metalman

The simple fact is: the catenary shape of a powerline NEVER hangs upwards from its supports. If you stay above the ridge tops, you won't hit one.

There's a nasty high and long pwr line across eildon , I've been told about it ,and it has claimed lives ,but never seen it.

A mate who flies AG reckons if you can to go under them, less chance of getting hung up, of course you have to see them first,,,,any thoughts?

Matty

It's sad that so many on here only post negative thoughts on both Natfly and the whole organisation. Do you also attend the meetings and offer realistic options for some of these problems we are facing?? It happens to all of us. I have been held up by rego issues. My MTOW has been reduced to 450 at the moment. Rather than sit at home and sook/make stupid comments ( like my 5 yo daughter would) I went to Natfly and had a bloody fantastic time. The weather was perfect, the lunchtime displays we excellent and the vibe was happy.. As for the ramp checks, do the right thing.. It's really not that hard. I'm probably gunna get grumbled at for these comments but after having a great weekend and wanting to share it on here with others that love aviation most of what I see is sad and pathetic. If you are really that over all the hiccups we face I'm sure the golf club down the road is looking for members. You can whinge about the green fees and those evil people the check your card after a comp.......

Matty

I guess I cross the range a lot more than I think, flying out of Coldstream I'm regularly tracking through the gaps in the mountains , there's a few rules I follow to stay safe , the main one is if it's low cloud and windy I don't ever bother , other wise I never cross a ridge at 90deg , never fly in the lee of a ridge, always leave a back door option, and always take the long way if it's safer ground,,,,,till I moved to Melbourne I hadn't flown around the mountains and valleys much , local knowledge is paramount I've found,

Matty

Crossed it a few times,,,the last time was the hardest, had a 40 + headwind was only getting 38-40 across the ground ,it was a very slow trip from maitland to Bathurst , I wouldn't go that way again

Matty

VDO is the actual clock time from engine start to engine stop

Matty

Anyone know what make this cub replica is ? I had a good look at it but didn't write anything down.

Matty

No I don't, you are wrong and you obviously lack the detailed information as to why the figures in that statistic read as they do.Also 100% of people who sleep die too, guess that's why you are up so late but it will get you eventually .......

My Dad visited me from the USA a few years back, he was astounded at how regulated we are in this country ,even down to static speed cameras, reckons they'd last ten minutes in Michigan . Everything here is regulated to protect the dumbest moron in the crowd, thing is they keep producing "new ,improved fools" ,

Matty

I was getting positive stories all weekend, together with the facts that attendance was down; there is nothing wrong with telling the truthy.The result of lying about it which Mat seems to be asking people to do is a devastating avalanche of criticism from people who attended expecting a Narromine style event, the sort of thing that happens when you buy anything which has been puffed up wit false advertising.

The GFC occurred about seven years ago, certainly a lot of aircraft are hung up with registration issues, and an unusually high number of people seemed to be concerned about CASA ramp checks, which indicates that they need to do some retraining, or ensure they get the training they missed when doing their PC, but that adds up to a few hundred, not thousands.

 

What was missing was information - information from the board members and in particular motivation from the president who got himself elected as a consultant to big organizations. Where were the people entrusted with organising the event? I didn't see anyone asking the members what they wanted, so that little clique doing things their own way may also contributed to the situation.

 

I do a lot of research work in the transport industry and we have marketing conditions similar to the 1960's and early '70's where you really have to innovate to get business because people are living on tighter budgets.

 

The transport industry is loosely divided between companies which are making losses because they haven't adapted and those taking over other companies and making hundreds of millions who have.

 

Marketing based on accurate research is they key.

 

The International Truck and Trailer Exhibition in Melbourne took over from the Brisbane Truck Show this year as Australia's biggest truck exposition, and the main difference was management.

 

Rather than trying to bully the people who are just telling it like it is, it would be more productive to look at ways of attracting more people......and that doesn't involve the mindless repetition of wanting it "at my place"

(Edited by moderator)

I didn't take a lot of pics but here's a couple

For me it is too far to go and I can not justify the cost in view of the economic uncertainty I see all around us.

I get what your saying but there will always be reasons NOT to do things,,,,,,

Matty

Matty, 

 

Who's bagging the event?

 

From what I have read here, those that went have just reported on what they experienced. That is certainly what I did.

 

To not report the facts is to ignore reality and I would argue that RA-Oz does that at its peril if they continue to do just more-of-the-same at Natfly.

