JG3

Yeh, that was Dennis Maland, test pilot for Spectrum Aviation in Canada. The aircraft was a Spectrum Beaver RX35. I had one very similar, and flew it 1000 hours all over Eastern and Central Aus. I knew him and flew with him once. He knew exactly what he was doing; that was a very smooth and graceful bit of flying. The aircraft weighed about 120 kg, wing loading 3 lb/ft.ft, stressed to +7, -4. In those maneuvers not much more load on those wings than a butterfly.... Low level, yeh that's frightening, but he was a dare-devil, liked to be right at the edge of the cliff, and I don't think ever screwed up in thousands of hours of flying. I liked the story he told of very early ultralight days at Oshkosh, when he demonstrated a ballistic parachute for a manufacturer. He climbed up to 2000 ft, cut the engine, deployed the chute, drifted down to 1000 ft, cut the chute loose, glided down to a dead-stick landing, and jumped out just in time to catch the chute as it fluttered down. That was a real high-light in the life of a dare-devil show-off! Last time I talked with him on the phone was really sad. He was pretty much bed, bound by a debilitating disease...... I'm really glad this video has showed up to remember him at his prime. JG

Here's my Savannah on some pretty fair-size rocks. Those 8.00x6 tyres are plenty big enough for anything but pure show-off. More about those STOL landings at StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft JG

Yeh, it's not easy to afford all this fun, but this sort of adventure flying is TOP life priority for me, and everything else must take second place. I drive a $600 car so that I can own a $50k aircraft. I'm semi-retired, live on my own really lean and basic in a corner of my workshop and rent out the house, so I can afford the freedom to fly away like this. Those trade-offs suit me just fine, so I'm making the best of it while I can.... JG

A quick trip to the Birdsville Races 09, and adventures along the way. Photos and story at StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft JG

I know a mechanic who looks after a 912 used in a gyro for mustering work, so full power much of the time. At 2400 hrs he put new rings and hand lapped the valves. At 5400 he did same again. Can measure some wear in the bore now, but within specs. Now it's out there at full bore again, aiming for 7000 hrs........

$100 / month at Kilcoy, available now. And that's for a full T-hangar with your own doors and no other aircraft. 0434 515 628

I've ground run both 447 and 912 engines without props. No problems, but be very careful with throttle as they can over-rev very quickly without the load. JG

Gday Jeff, Don't know that I can add much feedback. I find the Savannah to be just perfect for this sort of x-country travel. Enough cruise speed and efficiency, and very good short strip capability. Very stable hands-off flight for map reading, etc. I'd hardly change anything. Extended baggage compart yes. Extended fuel tanks handy in some cases, but not essential. As I travel solo, a couple of jerrry cans on the pax seat do just as well. The dinky little tyres that are standard need to be replaced. I don't like the Turf tyres that are offered as an option - very thin and punture prone.... Much better are 6.00x6 proper aircraft tyres, real 6-ply. They fit the original rims and original front fork. A bit heavier, but not as wide as the Turf, so no loss in cruise speed. I don't know if the factory has upgraded the front axle yet, but if not, we drill it out to fit a 10mm stainless bolt all the way through. You'll really enjoy a Savannah! JG

Last weekend a former Lightwing flyer told of an incident when a door opened accidentally. When the passenger reached out and grabbed it, the door caught the slipstream and was violently ripped in two, one half departing the aircraft..... Luckily it missed the horiz stab. The point is, on any aircraft don't feel complacent if an open door seems stable and safe; it can turn violent instantly and unpredicably. Hold your hand out a car window at speed and vary the angle of attack and feel the considerable and immediate force. Now multiply that by the size of the door, and a much higher airspeed. Also consider that the propwash is even higher velocity than the aircraft speed, and turbulent. Makes for a potentially very violent and unpredictable situation. Three recent real life experiences on different makes of aircraft have demonstrated this......... Take heed and take care.......

Yeh, thanks for that Les, it's input like that we need to keep up to date. I'll change the site as soon as I get home. Seems to me there used to be avgas at Lightning Ridge...... It was many years ago, and I was with a group with ground transport, so maybe we got fuel from town....... JG

Yeh, so it is. That's too bad, it was a really good stop.... JG

Here's a link to a map that I've prepared showing useful fuel stops in outback SW Qld, NW NSW, and NE SA. This covers the area needed to access the Birdsville Track, Lake Eyre, and Flinders Ranges. This area is the nearest real outback desert experience to the majority of the southeast population. It's readily accessible, well-travelled, and dramatic scenery. StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft I've had fuel from all of those 20 sites, some of them several times. In a couple of hundred hours of flying in such areas I've never had any problem with dirty fuel. The longest legs between Avgas pumps are about 250nm Birdsville/William Creek, or 270nm Birdsville/Arkaroola. There's much more ULP than shown on this map; I've just shown those sites that ULP is right at the airstrip. Also a link to some tips on planning and equipping such flights. StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft And some tips for packing to travel light but comfortable. StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft Time to order some WAC charts and start planning! JohnG

