bas

So, you go to the site, read a thread in the "what's new" search and later want to go back to it to respond and it is nowhere to be found. That's what the "24 hours" link was great for. Can we have it back please? :)

I doubt the PM would have stepped in about this without seeing some pretty convincing images from the ground penetrating radar and having them independently verified. I think it is plausible. More so than the "spitfires in mine shafts" somewhere in Australia...

The night was clear and the moon was full, but the moon was also *just* over the horizon when he took off to it wouldn't have given much illumination. Doesn't seem to be a case of "spatial disorientation"; more a case of: "didn't see the tree."

Damn shame we don't have that here. In the US, you can be an independent instructor, which makes training more affordable and accessible. And seeing as they have the exact same accident rate as we have here, it doesn't seem to be a safety issue.

Heard from someone on an RV mailing list he got ramped checked. Just some common sense things, didn't seem to find it intimidating. They seemed to be happy that as plan he a simple direct to using OzRunways. Doesn't sound like they were going through anything with a fine-tooth comb to try and fine anyone. I agree their presence is likely intimidating to some and it would be a shame that people don't show up because of it. But I think it is more people's fear than anything that is the real problem. Have a bit of documentation, your ELT and manuals and make sure you are not over weight and then what is problem? On that OzRunways thing: I had some great conversations with people in CASA that are working on the EFB policy and it sounds very positive. Basically, the director has told them to get it done. Now CASA works the way it works and it won't be overnight, but it will happen and I think it will a good outcome for everyone. I was also told in the past year, for the first time, airspace incursions have gone down. Now I know that correlation does not equal causation, but lets think about what happened about 9 months ago? And I think that has a major part to play in the reason for the director's "get it done" order.

If anyone is coming up today, I am up for a group dinner at the chinese place. That was pretty good last year.

The dinner is on saturday night. I'll be there, departing early on Sunday.

If you look now, there's another aircraft! :)

It is active as far as I know, but yeah, I reckon temora would be pretty quiet! Also note that it is not a live stream, but an image updated every 15 minutes now. I think the plan is to make it 5 mins when NATFLY arrives.

I want one! http://pal-v.com/ Much better concept than the Terrafugia if you ask me...

Not involuntary, but also not required: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Belgian_MiG-23_crash

Pass around the good stuff, man! :)

We've got a webcam set up now! Showing the museum's hangar now, but will be moved outside to show the weather at the airfield on Wednesday. http://www.natfly.com.au/webcam/

Yes, with for sale sign. Not sure where exactly, but Carol has promised me a good spot. :)

Sporty's 100 hourly completed after bolly expertly fixed the Woodcomp prop and we installed new choke cables. Carbies balanced and it purrs like a kitten ready for the big trip. Should be there wednesday arvo and leave Sunday morning.

So is the Alpha basically a bare-bones 80 HP Virus SW without wing tanks? Or are there any other structural changes too? I just love the concept of the thing. Hope it is a great success and some others will introduce more affordable "training" versions of their aircraft too. The Alpha and also aircraft like the Fk.9 prove that with an efficient airframe, the cheaper and bullet proof 80 HP Rotax is plenty of power.

I do agree with that; in an environment like that, you can do that. But remember it only has 91 Litres to begin with, so planning a 2.5 hour nav with 45 minute reserve allows you to leave out 20 KGs at most. And that is if you get it precisely right and don't err on the side of caution. I predict that many of these will be flying over weight a lot. (Same as those training 152s, to be honest, even at half fuel.) But my main beef is with it being used as a private aircraft. It just doesn't stack up to the competition where you can get the endurance of (even bigger) full tanks (very handy in a country like our with lots of airfields but not a lot of them with fuel) with greater speed at lower fuel burn and still have more than 200 KG usable for people, bags, safety and survival equipment, etc. If I ran a Cessna GA school, I would certainly consider the 162 for circuit and training area operations. But as an RA aircraft, I'd pass on it, both for school and private use. Especially at $150K! (So more like $180K when you get it here and pay shipping and GST?)

The Cessna website list figures for "typically equipped" giving useful load as 218 and full-fuel payload as 153. Wow, just wow. For a $150K aircraft too. Even schools will often have to make sure not to completely fill the tanks as it will not fly two actual, real world, average 2012 males. Who are 85 KG each. It doesn't say if that is with or without BRS. (Which isn't standard) If it is without, it is even more mind boggling why it is so heavy, though changing the engine to a Rotax would solve much of the problem.

I came up with the moniker after they crashed two prototypes. There are two very simple reasons for its weight problem: the O-200, which weighs 25 kg more than a Rotax, and the standard BRS, adding another 15. That is the 40 extra kg it needs to compete with the Flight Designs, Pipistrels and SportStars of this world. But even with those changes, the finishing would still be as spartan as it is now to save weight. It's not pretty on the inside. And for a laugh, push a finger onto the rear window!

Hope it is not a C162 GroundStriker! That thing got laughed off the field last year. People were highly critical and dealer left early. (Not sure if they are related, but it was notable.)

I'll be there, find me at the OzRunways stand or any of the three talks we'll be doing! :)

4467, a 2005 fuselage tank model. I keep it at Gawler, but it is for sale at the moment.

The SportStar is very benign when this happens. It doesn't open very far and it just flies. Of course you won't be able to close it. It happened in mine (before I owned it) without incident and the dealer also told me when he went for his training at the factory, they did it to him on purpose to demonstrate what a non-event it is. Different design, different outcome, I guess...

It finally happened. http://www.raa.asn.au/

Look for the RA-Aus website to go live next week! And now that I have your attention in the thread, anyone got some good NATFLY photos? I am especially looking for site overview photos, display sites, etc. Thanks, Bas.