Spin

Yep, only thing flying down here is the birds - haven't been out to the field but I suspect it may be a tad soggy too. Never thought I'd say it, but if this is Summer, I'm over it, bring on the dry season.

http://www.dump.com/2011/01/03/1957-extreme-crop-dusting-video/

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." - Cicero - 55 BC So, evidently nothing..

Great Eastern Fly-In 2011 Cancelled Due to very heavy rain and flooding we are sorry to say that this year's Fly-In has been cancelled. We would like to take this opportunity to say a very big Thank You to everyone involved, planning on coming and our supporteers for all you efforts, assistance and 'flying in' to join us. The next Fly-In will be on in January 2012 and we wish you all a very happy and joyous New Year and of course - See You There. Copy and paste from the website. Damn, damn, damn - I was really looking forward to it. Looking at the forecast I'd have to say it is a good call and probably realistic not to try and re schedule this season, we're likely to see variations on this muck for a few months yet.

Ouch:crying:. Wasn't there a Cessna that ended up in the water earlier in the piece - something about a forced landing into the water or they did a forced lob and got flooded after? Caught the tail end of a news bulletin and didn't see it again later on.

Jabirus and water Interesting topic on a number of levels. I don't have much direct Jabiru experience, but I am often struck by the differing attitudes to Jab reliability between these pages and a South African forum that I keep an eye on. Although their kits are locally produced to some extent, the engines arrive on a pallet direct from Bundaberg, so there should not be any difference and yet there is not nearly the same level of complaint regarding engine failures. It seems that the aircraft are used quite similarly, ie a mix of training and local flying for the 2 seaters and more touring with the 400 series - temp ranges there are fairly similar, only thing is their DA's can get a bit horrific, ie 6,000' at 41 deg isn't uncommon in summer! Re. the current incident, I too drag water around with me, but practically speaking how do others carry 5 or 10l of water? I have an insulated container that would probably survive a fair impact in a crash, although the tap is a worry, but normal bottled water will almost certainly not survive anything more than a relatively gentle "arrival" without losing a few. On the subject of a mirror, I've used a few dud CDs for this purpose on the boat for a number of years and they seem to stand up to a fair amount of mistreatment, except that they do scratch. I've taped mine into a bound book of maps and into the folded, orange V Sheet we carry, which seems to have stopped the scratching. Maybe time for a new thread with some hints and tips along these lines?

Sue, keep up the reports from the coal face as it were, makes for very interesting reading. I shouldn't complain about the stupidity of management at places like the mines - keeps me off the street and pays for a little flying as well:big_grin:, but you are so very right about the mindless adherence to ever more complex regulations and procedures that costs people dearly in the long run. Best of all, the human animal is endlessly inventive and constantly finds new ways to screw up. Re helping yourself; you tend to see the best and worst of people at times like this. I volunteered to help out after Cyclone Larry, and after spending most of the day traipsing through mud and muck, slithered up a farm driveway and found a family living under a lopsided carport. The house had more or less exploded, the shed had collapsed, destroying the vehicles inside and these people were sleeping on a damp mattress salvaged from inside. I had to choke back the emotion when they, with the least to offer, insisted on boiling up the kettle on the fire to make me coffee before we sat down to business - the only drink I'd been offered all day. The counterpoint was Mr Local Bigshot, reaching into his esky for a cold coke, whilst issuing dire threats about what would happen if he didn't head the list for rebuilding.:black_eye:

I'm with you on that; I did a lot of the unpowered varient before starting my PPL, but eventually found it a bit relationship unfriendly - I was quite happy to drive 2 hours to the mountains and sleep in a hut on the offchance that there may be some flying, but the other half at the time didn't see it the same way. Having something that could fit into the ute and be ready to fly on any calm morning/evening would be great. A mate from SA operates on the lunatic fringe of the sport and has done some amazing trips across Africa and beyond - http://www.skytribe.co.za/

Mine arrived today - quite enjoyed it, seemed to be a bit less ranting and raving from down south and more stories of people actually getting out and flying. Sorry to say the Scamp doesn't seem to be there Alley - by the way you can see the ads (minus pics) from early in the month on the RA-Aus website - http://www.auf.asn.au/market/index.html Cheers Carl

All good advice Steph, I took the approach of "tell them what you think they want to hear" and got 100% with minimal preparation - I know of one youngster who sat the exam without opening a book, merely reading the questions and possible answers very carefully and who also passed, so it certainly isn't rocket science. I'll second the opinions re the content; it isn't my field at all, but is poorly compiled imo. That said it is probably still an advance on nothing at all and even if it pushes people into reading a book or attending a course, then thinking a bit about the subject, it has achieved its objective.

