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RossK

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Everything posted by RossK

  1. RossK
    Your posts in this thread begs the question; "have you ever flown at local CTAF airfield?"
  2. RossK
    X Wind takeoff.mp4 Opening myself up for flaming but here goes. What I did was hold the stick slightly forward until it wanted to fly (60kts IAS), at which point you can see the nose rotate left, I let it track left to avoid stressing the undercarriage and eased the stick back and up we went. (note; the Sportstar has a steerable nose wheel - I suspect this would not have worked with a castering nose wheel) BUT, in hindsight I should have aborted as soon as I realised I had minimal rudder authority - 8 seconds into the video As I said, we all make mistakes and the key is to learn from them. In this instance, I had 2 runways to choose from, 08/26 or 17/35, wind was from 045 @ 20-25knots. Runway choice was not a 50:50 decision as I thought. I opted for 08 but 35 would have been a much better option, crosswind component would have helped keep straight.
  3. RossK
    Ground rules, NO ARGUMENTS, this is not meant to be an Apple vs Samsung thread or IOS vs Android or Ozrunways vs Avplan thread. I just want real world info. So with that in mind; I recently sold my Ipad pro 12.9 as it was just too big to be practical. It only overheated once, after an hour on a 30+deg day, with a bubble canopy, so I cut it some slack. I've borrowed my brothers Ipad mini to trial and it lasted 20 minutes on Sunday, 20 minutes on a 25deg day!!! That's not good enough. I hear comments that Android devices don't have this problem and it's an Apple thing. Is this true? I'm not an Apple or Android guy, I just want something that works reliably. I get that both OZrwys and Avplan have better features with the Ipad, but, if it's not actually working due to overheat, they aren't much good, so lets avoid that discussion too, thanks. So, if you've got an Android tablet, please share your exprience, particularly if it's ever overheated. Go!
  4. RossK
    Thanks Thexder for the update, it's very rare that we actually get eye witness accounts. I had wondered how he got where he was, from the photos and google maps it looks like he was off the east side of the strip only half way down, ie there was plenty of runway left to land on. Good news is the pilot is OK, actually that's great news. We've all made mistakes and this is one of those swiss chees ones, where if you make enough mistakes, they line up and bite you in the end. I've got a nice bit of video footage of a take off I did in the Sportstar with a 45 deg 25kt cross wind from the left. The plane just wanted to turn left despite full right rudder, it was a poor choice of runway in hindsight as I could have chosen the other cross runway with 45 deg crosswind from the right. But I managed to make some good decisions during the take off roll and got us airborne - but a better decision would have been to abort and have another think about it. There are alwys things we can learn from and do better next time. Hopefully this pilot learns from this and does better next time.
  5. RossK
    I'm not sure what the issue with Gladstone Park is? None of the existing or proposed 16/34 flight plans overfly GP. Now, if they build the 4th runway - the 2nd E/W one, then the GP residents might have an issue, but, it's been planned since the 1960's
  6. RossK
    Interesting numbers JG, I'll pay more attention next time I'm changing altitude to see if there is a ground speed difference. Typically I'm picking an altitude base on airspace limits, clouds, and comfort. I generally prefer to be at least 2-3000ft AGL for the what if factor. But agree, lower is more interesting and the sensation of speed is more noticable. I always enjoy the run from YLIL to the western suburbs of Melb, using the coastal VFR route, 2500ft across the suburbs and then 2000 across the front of the city. But options for engine outs are very limited - freeways and golf courses basically. At 7500ft AGL, everything looks pretty flat and moves very slowly.
  7. RossK
    My last flight was an early morning affair from YLIL (Lilydale). Left home at 6:00am and was airborne by 7:00am. The Yarra Valley was at its spectacular best in the morning light, the air was dense and smooth. To top it off there was 6 hot air balloons finishing their morning trips and landed mid way between Coldstream and YLIL. It was all so glorious I just took it in and forgot to take any photos to share with you all. Completed the flight with 3 touch and goes, just for good measure
  8. RossK
    When you read the report and look at the position of the hangar relative to the runway, it's hard not to think that this was a failed go around. When you pile on full power the nose is going to pitch up, probably beyond the critical angle if you don't control it ("not enough lift") and it's going to pull to the left ("veered from the end of the runway"). The impact site is level with the end of the runway 70m off centre line, so the veering must have happend well before then.
