alf jessup

pmmcarthy, In my take off roll when I advance the throttle to full power I look at the tach making sure it is actually developing full power and say out loud "full power is attained", I glance at the ASI noting the needle is actually moving and say out loud "airspeed is alive" these are my main two cues for continuing my take off, as well as the usual T's & P's in the green after those. It is just a habit I have gotten in to get in which might be helpful to others if they don't think of them, also a pitot cover is also a good thing which I always have on when the aircraft is on the ground Alf

If it looks good they usually fly good and going by the Legend it looks darn sweet so I wouldn't expect anything less

Shafs, I personally think most of us early on think the wings are going to break off when flying in turbulence as that was probably my biggest fear at the start. Like I said in an earlier post of mine when my instructor took over and tossed that J160 around like a rag doll my fear that the wings would break off went away in turbulence. For what it is worth maybe get your instructor to come fly with you and throw the plane around in some 60 deg bank turns left to right one after the other and instilling in you that the plane isn't going to break. It was probably the best thing to happen to me in my training, it worked for me and it could very well work for you and others Cheers Alf

Tighten the harness Shafs, ride the bumps, fly more and start to relax, the plane won't break

Rome wasn't built in a day Shafs, good idea one step at a time

Shafs64, We all hate bumps in the beginning mate, for me the first 50 to 100 hrs was terrifying on my own but then you build up tolerance to them to a certain degree. I remember in my trike early on I would be looking at the wings and telling the girls to hang in there in even slight turbulence, I think I may have even been over controlling at times, just let the plane do it's thing and not correct every dip and bump, once I started 3 axis flying again the bumps were nothing compared to in a trike as with the trike you are controlling the wing through your arms and upper body. I remember my instructor one day while I was pussy footing around rolling in to a 30 deg bank in the Jab early on in my training, he asked to take over and threw that thing in to a 60 deg each way turn time after time telling me your not going to break it, it was the best thing to happen to me as after I got my ticket any turbulence i went through i just said "is that all you got" remembering back to that day with my instructor. The thing is you cannot fly on perfect smooth days every day as one day you will get caught out. As the boys above have said not many of us like them but the more you fly the more tolerant you become to them and the more your comfort zone expands. Hang in there mate your comfort zone like the rest of us is far less stronger than what the plane will take. Alf

Shafs64, Just let them know we all started in the same place as they are now wondering if we could master this art of aviation. Alf

G Kaz, Got to earn a living to be able to go swanning around the Lakes, just over a week to go and I'll be back for my 3 weeks off, then some swanning will be happening. Alf

DrZoo's Maybe having an autopilot might encourage people to push the boundaries a bit farther too in marginal conditions, all good if your already an instrument rated pilot Alf

Correct Kasper, I flew my trikes for over 400 hrs before I fitted a chute, I had complete faith in my machine and abilities, but it is the unexpected things out of the blue you don't think about was the main reason i fitted one, very very close call with an Ibis and my leading edge one day and that changed my mind. Cheap insurance for another shot at life if the thing was needed to save my bacon, I flew no different that I did previously once I fitted it. Alf

Maybe we need to stay out of situations that call for the need of an autopilot in the first place

Had the pleasure of finally meeting an RAA member at Innamincka just now, Graeme or Graham aka Tipabarra and his mate Mike just landed at 14:15 26 10 15 after a some what bumpy flight from Birdsville a mere 1.5hrs away. Much braver than me to be flying up here this time of the year even with all those nasty thermals and dust devils kicking around in the 40 deg heat it is today, boys were thinking of not tying the girl down to for the night to which i promptly pointed out about 1/2 a dozen dusty's reeking havoc around the place so in went the tie downs:thumb up:. Tipabarra's 19 category J230 has performed flawlessly since leaving Adelaide a few days ago and his landing at the top strip here in Innamincka in a crosswind was done with ease. As per usual when i notice a plane fly over (especially a RAA one) I venture up the strip for a look see and a chat. Boys were in luck today as they were going to ring the pub for a lift from the airstrip (no mobile service), I kindly offered to give them a lift in the air conditioned Landcruiser which they duly accepted. After a restful afternoon & night in the Innamincka pub they will be fueling up in the morning and off for their next stop on their jolly Whitecliffs. Safe travels lads and enjoy the Innamincka hospitality:cheers:, the dust, the heat and lets not forget the flies Alf

Bit like flying Kiwi303 except for the money part

Tim, You will be getting in to legend status at this rate within the flying community, great effort mate and thanks for posting Cheers Alf

Love your work Biggles, keep the photos and reports of your flying sorties coming

Point taken Marty, very fair call

Don't bother ever with lotto tickets lads you have used all your luck up in life, to be IMC and lucky enough to be over a valley when you ripped the wings off is just sheer luck. Another BRS saves the day

My last flight Sunday 11th October 2015 consisted of 2.4 hrs of sheer flying pleasure. Initially a little sortie local around the Sale/Stratford area then departed to the coast via Yarram, followed the magnificent 90 mile beach from Port Albert right through to Lakes Entrance then came back inland via the beautiful Gippsland Lakes system. Went on my own and loved every lasting minute of my flight, all in all about 12.7hrs this trip home Top photo, flying direct between Sale and Yarram at 4,500ft Middle photo, the beautiful Paynesville/Raymond island area on the Gippsland lakes system while tracking the coast at 1,500ft Bottom photo, The beautiful colours of the water approaching Lakes Entrance at 1,500ft

Old Koreelah, Black Widow aerial kit ???, hmmmm, every trike mate of mine that spent quite a bit of money on them for the so called best you can get went back to the standard dipole as their reception & transmitting was crap with every one of them that bought one, back to a standard $25 dipole and reception was excellent again, never had 1 good report from a BW aerial. Just my 20 bob's on your possible problem Alf

FH, It was a she, a very sad day for another family, heart goes out for this girls loved ones

Only the silly ones moved north Ben and amazing how many come back

Red, Good to see us Mexicans sticking together. Alf

Yenn, A suburb 210kms east of Melbourne, so not quite a suburb. As for flying around Sale, I live there and I work away 6 months of the year 3 weeks on & 3 weeks off and I still average over 100 hrs a year as a lowly rec pilot so the weather may not be as bad as you may think. East Sale RAAF base fly Monday to Friday, currently activate at 08:45 and deactivate at 17:00 unless night flying ops are on & deactivate currently on a Friday around 14:00, Only see them activate the airspace on the rarest occasions on a weekend when a big jet or some VIP comes in and that may only be for 30 mins, I have seen that twice in 11 years but mind you i only see half the weekends too. All I am hoping is the don't clamp down more on the airspace when it expands, maybe they will give us plebs of the RAA access to the GA VFR lanes currently available to them for us to use to get the hell out of dodge while they train, as we are currently only able to fly before 08:45 weekdays and after 5 and every weekend basically, hence that is why I love daylight savings that you Banana benders don't like. Alf

Awesome looking ride you got there Scott and congratulations on a damn fine looking aircraft, I am sure you & the lovely will be in your element sooner than later

Well the pilot has now got to look forward in the near future to 3 feeds a day and as much sex as he likes whether he wants it or not I am guessing The Sting got stung and the pilot will be bung...ed up sooner than later.