Yeh, good trip report Kevin, (Lake Eyre Trip), and a really good recommendation - "...Get out there!....." I'm always puzzled by the vast number of x-country capable aircraft that never go anywhere except to neighbouring airfields for the pilot to have a session of b/s and coffee, maybe to Narromine at the most, then back to the hangar and locked away most of the time......... That's a dead boring life for an aircraft, let alone the pilot..... Life is slipping by, go while you can! I started touring that fascinating outback country in '95 in a 50 kt single-seat Beaver with a single-ignition 447 Rotax. Many would say that's not a x-country capable aircraft, but it carried me to Birdsville twice, Mt Hopeless and Lake Eyre, Alice Springs, Barkley Tableland NT, Gulf of Carpentaria, and many other jaunts - lifetime memorable adventures that I absolutely wouldn't have missed for anything! Now I go on even longer runs in a Savannah, and it's almost too easy to be a real challenge, but it's still a heck of a lot of fun. To head out over the horizon on the start of another outback adventure still brings a tingle of excitement to my gut! In May when I got back from 4000 nm and pulled up to the hangar doors, I just wanted to keep on going, and so did my aircraft...... And you can fly most of those outback places without taking the risks of going over remote uninhabited tiger country. Just follow the roads - they mostly go from one fuel stop to the next anyhow. Even if they wander a bit from the direct track, the extra distance is small, and it's just more scenery, which is what I came for anyhow. Flying a direct GPS track from point to point at 5000ft (or even higher) is dead boring..... It's so good to not follow that GPS arrow, but rather just keep the road mostly in sight, and keep track of the features on the map, and wander a bit to have a better look at whatever. Following the road at 2000 ft or less gives a totally different view point than driving it. It's a grand, fresh, perspective rather than just corrugations and dust. Don't have to be right over the road, just close enough to glide down if need be - it's like having an emergency runway always in reach. It's the safest flying that I do, much safer than flying this coastal country that's all divided up by fences and criss-crossed by a spiderweb of powerlines.... And if you do have to go down on a road, or preferably beside it, you won't be alone for long these days. There are so many 4WD nomads touring around just about every road out there these days that it's hard to get away from them..... Of course you go in the winter when conditions are best, eh. I hear lots of envy and excuses whenever I tell stories of outback flights, but I just think, Bah-humbug.... It's all a matter of priorities - you need to re-arrange priorities so that the trip becomes NUMBER-ONE. Some jobs and other persons just need to be made to wait until you get back, and then of course you need to go like heck to catch up, but it was worth it 'cause you've then already got the memories to keep you company while you're 'back in the rut'....... And of course you're soon planning the next trip away, and that's just as much fun as the memories! Once you start you'll have to go again and again. The years keep slipping by, and it's so easy to keep putting it off 'til it's too late....... So get out there, SOON! See ya out there. JohnG

DO NOT OPEN DOORS IN FLIGHT! It creates an unstable and potentialy very violent situation. Recently I had a violent experience while opening a door in flight. I had installed a three-way latch system that was very secure, but when I closed the door one time I must have been leaning on the door a little bit, such that the rear latch didn't engage properly and ended up on the outside of the door post, leaving a 20mm gap at the rear of the door. I didn't notice this until well into a x-country flight and thought it would be easy to close. I knew there would be an outward pull on the door, so held the operating handle in my left hand while pulling inward firmly on the fillet at the rear of the window. Then carefully eased open the main latch, planning to pull the rear closed and re-latch. As soon as the front latch released, the door snatched open violently, swinging up about 45 degrees, then reversed and slammed shut so violently that the flange at the front edge of the door ended up inside the door post rather than outside. The inner frame of the door was broken in several places, but didn't break away. I continued on to the next airstrip, now with the rear of the door sticking out 80mm, and a bleeding arm from some skin that had been lost in the incident. It all happened in an instant, but I did a horror vision of the door ripped off the 701. See details of that incident at StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft I know of others who have opened a door and reported that it just floated about 100mm out. Analysing this incident, I can see why it happened. I was pulling in strongly on the rear of the door, so that when the front latch released and the suction flexed the front of the door outward, creating an angle of attack generating a powerful lift on the door. This ripped the rear of the door out of my hand while the left hand was still pulling inward, now allowing the door to flex so that now the angle of attack was reversed, and it was driven violently inward by the airfllow. Hold your hand horizontal out the window of a car at speed and vary the angle of attack and feel the force, now imagine that force with size of a door...... This incident has demonstrated that the situation of an open door can instantly change from benign to violent...... Totally unpredictable! Much better to install opening windows for photography. I've installed opening windows on my Savannah, that are easy to do and work really well. I'll be writing up instructions with photos soon. I'll also be writing up a description of the three-way latching system. In the meantime be sure to use those little front latches on the Savannah doors. And always double-check 'hatches and latches' before take-off! JohnG

Attached is a poster for the annual 'QUA Poker Run' at Watts Bridge, SE Qld, organized by the Queensland Ultralight Association, for 25 July 09. We're making a special effort this year to support this Fly-In. Watts is very central for all the SE Qld airfields, and is an easy day trip. We need a 'gathering of the flock' at this time of year, to catch up on news and views - ie - gossip and B/S. Already it's looking like enough of a turn-out to be worth a visit. All welcome, please pass the word and plan to Fly-In. JohnG pokerrun2009.pdf pokerrun2009.pdf pokerrun2009.pdf

