Mick

It's probably been 18 months since I have flown into Emu Park, but I do know they held a gathering there on Anzac weekend & I also believe the Rocky Aero Club still holds flying competitions there. While it was under the control of Rocky Council it was under threat, but the newly seperated Livingstone council who now control it are very pro keeping it open.

Google "P-51 splinter camo" & I am sure you will find plenty of info.

This is something that should be checked as part of any 50 / 100 hour / annual service. Easy to do, clip the harness, pull on the harness as hard as you can with one hand and release the latch with the other hand. If it does not release you have a problem. This is not something anyone wants to find out when hanging in a harness and needing to get out in a hurry.

Finally flew this one a couple of weeks ago. It was started about five years ago, but I did not get serious about it until August last year. Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. Wingspan 2.46m, weight 15.4 kg, powered by a Desert Aircraft 85cc 2 stroke. Painted in the colours of 134 Sqn of the RAF based in Burma in 1944. Cheers!

Friday night and over 60 aircraft here already. The camping ground is full & will be extended in the morning. It's looking like being a good weekend!!!

Just bumping this thread to remind everyone this great event is on this weekend. Old Station copped a beating from Cyclone Marcia but you wouldn't know it now. The site is looking great and we are ready for a big turnout. The weather is looking OK so come along, have a great time and help support a fantastic cause. See you there!

I think I would do a model of our Sportstar before I would do one of the Skylark. The Skylark's T-tail would be a pain to build and the winglets would have to be made removable or the wing panels would be a pain to transport. Cheers!

Same here, 7 day turn around. It's good to the rego delays are hopefully a thing of the past.

The radials are $$$$ and don't make huge power for their weight. There are some really nice horizonal twins available that would be much smoother than a big single. Having experience with some big electric models I would think an electric version would have issues with the weight of the batteries and endurance. Give it time though, batteries are only getting better.

I met the navigator of the Enola Gay in 2008, it's not everyday you get to shake the hand of someone who has dropped an atomic bomb. At that time he was the last surviving member of the crew.

I think I've got seat envy

Kinda funny how other companies can make Cessna look a like fly better than Cessna could

Interesting that some think this is a bad thing. Rather than have it on display with an organisation who will no doubt do their utmost to preserve this aircraft for as long as possible, would you rather it just be cut up for scrap?

That model belongs to Ali Machinchy. Ali is actually a pom not a yank, but those photos were taken the USA. Ali is a professional model pilot who is paid to travel all over the world to fly displays. He also pays to have his models built for him. We can only dream about modelling ever being big enough to fund that sort of thing in Australia. I met Ali at an event outside Brisbane in Feb 2013 that he was paid to attend. Nice guy and very down to earth considering his ability & what he has achieved.

All this stuff about Emerald sounds so much like Gladstone. All the comments about the gate code, Gladstone has no codes, only way in is to be let in by AROs. Been working on getting the ok to build a hangar for 4 years, still can't get anything usable or on reasonable terms. The land originally allocated for hangars has been turned into a rental car parking lot. Re the hanger v hangar thing, when I had a website address that contained the word hangar usually every couple of days I would get a phone call saying "your website is down", I would ask "are you spelling hangar with an a r or e r?" The answer would inevitably be e r. Amazing how my website worked when people spelt it properly.

Sorry Nev, the Mk XVI ( Mk 16 ) Spit was a Merlin, albeit a Packard Merlin made by the Yanks. Spit marks are confusing & often misleading as the Mk XIV ( 14 ) was Griffon powered, you would think that the 16 would have been later and hence also be Griffon powered, but that was not the case. I believe that the Packard Merlins had a different intercooler and some other differences that meant that Packard powered Spits did have a slightly different shaped cowl to the Rolls-Royce Merlin Spits.

Love your work Mauld, your videos are always good but I reckon the sound on this one is awesome!

Having been at Duxford for Legends last year ( when all the footage for the 2015 promo video was shot ) I can highly recommend it. If you are into WWII heavy metal Duxford is Mecca. While there I also took the opportunity to do a "TIF" in a Harvard which was awesome too!

My wife has a Lightspeed Zulu headset. & bluetooths her phone to it. It does work quite well. It is supposed to have the radio override the phone but as she does not use it much that has never happened. We sometimes stop at Dalby on the way south & they like 2 hrs notice to get fuel, this setup makes it easy to call on the way with an accurate ETA.

Thats well done, great video.

This morning I managed to sneak a flight in the Sportstar between showers. I taxied out intending to do a few circuits but as I was backtracking a couple of RPTs called inbound ( why do they always arrive & depart in pairs? ). So I departed the circuit and headed out over Curtis Island for some fun. Cloudbase was about 25oo' and solid, so the air was cool and smooth. Once the RPTs were down I rejoined the circuit, did a nice touch and go, another circuit and nailed a full stop. So what was special about this flight? I was seen off by my mate and flying instructor Russ, just as 10 years ago today he sent me on my first solo. It was also an anniversary of sorts for Russ as that day 10 years ago I was the first student he sent solo.

"A little bit of oil goes a long way"

I heard yesterday ( and this is yet to be confirmed ) that the strip at Keppel is to be closed. Does anyone else know anything about this?

Jetjr I asked if you could provide info re this precedent? I am interested to know what it was.

I am curious to know what that precedent is? Not disputing, just like to know?