Birdseye

Lousy view of what was the busiest part of the airport - the Terminal 1 & 2 A, B & C stands. They must use a lot of CCTV. At least they have more workspace than in the old tower.

Noted that the screenshot on the OZR web site also shows truncated weather info:

;-)

In later times, either the Supermarine Sea Hawk or Hawker Hunter. I can't think of an American aircraft, apart from perhaps the P51 and that was designed to meet a RAF spec anyway..

Why not with rocket technology, plus command ejection for the pax. I recall a Jet Provost based in Southend UK that went for flight with pilot and brother in law (or related somehow). They weren't allowed to leave the the bang seats live, but upside down it still slid off the pole quite nicely. Fortunately the seat parachute auto deployment still worked!

I reckon this is advance confirmation that the old chap is soon to "pop his clogs".

I wouldn't mind the cordon blu chefs, my wife seems to only watch dross full of murder and postmortems!

" Wednesday 20:30. Finally, some good shows for us." Disappointing enough to turn if off early. Reminiscences from ill-informed schoolboys does not make an investigation. Only thing missing was the 'Discovery Channel' avatar in the corner. "Worst place to be a pilot" is rather better. Quite a few episodes on YouTube if anyone is interested.

You should look at the MSIC requirements. It's even more hilarious than the ASIC (mind you, at least you can't get an ASIC on the basis of holding a MSIC). It used to say that if you had attempted an act of piracy you would be refused one! Having worked at Heathrow when the IRA were at their peak and the BAA 'brown army' of security guards were engaged, I can safely say that civil airports are basically indefensible. Unless that is, as was done by the RAF Regiment in Oman, you use ground mapping radar and other devices and bomb the F out of any contact with 80 mm mortars. Like the crap we put up when traveling on commercial airlines , its basically a sham to con the gullible into thinking they are safe and making private security firms a bloody fortune. Not to mention that they pay peanuts and get monkeys that are probably only rudimentary screened in the first place. Ahmed on the scanner?????

Not sure if the "new option" refers to the specific aircraft or a suggestion that the concept is new. Big aircraft have been using spoiler/aileron coupling for roll control since at least the Boeing 707.

An interesting read. Specifically the comment "Use 1.3 Vso on short final only". I'd regard it rather like the 'big jets' Vat - something to aim for the over the threshold, not on the extended final that most seem to fly these days.

How did they get the entire NZ population in one place for the crowd scene?

Probably a case of CYA. A bit for dad, a bit for mum and a large bit for the litigation lawyer.

I think it is something inherent with a number of 'action cameras', I find the same apparent speed-up effect with all videos I've taken.

They are just CASA built LSA with jet engines. Struggle to make 250 kts!

Another thing worth considering. Thanks.

Just researched the Alpi, very interesting. The lower MTOW is offset somewhat by the lower empty weight, presumably that is as a result of the timber structure. I note that there are no comms/nav listed as standard, so that may explain in part the lower list price.

With a mean track around 245 you've have copped a large slice of that on the way to Honkers!

You'd be getting a good breeze at mid-high levels just now. http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/500hPa/orthographic=-46.96,34.35,414

Some years back, when BA were still flying through Perth, I observed a 747 radar ground speed of over 1250 km/h (650 kts) at 140 nm WSW of Perth. When I remarked on it the pilot said once they were in the jetstream the ride was very smooth. Poor sods coming the other way had a very low, slow and bumpy ride.

As I mentioned above, I do like the general performance of the aircraft and concur that precision in flying is rewarded. With thermal gusts and falls it pays to watch closely the ASI on final. Plenty of tactile and audible feedback if the speed gets too low, but takes some effort if it gets too high! The Sportstar? Yes, that has caught my attention. Peter must have an eye for good aircraft as I believe he also used to be the agent for those.

You should have seen Gordon's face when he was demo-ing a forced landing with no restart and asked me (as the pretend pax) to turn off the fuel. So I did (ROFL).

Thanks Andrew and Peter. It raises an interesting point about entry path and preference for controls. Its not so much as the feel in my case, more the actual ergos, which may be exagerrated by having the seat fully forward to suit my stumpy legs. I actually prefer a conventional stick over a yoke and even found the left mounted Airbus stick OK when I had a simulator 'ride' some years ago.

UPDATE Well I've marked up a little over a dozen hours now, two more than my first solo back in 1978. Covered off a number of exercises, including PFLs (can't see the fuss with engine failures after having flown gliders). Maybe I should buy a Jabiru after all :-) The snag is that I can't get consistency in my landings. Whilst I like the performance of the Foxbat, especially the short field performance, I'm increasingly getting frustrated by the centre stick and the rudder characteristics. Has anyone found the same, as I'm now seriously considering looking at other aircraft?

"? Ever seen a pig after a hail storm?" No, they are all sheltering at McDonalds!