riverduk

Vh-pip What a sad loss for the Greater Shepparton community, Pip was not only a great ambassador for flying but also for Shepparton, he was a great pilot and a top bloke, I will always have very fond memories of the times I saw him fly. Deepest sympathy to his family, friends and all at Shepparton airfield. Clear skys and microloops Pip.

2nd lesson Hi to all, well the second lesson did actually happen, 11/2 weeks ago, just been to hot to get at the 'puter, anyhow it went really good, wild cross wind @ takeoff and some decent pot holes on the way to 4000' but good fun, flat turns as well as climbing and descending turns and just for fun Cliff tried to back the Jab up in the wind, didn't go backwards but wasn't going forwards to quick either. Well the best part, I didn't toss a sickie this time and managed to fly a bit better, had a chance to have a chat with Big Pete and a look at his plane, Pete I reckon that grandson of yours knows that plane as well as you do, look out he'll want the left seat before long. Any way better head off, gettin' late and the beds a callin', will make a bigger effort after next lesson, not sure if that will be this week or not, flying fund a little low, rates to pay on the 15th,now there's a waste of the old hard earned, could of had about 9 hours of lessons right there, any how, happy flying and stay safe up there, our wives mightn't understand but they do want us to come home, cheer to all,:thumb_up: Ross

Yeh, thanks guys, still laughin, and looking forward to next time, thanx Mark, definitely cuppa tea, black and some toast I think, happy flyin' guys, cheers, rosco :thumb_up:

First lesson in a while Hi to all, well had a lesson yesterday, first in 18 months, as I discovered when I dusted off the log book the other night, anyway I made contact with Cliff Banks from Sun Center Ultralights in Swanhill, Vic. Turns out he was teaching in Echuca this past Fri / Sat so I booked for a lesson Sat morn. I turned up all excited, finally got in the air to have a go at a few turns, well, new plane to me (Jab 170c, prev lessons in a Tecnam), different feel, different setup, not been up for 18 months (except 3 very short, read no lift, flights in a glider late last year) and a bit bumpy, you guessed it, that coffee I had just b4 the flight was determined to join us in the cabin, yep Mr "I never get airsick :yuk:" got to the stage where I really didn't care if the ball wasn't centered, I just wanted down and out, the Jab was just to nice and clean to be sick in. When I finally got home and told my wife we both had a real good laugh about it, even now as I write this I still can't help but smile, after all that we have been through to get to this point, all I wanted was to get out. So is this the end? no way, next time, no coffee b4 flight, more sleep and the ball will remain centered in all turns and I can't wait! Cheers to all, Rosco

Thanks Mark, I intend too, just so long as its not nose first, cheers, Ross

Hi Frank, yep trying to solve the dilema, hence the gliding and now the trike tif, just want to check out all the options b4 I commit, I do already have a few things on the must have list: self launch capable, must be able to do some cross country, ie couple of hrs return from base, easy to set up / pack up ( I live within 1 klm from local private airstrip, so trailering is an option, also good for home based storage). The other thing that is still bugging me is that for nearly 30 yrs the wife has been so anti the whole thing and now she has come around I find it difficult to actually allow myself the freedom to get into it, weird or what? Anyways I will get it sorted, this is going to be my 50th Bday present to me this year, cheers, Ross

Hi to all, my name is Ross and @ nearly 50years of age I think I must be the original frustrated flyer, I've had a couple of goes @ starting to learn, once before I was married, got 2 or 3 hrs up in a Cessna 150, fiance cracked em so I gave up, then tried again early 07 got another 5 hrs in a Tecnam P92 Echo Super, great aircraft, just forgot to tell the wife I had started, got the guilts and stopped. Any how lots of talking and frustration later she now wants me to learn, but the question is what????? Rec license seems the way to go but the wife will not commit to flying with me when I do get my wings, I checked out gliding recently, great fun, but I do not want to rely on others to get me in the air and I don't have a spare 100k + to buy a self launch glider. I did a paragliding intro for my 40th, loved that and could look at powered as an option, the other option is powered trikes, they look like fun and am planning to go to Yarrawonga next week to have a TIF @ Nav-Ex, a bit nervy though, although I know that hang gliding, trikes and aviation in general has come a long way in 35 yrs, I still have visions of a leading edge on a hang glider folding in half after I had just been for a short flight with it @ Barwon Heads back in the mid 70's, really put me off anything that looked like a HG. Anyhow that's my little tale of woe, the up side is I can now get to do something, when I decide what, I just need to get a couple of thousand feet between my bum and the ground, I know my wife will never understand why that is, but anyone who's passion is flying will understand completely, cheers to all and happy flyin'