alf jessup

The father was a companyman for an offshore drilling rig I have been informed, as I work in this industry I did not actually know him but was told from a friend who worked on the same rig.

Such a tragedy for a wife and mother to lose the whole family in the blink of an eye.

Will be interesting to see if it was actually a folding mast model and if the grounding was still in place as this I would then be an accident that should never have happened if the rules were followed.

If it is the case it is reckless from the deceased meaning both of them which they have now paid the ultimate price.

i feel for the relatives left behind.

His imaginary friend had jack to do with his survival, his skills taught had a lot to do with it as well as the aircraft design.

His running out of fuel is very poor airmanship, thinking I might make it is not a smart way to fly knowing you are eating in to your reserves.

Glad he survived it and will no doubt never run out of fuel again.

Flying from WA it might have started running on air.

glad the chap is ok

Just as a matter of interest, the orange gyro shown here was not owned by a bush pilot.  He posted on this site in "Tell us about your last flight", which in fact it was. He was having great fun flying down in the tidal creeks below mangrove height,  but when he did the same the next time he hit a power cable and was killed.

Was very well known for posting and boasting on YouTube his low level cowboy flying activities.

Unfortunately for his family he paid the ultimate price.

Probably more importantly, we should be looking at why 5 people have died in light aircraft crashes since late October. 

It's not something to shrug about, with a "shxx happens" attitude, it shows there's some serious deficiencies in piloting skills, or training - or both, in the recreational flying arena.

 

Why has there been a major spike in light aircraft deaths in the last month?

Deficiencies I agree with you wholeheartedly.

Pilot attitude and decision making is a big part of staying alive.

Practicing regularly what you were taught during your training between BFR’s I believe is lacking in a lot of pilots so when it goes pear shaped you are not prepared.

It is very hard to tell what a human will do next, doesn’t matter how well you train someone you have no real control over how they behave once training is finished.

we all should have a health respect for what we do as flying as fantastic as it is it is very unforgiving.

Don`t you just love it!!! "No good can come from people flying themselves around in little planes".......  

Menindee is east of Broken Hill isnt it?  Big dust storm there wednesday moving east 

This (only) comment on Crookwell  YCRL from OurAirports.com:

[ATTACH]37840[/ATTACH]

every ounce of information to a new strip is helpful 

robinsm,

one way strip when the wind is in which direction?

We all know that showing off is possible, even likely, but there are other possible causes, weather, medical, or mechanical. The whole point is that we don't know.

Time will hopefully tell us.

Alf, the crookwell strip is good and closer.   Just remember it can be a one way strip depending on the wind.   Nice grass cover and very long.   Designed for fire fighting etc.   Could very well be an option. 

Crookwell it will most likely be I think when the time comes.

Cheers

Alf

No love involved, purely money.   Long history since the purchase of the airport with battles with owners and pilots.   

Thanks Steve,

I’m not GA, just thought it odd that under 650kg couldn’t land on the bitumen strip on weekends. Wasn’t feeling the love.

There's a bit of a difference between commenting or speculating and making outright accusations.

Ok, we don’t know the actual cause of it as yet.

But, let us be realistic.

If the poor chap was on a cross country flight and he was happily plodding along at 1000 +-  then all of a sudden he had control difficulty and ended up under no fault of his own hit the only god damn object in a paddock it was sheer bad luck. (Highly unlikely in my own bias opinion)

But if he was knowingly trying to land or take off so close to the object he ended up hitting that is bad airmanship.

If?????? He was showing off well it is self explanatory.

My point all along is it was cause by bad airmanship judgment in some way shape or form, it is not rocket science.

Knowing trying to land or take off with something so close is risky with no margin for error and foolhardy in my opinion.

Please explain to me that it is not.

Yes some harp on about “we don’t know the cause as yet and we should wait for the investigation before commenting” which in most cases we never hear the result anyway.

B.S I say, if your not down in and around a known danger zone it is very unlikely this post would be up.

Thanks for that Thruster

40 kms isn’t to bad for someone to pick us up I hope

I guess you've never made any silly mistakes then. It'll never happen to you.

I take my flying very seriously and know how unforgiving it can be hence why I practice many many scenarios between my BFR’s not like many who sit there fat dumb and happy for 2 years thinking the trusty engine will keep going.

