop

Yep, I have fond memories of the Bicentennial airshow at Richmond. Probably have to wait another 200 years for the next one. I enjoyed the first Avalon I went to. Took Dorothy of course and put her on display. The first year I was there they had the massed balloon ascent in the evening and it went off very well. Also I remember seeing a "wing walker" alhtough I think his "axle swinging" event was the most impressive. I think that occurred at a later show- I've been to three. And I was lucky enough to see the Bob Hoover demo. While the Avalons I saw were not up to the Richmond, they were still pretty good. However, I agree there isn't enough that's new each time to warrant returning every year. Coop

Thanks Guys, I was getting confused. I was under the impression that Terry flew out of Torquay. I noted the other two airfields. My track will be from Horsham to the coast a little west of Torquay (to keep me well away from the Avalon airspace) and then along the coast and over the gap to Tyabb. So, if there are people around when I come through, I'll drop in to Barwon Heads. The Navigator won't be with me on this trip. She is bringing the car so we can see Tassie from the ground as well as the air. Thanks for resolving the confusion, Regards Coop

Planning is under way for our trip to Tassie in March. I'll be coming past Torquay on my way to Tyabb, so thought I'd take a look at it on Google Earth. I was pretty sure I found the right airfield- distance and bearing from Torquay township was about right, and some of the features matched. But the layout of the airfield, as it appeared on Google Earth seemed different from what I read in the 2009 AOPA airfield guide, or the Vic and Tas country airfield guide (13th Edition, 2006). According to AOPA, there were 2 runways aligned 18/36, with the Eastern one shorter than the western one. Yet the scene from GE shows one very long marked runway, although there is an area of grass to the west that could serve as the parallel runway- except that it appears shorter, not longer. I figure this is also a runway- as this is/was a Tiger Moth airfield. AOPA also mentions another runway, 09/27 and the country airfield guide shows this to be near the northern end of the 18/36/runways. GE shows what looks like a runway there, and also another possible runway further to the south- same alignment. The diagram also shows a taxiway aligned roughly 13/31, but on the GE image this looks big enough to be a runway. So, can any of you local chaps enlighten me? What's what at Torquay? If I have time, and it looks like the place is active, I may drop in and say howdy on the way past. Date and time largely unpredictable at this stage, but some time between the 21st Feb and 24th Feb. Maybe I'll see some of you chaps there. Regards Coop

The bucket? Coop

Check out the first entry under "Notable Flights" right at the bottom of this page.... [ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_172[/ame] Coop

...and I suppose that's true- as in past tense- but until they revamp the English curriculum many folks these days wouldn't know what that meant.... And I guess that dates me then- born in the 50's (when English was taught proper...), and grew up in the 60's when we had two airlines and were grateful to Bob Menzies for that. I had my first airliner ride in an Ansett-Airlines of SA DC3 lying flat on my back (well, after take-off that is, more of an inclined "plane" before that- pun intended) and rotten Reggie charged Mum and Dad two fares for the privilege.... First aircraft I clapped eyes on was a Tiger Moth used for topdressing on Kangaroo Island flown by the legendary Pat Crowther (who is still about the place). Never thought I'd ever get to fly in one, let alone own a piece. Incidentally I saw a Tiger being used to dust the "swamps" (now we call them "wetlands") where West Lakes now stands with what was probably DDT. If you built a house there don't let your kids eat the dirt.... The same condition that put me on the DC3 in the 50's (and into a position where I could watch the West Lakes Tiger) also precluded an Air Force career and made a Commercial career decidedly risky, so I decided to earn my keep another way and keep flying as a recreation. In hindsight, this may have been the best decision, although that's probably just cognitive dissonance (the more astute among you will be able to deduce my occupation from that comment...). Discovered gliding in 1970 because it was cheap and began thumbing my way to and from Waikerie on the weekends for one or maybe two flights until I began working and then the addiction really set in. Restricted PPL and tug plane endorsement followed soon after (introduced to Austers at this point) and glider instructor's ticket somewhat later. There followed 20 years of unadulterated bliss with ridge soaring camps, local competitions, wave soaring, FAA Diamond badge number 83 (in Oz), numerous friends and acquaintances from all over the country and some great memories. Ran out of things to do in gliding around about 1990 (I was never very competitive), bought a share in a Tiger (because I could) and got hooked into the world of Vintage aviation. Purchased "Dorothy May" (a venerable Auster of 1946 vintage) and began hopping all over the country in it with The Navigator from about 1995 onwards. Numerous adventures later and I'm still not sick of it, but I earn some criticism from my AAAA mates because she's in use so much that I never get the time to make her look pretty. Ah well, there's them what builds and there's them what flies, and there aren't many with the time or resources to do both..... Coop