  9. RossK
    Yes, his comment was that for the sort of flying he does, the weight penalty wasn't worth it (had to add weight to the tail to balance the prop) He can get the same take off performance from the ground adjustable with a little less top end, but the guys he flys with are all cruising at 90-100 anyway, so top end isn't his priority, and he thinks the plane handles better by taking the weight out of the ends. Saved +15kg from memory
  10. RossK
    When I did my passenger endorsement I was able to do it with my regular instructor. We did it on a day we had planned to do a Nav but the weather wasn't suitable. I remember him getting in the plane and fidgeting uncharacteristically with his seat belt, vents etc and then he went to fiddle with the radio. I told him not to touch anything on the dash unless i specifically intructed him how to. He looked at me and replied "I'm not testing you yet, the radio's on the wrong frequency" 🤣 I passed 😁
  11. RossK
    From the RAAus database; "The aircraft took off, completed three circuits and departed the circuit area for flight over Hindmarsh Island to Murray Mouth then returned overhead Clayton. The joined mid downwind 01, completed downwind checks, landed long but had fully landed and deployed brakes when they lost control, veered from the end of the runway and collided with the rear of a hangar as well as a water tank and the door support of a second hangar. The pilot tried to avoid the collision by firstly applying power to power out of the situation but there was not enough lift available so braked again and aimed as well as they could for the gap between a water tank and the door support of a hangar, such that the wings would take the brunt of the force. The aircraft continued on and came to rest in the rear wall of a hangar."
  12. RossK
    Translation; "We have been publicly flogged and have taken time to regroup. Please prepare for a fresh assault on your flying privileges early 2022"
  13. RossK
    I made a perfect inbound call the other day, 10nm, location, altitude, eta, etc, all the info and nothing extra. Short reply was; "Sportstar 1720, Melbourne Centre, you are on Area frequency not CTAF" 🙄 😧 I had been on area and monitoring CTAF (so had heard all the CTAF calls) and forgot to switch
  14. RossK
    Our Sportstar came without VGs and we fitted them (from JG3) shortly after getting it. Stall is more benign, less yawing before the stall. Clean stall is 40kts now. I have seen lower speeds but it's just losing height holding it's nose in the air. We've lost about 3 knots off the cruise as a result. We didn't do empirical testing, and it's an approved mod from Evektor.
  15. RossK
    Skip, it's the 57mm one, unsure of manufacturer though. age, 14 years according to the maintenance logs - ie it's the original one fitted. I check it as part of my pre-flight routine during taxi and line up. Only used it once during flight to verify that the Aspen PFD was having a bad day, once. It confirmed that the Aspen was telling me lies. But I also have an Ipad, a Garmin 296 and my mobile in the plane, so plenty of redundancy.
  16. RossK
    Last time I checked (with a CFI), RPC with Nav converts to RPL with Nav with some paperwork and proof to a CFI that you can fly a GA Aircraft. So typically 3-5 hours in a Warrior or C152 will get it done. but I could be wrong, it happens occasionally 😁
  17. RossK
    Here's our panel mounted one, I have no idea of the make etc, looks like the Airpath. Seems to point north when i'm lined up on 36 at YLIL.
  18. RossK
    This is exactly what I was told by the Airport Co-ordinator when I was planning to fly into Moruya - avoid the RPT times and no ASIC required.
  19. RossK
    Your understanding is correct. Passengers are only covered to $250K. A good lawyer would argue that as a passenger they were aware of the risks being taken and subsequently the amount payable for damages should be less. Of course, it's up to us as PIC to make sure our passengers are aware of the risks of RAA aircraft. But having extra liability cover for your passengers is probably a good thing. Lets face it - they are likely to be your family or friends and if if the worst were to happen, you'd want them to get as big a payout as possible.
  20. RossK
    Flew up to Tocumwal on Saturday afternoon, walked into town and had dinner at the Farmers Arms Hotel. The river is very full at the moment! Camped at Sportaviations campground at the airstrip. Had a great breakfast with the Murray Border Flying Club and a Coffee at "The Drome" cafe before heading home.
  21. RossK
    Hi Bruce, unless i've missed something (which is possible) there is nothing in the new rules that is forcing us to fly under 3000ft. The radio requirement is still above 5000ft in class G The only extra burden is to fly the VFR cruising levels if above 3000ft.
  22. RossK
    There was/is another hypothetical mountain in the way 😁
  23. RossK
    I was taught that it's best to fly hemisphericals whenever you can, regardless. Hypothetical. I'm flying a track of 175deg at 3500ft and approaching a 3000ft plateau, cloud base is 5000ft, so leagally I can punch through there. But, the plateau is covered with tiger country. I can deviate track to 165deg and follow a valley with a floor of 1500ft around the plateau, but at the southern end I have to track back 6nm on a heading of 200deg before picking up my track of 175deg. What altitude do I fly that 6nm on 200deg heading at - is it practical to descend to 2500ft and then climb back up when I resume track - the leg is less than 4 minutes.
  24. RossK
    Factory Built J230's are LSA though aren't they - so can't increase the MTOW unless Jabiru do the paperwork to recertify them.
  25. RossK
    Recently bought an electric pole saw - fantastic thing, only has 30 mins of run time per battery, but with electric, that's 30 mins of actual cutting time, which actually is a decent amount. Uses the same battery as the electric mower 😁
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