PaulN

Welcome Bill, good to hear from you. That Lightning sounds like a wonderful project. Like you, we can't wait till you finish it, take to the skies and report the fantastic performance first hand. I have a mate in Jindabyne who'd love to build one of these, almost every time I see him he has something to say about the Lightning. Sadly,time and funds are a limit. Paul

Hi Ross, Yep, told you it was easy. Great flight, take a look at the "Great Trips" thread for a bit more story. PIO? Is that another way of saying "wandering"? Don't you love some of these terms .;) OK, another easy strip (just for you Danda). Paul

AT LAST, CT 3841 is airworthy and back home in her cosy little shed. And what a delight to fly she is, I'd almost forgotten how good it is. After being at Tocumwal for the past 29 days undergoing the composite repairs with Peter Corkery (great job too) we flew over this morning to bring her home again, and back in time for lunch. Pity about the smoke haze. The flight over was very smooth and again on the return leg until over top the alps when thermal turb struck with vengeance. This was made more interesting when keeping close to Adrian in his Jab to avoid losing contact in the haze, him being ahead of me made for a great show bouncing all over my windscreen. Well, I just wanted to share the excitement of having my (our) toy back and just in time for Christmas :big_grin: :big_grin: :big_grin: :big_grin: :big_grin: :big_grin: :big_grin: :big_grin: . She's only been laid up for 413 days, I guess there's lots of catching up to do now. Sorry, I can't resist ... YIPPEEEEEE Paul

Today is the day I've been waiting for since Nov 1, 2005 ... that's just 413 days (but who's counting :confused:). At long last the CT is airworthy again since the leg break incident. Adrian, a good mate from our Snowy River Aviators club, ferried me over to Toc to collect my Christmas present. Charlie Tango has been undergoing composite repairs with Peter Corkery of Aviation Composite Engineering since this Nov 20. He's done a great job, better than new finish. Not cheap but highly recommended. We departed Cooma at 0600 local in what we thought was pretty thick smoke haze, but still with around 15km forward visibility,and the flight over was delightfully smooth though slow with headwind. Coming home was a bit more difficult as the haze had increased markedly, esp the last half hour over the alps and home. They say a GPS is only an aid to VFR navigation, a remarkably helpful aid, believe me. Here's a few pics to share the experience, enjoy. Paul

OK people, I collected a few more pics today (not long before everything was totally enveloped by smoke). First, the easy ones ... nocheers for second guesses. Paul

At last, the thread has come to life again . Hey Pete, I reckon early morning, around 0700 local over top Raywood. Paul PS I'm heading over to Toc from Cooma early tomorrow (Tues) for arrival around 0800. What's the smoke haze like over that way? PaulN

Steve, take a look at this post. The letter comes directly from the organising committee for the Fly-In. This will clear it up for you. http://www.recreationalflying.com/Forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2839 Cheers, Paul

The Jab's safe for Thurs Ross. If we go this week it will be Friday, so please don't bend the Jab on Thurs. We just have to work out how to get these forecasters to make the right noises ... Friday's looking a bit iffy at present. Paul

Breath taking Geoff, thanks.

Hi all, Most of us are aware of the difficulties the organisers of The Great Eastern Fly-In at Evans Head have encountered this year. Today I rec'd the following from Gai Taylor with pretty exciting information about the outcome for this year and prospects for next . Please give some thought to joining the fun at Kempsey tobolsterthe supportby the rec aviation community. Maybe even send your email words of encouragement to Gai and the committee at gaitaylor AT exemail dot com dot au. Paul Hi Everyone, I hope you are all going well and having fun flying. I wanted to let you know about where we are up to with the Great Eastern and what is happening on the weekend after Xmas. As you all probably know, the Fly-In Committee decided to cancel this year's Fly-In due to a fairly untenable situation which was emerging with our local Council. This was a very difficult decision and one we believe was correct given the circumstances. There were issues with proposed very large landing fees and charges for hire of the Aerodrome and for all aircraft attending and camping only in the sandy area east of the amenities block. I would like to thank all of you who contacted us to say how disapointed you were and offering assistance in any way you could, this made a big difference to us as we really got to see just how much the Great Eastern is valued. One of these offers has moved into full swing and I want to let you know about it. KEMPSY NEW YEAR FLY-IN BENEFIT Kempsey Flying Club offered to run an event to suppliment the Great Eastern until we were back on deck next year. We thought this was a great idea and they are in the process of dicovering all the fun things there are to do organising such an event!! They are running the Kempsey New Year Benefit Fly-In to support the Great Eastern on the weekend after Xmas, usually our time All the details can be found on www.aeroclub.com.au and it would be great if you could pass this on to anyone you know and get them to pass it on as it would be really good to have a good roll up. They are having quite a gathering of antique aircraft, some joy flight operations and great food, a BBQ meal for pilots Saturday night and underwing camping. They could do with maybe a couple more commercial operators, so far a CT 4, trike and Cessna. So if think you might like to add to that give Graeme a ring on 6566 9231. Their Aerodrome is also a WWII site and was part of transport operations during the war, ferrying aircraft north and south and other operations, so they are part of Evans Head historically. The Future for the Great Eastern I'm pleased, to let you know that we have moved on from this and after more positive discussions with Council over the last few weeks we are aiming to be on again next year. It seems that we all want to Fly-In to go ahead and if planning goes as we want it to, we'll be having some flying fun together again next year. I would personally like to thank you all for your ongoing support for the Aerodrome and wish you a happy Xmas and great 2007 and I hope to see some of you over the New Year weekend. Best Wishes Gai PaulN

