Geoff13

If you had seen me the first day I flew a Drifter you would have seen a grand example of lack of confidence. So I am assuming from your post that you have your Pilots Certificate but not the Nav endorsment. How is your confidence when flying i the training area. If that is ok then maybe you could set some small navs within that area. That can help with the concept of following a bearing and all those other things. We can become fairly at home in our patch but we can still use it for training. Start out with an instructor and build up to on your own. So long as you are within your 25nm no probs. The other thing as has been suggested lots of time in the air both as PIC in the training area, with and without an instructor and as a pax. There is no need to rush your navs. Confidence comes with time in the saddle. I see you are Brisbane based, where do you normally fly from and where do you live. I fly fairly regularly and more often than not I have an empty seat. So long as the weights work out I would be more than happy to take you up from time to time. As for Bumps. I hate 'em. Not a confidence thing it is simply a comfort thing, I do however like to fly in a bit of turbulence from time to time especially when it is within the circuit. I find it does help build the skill set and if I ever need it I want to be sure I can do it.

I can't answer the question a to why. I can only assume (yes I know) that the aircraft was built to a stronger standard and we are being given some of that back in the trade off. I would suspect that if an airframe was built to an absolute mtow then there would be no room to give any more but if the mtow was a paper one due to regulations then there could be room for movement. I guess an email to the tech people could answer that question better than me, but it was one of the things that I did check on before buying my plane.

There is no need to die because of a mistake if there is a way to save your own and your passengers life then why not use it. I have met many people who thought that they were perfect and would or could never make a mistake but I am yet to meet the one those who was correct in their own self assessment. Some of those are no longer with us but could be had they realised that they were not perfect. If I ever make a mistake up there I know I would like my wife and if possible me to survive through my error. If a BRS can do that then it is an option that I need to consider. And apart from that I have been into airfields where there were 7 aircraft in an uncontrolled circuit. I would hate to think that someone in my care should die because of someone elses error if there is an alternative. I know I am not perfect and watching some other people out there I know that not everyone that I meet in the air is perfect (in fact same are downright dangerous). Anything that can be done to increase my safety is worth consideration. The bonus on paper is with my aircraft when fitted with a BRS it gets an extra 22.5kgs on the mtow, the chute weighs approx 15kgs. I think thats a pretty fair deal.

Nov/Dec issue. Just purchsed it this morning. First time I have read it and I only bought it to read the article on the Foxbat.

Make for a good read. Seems like they may have gotten it right.

Very good questions. Why not go direct into the aircraft via the mister funnel. The mister funnel has a fairly short neck and with the positioning of the tank it means the mister funnel is at a 45 degree angle and is difficult to pour into. It means holding the funnel one handed and the Jerry can with the other. Difficult to do and a risk of spillage. So why not the mister funnel at the servo. Several reasons for that. 1. I have bad knees and find it very difficult to work at ground level without sitting. As the Cans need to be on the ground to fuel at the servo i find it difficult to squat/bend long enough to fill them. 2. Servos are inherently busy and dirty places. Wind and vehicles driving in and out increase the risk of getting crap into the jerry cans even with the funnel. 3. I keep my funnel and all pouring spouts in a covered container and only bring them out to use them then put them away again, my ute is a work vehicle and is not a particularly sterile environment. 4. At my shed or hanger I have my fuel kit, which includes a 50 year old small chair that my father always used when working his bees. It allows me to sit and be comfortable as I filter my fuel. 5. As already suggested full flow of the 50 mil pouring spout supplies flow at the optimum flow rate for the mister funnel. 6. By draining from one Jerry into the last one drained, and then pouring the last dregs and the bit left in the funnel into my slops can I keep a clean Jerry every time. 7. I have found taking the time to filter my fuel allows me to stop slow down and get my mindset into aviation mode. ie. forget the watch and slow down to my own pace. My work and industry tends to run at breakneck speed so I use this process to slow down and put my mindset into the it does not have to be right now mindset. 8. It is part of my flying experience and I find it relaxing. (Besides I get to sniff the fuel twice). The point about only purchasing fuel at high volume outlets has come from many years of running vehicles and several very bad fuel experiences. Just a little self taught safety mechanism. The 10 litre cans rather than 20 litre are simply because I find them easier to handle, and as my filler is under the wing 20 litre cans would be very difficult to manage. I am looking to buy a 5 litre can for those times when I want to fill up the tank but it won't quite take 10 litres.

