Simonflyer

Welcome.. Might see you up that way mid-year when i head off on a big hours building nav.. Cheers

Cmon Victorians!!..We cant let the thong wearer's pip us at the line..(although i am in thongs myself right now, so that wasn't much of a jibe...)

Pretty cool.And a good site you should have a look at the guy they do Hypoxia tests on..He's completely off his head, and the speed it happens is unbelievable.... Cheers

Great read!

The Tecnam is the first shot....

I hope the next one's a bit better weather for the airborne activities Feel free to send any of the rain down here to Vic..Its dry everywhere, and we coulda used a bit last weekend....

Hi Nice snaps Ive only flown tecnams so far..How do the savvy's go? Cheers

Ive found that my landings are equivalent to my golf swing...I can play five months of reasonable golf and then go out and play a stinker.. Today was that day... On my first landing, i was too high on final, so i made an early decision to go around and sorted out the approach a lot better on the second run.. The conditions were very strange(Smoke Haze/thermals/variable wind and alien spacecraft), on the approach the plane was acting as if it had a 15 kt xwind from the left, but the wind indicator was pointing the other way:loopy:..I could not get the thing to descend (I think its called Locksley Lift)and when i finally did descend i experienced wind shear at about 40 ft which i manged to catch at about 10ft, but of course i grabbed too hard didnt i, and up i went..I manged to get it down ok by holding off in the end, but my pulse was ticking pretty well.. On the way home in the car i was kicking myself, but really i didnt do too much wrong apart from over correcting, and i got us down safely, and with no damage to me, pax or the plane...All i need to do is keep practicing in the cct as much as possible in as many conditions as possible and it will become more and more natural.Most of my landings aren't bad at all I guess my point is that if you have done a lot of flying and you generally put it down pretty well then one mess up out of many is ok..There was no injury other than to the pride, and the only way to build confidence is to practice... p.s having an understanding of the aerodynamics helps me a lot(yes im a bit of a nerd), and the book "stick and rudder" although being a million years old has some really good stuff in it on landings.

Have a look at Bob Taits theory books as well, as i found them a bit simpler to understand to begin with, then i moved onto the other aviation theory books for the other types of load sheets (bravo/charlie etc.) Cheers

Welcome! Get into it! Its too much fun.. Cheers Simon

Hi Gibbo.. Im currently doing both RA and GA Side by side, and i have found that by getting stuck into the GA Theory first that the RA stuff follows on pretty well(there are a few differences-Law being one)..I would also say that once you knock out the BAK, then go on to the PPL straight away, as its really good to have it fresh in your mind as you go on....Ive been working out of Bob Taits books and have found them pretty good, but the aviation theory centre books have more attention to detail, and more info than you may ever need, but are really good for extra knowledge if you want it.. You will also probably be able to do most of it on your own if your good at self study, and may just wish to do a few ground classes on load charts and pressure/density heights and any other subjects that catch you out a bit... Enjoy

Hi Winsor Really good to read your post My instructor always sais to me that the most dangerous thing about any flight i do is the drive to the airfield.. I also have been wondering if the uneasiness will leave me..I now have about 45 hours under the belt, but i still feel like my eyes dont stop moving the whole time im in flight, and i feel that being on edge as long as im not in prolonged periods of stress is actually a good thing in the air..It takes focus,nerve and calmness under pressure at different times, but the confidence seems to be coming the more i fly, and it is still VERY early days for me. I guess that in your case, you have every reason to be fearful and wary of flight as you have seen the ultimate consequence of when things go wrong, but you obviously have a passion for it, and my theory is that life is too short not to do the things we want to do..And in my experience so far the joy far outweighs the risks, and the more training i do, the more confident i am that if something were to go wrong i would be able to put that training into action.. The biggest problem i am likely to have flying is me, so the more i can learn and the more i can stop rushing/ignoring bad weather/breaking rules/being comlacent in any way shape or form, the more chance i have of being a safe flyer. I say get up there and have a look..if its unbearable, then you can always say you at least had another look, but if youre anything like me, youll be hooked again!! Cheers

