Spin

Spectacular stuff, but got to agree that might be taking the newshound thing a bit far, you'd want to be very aware of what was going on around you, would look rather silly if one of those things started raining debris on you, never mind a lightning strike:eek:

Hi Chris Traditionally the 3rd Saturday of the month, not sure how that plays out in April with Easter and all that kerfuffle - it normally features in the various event calendars eg www.aeroclub.com.au but I haven't seen anything for this month so far. Cheers Carl

Aaah, clunk penny drops, I somehow misread the question and thought it had been posted under the RA-Aus section, to which my answer was directed. Much the same position except that the requirements for starting and operating a flying school under the GA system are rather more onerous.

I'm sure the Ops manual has it in more detail and precision, but from my understanding of the regs, no, an instructor needs to operate under a CFI in a registered school - although the supervision is sometimes fairly distant in cases where schools operate from multiple bases. As to the second, I believe the answer is yes, although I do have some recollection of their being a currency requirement as well eg tail dragger, low performance etc.

Geez, talk about Angry Birds!

Yup, spot on, strip is 15/33, just inland of the prominent point on the west coast of the island.

Geez, venomous or not, that would have gotten my heart rate up a little! http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8446866/darwin-pilot-finds-snake-in-cockpit

Quite an achievement. Seems to be one of those designs that just worked almost from day one. I'd only seen photos before watching a Belgian Airforce demo at an airshow, I think the thing that impressed me most was the low speed maneuverability, it appeared as if it were orbiting within the airfield boundaries - quite an advance on the older generation fighters.

Found a little more info here; http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2012/04/cessna-chancellor-414a-n53wt-at-door.html

Very nice, wish we'd had yesterday's weather :) As an aside, I'm constantly amazed at the photos iphones and their equivalent produce. I won't be trading in my SLR just yet, but by the same token I didn't have the SLR in my pocket when I stumbled on a Beech 18 lurking at Redcliffe yesterday.

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Aargh, rub it in - I hovered around for ages at Amberley waiting to get a shot of the Canberra start, only to miss #1 and watch the smoke from #2 dissipate into a haze in the wind :mad: Having been involved in putting on a couple of airshows, I'll second the comment re "a few dollars", it's an expensive exercise and fraught with risks, the weather for one - geez I used to think aerobatic aircraft burnt diesel to make smoke, that stuff must have gold leaf suspended in it! [ATTACH=full]1107[/ATTACH]

Scary situation - well done that lady for keeping it together.

Must say I don't really get the whole industrial graffiti look, I'd far rather see something designed to accentuate an aircraft's lines eg the Hunter featured above. Maybe I'm just becoming a GOM;) [ATTACH]18163[/ATTACH]

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That's a great link Willie - thanks.

A little more humour; [ATTACH]18160[/ATTACH]

Reminds me there was also one in the UK, a Strikemaster or similar, lost the passenger through the canopy whilst inverted. The ejector seat had been deactivated but wasn't properly secured and merely rode up(down) the rails and out! I think it was the pilot's brother and he was half throttled by a parachute harness. Theory was the only reason he survived was because he landed on a steep grassy slope, which decelerated him a little more gently than you would otherwise expect.

Here ya go, along with the story as she is told in internet land. I've never seen it debunked though.... [ATTACH=full]1094[/ATTACH] In November 2002, while training in Nevada, VF-213, an F-14D squadron, was tasked with giving a Familiarization Flight to an officer from one of the Aegis Class Cruisers. Apparently this individual's harness straps were not properly adjusted. While pushing negative Gs he began to float out of the ejection seat. In order to readjust his position he reached down and grabbed that little yellow and black stripped handle. Bang! The next thing he knew he was no longer in the Tomcat. He landed with minor injuries, was rescued and the Tomcat was recovered safely at NAS Fallon (defineatly a very breezy and noisy ride back). Unknown if it will ever fly again. [ATTACH]18159[/ATTACH]

How lucky can you get?!! There are a few celebrated cases, a SR-71 pilot got spat out by the remains of his aircraft after an inflight breakup. There was also the Tomcat Cabrio, a reasonably senior USN officer was getting a joy flight of some description and apparently grabbed the lower handle after shifting in his straps whilst inverted. I may have a photo somewhere in my collection. I seem to recall they based an episode of JAG loosely around the incident. I think the SA incident was a journalist in a PC-7 Astra; the SAAF also lost a mechanic after he banged out of a Aermacchi 326 Impala, unfortunately whilst it was in the hangar.:(

That is very tempting, I'm building a new garage out of sight of the street and a photo like that may be an ideal finishing touch. Cool link, more to be found thereabouts too; http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2010/11/abandoned-aircraft-airfields-airbases-airport-terminals/ I keep looking at those old hulks and picturing a second life for some of the bits, a la motoart.

