skydog

Nice memories in that video Ozzie, thought I recognised a few faces and I will try to digitise some of my slides for posting on this site soon. Cheers

Amazing those DACS Love those stories about DC-3's. They sure can carry a big load as Ozzie no doubt can testify to on the parachute loads over Corowa Lots more than MTOW. What is the real MTOW capability? Never forget that load over Corowa when one more skydive competition team of 16 people accidently jumped on board than planned. Didnt seem to phase the old girl one bit but Maybe Jack the pilot felt it somewhat lifting the tail off.;)

looks like you have started something here Dear Skykid, Looks like you have started something here! Nice to see great picies from everyone, maybe we need to get them on to the photogallery or maybe at least in the case of non aircraft shots onto our profile pages to show what our other interests are. Thats some power plant in that car and nice red bull shot 461. Ian lets get that photo competion happenning again!

have fun Mikey glad you are booked and sure you will love that plane and Aldinga. Keep up your enthusiasm and reports, it rubs off on all of us.:yin_yan:

accident Yeah accidental plane , I think number 4 flys backwards as well . Actually Rutan aircraft and the varieze in particular was the plane that got me back into aviation and I love them however they are a little different and perhaps not so practical for Ozzie conditions. Phil Hefferanan out of Mangalore took me for a flight and it appealed to my sense of whatever that it could fly as fast as a Fokker friendship but using about 1000th of the fuel of course. Saw lots of them at Oshkosh canard heaven. Number one I am sure you know what that is and you are giving slarti a hard time, yes? [Morgan Cheetah] # 2 is the lovely polished aluminium Hummelbird. #3 is the Morgan Sierra

Wish I had a friend that generous. Well done you lucky b. Great engine sound and lots of smoke on start up. I see the yak 52 from Pt Cook doing joyflights fly over my place quite a lot, very distinctive noise.

I can send u a high res image if you like On your PM.

Lovely shot lazerin very talented indeed. Interesting to see photography come up on the forum as a lot of pilots and non pilots like taking photos of planes but I love travel photography apart from flying. Not such a good photographer as you but love getting a good result, a lot of satisfaction in that. See some "travel" photos below.

Oh Yes , well we probably all would like to own and fly one of those but to be honest dont think I would be good enough or could afford one. Nice plane, very sexy and powerful beast. Saw plenty at Oshkosk last yr , about 15 in a fly past and also got a shot of the raptor flying alongside a mustang. This website organiser is trying to get people together to visit Oshkosh this yr, maybe good for you to go?

Nev, Looking for a hangarr spot , any in Ballarat?

Kero, thats what I was drinking Kero, what am I thinking , thats what I was drinking during those skydiving days I reckon. That avgas sure smells great being churned thru those engines. The mighty Catalina, yes a very beautiful design and great looking plane I agree. Looking forward to seeing that one flown down from Spain recently. Cheers.

Show us yours Skykid [ great name ] put some of your photos up on site. Well show you ours if you show us yours:laugh:

Fond memories of the DAC Must say having done a few hundred jumps out of the DC3 [VH-CAN] and as a pilot (not of the DAC) it holds a special place in my heart. The smell of the kero and oil, the sound of those Pratt & Whitneys, the clouds of smoke on start up, the classic tail dragger in a large ish passenger aircraft all add up to a admirable airplane. Even now I can identify the sound of a DAC approaching a mile off and still rush outside to have a look and smile as it gracefully cruises by. I have some old skydiving photos I took exiting the DC3 must try and post some for a different perspective of an aircraft looking up from underneath.

I have lost investments in this downturn as well so just trying to recoup. Bought an RV at about 15% under market. Plenty of planes in all categories out there but I do feel sorry for the Jab owners battling to sell against the new low priced J20.

Buy one here I would buy a plane here. Have you checked out the aircraft trader lately? Prices are comin on down due to the economic crisis, the boys are sellin their toys and paying off their share trader margin calls or topping up the super. Yipee for you and me. I Just bought a plane at a real good price and no doubt the prices will get better next year.

Beautiful Absolutely beautiful I'm thinking of coming over for the EAster warbird airshow. Might get to see scenery like this.