No. But been there done that heaps ... ah, such fun :confused: .

Sam, I have often experienced difficulty starting the Rotax in my CT, esp when cold. It sounds like you may be seeing/hearing/feeling the same symptoms I did, always leaving me with a grimace. That is, on ignition the engine grinds over, attempts to fire then slaps back. After some trial and error we reset all the plugs to a slightly greater gap (thirty thou) and has since started more easily cold or hot and without the slap-back. Might be worth a try. Paul

Good, clear andpositive discussion everyone. Great to see members being helped without leaving grey areas. Well done. Paul

Hi, I got three invites, one for me, one for my wife and one for our company ... all of which are on the register at RA-Aus. Regarding the special offer, I think you will find this is only for pilot/owners of "special interest" aircraft, like warbirds and vintage stuff. Now I know the CTs are special aircraft but somehow I think the organisers may be a bit more discerning who they pass out all their freebies to. Does anyone know what the rules/courtesies are with regard to flying in for the show, or where to read up on these? Paul

It's always good tohave a new member to the forum, so a big welcome toJim, great to have you on board. Please tell us a little about yourself. Are you a flyer, been at it long, any interesting experiences to share? Paul

Hey Ian, Gwen's often said we should visit the land of the "land white cloud" and that while there we ought to make the effort to take in some aerial sight seeing. Now here's an idea, why don't you and I get together and fly our CTs in formation to NZ while the wivestake aQF (or whatever's cheaper). You can carry the life rafts and to be fair with the loadings I'll carry the extra fuel. Here's another thought,one of uscould first buzz up to Goulburn, collect the "Come And Get It Trophy" take it over to NZ and the other bring it back. Now that would be one for the records. And ... we're both Oz reg'd. Paul

Hi John, I don't own a SW but a 2K and am delighted with it. I know you'll be absolutely delighted also when you get through the other side of a long wait for delivery ... but good things are worth the wait. I don't know why people refer to the SW as easier to land, I have not one bit of difficulty with the 2K. Maybe with the SW you just let go the controls and it does it all for you ... right Ian? ;) Looking fwd to meeting up with you sometime John. Paul

Hi Andrew, It's great to have you on board. Hope your plans to get airborne come off. Re looking out of place onthe CBR, no way,a bikeis regulation uniform if this thread is any indication. Paul

Hi Dave, I've been wondering about a cover like this. What is its weight? How much did it cost in AUD? Also, out of curiosity, what's with the jumper leads? Paul

Hi P32, I won't say it was easy but managed my Pilot Cert from ab initio at 26.4 hours 5.7 of which were solo. XC and Pax endorsements took a while longer of course. If it's possible, I think the best approach is to do your training in a concentrated block of time rather than over a long period. Mine was achieved in just under two months ... but the learning goes on. Paul

I believe Mel Gibson has property on the Sth Coast, maybe that's it ... certainly the right calibre block of dirt.

A wise man's heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction. (Proverbs 16:23)

Rob, Is the owner of the SW Rocks strip visitor friendly? Do you have a name and contact? Paul

Hi Ross, Sorry to hear the news about your mother. No matter how expected the passing of someone close may be it always rocks you, especially someone as close as your Mum. I guess she must have been of a pretty good age. Thinking of you during this difficult time. Paul