Airmail?:) Then there is this slightly less formal graffiti..... [ATTACH]18157[/ATTACH]

Geez mate, that would be a real heart in mouth experience. Strange though, you'd expect a big bird like that to be on a flight plan and I cant's see atc steering him over an airfield down in the weeds. Glad it all ended well.

I devoured many of the classic escape stories as a kid and like many others was fascinated by the story of the glider constructed at Colditz Castle. I believe Mythbusters did some work on a model, but it seems a replica has been built and launched from the castle itself; Written By Terry Payne 4:10 PM, 17 March 2012 Ninety feet above the cobbled square of the infamous Colditz Castle, the spirit of heroic ingenuity soared freely once again. Earlier this afternoon a full-size glider built in the castle’s loft space was launched off a makeshift wooden runway, so executing an audacious escape plan hatched – but never realised – more than 65 years ago. Back in 1945 British troops held in the supposedly escape-proof prisoner-of-war camp had spent more than 18 months designing and building the original glider under the noses of German guards. It would have been the Second World War’s most ambitious escape bid, but liberation denied them the chance to see if it would fly. [ATTACH=full]1078[/ATTACH] Today a team from Channel 4 proved that it might have done, though air safety regulations meant that instead of two would- be escapees in the cockpit they had a dummy codenamed Alex and the demands of TV budgets and the absence of any guards saw them build it – to the exact specifications it should be stressed – in only five days. So in bright sunshine and with much of the small village of Colditz gazing skywards the original launch method was employed;a bath filled with one ton of concrete was dropped down the side of the castle beneath the runway, providing the pulley-driven propulsion that catapulted the 19ft long and 33ft wide glider off the runway and into the air. It was a glorious, though it has to be said short-lived, flight lasting just 15 seconds before the glider crash-landed and crumpled in the target field, flanked by houses on either side. “I was running out of space and getting too close to the houses, so I had to bring it down,” said Patrick Willis who was controlling the flight of the glider through a remote-control transmitter linked to three receivers on the glider. [ATTACH=full]1079[/ATTACH] Tony Hoskins, who led the team building the glider, had admitted before the flight that he was concerned about it gaining the necessary speed off the runway to allow it to fly. Seconds after its abrupt landing he admitted to feeling sick but proud. “We proved the concept worked. We got it off the roof and into the field. It’s here and not in anyone’s house.” Hoskins and his team had built the glider in the loft space directly beneath where the original one was made in 1945. But to get it onto the roof at daylight this morning they had to break it up into five key pieces, including the two wings and the fuselage, carefully transfer it onto the runway platform through a hole made in the roof and then reassemble it. The Mayor of Colditz, Matthias Schmiedel, was among dozens of locals who waited for several hours to see the glider fly. He said he hoped it would renew interest in the castle and bring tourists to the town. But did he think it was a slightly madcap idea? “No I don’t think it is crazy. The people here are open-minded and very positive. The story of the castle is an important part of this town’s history. It is important for us to have this story told.” But last word to the youngest member of the whole project, 24-year-old Jess Nyahoe from Horsham in Sussex who helped with the glider build. “If we got it wrong, then the world would have thought that they got it wrong. For them and their memory we wanted to get it right.” The Channel 4 documentary will be shown in early summer.

Unfortunate incident at a recent South African EAA breakfast fly in, unseen hole in the grass swallowed the nosewheel. Also, ever wondered why little grass fields charge landing fees? Because after your insurance have paid to replace your prop and tear the engine down, you can be certain they will be sending nasty letters to the airfield operator to recover that money - best make sure that damned policy is up to date! Photo and story courtesy of Pilots Post (.co.za) [ATTACH=full]1077[/ATTACH]