peter

I'm still down here waiting for a weather window to get home. Pretty amazing seeing the A319 Airbus just sitting in the middle of nowhere (the areodrome is inland, up on the plateau) , white , white, white.... cheers Peter

Wilkins Aerodrome, 70 k's south of Casey, A319 getting airborne

If you call into Goolwa and see the little red plane out and about, please come and say hello. We also have our flying club meeting on the last Sunday of each month -- BBQ, usually in one of the hangars -- everyone welcome. Generally we have around 15-20 people, GA, RAA and just interested. Cheers Peter

If you pass through Goolwa, I will pick you up and could probably provide you with accommodation, depending on the dates Cheers Peter

Cobra, basic but functional

[ATTACH]7230.vB[/ATTACH] Try this one

the Australian designed and built Cobra Arrow/Viper has great looks and similar performance with the right engine Peter

Sorry Phil, email address should have been, using the moderators suggested format lplovell at bigpond.com had an excellent meeting today, 21 people. Would love to see you at our next meeting, or anytime Cheers Peter

Hi Jodie, We meet once a month , usually the last sunday of the month -- given how busy everyone will be last sunday in december we have decided the next meeting will be in January. If you (or anyone else out there) would like to be on the email list drop me a note on [email protected] Cheers Peter

Hi Jodie, If you are looking to meet "flying people" then why not pop over to Goolwa this Sunday -- around 12, for our flyers meeting/BBQ. We meet monthly and anyone interested in aviation is welcome -- from model aeroplanes to RAAus to GA or just interested in flying, everyone is welcome. This Sunday is our final one for the year and is free, so either fly or drive over. This Sunday the BBQ is in my hangar so just look for the people milling around, my Red Cobra will be out on the grass so impossible to miss. Cheers Peter

Hi from Goolwa, i learnt at Murray Bridge, my son learnt at Aldinga and I have done BFR's at both. Their are pros and cons with both but either would serve you well. If you want any further info private PM me or give me a ring on 0428779699 cheers Peter

My son did a fair bit of training at Parafield (PPL) whilst I did all mine at Murray Bridge(RA) I found he wasted a lot of time sitting at the thresh hold waiting for traffic (Parafield being so busy) whereas my lessons down at MB were very time efficient. The weather is also consistently better down there being in the lee of the hills which meant more consistent flying which I felt helped my progress. Often raining in Adelaide but fine down there. Big people do fit in Jabs quite well. Peter

Missed narromine but did make it to the Cummins Airshow last weekend. Great atmosphere with no distinction between RAA and our heavier cousins. hardly had time to shut down the engine before starting to answer all the questions and do the obligatory "cockpit tours" - most were impressed with the overall finish and internal space. Not to mention the good looks of course.

back on the toe brakes - the sportstar has height/length adjustable toe brakes as well which are a little fiddly but work well Given the low drag phenomenal performance of this plane I would think great brakes would be of vital importance. My cobra is very "slippery" and I find it simply does not slow down in the ground roll, it just wants to keep going - I put full flaps in and elevator either full up or down to add drag during the roll out then need to use the brakes -- having toe brakes is a real asset in this situation but I would be happy with either as long as they are powerful

Why do you need to know your position every few minutes? We fly visually so it is pretty hard to get lost - you don't need to know exactly where you are to be able to find your way to a destination -- otherwise most of us who sailed long distances pre GPS would not be here today!!!! You just need overall situational awareness. For example if you are west of the hills in Adelaide and get "lost" you only have to turn either east or west and you will soon run into either the hills or the river and immediately you are "found" again. The only advantage to knowing your position with "precision" is if you are either close to controlled space or you are in an emergency, and I'm pretty confident that the day I use the word Mayday it will be closely followed by my GPS coordinates not an estimate from my last estimated position.

