wags

Zulu problem. I purchased 2 X Zulu's for use in our CTLS and have been extremely happy with them. I made my choice after using both Bose and Zulu's. They have however had an annoying problem which is currently being repaired under warranty by the Australian agent even though I purchased them from Aircraft Sprucewhile in the US. My phones were among the very early ones and it appears that Lightspeed had an initial problem with the connecting cable from the battery/control box to the headset. After a few hours of use one pair started becoming intermittent and/or a very loud "buzzing" sound was heard. Manipulating the cable along its length located a spot at which by squeezing the cable (or similar) full operation was restored - as long as you kept squeezing the cable. A local aviation electrical contractor located a "break" in the wiring and repaired it. Then the other pair of phones started doing the same thing so they were also repaired. This has happened 3 times now to each set. After contacting Aircraft Spruce, Lightspeed USA have directed me to the Australian agent - Moorabbin Pilot Shop - and the replacement of cables on both headsets is currently being made under warranty. Remember I didn't purchase the phones here from the Aussie agent. The after market support provided by the manufacturer (Lightspeed USA) is truly fantastic making the purchase price somehow seem very worthwhile. We especially like the ability to use our mobile phone through the system either by direct cable connection or bluetooth.

Dinner with CASA CEO. GAC (Gympie Aero Club) has catered for 200 people to attend the evening with John McCormick as we feel this is a real chance for the RAAus/GA aviation community to put their questions and receive real time answers from the "man at the top". It is intended that a list of questions will be provided to John prior to the evening to allow factual and complete answers to be given. Hopefully then the word can be spread far and wide and some of the many and varied rumours will cease. GAC offers vehicular transfer from Gympie airfield to the venue in Noosa for those who wish to have a weekend in Noosa associated with the dinner on the Saturday night. A ferry to the Hastings St area leaves from right in front of where the event is happening - Australis Noosa Lakes Resort. Accommodation at special rates has been organised at the venue but it is limited - contact Australis Noosa Lakes direct to make a booking on 5447 1400. Gympie has heaps of aircraft parking and Avgas 100LL available via a bowser, and I'm sure with a little coaxing Mogas (Premium) can be sourced for those requiring it. There is a servo only 3 mins up the road with Premium available. Gympie has a "new" committee and is becoming very active in promoting activities and events all aimed at improving awareness and safety within the RAAus/GA community. Our recent "competition" day was an outstanding success and looks like becoming a twice a year event. Plans in the making indicate the event could be held in both April/May and August/September if the interest remains high. A new clubhouse is also on the books... so keep an eye on Gympie as a venue to visit in the future.

A great day! Gympie had a great day with 13 different aircraft and 20 pilots competing. Maroochydore Aero Club won the Club competition. A competitor in a very pretty Pulsar showed everyone how to do it by being right on the mark in the spot landing event and within 3 mtrs of the mark in the forced landing event. Only one hit was accurate with the flour bombs and the judges had much earlier decided sitting on the target was the safest place to be! The conditions were somewhat difficult but the day went without a hitch (except maybe for some organizational stuff-ups early in the day). Everyone wants to do it again and so the Gympie Aero Club will be looking to conduct the event again sometime in early 2010... but this time you will all get plenty of warning. But get in early because with the responses the Club received on the day numbers will need to be limited.... or run it over 2 days.

Happens here too! Anyone at Inglewood this year would have witnessed a very similar demonstration about 2 or 3 times each day by a guy in a Thruster. Managed to get it all on video but decided not to release the footage. Can't say I agree with it as many will try to emulate the aerobatics without the training = disaster going somewhere to happen. Certainly very entertaining however.

Permit given by CASA. OK Yenn... if you're not "young" - and you're not "old" - why not get down here to Gympie and show the "newer" aviators how to do it. Now it would be a real competition if the reigning champion Maj came as well... seeing as how he already holds a bomb dropping endorsement - with trophies to prove it! We have a permit, came through earlier today, but we might have to "up" our bomb release altitude a little. That will be discussed at pilot briefing time - 09:30 am on Sunday 4th Oct. Seems strange to me because that only ensures the "co-lateral splatters" will be over a larger area. Guess that is what is required, so who are we mere mortals to argue with the rule makers? Just happy that our "improve your skills while having some flying fun" day can proceed as planned.

