Right Rudder

Thanks for sharing Geoff, with solo rapidly approaching this sort of information is invaluable

Cheers

Deep! Didn't read much into it at first.How do you like the 160? Do you own or that's what you're practising in every decade or so?

Started in a 150 back when training was $25 per hour

Met a girl had kids banned from any thing dangerous

Kids grown up and gone restarted in lsa55

Wife diagnosed with cancer flying put on hold

Wife currently free of cancer so on her instructions purchased the 160 and love it

Have around 15 hrs it it so far

It sounds as if you have been going around in circles for years, you need to get your foot off that Right Rudder' Alan.

I was at it "full time". I was probably flying about 4 -5 days per week but it wasn't like these were planned days off. They were when the weather was bad or the aircraft needed maintenance. Some days it was only an hour of circuits. I had an instructor who was flexiable and if we couldn't do something because the weather as bad he would regig the syllabus to do other things. For instance I was ready to go solo but there were a few days where the cross wind was too high. Rather than not fly we did a dual cross country. That meant that when I went solo it was only a few days later and I was going solo cross country. When I wasn't flying during the day I was reading up on the theory and reading over the next lessons, reviewing what I had learnt earlier.I think that what I did was at the extreme end of fast and only put it out there as a data point to compare to. It is possible to learn to fly in a short time but it helps if you are keen, young and committed.

The Jab definately seems harder to land than what I remember with the tomahawk. Little more twitchy and you really have to work those rudder pedals!I think the problem with my flare and landing is a parallax error im getting. I have to focus straight ahead during the flare rather than over the spinner so that i don't keep veering of to the left. If you are landing off to the left all the time like myself, you should check out this cool vid:

 

Hey chaps, I'm AussieB1rd or you can call me Greg, seems I'm in esteemed company and a few with grey whiskers in here. Just wanted to know if you all know what PMSL means cause if you do I'm about to test you out.Well I always wanted to fly, years go by and commitments take hold and life passes you by, stopped long enough at one stage to do a spot of gliding, went solo and have 41 flights in log book, commitments change and give it away, time to take up the challenge again. This time cutting off some of the fat, Tug Planes, GONE, Tug Plane expenses GONE, expensive gliders GONE, GFA definately GONE, long tiring trips to gliding field GONE.

 

Ok so I wanted to get back into flying, buy I plane he says, raises eyebrow and says hmmm that's expensive, must be something around that isn't going to cost a lifetimes savings to get into. How did the oldtimers do it, they built their own, hmmmmm, rickety and dangerous, move forward a few millennia, ahhhhhh the 1970's and 80's the birth of the Ultralights, that's more like it. Start researching Ultralights, my god, 80 years of aviation and their still rickety and dangerous, but at least they have got away from wood.

 

So there I was one evening, sitting at the computer checking my emails and GumTree tosses me an email about stuff of interest being the pervasive snoops they are into your browsing history, What's this, an Ultralight for sale, hmmmmmm and not very expensive, needs some work, that's ok work is cheap these days, and not far away either, just a tad over 330 klms from home.

 

Started chatting to the owner, see more pics, has possibility's, told him its a bit rough, drops the price a whisker, ok so I decide if your going to do this stupid thing then do it with gusto, no friend of mine, don't think gusto has any actually, anyway prepares to go get the said Ultralight, what do we take, tools, heaps of tools for last minute changes, protective coverings, most of it has been on the ground in a shed for years, trailer, can't get it home without a trailer, ok modify the camping/general purpose/boat/ ok enough of what this flash trailer can do now it's an ULTRALIGHT trailer.

 

So on the pre arranged day I travel out to almost Moonie then hook a right for a bit and finally reach the farm, OMG OMG if you know what PMSL means then OMG is a cinch, it's a damn mess, in for a penny in for a pound, I should have walked away right then and there, but I had to haggle didn't I, ok he comes down a heap more but only, YES ONLY if the engine runs, ok so two hours cleaning out fuel lines, checking spark plugs add some fuel to tank that is growing some unbudgeable green lump in it, a couple of pulls and it runs sweet as KIA on steroids, ok now I'm committed, backed into a corner by a little two stroke that had Thomas the Tank engine as a role model and is never gunna give up, with a trembling hand I hand over the money and take the receipt, start loading it onto the trailer for the trip home.

 

Some good research had given me the lenght of this little craft so I had modified my little trailer yet again to cart this little B1rd home, it doesn't weight a lot I think that green lump in the tank was most of the weight.

 

Finally I have my new aircraft tied down and ready for the long haul home, full of renewed trepidation I head out to the farm gate and make a right heading for the Moonie to Dalby Hwy, my goodness what's wrong, hit 60klms and the steering is all over the place, some thing must be out of balance, ok I have a cross wind and it is playing havoc with the steering, it's just a few clicks to the Hwy and it will be a tail wind, turn left towards Dalby and a beautiful tailwind pushes me along, OOPS 80klms and again the steering is uncontrollable, well 80 is better than 60 it's just gunna be a long trip home, well I get about 20klms from the farm and as I round a corner I spot a shadown of the tail creeping up and passing me, OH look I say to self there a silhouette of my planes tail on the ground then the light buld switches on, YOU IDIOT, all the sail cloth up there in the wind is just like a big rudder, managed to climb up and cut away old perished sail cloth, and head off once more, gee what a difference, now doing 100 and sometimes a bit more, make it home in quick smart time and good thing it was summer, nice weather and light lasted till I was home.

 

Unhook my new little beast and push the trailer under the house, it can stay there till another day when I'm not so tired, push the bike under the house where it normally belongs and went and made myself a cuppa tea now being the proud owner of my first plane.

 

Here is a pic of me and the plane on my highly modified trailer with the previous owner still larfing and shaking his head, but not as much as the rubber neckers and Police I passed on the way home and whose identities shall remain nameless to prevent a dereliction of duty charge LOL PMSL

 

All the best

 

AussieB1rd

 

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