Jump to content

Spin

Members
  • Posts

    1,490
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    4

Everything posted by Spin

  1. Going back to CFI's original question, I think I'd answer "probably yes - but not necessarily" - reason being that I am wary of one size fits all solutions in aviation. I'm not an instructor, nor do I have many thousands of hours behind me, but I have had the advantage of flying with many different instructors from ultralight, military, GA and airline backgrounds over the 20 odd years that I've been around aircraft and if nothing else, I've seen that there is frequently more than one way to exfoliate the proverbial feline. Early on in the training, sticking to the attitude for speed is valid I believe but as a student progresses to short field landings, ie flying behind the drag curve in most aircraft on approach, a more subtle combination of methods will probably be called for. I was rather surprised to be pulled up in a recent flight for raising the nose to lose speed - but then the instructor does drive vast chunks of Airbus branded aluminium in his day time job and I believe that method is expected of them in that environment.
  2. Interested to know, why was that? I know David commented about the overly sensitive pitch control, does that mean more so than other all flying tailplanes - any other issues that concerned you? As I'd commented elsewhere, up until now the chorus of praise singers has drowned out any negative comments, to the extent that I'd thought that when the opportunity presented itself I'd like to take a closer look - might not be so keen now, unfortunately.
  3. I believe that fleet is or was up for sale after one of the Lightnings went in at an airshow a year or two back - sad story all around, appears that a fire in the rear fuselage disabled the controls, however multiple prior attempts to eject were thwarted by the canopy refusing to jettison. I've got a number of photos and references tucked away somewhere, I'll have a look this evening and post for interest sake. I'd always dreamed of spending a bunch of money to go supersonic in one of them - when my ship came in:cool:, seems it won't be happening. Photo courtesy of Gary Shephard - was provided to CAA for the accident investigation. [ATTACH=full]901[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]18063[/ATTACH]
  4. http://www.aeroclub.com.au/showev-2333-ef73ad.html Unfortunately not, seems the halfwitted council are determined to derail any form of aviation revival for Evans Head.:mad:
  5. A little friendlier looking than the last one I saw! Pretty nifty paint job, do you know who it belongs to?
  6. You have the advantage on me, I have never even had a close look at one, was merely quoting what had been said on numerous occasions elsewhere. I suppose I should really know better after all this time in legal and associated fields, the truth is a fairly elusive little sucker. Edit: I guess I should clarify, more than anything else I am disappointed ..... disappointed that what looked from the outside like an Aussie good news story, has been exposed as something akin to the Dodgy Brothers Circus.
  7. I don't know about that Dazza; I also read the whitewash exercise elsewhere and I would be interested to read what the final report has to say, the prelim report is pretty carefully worded and I suspect the authors knew exactly what inference would be drawn in reading it. I guess you also saw the "it was Garry's own plane" therefore not representative of what else is produced in the factory comment? Funny, I've seen previous ads where the fact that it was the builders personal plane was used as a selling point.
  8. Sadly I think you're 100% right, at the very least RA are going to have to scramble to convince CASA that they are able to manage things down the line. Part of the problem is CASA too have to be seen to be doing something, there are enough people waiting to catch them asleep on the job. The worst part of this is there are people around who had to have some level of awareness of the quality of work being produced in the factory and yet all you ever seem to hear is gushing praise:eek:. I know I was previously berated for daring to question the advertised stall speed of the Sierra (22kts!) Sadly I had always quite liked the look of the aircraft and by all accounts it is pleasant to fly - but this level of corner cutting throws it all into question - ie. just how comprehensive was the flight testing, the structural engineering etc?
  9. Well no real surprises in relation to the incident itself, the video would be interesting to see though. That aircraft however.....! I'm not familiar with the process, a homebuilt aircraft would need to be signed off by an approved person, not so? How does it work with a factory built, who has oversight there?
  10. Well done Dexter - always good to have an excuse to go flying!!:)
  11. That whole saga of proving that jet aircraft were suitable for carrier use, makes for fascinating reading. I believe one of the proposals was for a padded deck and no under carriage! Eric "Winkle" Brown wrote several books about his flying exploits, including testing captured German aircraft immediately after the war. There was a brief interview with him on SBS the other evening. On the subject of unusual carrier operations, remember that the WW11 era carriers didn't use steam catapults and yet they were able to launch a variety of aircraft, including B-25 bombers successfully. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doolittle_Raid
  12. Spin

    Fowl Play?

