Mick

So, now we gotta get home............. Lunchtime we depart Echuca and head north, still in pretty murky weather. We get within about 5 miles of Jerilderie and find a solid wall of rain. After a bit of a look east and west we hightail it back to Finley where we put down. In the pic below the Skylark is pointing in the direction we need to go, check out the sky!!!! While we wait we check out a lonely CTSW left out in the weather. After about 45 minutes we decide to go up for another look as I reckon this weather is heading north. This time we get within about 2 miles of Jerilderie before meeting a familiar wall of water. This time I track west quite a way before heading back east to see if there is a way around it. No such luck so we head back to Tocumwal and put down for the night. We have flown 1.6 hours and travelled only 45 nm - Frustrating!!!! Across the road from our motel we check out an unusual sight in the park - "End Part 4"

Sunday, is the crowd here yet??? Sunday, more of the same murky weather, but another good breaky of bacon and eggs. The Skylark in front of Ian's soggy shop - A view of the Skylark and the Echuca clubhouse and hangar - The entire aircraft parking area ( if you look closely you might see the Skylark amongst all the other aircraft ) - The camping area at Echuca. Bernie claims that some fella in a tent near his kept him awake half the night by snoring. I think I have convinced Bernie that it was not coming from my tent, must have been someone in all those other tents ;) My report on this event could not be complete without a comment and a pic of the small shower block that Ian provided for us - This baby contained 8 cubicles each for male and female, along with heaps of hot water. It turned out to be just adequate for the three people that camped at the field. We did not have re-use cubicles at all. For those of you who attended Camden Haven, please note that this one also featured steps. At a cost of $350.00 for the weekend, 3 people, two showers each, that's $58.33 per shower :ah_oh:. During the morning I managed to do 2 more flights with people in the Skylark, one was paleXXXX from this forum. "End part 3"

Saturday, the day the crowds will arrive? Saturday dawned dark and gloomy having had some light showers overnight. The Echuca club members provided us with bacon and eggs for breaky. While waiting for the crowd to arrive I managed to sneak in 3 short flights to introduce a few people to the Skylark. The third flight was with our fearless forum leader Ian. A little later it was Decca's turn to experience the Skylark, unfortunately this flight was cut short due to rain approaching the airfield. The crappy weather persisted all day, forcing Ian to make the tough call and effectively cancel the fly-in. By Saturday PM the Skylark was still the only aircraft to have arrived at Echuca specifically for the Fly-In. Late Saturday afternoon we could see some serious weather brewing up on the horizon, prompting us to batten down the hatches and move our gear out of the tents and into the club house to ensure it remained dry. Right on cue, just as we started the BBQ dinner, down came rain the likes of which has not been seen in the Echuca district for way too long. It was good to see the weather that had caused us flyers some inconvenience was now dumping some real rain to do the country some good. ;) It rained enough that the Echuca guys took pity on us and allowed us to sleep in the clubhouse and abandon our soggy tents. Ian stuck to his guns and still slept in the shop tent / gazebo. A gutsy move considering how strong the wind got through the night. "End part 2"

Bernie & I began our trip departing Maryborough Qld approx 7.00am Thursday 1st of August. Heading towards Kingaroy the weather started to look less friendly as we went. Once past Kingaroy it soon became obvious that we were not going to get over the Bunya's mountain range to get to Dalby. A small diversion of around 20nm saw us go around the range instead. This path still required a little valley running. I will deny that we were flying low, but Bernie reckons he has never looked up at koalas from an aircraft before :ah_oh: ;) :ah_oh:. Once past that range things cleared up for us to track over Dalby and Goondiwindi then landing for fuel at Moree. Tacho time for this leg - 3.2 hours. Full of fuel we depart Moree in good conditions and track to Narabri, then around the Pilliga forrest ( that thing is one damn big piece of tiger country so I am too scared to fly over it ). We pass Coonabarabran and head to Dubbo. This leg puts another 2 hours on the clock. We overnight as planned in Dubbo and I go shopping for a new camera, hence this is where the pic's start from. Friday morning we leave Dubbo nice and early and track towards some ominous skies, thankfully there is a decent gap in this muck right on our track. Below is our view 5 minutes out of Dubbo. Ten minutes later it looked like this - We continue on towards Echuca, tracking over West Wyalong, Narrandra and Jerilderie, with conditions not having changed much. 5 miles out of Echuca we are still at 4500 feet. I choose to do a cruise descent so to arrive over the field at 1500 ft AGL and 140 knots indicated ( the Skylark has a Vne of 153 kts ), thus making a "Grand Entrance". We join the circuit and land only to find there is no-one there to have seen my speedy arrival . Time for this leg 3.5 hours. We were soon to have company, some of the locals arriving to prepare for the weekend. Ian also turned up and started to set-up the shop. The afternoon was spent chatting with the locals and a few travellers arriving by car. Bernie and I were also able to have the pick of spots to set up our tents before the crowd arrived. Friday night BigPete ran into town to grab us hamburgers and fish and chips to ensure none of us faded away to nothing over night. "End part 1"