SAAA The members of SAAA seem to where most canard people congregate from my experience Victorian chapters for sure Moorabbin and Queens Pde Clifton Hill. One Cozy is I think is being built the rest Long eze's. These guys are builders though although Andy at Moorabbin chapter bought in a partial built. I love the things being my first flight experience of (ultralight) aircraft 20 yrs ago at Mangalore in Phil Heffernans VARI EZE. Got to love the economy and speed ratio and yes they look different therefore unique therefore why not! At Oshkosh I saw over 400 canards and the 4 seat versions are getting very popular including the Cozy and Velocity. Main issues already mentioned in this forum, they really need bitumen although the odd ezes have landed on grass at Lethbridge now and then for lunch and Melton. Off strip landings may be an issue but there are so many bitumen strips in the US I am sure that is why they are common there. Flying in Australia made me move away from a canard to an RV because I want to travel outback Australia, use grass strips and occaisionally short strips which canards need quite long runways. Velocity's have Many positives as well but the best is they look cool. Safety wise not heard much untoward as they dont want to stall and washboard along. The Velocity has come a long way from the vari-eze and I take it your not a country and western singer wanting to fly at 300' whilst reaching for an ill placed fuel lever? Repair wise finding LAMES to work on glass can be difficult I know Camden has a good one and Moorabbin too. Good luck.

Jealousy? Ian, Jealousy is a powerful force and these people are totally annoyed about how you have used your unique insight and skills to get the fraternity involved in flying in a way they cant. This site is an absolutely fantastic vehicle for any pilot wanting to know whats the latest news , views and feel like a part of a community even if they live in a small town in the outback or farm or even in the commercial flying industry. The NES is a classic example of that, wonderful and excrutiatingly funny stuff that is unique. So use their force to foster your power of goodness. Looking foward to 2009.:thumb_up:

good point about the instructor Mikey, Congrats on getting back into flying. I made my decision on a place based on the instructor and the feel and vibe on site. Price is one thing but if you are not happy withthe scene or the way the instructor gets on with you then the money is no issue. I will get blasted for saying this by the wonderful Jab fraternity but the Jabs are harder to learn to fly for the average Joe than say a gazelle of even warriors and 172'sand even the Sportstars. This means the cheap hours may cost you a lot more money going towards your solo and rec license. On the other hand you might just "nail it" I have 80 hrs in Jabs and they do you make you a better pilot. :devil:

you will be fine Adrian with your attitude you will fine and the best way to learn is do what you are doing and keep flying not using the GPS so much but only as a back up. Most pilots if they are honest will admit to be too dependant on the GPS especially in unknown territory which is a bad habit. Obviously on the return flight when you turned the GPS off you knew exactly where you were and if you dont then you can always find out. How? Throttle back to slow down and get some clear think time without going further into the "unknown" and then circle say a gentle 2 minute turn. Using time flown from your last waypoint and ground speed you can easily work out how far away ( distance) from that waypoint you must be.That distance could be a circle in any direction from that way point but you are not that bad a pilot are you so use the heading you chose to estimate where you should be then draw a large circle say 10nm either side of planned track on the map as the area of most probability. Look for obvious large land marks in that area on the map and then look outside to see it you can spot them. Use at least 2, better with 3 landmarks to make a definite fix. Objects like lakes and mountains are best and most obvious as are large highways, but things like rail lines, electricity grid lines, large dams and silos are very easy to see as well. If from the very start of your last positive fix ( waypoint) you make definite fixes every 5 minutes then you cant get lost, eg take up your new heading then immediately look for your first ground map feature.To help with this I make sure from take off or from the last waypoint to ensure a correct map fix and then take a feature in the distance of about 20 to 30nm [if you have visibility ] to use as a heading point or marker. This usually makes sure I am not heading off into the wild blue. Fly using map features and also your deduced reckoning compass heading until you get to that distant feature or market then choose another distance feature to aim for. If the compass heading seems wrong then it probably is due to different wind than forecast and planned for so change the compass heading to match the map pencil line heading accordingly. Also make sure your DG is aligned every 20 mins if using one, that can set you off by a few degrees too. After all we are mostly VFR pilots so use those large visual clues in the distance to help.. It takes a while to get used to how things look from the air especially distance from different heights and time will take care of that side. Its not such a bad thing to use a highlight pen to mark obvious land marks on your map when planning and make sure you spot them during your flight. This is what I do anyway and it may not be text book but I havn't got lost yet even on large hauls such as Melbourne to Narrowmine. The GPS? a fun back up for ground speed , names of tiny towns or features etc marking spots such as a country airstrips etc and a bit of security. Have fun.