Every flight I take I look for options along the way even when I’m flying over the great divide, I will divert off track to stay within gliding range of any valley to minimise the time over serious tiger country.

I am only human like the rest of us and know very well a bad judgment can be very costly hence why I try to fly as professionals as I can and minimise the risks.

One thing for sure is you will never read about me in a bunch of boys beating it up page.

If I do ever end up in this section I didn’t get it right but I will have done the best I could at the time

Tried to find it a few years ago, does not exist as a usable strip.   Nearest would be goulburn or a private unlisted strip.

Hopefully my wife’s new bestie who has live all her life in Taralga knows someone with a private strip we can use.

Thinking I would enjoy the fly more than the drive.

i have heard Goulburn is a bit of an issue these days now that it is privately owned. Looked on Oz Runways and it was saying the bitumen strip is not allowed to be used on weekends for aircraft under 650kg

I was flying over Taralga a few months ago with my CFI from The Oaks who knows the area like the back of his hand and when I asked him about it he joked and said "I know it is supposed to be there near the town but I have never seen it...."

Cheers for that

Going by the map it is NW of the town near Curraweela

It is in the middle of this map apparently running north from the White House/shed about 11 km north of Taralga

Hi all,

Anyone on here know anything about Taralga-Garthawa airfield about 30nm NW of Goulburn in NSW?

I was googling airstrips near Taralga and a country airstrips guide site said there was one about 8-10 miles NW of Tralaga.

google mapped the location but couldn’t see any markings or cones.

Wife has just got back from a 18 day China tour/ 5 day cruise of Japan and met a lovely couple From Tralaga on it and has now a (new bestie) .

2 3/4 hr flight from home is better than a 8 hr drive.

Any info/contact number would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Alf

The point was essentially that we know nothing except a gyro hit a harvester. We don't know whether he was landing, taking off or "beating up", there are several possible scenarios, so a veiled accusation of "beating up" is a little premature.

Either scenario it was bad airmanship for which he paid dearly for.

Taking off to close to a harvester, silly idea.

Attempting to land so close to a Harvester, silly idea.

A beat up? Very costly.

No matter what it was it cost him his life which is the ultimate price to pay.

With the amount of information in the news, that's a good possibility.

I'm not sure how the season's going this year, but it could be that the Header had been dragged out of the shed for pre-season maintenance, or could have been parked next to the strip.

 

There's no mention of anyone driving the Header so far,  but if it does turn out that the Header was being driven at the time, it swings back towards Alf's thoughts; there's nothing like creeping up behind your next door neighbour at ground level, and shaving the top of it - he's got no RV mirrors.

 

There is a medical term for obsessive focus, but in this area there can be thousand acre paddocks; I scaled one on Jerrybang Road at 1900 m (6234') x 1330 m (4365'), so there's plenty of room, and $300,000 headers are usually parked in the shed, at the discharge site, in which case there's usually some infrastructure like semi trailers or mobile bins, or........around the homestead having maintenance work done.

Thst is what I was alluring too, a gyro can land in less than 5 feet, to hit it there is no possible reason to be that close to it.

Guess you know my thoughts on it but it is only my thoughts.

Many learning hang glider and Paraglider pilots manage to hit the only tree in a paddock. You tend to go where you look. That applies to motorbike riders too. 

Good to see they are alive.

Testament to a good airframe and good fortune.

Apparently Sunday 18th November 2018 a Gyro hit a combine harvester near Moree NSW killing the 50 y.o pilot

How is my question does one do such a thing?

Harvesters are on the ground are they not? Or do they now have harvesters flying around at 500ft these days.

Sounds a bit suss to me considering a harvester doesn’t sit in a back yard size paddock, there must have been a massive amount of clear paddock around it.

Was it another hey watch this moment of madness from the pilot, or was it the farmer heading out to the harvester? I just cannot get my head around it.

All that grief now for the family of the deceased.

Condolences to the family

Hi guys. My wife and kids are staying a few nights in lakes entrance in early December. I was thinking about flying down to join them for the weekend. Just wondering if anyone has any updates / recent experience with the strips down that way?

Another strip is Kalimna 08/26 nice grass strip a few 2.4nm further west owned by Clem Smith 0433 013 444 AH 0351551796 PPR I think but he is a good bloke.

Either way both strips are out of town so a taxi or a pick up by friends would be required.

Hope this helps

Alf