Steven, No have decided to keep 4010, she will go on line to earn her keep.;) Two planes............. make that BROKE b*stard . Good to hear the "Minister for Finance" enjoyed it. I agree about the thrill of sharing flying. I still get a kick out of taking people up, be it first time or not. Cheers Mick

G'Day Steven, Congrats on the Pax endorsement. We have had a similar experience in 24-4010. Makes you glad the upholstery comes out of the Sportstar so easy!!!! In our case the new passenger spent too long looking through the viewfinder of a camera and video. Said young lady had only had a choc muffin and orange juice for breaky, made for a nice brown mess everywhere. We now carry sick bags "borrowed" from Virgin, Qantas etc. Cheers Mick

Still chasing info from anyone who has used the 914. Any comments appreciated. Cheers

Pete & Ben, Was this the red gyro that was quite active over the weekend when we were at Echuca? Wish the occupants a full and speedy recovery. Mick

I am really hoping that Decca was refering to the Skylark.............. It really was not that kind of party :).

Hi Decca, We made it back today after a few days of doing battle with the weather. Full trip report with pic's to come in the next few days. Cheers Mick

YEAH!!!!! Bring on the pyro's!!!!! Have any of you guys ever noticed how no two houses burn the same?????;) Come to think of it I have not burnt me one of them aeroplane things yet!!!!:ah_oh: Guess thats got to be an advantage of metal planes, bet they don't burn as well as those plastic things!!!!!!:devil::devil::devil:

Some pic's of the Skylark at Nyngan..............

I know Darren has already posted a trip report for this fly-in, but my trip was rather different & somewhat longer. I departed Maryborough Qld about 8.30 am Wednesday 17th. First leg was M'bro-Kingaroy-Dalby-Goondiwindi-Moree. Battling a headwind all the way this took 3.2 hours of tacho time. Refuelling at Moree my biggest concern was the flies. There were so many I was worried about them getting into the fuel tanks:angry:. Leaving Moree I climbed into some of the roughest air I have flown in yet, still with a healthy headwind ( you will notice this becomes a theme for my trip ). 2.1 hours later I land in Dubbo for a late lunch with my Mum. Another top up of fuel and it was off to Temora. With the headwind increasing along the way 1.6 hours later I arrive at Temora with a Tecnam Sierra and a Saphire in the circuit. While tying down for the night the Skylark as usual attracted the attention of a few locals. Wednesday night there was a gathering at Carol Richards place with a fine feed and lots of pilot talk. A mix up with the caravan I had booked saw me dossing down on the floor at Carol's. Thursday I attended a seminar presented by Bob Llewellyn covering design factors, choices of materials, load analysis, stability analysis and practical requirements of LSA aircraft. This was both fascinating and educational. During the seminar I was teased by the sounds of the DH Vampire whistling around the skies. Thankfully it made it's third flight of the day after the seminar while I could actually watch.:) Thursday night we got the caravan thing sorted. Dinner was at a pub in town with several other pilots. Friday saw me up with the sparrow's, getting all the smashed bugs off the Skylark and prepparing for the short hop over to Cowra. Taking off I headed for Cowra, again punching into about 10 knots in my face. This lasted until I crossed a range about 15 mile out of Cowra, then just as I started a cruise descent at 130knots indicated I picked up 20 knots from behind:clap:. This was the first time I have seen 151 knots ground speed on my GPS!!!!!!:ah_oh:. Friday and Saturday were spent at Cowra talking to lots of people about the Skylark and getting RSI in my arms from flicking the flies away continuely. Got to watch Darren go for his spin in the RV and get thrown around a bit - lucky bugger! Sunday saw me doing a short hop over to Dubbo to spend the night with family. Monday I logged 3.5 hours flying out to Nyngan to take a guy for a flight in the Skylark. This trip was conducted IFR ( I follow roads ). It was hard work to stick to with the road through all the bends ( only one between Narromine & Nyngan ;) ). I was surprised to see a CT with Rec flying forum logos ( Ian's first one I think ) sitting on the Tarmac at Nyngan looking lonely. Back to Dubbo for another night with family, again this flight was quite rough and with lots of thermal activity. Tuesday morning departed Dubbo for Port Macquarie via Scone. This flight was through what was to prove the smoothest air of the trip and a cross wind. Arriving at Port Mac I was greeted by the members of the aero club there with much interest in the Skylark. Then it was demo flights for the three instructors, Bob, Adam and George. Also took Gregg Faulkner ( proud owner of the famous Sportstar "Dimples" ) for a burn. During the flight with Adam, Gregg brought Dimples up to follow us around a bit, wish I had a camera for that. I was somewhat surprised by the hostility shown by Gregg when Adam & I were back-tracking causing Gregg to go missed approach. As Gregg was flying towards us he anounced on the radio " Switching to Guns "!!!!!!!:ah_oh:;);) Total flying for the day was 5.1 hours of tacho time. Gregg's aggression was forgiven when he very kindly gave me a bed for the night, and dinner was with Gregg, Sue and George at a great Thai restaurant with lots more pilot talk. Wednesday finally saw me climb into the Skylark to head for home. Again this was another great flight, albeit battling a headwind all the way. Leaving Port Mac I tracked coastal until forced to go inland around Coffs Harbour and Evans Head airspace. Coastal again until reaching Gold Coast airspace, inland again around that then low level along the beach at Surfers Paradise, up the outside of Stradbroke and Morton Islands and into Caboolture for some fuel. The last leg was Caboolture-Gympie-Maryborough. Finally put the Skylark back into the hangar after seven days and 22.5 hours of flying. What a fantastic week! Now it is time to plan a short trip to Dalby this weekend and then the trip to Echuca the week after:):):). Cheers Mick