I buy my fuel from the servo in 10 litre Jerry cans. Easy to handle. Then back to the plane and filter it through my mister funnel into another 10 litre can. From there direct into the plane using the same pour spout so I don't add impurities. My pour spouts have an inbuilt breather so I get good flow. Takes a little bit of time but I am comfortable with that as I rate anything to do with the plane as playtime. I pay a bit more than the cheapest rate for fuel because I always buy it from a high volume/turnover service station. It my be just me but I hope that high turnover suppliers have less chance of having stale fuel and/or impurities in it.

Jeez you did well if you got noodles for lunch Robbo.

I don't really know how short a STOL plane lands having never flown in one. I can land the Foxbat fully stopped at MTOW in 150 to 170 metres without to much trouble. I can get the Hanuman down and stopped between 100 and 150 metres. Both take of in about the same distance. Remember I have no real STOL experience or training so a good pilot could probably do a lot better with both aircraft. The Hanuman with full flap comes in very steeply and very slowly if you want it to. Of course you would want to land it with full flap if the wind was gusting or playing around or if you did you would want to hold more speed on it.

I am going flying in the morning out of Caboolture. Leaving very early and I have a spare seat. Destination to be determined tomorrow depending on wind, cloud, fog etc. The plan is for 3 to 4 hours leaving at 0500ish. PM me if you want to come. Or if you want to tag along in your own plane that could work to.

I have a sight picture in my mind. To me it just seems to be about the attitude of the aircraft leaving me with the sight picture that I want. Each aircraft is different but after 20 minutes, a couple of stalls and a few steep turns I seem to be able to adjust the picture to suit each aircraft. Except the drifter, that is all about where the wind is hitting my face.

just about says it all doesn't it.

What changes? And how do those changes affect safety of the aircraft at those increased limits?

This conversation won't do much to help the increase in MTOW argument. The problem with this is if someone is willing to break one regulation no matter what the reasoning behind it then they are likely under the right circumstances to break others. A couple of the posts above scream cowboy to me. 10% overweight. Hell I wouldn't drive a semi that was 10% over.

So shafs you were looking at it how did you go?

And a positive for having a BRS on board. Two fellow aviators would not be with us today without it. Two people who have had the opportunity to learn from a mistake which may have easily had a far worse result.

Hanuman has folding wings. much easier to find somewhere to park it.

They are there right along side the 2006 ones, can't you see them.

3.3 hours today. Wheels up at 0600. A quick lap of the glasshouse mountains then out through the Brisbane Valley via Kilcoy to overfly Gatton then skirted the Amberly Restricted Area to land a Boonah for a stretch and wander around. Then over Heck Field and Dunwich to cape Moreton and back across to Caboolture. 3.3 hours and 50 litres of fuel. Tomorrow is my 5th attempt to make it to the Straddie flyin breaky. It has never quite worked out before but tomorrows forecast looks good. I love the photo of Mt Beerwah with the cloud beard.

I can't answer that question but I could suggest that you look at an X-Air Hanuman. I have one and they have a bucket load of room. More than any of the ones you have mentioned. And in the right hands they will land and take of a short as you could want. Certainly as good as if not better than the Foxbat.

Back to the future day. 21 Oct 2015. We knew that someone would invent one by then.

Andy Your photo cannot be the same place, the river is on the wrong side of the photo.

The Ducati riders tend to get upset though when a Goldwing undertakes them on a corner going up Mt Glorious. Apparently according to my mate it isn't the fact that I corner inside him. Nor is it the fact that apparently my taste in music upsets his concentration. It is that the sparks coming from my centre stand go down the back of his race suit and singe the hairs on his back. But seriously I love riding and most bikes are enjoyable when ridden to there potential. It is just with my knees I can no longer crouch over the crouch rockets so I sit in my armchair and tease them into thinking that they can keep up.

I gave you a funny DZ but only because you just proved your lack of understanding about real motorcycles. But life in general is good when we canlaugh at ourselves first. I understand about you other bike riders need to stop every hour or two for lattes etc whilst we wing rider just continue on making miles.