The following is an email I received that pretty much explains itself. Please, everyone respond to support this valuable project. Let's flood them with support to make it happen! JohnG ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Mick & Hellen Ryan <[email protected]> Date: Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 6:31 AM Subject: VNC Charts for areas North of Brisbane To: HI Fellow Aviators! Follows is an email from a colleague here in Gladstone regarding VNC Charts, feel free to respond to him personally to your support to the argument for these charts. If any of you feel it is a worthy case to support please don't hesitate to reply to the email address at the end of the following message. E Mail [email protected] Regards Hellen Ryan ----------------------------------------------------------------- Maryborough Aero Club PO Box 85 Maryborough QLD 4650 email: [email protected] Subject: VNC Charts Hi Gavin, Follows a copy of E Mail I have sent to other aviators. Please talk to as many other aviators and encourage them to E Mail me if they would like to support my endeavours. I have been lobbying Airservices Australia for some considerable time for them to make available VNC charts for the coastal airspace north of Brisbane (Queensland is the only mainland state not to have VNC charts) . I have as yet had no success as they claim that their market research has indicated to them that there is no demand for VNC charts in this area . I have contacted many pilots and aviation groups and have never found any person or group who has been approached for an opinion . When I asked if they could give me the names of who was surveyed they claim that the privacy act prevents such disclosure. As you may know we now have a new CEO of CASA John McCormick who took office on the 16th May and I contacted his office to seek his assistance to put pressure on Air Services to publish the required VNC charts as a safety issue. His office directed me to talk to their Queensland officers who were very supportive and have arranged a meeting for me with John McCormick early July. They believe that if I could demonstrate a level of support from Qld pilots and give to him at the meeting a list of names etc supportive of the request that would give him the ammunition to refute Airservices Australia's claims. If you could assist in circulating this request to any persons or groups I would greatly appreciate your help. Feel free to give my details to anyone who may wish to respond either as an organization or an individual . I certainly don't mind giving John a handful of E Mails from fellow aviators . Regards Rodney Spratt Gladstone Qld Ph 07 49723343 wk Mob 0402858587 E Mail [email protected]

In May I had a great flight from SE Qld to Lake Eyre to see the water, then across the Nullarbor to the WA border, then followed the coast all the way home. Photos and story are at StolSpeed Aerodynamics - Performance Enhancement for Light Aircraft

Boy, you guys are quick! Yes, it is Elliston. I realized the mistake right away, but the power supply for the computer failed before I could change it. The original post is now edited. See, there's lots of info out there, it just needs a listing so we can share it. JG

Here's an example of what's possible. This photo is Elliston, SA. The airstrip is right close to town and the seaside. Kingston, SA is also a seaside town with the airstrip right close to town. Home of the 'Big Lobster', excellent seafood, and seaside atmosphere. We really do need a listing of such places, based on real experience by other fliers. JohnG

Yep, got the number in my book and will sort it out when get a bit closer. JohnG

Sitting at Nullarbor Roadhouse, with good signal on Next G. Left Inglewood Monday morning and got to Cameron Corner with fine tailwinds all the way. Next day on over Lake Eyre, first time I've seen it with water. Stopped at William Creek - the thinnest steak in a steak sandwich ever. I didn't have a micrometer, but am fairly used to eyeballing sheet metal, and I reckon it was difinetly less than 3mm! Must have been sliced with a bacon slicer..... A night out in the bush, then on to Eucla, just over the WA border, for last night. 1400nm in 17hrs with good tailwinds all the way. This morning flying those magnificent cliffs. And dodging showers. Had to land out twice to let them pass, once on a roadside rest area and once on a patch cleared by a grader many years ago. Sure is good to have a STOL aircraft with good tyres. No whales yet. Will tell more and send more photos from Pt Lincoln. This is just you get you envious and start you making your own preparations for a flying/camping adventure. The season is now here, don't miss it! JohnG ps- Mark just showed me how to add these photos, and more photos and story will be on my website soon.

I've been in there a couple of times and no charge. Just the opposite, offered a free car for our use. And we weren't big spenders on accomodation either, just brilliant hospitality.

Arkaroola is worth a visit. Very aircraft friendly hosts. Overfly the resort and call on 126.7, and someone will pick you up from the airstrip several miles away. Unleaded, premium and avgas available. They'll probably lend you a vehicle to come and go and see the sights. Accomodation ranges from deluxe, to a bunk in a donga for $15. Spectacular geology, really interesting history, and an excellent celestial observatory. The most impressive part of the Flinders Ranges.

Yes, please do find out what you can. It'd be good to find an open airfield in the Mackay area. It's a long way for ultralights from St Lawrence to Bowen. Any other airfields along that stretch, besides Flaggy Rock?? JohnG

Palmyra - I've been wanting to find out more about that field. Emails bounced, phone numbers not right...... That's the only field near Mackay, eh?? Permission required?? Any relevant details?? JohnG