Permission. "1134581".... To answer your question, still waiting and the flour bombing side of the event will not proceed unless a permit is issued. This event was conceived as a way to get all our club members (and other like minded aviators) together to enjoy a day of flying and fun while giving each pilot the chance to hone his flying safety skills and airmanship in a somewhat controlled environment.

Permission. Must say there is a huge difference in dropping baits all over the countryside and getting permission/s for such an event as this. The drop zone is not a public area and the flour bombs are not highly poisonous. The idea and planning of the event was not entered into lightly or without considerable thought and consideration of what restrictions and permits etc would be required. Adam Holt is quite correct, CASA does issue permits in certain circumstances.

Does the direction of aviation concern you? Where will we be headed in the next 5 years? What can we do to ensure our very survival? Come and join Gympie Aero Club at a night with CASA's CEO John McCormick on Saturday 5th December 2009 to be held at the "Australis Noosa Lakes Resort" Noosaville. John will be the guest speaker and he will be able to answer all those questions and more. Enjoy a night of good food with like minded fellow aviators starting with drinks from 5:30 pm and dinner at 6:30 pm. Affordable accommodation has been negotiated at the venue. Fly-in to Gympie and free transport can be arranged to Noosaville and back. Ferries to Noosa from opposite the venue for those who want to spend the weekend. $75 per ticket, drinks extra. NB: "Australis" is a non-sensitive area. Can you afford not to be there? Further details available from: GAC President Jennifer Beck 0419 784715, [email protected] or... GAC Secretary Deb Wagner 0413 189019, [email protected]

Single seat??? Of course Yenn.... but you will have a hard time convincing everyone you flew so accurately you didn't lose a single point! The event is not about the points scoring however... it is designed to get a few like minded aviation types together and have a chin wag and a bit of flying fun over a sausage and a cold drink. Gympie Aero Club has a new Committee in place and they are really trying to get some momentum going, especially among the younger aviators... and from what I hear you qualify perfectly on that score Yenn! The Committee have even got an evening up and going with the CASA CEO John McCormick as the guest speaker... that's happening on 5th December. Good chance to come along and ask some of those awkward questions we all have about our aviation future. Give our Pres (Jennifer) a call on 0419 784715 or email at [email protected]

On Sunday 4th October Gympie Aero Club will be hosting a day of fun and games. Although this is billed as an inter-club competition, all aviators are invited to attend and test your skills in the events planned. See attached flyer for details. Pilot briefing at 9:30 am, flying starts at 10:00 am. Sausage sizzle and drinks available all day. Call Jennifer 0419 784715 for entry details etc. [ATTACH]8759.vB[/ATTACH] Pilot Briefing Notes - Competition.pdf Pilot Briefing Notes - Competition.pdf Pilot Briefing Notes - Competition.pdf

Hey Merv Is that the wide angle you did those fabulous shots with, or just the ordinary lens?

Thanks Bidgee & Simonflyer... yes we do learn something new every day, and it's a bad day if we don't!

Qantas passengers killed? "very few of the public realise they have in fact lost two aircraft with all on board killed. Ozzie". Must have missed something over the past 40 years or so Ozzie. Can you please enlighten me as to when and where Qantas passengers were killed in an aircraft accident. Wags.

Tell me more about the "Test Centre". Well done Simonflyer... My wife is also doing her PPL now she has about 175 hrs up with RAAus. Can you help advise what the "Highett Test Centre" is about, 'cause all we are hearing from any GA flying school is that you must do the exams with us to qualify. That sounds a little doubtful having read your story. Would appreciate any advice you can give... or anyone else got ideas on this? Wags.

Just to let all you food and aviation buffs know the annual day is on again on Sunday 23rd August 2009. Start with breakfast at Hervey Bay Aero Club between 0800 & 0930, then fly to "Greenfield" (Boreen Point 26º 17.63 S, 152º 57.90 E - Runway 10/28 - CTAF 126.7) for a B-B-Q lunch starting at 12:00. See the "Sandy's" on the way! End the day at Gympie Aero Club for dessert, tea & coffee at 15:00. Call Jennifer 0419 784715 for further details. Cost $33 per head all inclusive. Pax bring own wine etc.

Bald heads? Brett lucky you're not bald like me... I'd cook under that huge canopy of plexiglass. The "Cruisers" around here (Qld) have a painted on sunshield on the canopy. I chose a high wing for that very reason, not to mention a lot of other reasons like room, baggage space, range and speed. Very nioce aircraft though and beautifully built. Wags.