Mazda nailed it in one; Brissie airport and the road system in particular have undergone massive redevelopment and there is more to come. Previously the facility was well sign posted and a pleasure to visit, and I would hope that this will once again be the case once the dust has settled, so to speak. Perhaps a polite reminder to the relevant authorities would not go amiss, but a media campaign to protest what is in all likelihood an interim inconvenience is just plain silly and a complete over-reaction. Oh and quite what Geelong Grammar et al have to do with a museum exhibit in Qld I fail to understand.

Given that I'm back to work this morning it was no surprise to see a glow out to the east when I got out of bed. Can't win em all I guess, 2.5 days is a pretty reasonable working week.

Yep, Heck Field, out to Jumpinpin and landing on either N or S Stradbroke. Wouldn't take too much detective work to figure out the aircraft either - man obviously didn't read Ultralights rules for youtube posting.

Agreed, I'd be surprised if that were Aus - probably somewhere volcanic going by the beaches and certainly in the tropics.

Nasty DD, just been watching the news, bad now and worse to come:sad:

Amazing how quickly it has retreated - as Dazza said we got smashed for about 15mins earlier, now the radar is almost clear for us. Enough now! Photos are my normal and alternate routes out of the valley - not today.

Wow this has snuck up on us - that time of year I guess. Will be down there, at least for an extended day trip if not overnight - still not sure about flying vs driving, I guess time will tell what the wx is going to do to us.

Thanks Maj, that is good gen, always like to know what real world figures are. I was only tweaking your tail anyway - I suspect the onset of cabin fever may explain things! I recall the tongue in cheek explanation for Maules and KR2s always being slower than book figures, was that they suffered some sort of unusual aerodynamic interference when another aircraft was in the vicinity;)

Time for that float conversion methinks - the radar has exploded over N NSW and according to the gurus that will slowly blow back north over us. Just been to check on the boat and although the canals etc are still where they should be, even 2 hours before high tide they were well above their normal level. We're primed for a bit of a mess if the same rain falls here later today. Edit, just been reading weatherzone, apparently things are getting a tad nasty over at Warwick and Toowoomba - (Heon just smiles.....)

Thanks Ultralights, from what I've heard, your's sounds like a good example so with some allowance for tyre size etc 90kts seems like a realistic claim. Pretty good I reckon, esp when you consider what the lower end of the speed range looks like. Are you guys still on for a run up north? Wx apparently due to give us a bit of a break around Thurs.

Geez, someone must have featured on Santa's naughty list:laugh: Maj I'm still none the wiser, what TAS did you get on your Savannah flight, I've no idea what your Lightwing cruises at.

Yep Maj, quite an interesting little set up that could go several ways . Really, really hoping that GFS have got it wrong - because we are in the poo (deep poo at that) if the situation sketched in one of their predictions comes off. (These charts are prone to quite big swings in totals, esp several days out, so no call for panic - yet!) Rgds Carl

Welcome aboard mate, hope you enjoy the company here. Importing has come up several times recently, try the search function, there are a few people with recent experience that have written about it. Rgds Carl Edit: Here's an example; http://www.recreationalflying.com/showthread.php/105982-Buying-GA?highlight=importing

Frank, despite not having anything to do with the land anymore, I have a fair interest in the weather and have started keeping an eye on www.weatherzone.com.au. There is a whole section dedicated to your neck of the woods and another for SEQ. You need to have the BS filter set to high with some of the comments, but there are a lot of very informed people there, including some BoM forecasters who provide the benefit of their experience, not constrained by official policies etc. I haven't paid for the premium version, there is more than enough for me just in the forums. Incidentally there is a strong school of thought there that we could be in for a bit more than BoM is forecasting for SEQ, ie 2nd coming of Noah stuff. I'm not convinced yet, but have laid in some extra supplies and will be keeping a close eye on developments, this this isn't one to be complacent about. PS Glad you escaped relatively unscathed.

Yeah, been wondering how Frank and co fared. I was up at much the same time, checking on the radar and was met with the news that the young lady had been born and was on the march. We're having a bit of a break now, just misty drizzle, but there were a series of heavy showers throughout the night and I believe some parts of the Coast have had around the 90mm mark. Geez I really hope we're not being prepped for a real sousing next week - from my reading of the weather sites, BoM and amateur, there seems to be quite a bit of uncertainty just how this is going to pan out, someone is probably going to cop a bucket load, just a question of whether it is one of the big centres.