I think the GPS is sensational. Yesterday flew from Goolwa up the western side of the Adelaide Hills, dodging showers, heading NNE, then course change to NW across the hills, dodging more showers, skirting Airspace, then more N up to PT Pirrie, form there it was due N before turning due W across the gulf then SSW to Cowel before turning W to Cleve -- all in the presence of a SW wind varying from 10 to 25 knots. Moving map GPS, spitting out groundspeed continuously with all the changes in heading -- PRICELESS!!!! I carry 2, use them all the time, have the map out on the passenger seat and cross check -- I have several pre marked tracks marked in 20 mile intervals which I leave drawn on the chart as I use the routes regularly -- I know all the ground marks from previous trips so I don't mark anything on the charts -- I just fly the plane. GPS primary nav tool, you bet. Runs on planes 12 volt system but with battery backup - unbeatable.

Went through this exercise a while back. Polaroids certainly make the instruments including GPS difficult at times. Blue is great for the ocean/sailing but I find it more difficult to pick out other aircraft.I ended up with brown, multifocal lenses and have been very happy with them. If you are very myopic or have moderate or severe astigmatism you need to avoid the wrap around styles -- the peripheral distortion is quite pronounced.

We are in the process of trying to revive our local club, very low key, casual and social. Is there anyone out there with experience of a club which has no fixed facilities and operates out of an airstrip with no flying school?

ride a small road bike on Sunny Sudays for fun - so yes vote for me the other sport which relates well to flying is sailing -- planes are simply motorised devices with poorly adjustable horizontal sails!!!!

Bought my insurance from QBE, via Chris Sperou (jnr) .When my left main gear collapsed he was fantastic -- nothing like any insurance claim of any kind I have had before -- he took all the worry out of it, insisted I choose the repairer, quote "Peter, you will be the one flying it, you need to have total confidence,......" The insurance wasn't cheap (but certainly less expensive tha the equivalent value for a car) but I certainly got what I paid for and am totally happy with the outcome.....

I think it is an excellent question and often overlooked when comparing aircraft -- in my SP470 Jab I often needed to throttle back and found that if I was becoming tense I would hold the stick quite "tight" - by making myself have a very loose , open grip things were better. Even though the rated cruise speed is not much higher in the cobra I find it penetrates turbulence so well that I seem to get everywhere a lot faster. It would be nice to hear from owners with the lighter faster aircraft how they rate them in "rough" air.

Perhaps you ought to clarify the ages of the respective planes, features etc ,do they include ground instruction and presumably are all based on engine time -- at the respective airports how much time do you lose waiting due to heavy traffic in the circuits, waiting to backtrack on a runway or are there additional taxiways etc etc Just some thoughts Peter

If northern SA is a bit far, what about Southern SA? Goolwa is a great destination, good airstrip, variety of accommodation from motels to B&Bs, tours can include anything from cruises on the coorong to hills wineries to penguin tours on nearby granite island. There are golf courses nearby and excellent local restaurants. Geoff, the airport owner rents out cars.....what more could you want? If you come via the coast you drop in on Robe or Kingston, great little coastal towns. The coastal scenery here is superb, and the local flyers pretty friendly Peter

Great shots yet again -- now that you're moving to Melbourne how about nipping across to Goolwa in SA and taking some aerial shots of my little bird!!!! Best I can get is a view of my own cowling !! like this one of the Murray mouth this morning Peter

wow, thanks everyone for the information, I am very grateful for the effort put in, as usual the forum throws up some very useful information -- I have been measuring shoreline to shoreline which I think is pretty reasonable given they are beaches with flat country immediatly behind. Just been up this morning, playing with the engine at idle, 70 knots gave me 400fpm descent. Given good weather and no headwind 7,500 feet seems a reasonable altitude. I can always go further north and make the crossing as short as I like, a decision I can make on the day, weather depending. I am just going through the exercise at the moment of route planning a variety of aternatives. I think I just want an excuse to wear my inflatable life jacket!!! Yes I have been going through ditching procedures, such as releasing the canopy just before splashdown -- bringing it in tail down at the point of stall etc thankyou everyone again for the advice/help