    Ha ha, actually I believe some of the employees wacked it on the barbie for lunch.
  13. Good riddance, horrible stuff cost me an overhaul on one of my outboards a few years ago, after my local changed over to E10 and the only notification was a tiny little notice on the pumps.
  14. Good find red750, I had an inkling that the record had been broken or an attempt made, turns out Felix Baumgartner, the bloke Red Bull sponsor to do all sorts of crazy skydiving stunts, is planning an attempt (with Joe Kittinger's assistance) . Been some legal issues, but supposed to be back on track now. http://www.redbullstratos.com/
  15. Time to work on the world's first float equipped Zephyr! We sure do live in the land of extremes, you're soggy as, whereas on the otherside of the continent I have friends in harm's way near Margaret River.
  16. Imagine doing the flight planning for that trip! Wizz wheel would be running red hot:) From a previous year; [ATTACH=full]872[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]18050[/ATTACH]
  17. Spotted this one on the Airplane Factory's website; a new Sling undergoing flight testing hit a guinea fowl, causing a fair old dent in the leading edge. Repairs are well under way I hear, aircraft due to be delivered shortly. I see from a recent Australian Flying newsletter that the Sling is going to be sold locally in the near future - if they can hold the 2 seater LSA to the sub $100k level they may be onto a good thing, it is certainly a well proven design, having been flown around the world in 2009. The stretched 4 seater followed suit earlier this year, putting in several 20+hour transoceanic legs. [ATTACH=full]871[/ATTACH]
  18. Spot on Ozzie, it doesn't all have to come from above, in fact club level is probably the ideal place for these initiatives. Michael Coates will know what I'm talking about when I say that I was very impressed with a recent open day the GCSFC put on at Jacobs Well. My youngster has done quite a bit of flying already, but he certainly wasn't going to turn down the opportunity to climb into several different aircraft and have the owners patiently demonstrate their plane's features. Sadly times have changed since I rode my pushbike to the local strip and hung around hoping to be offered a ride - something that happened surprisingly often, but there are still ways to do it and protect yourself from the worst excesses of the nanny state. [ATTACH=full]869[/ATTACH]
  19. Sad but true, unfortunately. Even if I can sort of follow the argument for not recycling them (hazard and economics), I was surprised to see that some of them still had their canopies and all were still on their undercarriage. When I see what Motoart can do with old bits of aeroplane, you'd have to think that some of these items could have been sold off to enthusiasts - I've got a bit of a thing for industrial chic (Memo to self, got to find an old airframe or two to plunder)
  20. Yeah Willie, for my money it is one of the better Vietnam aviation based, war books available. Cooper is perhaps understandably bitter about his treatment by authorities in Aus after the fact and has his say about it, but there is plenty of meat there too. Methinks we need to resurrect the good aviation book thread....... Incidentally I think you're on the money re the source of the choppers and the thinking process involved. I'm not so sure though that anyone else actually paid for them, handouts to the South Vietnamese Govt. I suspect. Probably better they ended up on the seabed instead of in uncle Ho's grubby little mits.
  21. Not sure of the tail no. but I seem to recall that the one that the RAAF broke and then spent a few man years putting back together, was still on strength somewhere in the States, might be appropriate to hand that over seeing as we more or less built it anyway:)
  22. Believe it or not there is a minor Aussie connection to that story - the aircraft concerned is one flown extensively by Garry Cooper, an Aussie attached to the US forces in Vietnam. He has a bit more about the story including a photo of the note dropped on the deck, in his book "Sock it to em Baby", which is well worth a read anyway. Must have taken big ones on the Capt's part to order the equipment scuttled like that, far easier to say; "ok ditch alongside and we'll have choppers waiting to drop rescuers."
  23. That would be Barnes Wallis. Always loved the line attributed to him when he was battling to get an aircraft to air test the bouncing bomb; "Do you think it would help if they knew that I designed the Wellington?"
  24. Great find Dexter, love reading these stories - and occasionally reflecting on the price those guys paid for what we now have.
  25. Whoa! The energy tied up in that rotor system is horrifying - kind of puts into context the briefing I received before going in a military chopper the first time; "if we go down, wait until it has thrashed itself to death before leaving the cabin..."
×
×
  • Create New...