metalman

Didn't bother renewing mine,,,,total scam really. I was off to go fly a mates decathalon a while back, arrive at YMMB and went into the main office to ask for airside access , I had my ASIC hanging from my neck ,a headset bag in one hand and a knee board in the other,,,,,, Me ,I'd like airside access please( brandishing my ASIC for all to see) Desk troll, what for? Me, I want to fly a plane Desk troll, WHAT PLANE? Me, (getting a little annoyed) the little red and white one rego bla bla bla Desk troll, you'll have to fill out this form ,you will get a reply in a fortnight Me mmmmm thanks cya So out I go up to the fence and notice a fella refuelling a 172, hey mate can you open the gate,,,,,,sure ! And I go flying ,,,a happy ending I would say, hence I figure my ASIC isn't worth the plastic it's printed on, and I will be staying away from anywhere that needs one, maybe!

The question is fine , the way you seem to be looking for a way to justify low level stuff is what's getting some harsh replies. You say you've had a discussion with some other pilots, what was the outcome , did anyone know the regs regarding circuit heights AGL

I think there's food, and if you do some drunken dancing I'll get the crowd clapping in beat for you, does iTunes do Cajun music,,,,,,

Did a few jobs on the Skywolf today, looking forward to our first flyin together,

Victor one is a great flight, but a bit short on spots to put down into if the fan stops, it is a top trip to do though.

That's meant to be "wasn't a big issue" ,sausage fingers and iPhones are a bad mix

Nope Maj , good old Garmin 495, As for the handling , I'd heard all the rumours as well, do a bit of research , like I did , most the failures come down to misuse or maintenance , which is standard for any aircraft, if you do things you shouldn't or don't do things you should then they will bite you. As for the handling , in the air it's as sweet as, nicely balanced , once set up in a turn its hands off and it'll hold bank, its a true stick and rudder aircraft so sleepy feet won't do. Takeoff is fine , it needs a bit of a push to get the tail up and rotate pretty quick after that, landings are normal tail dragger , I've been wheeling it I and it works fine , I've try a couple of three pointers but I'll need to put a bit more time into them to get the picture right , one thing I've noticed , last week I was doing some circuits with a pretty stiff crosswind , as I settled the tail as started putting into wind aileron the wing on the lee side started to fly again , it happened twice , I think that those big flaperons will pick up a wing with very little airflow , any suggestions though I'm listening. I found it very easy to get a handle on it , if have time in RV's , C185, eurofox and DH82a and decathalons so the tail dragger thing was a big issue, to be honest I love the type , they make good pilots , fly nicely and side slip like nothing else Cheers

Mmm, are you baiting me DP,,,,I have a pretty insensitive ass, the little ball helps me fly in balance! A GPS at the top and an Icom & txp Maj, although a mate who has a lot of Skyfox hours reckons if I ever feel a bit lost just look over my shoulder and I'll see where I started from,,,,he also calls them a really nice point A to point A aircraft,,,,,flys an RV7 now ,smart ass! I'm planning a trip later in the year up to Longreach via AUSFLY and then back coastal so I'll call into YHBA to prove they can cross ground ground faster than the earth turns.

I'm keen to get a fuel flow instrument , other than that I had a turn co-ordinater that'll get the flick and I'll just have a balance ball instead, I don't really care if I'm doing a rate one turn, it'll give me a bit more room for stuff I really want

Heading to Kyneton next weekend Kaz?

Reg is VH experimental, 100hp rotax, got the carbon fibre panel back from the Waterjet cutters, just gotta wait for a run of bad WX before I pull it part again Yeh Kaz, always had trouble with wheelers so I made it my first choice for all landings ,can still manage to look like I'm pre solo at times but generally do okay, the plane makes me look good I think, they really are a nice jigger!

Mmm a ferry pilot hey :-)

Here's some video of a lap around Coldstream if anyone's interested, it's a bit long but I haven't got into the editing side of this yet

Good luck and remember its meant to be fun, when I used to get stressed my instructor used to say " look out the window and remember this is meant to be fun",

There is a tool that can be used for this, it looks like a pizza cutter and pierces the paper ,it puts a dot of colour where it makes a hole, not sure where you'd get one maybe a google search would track one down

Anyone heading to the Kyneton flyin on the 18/05 , I have been trying to get there for the last two years ,hopefully this year will be a goer!

Haven't bought them ,,,yet! I'm estimating $3500 for two mains, brakes,master cylinders axles and a tailwheel,,,,I'll have to built new gear to fit it up but I want to do that anyway , very nice gear and quite light, they also do kits with normal size tyres . The eurofox in my avatar is one I rent, my plane is airborne now so I'm keen to fit the same gear, very cool ,and it didn't mess with the cruise speed much, it did make wheelers a bit different though http://www.beringer-brakes.com/ Here's their web site, doesn't work on iPads though

I'm looking at the Beringer wheels for my Kitfox type, I really like their pneumatic tailwheel, and the bigass bush wheels , saving as we speak!

The wings on my RV6 are very substantial at the root and steadily get lighter till they're just a open C section at the tip, I figure there's buggerall load at the tips

Watch the video again , as soon as they're off the ground they are setting up for the turnback by making a right turn, this will help with lining up again, if you think about it they only just get it on the strip ,without the right turn after takeoff I doubt they would've had the room to make it in, not really a fair representation of a turn back situation, hope it doesn't encourage anyone to try it, but still pilots die trying so I guess it'll happen again!

The height loss IS the difference! If you contact the earth before you make the turn that is a bad thing!

It's foolish to assume that every aeroplane can do every manoeuvre simply because someone has done in their particular type! There are dead pilots and PAX from doing aerobatics in aircraft that aren't designed or built for it, there a dead pilots and PAX from night flying in an unsuitable aircraft,,,just as the turn back has killed plenty of people, and that is the reason I wouldn't be trying it ! I've seen plenty of footage of pilots practicing turn backs ,I was even taught it in a C172 over a 2000m strip from 500 agl( do the math and you'll see how ridculous it is), but unless its a normal operation as it is in the glider fraternity don't bother ,when an engine stops you WILL delay as the plane starts to lose height, when the brain kicks into emergency mode your skill levels will drop and this is the environment that you'd like to do a high bank angle 220deg turn close to the ground with NO options ,no alternatives and NO chance of a stall recovery. Try it at height , shut the throttle, count to say 4 seconds then turn and watch the altimeter, remember you need room to do the turn 180deg the line up with the "strip" another 30deg with a turn the opposite way , see if it can be done then imagine doing it with a high stress level ,

Interesting read Kaz, good to see the law recognising personnel responsibility for risk acceptance, it also shows ,as others have noticed , they have very little idea on dealing with a problem in the air, a vibration could be a number of things that can be a normal part of aviating ,or as this case shows ,something more serious. I wonder how glider instructors would get on where out landings are all part of the ride!

Done mate, I'd be interested to see the results as well, Cheers

Quite sobering to see someone's last moments on this earth, would've been terrifying to know it was all over well before hitting the ground.