Welcome!.. Good luck getting the cheetah up..How far away from finished are you? Cheers Simon

That's because Victoria is the best Tomo.....:thumb_up:

Hi Kev.. I like the look of that..may well give it a shot..Ive been meaning to get down to tooradin to pick up some fresh seafood and have a coffee, so that will be one of my first trips for sure. Thanks

Hi All. Just thought id keep sharing my experiences of flying and now Nav-ing around the country-side... The first thing is...How bloody good it feels to finally get out of the circuit even though i do love touch and go's .. I set out on my first a couple of weeks ago, and it was thermally and just hard to keep straight and level..Also being left handed, how do i go about holding the Stick,pencil,do the writing hold the maps, flying the plane and all the other little tasks that are needed to fly..i sorted it out.............eventually.. The Nav was Locksley/Bendigo/Deniliquin/Locksley.. The first thing i had to do was make sure i was flying out of the meatbomb's(parachutes) way at Nagambie and also to keep out of the puckapunual war zone (would they shoot me down if i flew in there?) Then overfly bendigo and head to deni..No problems apart from some very unclear radio calls from someone, somewhere in the area..really showed me the power of good, consice radio calls..Which brings me to my first real stuff up.. I may or may not have made a bumbling,three-peat, mess of an inbound call over the melbourne centre frequency into Deni.Somehow i didnt get(or didnt hear) the usual rebuke that you get for that sort of behaviour..(or so i was told) Anyway with that sorted,and with red cheeks, i did my first tarmac landing(all grass strips for me so far)then a quick reset, and off for locksley..we got slightly blown off track, but a small correction, and we made it home... I was knackered but happy..I also knew i had a lot of homework before the next one.. Which I did..Last Sunday It was Locksley/Wangarrata/overfly Myrtleford/Yarrawonga/Locksley I was much more on my game this time, and was on track and time most of the way, but i noticed that on approach to Yarrawonga, and not having spotted the airport where i thought it should be, i kept trying to correct to where i "felt" it should be, not just staying on and trusting the track...Anyway It was of course right on track, not where i guessed! The leg home was tricky as it was right into the sun, and visibility wasnt much chop..I made a mistake on my track, but we sorted it out in the end... Ive got a bit more flying to do around the steps now, and then hopefully in a few weeks of on my own which im sure will be a buzz If anyone has any ideas on good trips from Locksley down to the coastline, around the steps and then back up the other side please let me know.. Cheers Simon

Welcome Hi there.. Sounds like a good plan to get your Ra-Aus license and instructor endorsement.. My thoughts are that if you can find a place to learn where they are on the lookout for instructors, then they may even give you work when you have finished the course.. You can then use the course as a long job interview, because how you go about your learning and flying will impress on them how you could be as an employee.. I am in the same boat, and although it is early days, i have a bit of a plan in mind, and i think that helps as well... Good luck with it all..Enjoy!

Dont forget Locksley field! Hi. This is a late post to this topic, but Locksley Field is 1 hour 15 from the northern suburbs.. On to the hume and off you go..Great place to fly.. Cheers Simon

Hi Pete I Just had a look at my Navs. Navex number 4 has an Echuca flyover...perhaps i can talk sue into a cuppa instead? Cheers Simon

Congrats..Great work.. what an awesome feeling..Its better today than it was yesterday.

