Powerin

Yeah...seen most of it on Youtube. All of them would be no worries in a Thruster eh Pud!!!

What can I say? I like TOTAL control What I really have trouble with is all the circuit breakers.....

More often than not goods and services are priced at a level the market will bear rather than what they are worth. I would guess that the US aviation market is far more competitive than ours so prices need to be kept at a minimum. As well there is probably higher volume sales. We often get asked to do a survey when a new agricultural product comes out (usually a herbicide or veterinary product). They ask questions about how useful you think the product will be and how much time will it save you. Then at the end comes: 'And how much would you be prepared to pay for a wonderful new product that does all this and saves you all this time?'. They are testing the waters to see how high a price they can get away with!

Of course....didn't think it through far enough did I. Peter

I voted 1 to 4 because I didn't want to vote for one of the candidates. As I understand it, that would mean my vote would never be able to be given to the final candidate...although it's probably academic by then. Have I understood the process correctly? If for example you only numbered 2 candidates, it would mean that if your 2 choices were knocked out early in the count your vote could go no further and it would be discarded. Correct?

Wow....they fit you out in a costume to go flying too??

Let's not get hung up on the name. The name on the front cover is not meant to be something that accurately describes us or put a label on what we do. It is designed to sell magazines to the general public on the newstand. It is purely and simply marketing. I voted I like it mainly because it's so much better than the old name. To me the name "Recreational Aviation Australia" just screams out "I am an Association Journal!". Which is exactly what it is, but you don't want to give people that impression before they buy it. Who's going to buy the journal of an association they don't belong to? The headline is what sells the newspaper...but it's rarely accurate :big_grin:

Hi Steve, Welcome to the forums! I saw the 610 at Natfly and it looked a nice machine. I like the look of the 600 too. Are you buying the kit or fly-away? Cheers, Peter

Being new to all this, I never cease to be amazed at the rate of failure in what should be highly reliable aviation stuff. No spark in a brand new engine???? Stick with it Pud....you'll hear the cheers from all over Oz when you finally get into the air :big_grin:

Hi Pud, Surprisingly, I have got my magazine! Your candidates in WA are the sitting member, Edwin Smith, and Gavin Thobaven. Peter

Sorry Sue and CFI....silly me didn't think of that option. I'm taking advantage of the fact that (I think) every time someone votes the poll thread will show up in the "What's New" search. So it's just a way of having the "Have you voted yet" title pop up every now and then and remind people about it.

I thought I'd start this poll hopefully to keep the election in people's minds and serve as a reminder. Remember votes for the RAAus election need to reach their offices by the 12th of August. Happy Voting!

I don't get why an experimental aircraft home built by an SAAA member would necessarily be known as a "Sport Aircraft" and therefore the pilot is a "Sport Pilot". I don't make that connection at all in my mind (and I do regard myself as a person of "reasonable intelligence"....whether anybody else does is another story :big_grin: ). The only slight connection I can make is that the EAA in the USA (a similar organisation) has a mag called Sport Pilot. On the other hand the RAAus has a worldwide recognised category of aircraft called "Light Sport". It is written on the side of the aircraft I train in. The RAAus mag is littered with companies that use "Sport" in their name. I can't see that SAAA has any more association with the generic word "Sport" than the RAAus does. I'm not defending the choice of name, but I think the link between SAAA and the name "Sport Pilot" is pretty tenuous isn't it?

Ah, thanks David....didn't read your post very well did I!

I'm with Bryon Win. Consider though.....if the worst did happen in flight, could you live with yourself? Would your family forgive you? If the answer is yes then go for it. It would be a great privilege to take a seasoned aviator up for what might be one of his last flights. I'm sure it would give him great joy and pride to make that flight with his son.

Not in the mood for fine print at the moment win, hence I asked the question in the vain hope that someone else would have a look :big_grin:

I haven't seen the mag yet, but saying they're "letters to editor" is probably a bit of a stretch. I have no problem with them (re)publishing my comments from this or any other public forum though as they are freely available for several billion other people to read. Having said that, do our comments here have a copyright status?

Thanks Don...glad someone got my poor attempt at humour

No worries, I don't think they're for me either. You seemed to be having trouble with reference and seeing I was reading about it recently I thought I would throw it into the mix. I'm no expert, I'm only a student too! I do use reference marks on my tractor windscreens though....to show me where to drive when using the 20m boom sprayer.

Perhaps an "Attitude Reference Point" might help? This is just a mark or marks on the windscreen drawn with a whiteboard marker to give you a reference point on your aircraft to line up with horizon or runway. Download the free "Fly Better" series of books from here. In Book 2, lessons one and two deal with how to make reference marks and flying and landing using these reference marks. I haven't tried them in an aeroplane yet.

So....when do I get my "free pilot gear"

Yep!! That was one of my biggest hurdles in learning to fly...push don't pull! The funny thing is I reckon if I had a throttle quadrant in the plane instead of a push/pull knob I would have been OK. Modern tractors and harvesters (when they have a throttle....lots of auto throttles these days) tend to have a push forward throttle lever (quadrant style). The paradigm in a lot of ground vehicles is that you pull a knob to do something. And all our tractors from the 1950s Grey Fergie (which I used today) up until the 1980s Massey Fergusons had throttle levers next to the steering wheel that you pull towards you to increase.

I've experienced this radio screech on the ground in a vehicle many times during storms....AM radio static builds up to a loud screech and then a lightning strike will "relieve the pressure" and instantly the screech stops. I've always assumed this was a St Elmo's fire type of phenomenon when travelling over a charged area of ground. But I've never heard anyone mention it before...thanks CFI.

While it's true you shouldn't be flying anywhere near a storm, I would guess it could be possible to be caught out. Some lightning strikes can jump from a cloud and strike the ground 10-20km away from the storm, sometimes even at a location with blue skies. Such strikes often come from the anvil of the storm and pack a punch up to 10 times more powerful than normal ground strokes. Apparently even commercial aircraft aren't equipped to deal with a strike this powerful, so you would be toast if hit by one. Accident report for a glider struck by lightning gives you some idea of the effect on a light aircraft.

You lose situational awareness as one of your senses goes into overload....