Hi Geoff, I should arrive in the Skylark about 8.00am Friday. See ya there!!! Mick

Any updates on who else is going to this event?

Fraser Island Views from Skylark Here is a couple of shots taken from the Skylark on Sunday 14th October while taking my 13 year old niece for her first flight in a light aircraft. In her words is was "Way Cool !!!!!";) One is of the Eastern beach of Fraser Island looking North, note the 4x4's on the beach! I really like the second one which is one of the sand drifts on the Island, framed by the Skylark wing tip and the late afternoon sun. Cheers Mick

Hi Disperse. My suggestion would be when looking at these aircraft and their ranges, make sure you look at empty weights and how much usable load is available. Not all LSA aircraft are rated for the full 600kg. There are plenty of aircraft around with huge fuel capacities, but you cannot put 2 decent size people in them and fill the tanks, let alone carry any baggage.:ah_oh: Sure you can do it, but the day something goes wrong you will be in deep poo-poo with the powers that be and the insurance company will not want to know you. An aircraft with a decent fit-out will often be 315-320kg or even more, the new Cessna is 376kg. 90 litres of fuel weighs 63kg. That leaves 161kg for pilot, passenger and baggage.:;)4: I know the Cessna is pretty heavy at 376kg, but others carry a fair bit more fuel. 130 litres of fuel weighs 91kg so you can see my point.;) Cheers Mick

Disperse, At an empty weight ( equiped ) of 260kg, which is pretty light, the MTOW of 490kg means you would only have a usable load of 230kg. Thats not very much for 2 people, fuel and baggage. Is that Mtow governed by the U/C, structural loading or stall speed?

Hi Guys, I flew the Skylark from Hervey Bay Qld to Dubbo on the Wednesday. Then ducked over to Parkes and back on Thursday to see a couple of mates and take them for a fly. While in Parkes got to have a look at the Brumby that is being built in Cowra. Interesting machine, good to see another Australian manufacturer about. Early Friday made the short trip Dubbo to Narromine and arrived about the same time as the evil westerly wind. Glad I was not any later. Arriving a couple of hours later was a Tiger Moth that did a fantastic job of landing in the 20+ knots. The show was somewhat of a dissapointment, but it was great to meet Darren & Troy and catch up with Matt & Kaz. Also meeting Paul & watching him fly the Extra was a pleasure. Saturday afternoon I was a bit crook so gave the evenings festivities a miss. Monday flew home to Hervey Bay. All up total was around 13 hours flight time, first long trip in the Skylark and really enjoyed it. Nearly 40 hours on the Skylark now, must nearly be time for a new one!!!

Low wing & Bubble canopy = Fried pilots - WRONG :;)1: One of the biggest bubble canopies on a low wing belongs to the Evektor Sportstar. The Sportstar canopy is 99% UV proof. I have done a 5 hour flight in the Sportstar from Hervey Bay to Central Western NSW at Xmas in 40 degree heat under clear blue skies and not suffered from sunburn at all. ;);) The Sportstar also has fantastic ventilation airflow which once moving keeps it cool. The day I first flew in the Sportstar, I also flew 2 high wing A/C. It was a hot day but the Sportstar was cooler than both the CT2K and the Allegro. You can't really generalise with this or alot of other factors about aircraft. It is a matter of personal preference and doing your homework on individual machines.

Ian, Are you still planning on going to Narromine? If yes, are you taking the shop stuff with you? I am flying the Skylark down on Wednesday to make sure I get a good parking spot!!! . And to spend some time with family :). Cheers Mick

I'm interested to hear from anyone who has used the Rotax 914 Turbo engine. Thoughts on power, fuel burn and maintenance would be good to hear. Considering this engine for a future aircraft. Cheers

Hi Ian Better upgrade the possibly for the the Dova Skylark to 99% sure. :) Cheers Mick

Thanks Peter:)