I recently fitted an electric trim system to the stabilizer of my CTLS. The same installation could easily be made to a CTSW. The trim installation is described in the attached download file for anyone interested. Shortened installation description.pdf Shortened installation description.pdf Shortened installation description.pdf

Australian Country Airstrip Guide. Try this site... FlightAce® Home Page

Whether we like it or not, Avgas will not be around much longer - the US Military are phasing it out, Mogas is hard to source at Airports just about anywhere, but Diesel (Jet A1) is everywhere.Try buying Avgas outback in other than highly used airports etc. Bring on the Diesels.

DC-10 A DC-10 had come in a little hot and thus had an exceedingly long roll out after touching down. San Jose Tower Noted: "American 751, make a hard right turn at the end of the runway, if you are able. If you are not able, take the Guadeloupe exit off Highway 101, make a right at the lights and return to the airport"

Thanks for the article weekendwarrior - most appreciated. I feel a couple of others would also have enjoyed reading this. And a Merry Xmas to all members, Wags.

Handling of props and blade failure. I read with great interest the suggestion that pulling an aircraft around by the prop can lead to blade failure, delamination etc. I must have missed something in 40+yrs of aviation and nearly 20,000 hrs flying because I was taught right from the beginning to grab the prop with a hand close in either side of the hub to move aircraft if a tow-bar was not available. No aviator in their right mind would put a load such as this on a prop at any point other than close to the hub. Moving an aircraft in this manner, done correctly, would not subject the prop to anything more than a fraction of the loads imposed on it during normal operation. The facts associated with this particular failure are that the propeller involved in the incident (which could have been castastrophic for the occupants of the aircraft) was virtually new and the prop failed from the inside out. Inspection has revealed a lack of glue on the laminations of the blade core which is made of wood. The covering sheath of carbon fibre was shed as a whole piece from both the front and back of the blade indicating there was movement within the core under the covering sheath. One can only draw the conclusion that it appears this prop failed due to a possible lack of quality control by the manufacturer or similar. The fact that there are other cases of the same brand/type failing because of core delamination around the same time confirms there might be a problem with the manufacture of that particular brand/type of prop. This prop was eventually going to fail regardless of how it was handled. What I find very disturbing about this incident is not how we should or should not move our aircraft around a hangar, it is the failure of authorities to prohibit further flight by aircraft fitted with the same brand/type of prop until they have been fully inspected. Not just a visual inspection looking for cracks and signs of wear as directed in the AD, but a full and thorough inspection possibly even involving x-raying (or similar) of all blades. If I was flying an aircraft with this brand/type of prop I would be doing a whole lot more than simply looking at the prop before I flew the aircraft again! You can be sure of one thing - in a large majority of aircraft types we fly under the RAAus banner, if the motor comes out in flight the aircraft will more than likely be uncontrollable with a disastrous outcome for the occupants. The crew involved in this incident were extremely lucky in the circumstances.

ASIC debacle Someone in this thread mentioned an article in the Sydney Morning Herald on 27th August 2008 titled "The terrifying cost of feeling safer". Does anyone have a copy of this article they can forward to me? I don't mind paying $2.20 to Fairfax to get the article out of their archives, but I refuse to provide all the info they want on me to access the article. Wags.

Orchid Beach Flew over it about 3 or 4 days ago at 500ft. Looks in good nick with grass freshly mown - windsocks at each end of strip from memory. Rwy 13/31, 670 mtrs, grass. Phone number I have for contact is Reg & Pauline Bartlett, Orchid Beach Resort. Ph: 07 41279180. Fax: 07 41279247. Hope this helps. Wags.

Brentc please do not think I am saying that the Sportcruiser itself had a problem. In fact quite the opposite. Any lesser constructed aircraft might well have ended up loosing its engine and that would have spealt disaster for the occupants with a sudden shifting aft, and definitely out of limits, of the CofG. The fact that engine mounts were broken and the engine "twisted" so much without becoming detached from the airframe is a testament to the strong construction and quality of build of the Sportcruiser. The fact is that a "new" propeller failed for whatever reason - but the investigators will determine that fact. Perhaps this incident suggests we should all practice our emergency landings on a regular basis. Wags.