 

Was the event as well supported by visiting aircraft & underwing campers as last year (when the weather was much more restrictive in 2013)? No it was not.

 

Was the event as well supported by trade exhibitors as recent years? No it certainly was not.

 

Was the crowd of day visitors down? Yes it was (on the Friday).

 

Should any forum member who attends the event report and discuss this? Yes they should.

 

Is Natfly the biggest Fly-In that is available for RA-OZ members to attend? Probably not any longer, based on numbers attending this year.

 

Was Natfly 2014 as successful as previous years at Temora or the last couple at Narromine. Probably not based on what I saw when I was there on Friday.

 

What will it take for Natfly to grow into something huge, as you say? A high degree of optimism, luck and a good deal of change at all levels (including organisational and political) As Facty indicated in his post #80, the whole scene is not in a good place or the best shape at the moment and Natfly 2014 probably reflected that.

 

 

 

Regards Geoff

Discuss the problems all you like ,,,,but be aware that in doing that those discussions will become part of the reason Natfly may fail to exist , or we can all acknowledge there's a problem but still go flying .

One of the major differences to the flying scene in the last ten years that has had an effect on this event more than any other ??? This forum( I'm not picking on Ian Baker either) , there have and will always be political problems, but this forum has been responsible for bringing it all out into the light, now that's NOT all bad, it had to be done ,and hopefully we will still be able to have an RAA in the future, but the flip side is that it has been bad for morale, and that will kill this event quicker that a shoddy board member . Maybe a very honest poll on why pilots didn't go, because everything else aside WE ,US ,ALL OF US, make these events worth going to ,,,,and if we don't bother going then we all loose out,,,,,

Matty

This has been the first NatFly I haven't been to in 10 years but with having to work in Brisbane at the moment I spent the Easter with the family. Over the years I think it was slowly growing at Narromine and peaked with the first one at Temora but it has gone down hill extremely rapidly since that one and sounds like this one continued the slide. Personally I think it isn't the event itself that is the cause but rather the whole industry still being in turmoil as the cause.We need to fix the industry, get back to the fun of flying, try and reduce the cost of flying somehow and the pressure of having the latest and greatest plastic fantastic...The AUF, now there's an idea, but I am sure there are many ways in which we can all turn the industry around starting with our own mindset and to those whom we talk to. Perhaps these forums are part of the problem

The only budget aircraft on offer there was the quicksilver, a single seater kit is in the mid $20 k inc engine !! Not particularly fast but as we're all discovering "fast is not cheap" there's a lot of planes around that cost less than an average tinny ,the guzzles/skyfoxes, light wings, older jabs are all in the sub 5o grand , not that fast ,and a few limitations, but they a easy to live with and with a bit of tenacity can be flown long distances, cheap flying is still available but not if you have " champagne tastes on a lemonade budget "

There's some guys planning a trip to westfly next September , from the east coast, I'm keen in my 80knot aircraft ,it'll be a long and probably tough trip, but it'll be worth it to be flying ,with mates, swapping stories, a cold beer at the end of a long day,,,,,,and ,did I mention flying! Our type of flying ,especially in sub 100kn aircraft is the closest we can get to the pioneers of aviation,,,and I like that,,,,

Matty

Very few????? I must have been at the other Temora airport. Certainly not as many as when I was there two tears ago but I'd call two paddocks full quite a few.My dear old Mum used to say "there's none so blind as those who will not see" Col, Specsavers will be open again on Tuesday.

Matty

We'll I enjoyed it, I stayed away from the seminars and instead met up with some fellas I'd only known via the internet , and for me that's what NatFly is all about, Im not about to by a $130 k plane but the event was pretty good , not the best but pretty good , and to be honest it's only a reflection of us as a group , we after all make up RAA so if our event is crap then look in a mirror people . I went had a great time , saw some nice planes and met up with some old and new mates , and , surprisingly the evil CASA didn't harass me at all , perhaps I'm just luckier than most

Matty

Just some very important points that all should take note of, the pilot was a GA pilot with a restricted licence, he had not flown for many years, he did a RAA conversion. I witnessed the crash and know all connected with this accident, the plane was in no way part of the cause except if it had more power it could have climbed better, the FTF existed, his instructor was good as I was taught by him a long time ago ! How many driving instructors have been blamed for P plate accidents, let alone someone previously licensed, the ALA guide lines don't allow for Ferris wheels to be put at the end of a runway "ALA requirements". http://www.casa.gov.au/wcmswr/_assets/main/download/caaps/ops/92_1.pdf.I believe political BS have pushed this investigation. It should not be blamed on his training especially having held a GA licence, anyone can make mistakes, hands up who has not made a mistake !

