Neil_S

Hi All, Learnt sideslipping in the Texan as part of the normal syllabus, and then since we bought the Gazelle I use it quite often as a valuable manoeuvre to lose height on final if necessary (or when practising forced landings). Also, the more confident you are with the technique the better your ability to forward slip when doing crosswind landings IMO. Talking of which I like to practise the following, and would recommend it to people for practising crosswind landings without actually doing the landing. On a day with a reasonable wind find a straight road which is as close to 90 degrees from the wind as possible, then start at one end of the road and try to fly along the road with your nose aligned to the road. To do this you need to take out the crab with rudder then lean the plane into wind with aileron, just as you would when doing a crosswind landing. When you get to the end of the road, turn around and do the same in the opposite direction. Repeat until bored . Obviously you would not want to get below 500 feet AGL - I am around 1000 feet when I do it. Cheers Neil

For me it's getting decent weather to coincide with time when not working.... Cheers Neil

Hi John, I have some friends live at Plockton - do you fly near there at all? Cheers Neil

Hi Motz, just wanted to echo all the comments made here. I don't know you personally or the exact circumstances, but your posts on this site have given me a good impression of the sort of person you are, and I am absolutely sure you did all you possibly could, and you should be commended for your bravery. I am also sure the families of the unfortunate casualties believe you did all you possibly could too. When your time is up, it's up. As for the crass, unfeeling piece of scum who made that comment about "offenders" he will get his just desserts one way or another. I think he has done more to harm his "cause" than anything else. Time will dim the pain, and I hope all of you who were there will soon be able to get on with enjoying life and aviation again. Best Regards Neil

Hello Jack, Welcome to the site, and glad to hear you are enjoying your training. Keep us informed about your progress! Cheers Neil

Amazing photos!

Great video, Winsor! Keep 'em coming!

Good video - enjoyed it. Forget the music - watch the planes

Hi Robyn, Well done! - just the start! Cheers Neil

Absolutely excellent! What it's all about.... Thanks for posting Neil

Yup - absolutely loved the Biggles books.........Tally ho Algy, Ginger & Bertie! Watch out for that fiend Von Stalhein! Chocks away, Neil

Hi Doug, Really interesting story - thanks for finding and posting it. Cheers Neil

Hope so, wx permitting, of course....

....so do you also get annoyed at the signs at supermarket checkouts saying "9 items or less" instead of "9 items or fewer" ? Pedants rule OK

Yuk

Cool!

Congratulations, Jake!

I'm green with envy!

Hi Rob and . Congrats on getting your Certificate. Tell us a bit about yourself - what you fly, what sort of flying you intend doing, will you be buying a plane, etc Cheers Neil

Hi JWW and Tooradin is a long way to go from the North West suburbs - have you moved location recently? Do you still fly from there? Cheers Neil

Hmm - acronyms ...WINO - does that stand for Watching Incoming Nanchang Operations? Cheers Neil

Why don't I ever get attendants like that on my flights? Excellent stuff...

Hi Kaz, I had not seen that story about the colliding Ansons before - absolutely amazing! And ironic that they survived something freaky like that and then died in stupidly mundane circumstances later... My favourite bit "As far as Fuller was concerned, the touchdown was better than any he had made when practising 'circuits and bumps' at Forest Hill airfield the previous day". LOL Cheers Neil

Well, Alan, just how low do you fly that cow in your avatar? I'm sure most members of the public would not want a pat on the head - not only is it condescending, but also very messy to clean up.......

...and in the UK, where you might expect a white Christmas, they had temperatures (in the south-east anyway) of about 14 degrees C and one of the warmest Christmases on record. But then at the same time last year they were knee deep in snow... Gotta love the weather. Neil