DONT FORGET THE EXTRAS COSTS Dont forget to look at all aspects of importing and building. You will have to pay GST for sure.The cost of your time and trouble may not be worth the effort and return. From what I have learned the aircraft costs in Oz are not much more expensive or the same as buying them overseas and shipping them in, definitely in the case of the US and NZ. Freight is a huge cost plus oil and war surchages coming thru the Suez past those pirates etc. What has the exchange rate done to the pound lately, has it dropped at the same rate as the AUD or less? If much less then maybe worthwhile but obviously the sums have to be done. Obtaining air worthiness ? cost of advertising,? will it sell in this current economic environment? You may do better just by bringing your pounds in and making money on the FX rate and buying a ready to go plane here, certainly a lot less effort?

thats a great price Spriteah, any spots available at Lethbridge at the moment???

imports Extralite, 60 USD = 88,000 AUD + gst = $A97,000 at todays rates. Then add freight to the dock, shipping cost, freight to the hangar, rebuild cost, COA , the hassle of fixing any possible damage , insurance haggle etc, whew!!!! your looking at another 22000 at least. =119,000 AUD. Bringing two aircraft back will reduce freight costs or pessimistically double your trouble. Pelorus 32 seems to have nailed the costs. The CofA might be able to be done in one day but the charge is very expensive,about $1500 . Dis assemble and assemble would be at least $A12,000 on its own. Phone honest Ron of Riddel airfield, 0354285465 for a breakdown. However my main message is trusting the seller / agent and getting the quality advertised. Lots of poor quality paint jobs, suspect engines sitting for years not used on RV's here in OZ let alone in the US where you cant see them or have them checked out confidently. Instruments ?? A whole bag of tricks here potentially, what arrived same as advertised, working or, calibrated recently? Hassle of getting the log books, to view, can u trust them?? You can fly over and check them out if you know what you are doing (Add $5000) to feel better but engines sitting for a long while not flown or flown one hour a month in corrosive conditions can be difficult and expensive to check out unless you get a borescope done everytime. Its going to take a very long while for the dollar to get back to the heavenly area of 90 > 95 cents again unfortunately. I wish it will hurry back to those rates because I would like to bring in a new engine in a couple of years. Cheers.

BEWARE OF IMPORTING On paper it looked quite feasible to import a plane from the US, well, until the exchange rate put a spanner in the works however unless you go to the States , inspect your plane and know something about planes you may easily come a cropper.There has been more than 3 Vans planes I have seen bought in from the States and sold again rather quickly because of the poor build quality and other issues, its ahrd to tell a paint job via a photo for example. Another guy who posted in this website had to spend lots to bring a CESSNA up scratch after bringinit in from stateside. The going rate to bring a plane in either flown over or crated seems to be about 30,000 AUD not counting the cost of flying over to check out the plane which would be a wise thing to do. Just ask Honest Ron or a ferry pilot. Once it is here the costs are big especially for an airworthiness certificate. Some planes like RV's are hard to dis-assemble in the spar area and it takes time and costs more money. Oh yes GST costs, not nice. I have just purchased a local built RV6A as there is no way in this current economic climate bringing one in from the US would match the value of a local one .I know the build quality, engine condition and paint quality before making the purchase and if all the instruments work plus I have some degree of call back on the prior owner if there was an issue. It took me 5 yrs to finally buy a plane and I believe right now and probably for a good few years to come buying locally is smarter and cheaper. Cheers:wave:

Thanks guys. I guess the key is getting it cheaply enough. So a check thru the plugholes is a borescope I take it. Spose the top has to come off to see the lobes though. The engine looks AOK externally. Oil analysis checks would be essential drizz yes would do that for sure, thanks.What do others think about that idea after a few hours flying check again or would you put new oil in and check that?