Mick

Yep! I reckon the security cameras at Gladstone airport would have some really amusing footage of me trying to put covers on the Skylark. Even on a calm day it seemed to get windy as soon as I started. I am surprised this footage has not appeared and gone viral on YouTube!

It must be some pretty impressive "marketing hype", no wonder I have been "had" by it. Amongst the few hundred hours I have in the Sportstar, I have flown from Perth to Central Queensland, and Central Queensland to the very bottom of Victoria. I have never been sunburnt in it. The Instructor that uses my Sportstar has done almost 2000 hours of training in it, he doesn't get sunburnt! My fair skinned wife has flown with me from Central Queensland to Dubbo NSW in January under blue skies, as well as about 100 hours of her own flying time in the Sportstar. She has never gotten sunburnt in it. The first time I flew my Skylark from Central Queensland to Dubbo, which was in August, I got roasted. I am pretty sure the difference is obvious..............

Not in a Sportstar, the canopy is 99% UV proof. I've got a few hundred hours in them & own one. You don't get sunburnt at all. I do wish my other low wing bubble canopy aircraft had the same material for the canopy.

Check the Ersa entry for Gundaroo ( Dick Smith's place ). "Aircraft on taxiway must give way to steam train." Or Words to that effect. Not what you see in this photo though.

Yep. That must have been too easy!

I wasn't 100% sure on the Robin, I was more familiar with the version with an inline engine. Who can identify this brute?

Curtis Robin? No idea on the car.......

Isn't there another forum to talk about traffic rules, cars & trucks? I just watched a channel 7 clip re the Blackshape that someone shared on Facebook. I am always so impressed by RAAus pilots that wear epaulettes. Maybe they also work as bus drivers?

What gets me with the whole ASIC crap is that we pilots are forced into having to have background checks done at our expense, when the jokers that run the country have been allowed to self certify ( and falsely in too many cases ) their own backgrounds and citizenship!

Shafs is this thread inspired by you landing & not knowing where you are? If so I was taught during my nav training that the best approach is to buy some fuel & then check the receipt for the name of the airport.

You are not missing anything OK. The video is dodgy at best. It seems really strange that better quality video is not being made after all the effort to build thisimpressive machine.

That close formation take off by the Red Pelicans is not something you see done every day!

Unless it's gusty the speed will pretty much look after itself if you have the aircraft trimmed properly. The ASI is still part of my scan through base & finals.

Any insurance company will not pay out if they can find a way to justify it. It's not that hard to make sure you don't give them a reason. These conditions on LSA are the trade off for not having the expense of full certification. Getting manufacturers authorization will vary greatly in degree of difficulty depending on the factory you have to deal with. I have recently gone through this process to be allowed to upgrade some components on my own LSA.

I think the more likely scenario is if after an accident your LSA aircraft is found to have been modified without the factories approval it is deemed unregistered and at that point you will have no insurance.

The maiden flight of my 150cc 5 cylinder radial powered 1/5 scale, 2.4m wingspan Corsair. The entire model is composite, layed up by a mate of mine ( the guy with me in the video ) using molds he made himself. The cowl was left off for the first flight to ensure proper engine cooling. It has since made several flights with the cowl on. I have telemetry transmitting cylinder head temp to me on the ground & it has shown the motor actually runs cooler with the cowl on & fitted with appropriate baffles. The first landing was a bit skippy and the idle was too high causing the over run of the strip. Mick

I can't believe such a fuss is being made about this to the point of claiming it is a safety issue. I have flown more than 20 LSA or RAAus types ( including owning 2 Sportstars ) and only a few have had instruments angled towards the pilot. I have never found it to be an issue. Turbs with you passion for rules I am shocked you say "there is nothing wrong with tuning an instrument panel to you personal tastes". What about the LSA rule ( and the subject Sportstar would be LSA ) that no modifications are permitted without the written approval of the manufacturer? BirdDog if this is such a big issue I will help you out & buy your Sportstar for what you paid for it so you can find another aircraft better suited to your likes.

This is a video of the maiden flight of my 150cc 5 cylinder radial powered Corsair. I left the cowl off for the first flight to ensure proper cooling. It has since flown with the cowl on. I have telemetry transmitting cylinder head temp to me on the ground & it has shown the motor actually runs cooler with the cowl on & fitted with appropriate baffling.

Yes, but no retracts in LSA. Standard RAAus only and if factory built must be certified in an ICAO recognised country.

The American LSA category has a maximum level speed of 120 knots, so they won't be able to be set up to go anywhere near the speed you mention for the larger USA market. Also the USA LSA rules say the aircraft must have a stall speed of less than 45 knots clean, ie no flaps.

The LSA category does not allow retactable undercarriage................

At a MTOW of 472.5kg & with an empty weight of 297.5kg that only leaves a usable load of 175kg. Now they say a range of 10 hours at 14 litres per hour which translates to 140 litre tanks. 140 litres weighs 100kg round numbers. So that leaves 75kg for pilot, passenger and baggage. Alot of guys wouldn't even be able to fill the tanks flying on their own & no baggage. 2 decent size blokes and you can't take any fuel.

As a kid reading my Dad's American magazines I always admired the classical wing shape of the Bird of Time. It is also great to see people still building traditional kits.

I'd like to see the off topic stuff kept elsewhere as it is now. I only come on here for flying stuff.

Are non-Australian International pilots who fly into Australia required to have ASIC's?