Even Morgans have suffered not because their aircraft was at fault but in the aftermath it was found to bit a bit of a sh1tbox.

The pilot was posting here , inspite of his stuff up I'd hope he's still flying ,at the end of the day it's just a crash that thankfully everyone got to go home from ,,,,,,if/when I have one I hope I'm as successful !

Matty

Very little rule breaking these days. All the shoddies have been sorted out. Just not worth it now. To many dollars in aircraft invested, Pilots won't play that game, they have to log hours to further there career. They won't work for owners that insist on them not logging hours. Not only do drop zones have to pass CASA audits they also have the APF audits to pass. So they get it from both directions.If you are having problems then I do suggest that either you voice concerns to the DZ CI or contact the APF aircraft operations exec.

What drop zones do you have problems with?

"Don't wear the plane out on paper"

" circuits are for other pilots, just drop in on base and land"

Going into CTA over Melbourne with crap radios

A prop strike on a completely stuffed CSU, sent it to a LAME to replace the prop ,but never mentioned the strike,,,LAME had a fit when he found out he'd been tricked into signing out an engine that needed a bulk strip.

Taxiing along past hangars with the tail up in a taildragger.

Climbing and descending through cloud in non IFR aircraft with a PPL ( VFR rated)at the helm.

I know of three airfields that have kicked meatbombers out for dangerous behaviour ,

Just to name a few instances, I'm not trying to insult you Ozzie, but these are things that are happening NOW, the fact that there aren't more accidents( reported) is more due to good luck than good management ,I'm not going to say who and where, but to think the skydiving sector is all good boys n girls just isn't true,

Matty

Not trying to insult anyone , I've had a guy under canopy drift across at 300agl on initials , if I hadn't taken evasive action we'd both be dead, I've also been around plenty of meat bomber ops and although they all spruik professional they often play pretty lax with the regs. Not every op is a bit loose but most that I've seen are, even down to not logging flight times in the MR to keep the plane flying longer, facts are facts and I'm sure all the skydivers will have a go at me but if you're honest with yourself there is a lot of rule breaking in the industry

Matty

just be aware anyone ever flying into tyagrah, the skydivers cut low level over the runway all the time! so if you are coming into tyagrah and hear anything about the chutes away, orbit until they are down or at worst case, land short on 23

Matty

And agreed ,,,damn shame to see another old classic wrecked!

My son came home from school one day and told me that he'd learned in scripture that they had motorbikes back in biblical times.I replied "that's utter nonsense son"

Tis true Dad!............ After the Battle of Jericho, all you could hear was the roar from Joshua's Triumph

Matty

OK Guys. . . . .That was arguably TOO Sickipedia. . . .

 

MR MOD . . . CAN YOU DELETE POST PLEASE. . . ( we need to maintain certain standards )

 

Thanks

 

Phil

Matty

Pilots didn't get to train on the Grumman, then walk out to the line with a set of Cherokee keys in their hand then, but they can now............

Matty

I'm wondering where all this corrosion is coming from, my DC headset has been in my use for 8 years and was used when I got them, my pax set is even older, and unless the corrosion is microscopic they're as good as new.

Another point aswell, everytime you plug them in the contacts are getting a scrape ,,,,,,,so if your headset is getting rusty,,,,well you need to fly more!

Matty

My 2 cents, I do think a Mr Funnel is a great idea. But I wouldn't get to anal about it if you don't use one. Millions of engines every day get by without fail with fuel in them not being filtered through a Mr Funnel. I have been riding dirt bikes for 33 years with them being filled out of jerry cans or straight from the bowser at a servo and I have never had a contaminated fuel issue. I was going to buy a mr funnel but BCF stopped selling them so I never got around to getting one.

With MOGAS though ,I only go to BP or SHELL for 98 octane , and so far no bad fuel but I'm not so sure of the budget fuel mobs,

Matty

Anything that sits on the ground with a high angle of attack and a narrow track, like a Skyfox is not likely to be easy with ground handling.

Matty

G'day , big difference in aircraft, rv7 to savvanah, the savvy would be a great bush plane though

Matty