Thanks for the messages guys.. I cant give away his Trade secrets, and besides im sure every C.F.I has a slightly different way of going about it,but basically if you're reasonably on top of the flying syllabus, nothing they throw at you will be beyond your abilities...It actually was just like any other flight with a few more nerves..the instructor's wont let us do the tests until they know were ready and thats good enough for me..(if their students failed all the time it wouldnt look good for them would it!) It seems to me that the tests are more about consolidating all the stuff weve learned as well as a judge of our flying ability..Ive had a bit of trouble judging the glides in the forced landings, and didn't do the best one today, but i would've put us down safely, and i guess in the end that's what counts most.I just need to keep practicing and over time im sure that the pilot in command thing will become more natural rather than the student pilot hanging on by the skin of his teeth.. From the sounds of things your tests are coming up??Best of luck..enjoy it. Cheers Simon [ATTACH]6957.vB[/ATTACH]

Hi all.. Since catching the flying bug in september, i have been completely obsessed, and today i passed my pilot certificate and pax endorsement (18 hours dual and 10.1 solo).Ive had excellent training at Locksley Field from Sue And Nathan, and the fact i was able to fly often meant that it all happened pretty fast(im so obsessed that i took a loan so i could fly as often as possible, and now im going on and do xcountry/PPL/CPL etc etc and stay poor for a bit longer!!) I couldnt have gotten better conditions today-Light winds,very few thermals and no turbulance(after a month of garbage!).Nathan threw a few curveballs at me, but all in the name of learning, and i feel absolutely stoked to have passed, and realise i have a loooong way to go in the learning curve.it probably never stops!...It hadnt really hit me that it was done until i was standing on the porch at a friends bbq having a quiet one this evening and saw a plane fly over head, and realised i can do that on my own..Its a very strange feeling, and ive only just started. I have a few hours booked tomorrow, so out to the training area for some solo fun, and then early next year straight into the Navs. It just keeps getting better! Cheers Simon..

Thanks Thank you to all who replied... Im still grinning.. Cheers Simon

Hi All. I just thought i would post here my excitement on going solo yesterday.. Those of you who have done it will know the feeling, and those not quite there will know the anticipation.. I havent stopped grinning. The conditions were pretty good, although it went from a light breeze up and down the strip to a gusty x-wind almost as soon as my instructor got out!No matter though, as we had done a few hours of x-wind practice, and i felt ok(even though i thought i would never get the knack of em at first)I kid you not i giggled all the way around the circuit until i realised i should probably do my checks and land the thing safely... My instructor told me to do 2 or 3 circuits if i felt ok...I may or may not have done a few more than that.He didnt seem to mind. I think the things that stood out to me were how quiet the cabin was, the lack of anyone to question if i was a bit unsure, and how much more jumpy the tecnam is without the extra weight.The thing just wants to fly. I think my total hours are around the 12-13 mark(with 0.6 as pilot in command thank you very much!!), and my flying has really improved since i recently took a loan so i can now fly 4-8 hours a week(as i am going on to an ra-aus instrucor rating, and crossing over to a GA CPL)..Its quite astonishing the change from the 6 hour mark where i felt totally overwhelmed and even a bit scared at times, to just being much more relaxed at the stick and being able to enjoy it and feeling like i actually can do it.. Anyway...Back into it today which could be interesting, as i couldnt get to sleep last night, and i woke up early, and there is nice firm breeze blowing today. Gotta love it! Cheers Simon:thumb_up:

Hi. I Have just started flight training over the last few months, and am completely obsessed.I am training at Locksley with Sue Carol(And Nathan) from Secure flight training(Also Based in Shep) in a nice new tecnam, and I cant rate the whole setup highly enough. I did a lot of research before beginning this journey, as i am doing my RA and GA Training side by side, and hope to go on to instructing in both fields and then onto who knows from there, but the difference between flying at Locksley as opposed to trying to do it at moorabbin-well there's no competition.. No wait times on the ground, once your up, your straight into the training area, and there is the beautiful views of the strathbogie ranges nearby which i cannot wait to go explore, and initially i think having limited traffic in the air has been useful for me to get used to the plane first before going into more built up airspace.. I am up to the point where i have now completed several sets of circuits, and am landing the plane without assistance(most of the time).People tell me that solo is probably not too far away, so thats pretty exciting. Anyway.just thought id leave a note and say gday. Simon