Tell us about your last flight

[Marty_d]

Congratulations!!

[Wirraway]

Thank you, it has been a life time in coming. 
 

[Old Koreelah]

14 hours ago, Thruster88 said:

Dave and I changed our plan for Coonabarbran today due weather and had a local in the RV out to lake cowl gold mine instead...

 

Nice little plane; what is it?

14 hours ago, Thruster88 said:

 

 

I wouldn’t want to be working down that hole if the levee broke...

[Thruster88]

Dave's biplane is a Gere sport. He and his father built it from scratch. It looks and sounds amazing in the air.

[red750]

I read the story of the Gere Sport on Wikipedia, how the young designer died before it was finished and his dad finished buiding it. In the 1930's. Barely any specs or performance details on wiki. 

[Old Koreelah]

Yesterday the weather was perfect and as compensation for my flight to the Warrumbungles event being washed out, I took off for a flight over our town.

After a couple of turns over the Bowling Club where my wife was waving at me, I took a tour around the valley.

 

Little plane is running smoothly with even temps.

 

Steered clear of the gun club, where the large number of cars indicated a major shoot was under way. (How high do those 12-gauge pellets fly?)

 

Early this morning my darling wife nudged me awake. No, I wasn’t about to get lucky. She (the one in charge of my delicate ego) wanted me to tell her all about my flight, because she needed to get back to sleep.

 

B I TCH !

[Thruster88]

Took RFguy for a flight today in the Musketeer to give him a break from fixing his Jab.😁 He liked the qualities of the old girl just as much as I do.

 

[marshallarts]

Ah yes, another (ex) Beechcraft owner here, so I know what you are talking about.  I owned a lovely old Debonair ("Debbie" as we affectionately knew her) back in the 1990s - what a delight she was to fly.  Quite fast, stable, forgiving, and almost landed herself with those big fat wings and the ground-effect.  Glory days.

[ClintonB]

Today was too nice to pass up, out to the airport, move 5 planes by hand to get to back of hanger, after that 1 hour workout, Flew out to Barraba landed and had a drink and snack, then home. Not far but fun any way. Need to plan a longer run to do, maybe Narromine and look at museum again. Good to see some water in split rock reservoir. Still a long way to go.

[waraton]

A fun flight for some ultralights from the Silver City Recreational Aircraft Club today. Lunch at the Copi Hollow kiosk which was great and a look at the regulator letting water back into Lake Menindee for the first time in 5 years. The arrival of the water has livened up the town with tourists making their way in for a look. Some photos from the day.

Lake Menindee with water inflow for the first time in 5 years.

 

Darling river Menindee Main Weir. Note the "tourist".

 

Broken Hill to Menindee Road. Despite the water coming into Menindee it is still very dry in the Lower Western area of NSW.

 

Some of the craft on the ground at the Copi Hollow Caravan Park strip.

 

 

[cscotthendry]

Went to the Watts for breakfast flyin last week. The weather cooperated and there was a really good turnout with some nice formation flying from the Yak crew.

 

 

[Possum1]

Great video Scott, but I would recommend going via Lake Manchester next time to avoid the tiger country that you flew over. You would only need 1500' for the whole trip and this would keep you under the step in the remote chance that Amberley is active early on a Sunday morning. If they are, track via the northern edge of Lake Manchester and this will keep you clear.

 

After Lake Manchester if the hills and the bumps are a little too close just deviate off course a bit to the west over the lower and clearer land by Wivenhoe Dam.

 

Another way, if you have a PPL, is to go up to TARGET and request ARCHER TOWER to overfly the field for a track to Lake Manchester and after breakfast return via your Greenbank waypoint.

Edited May 2, 2021 by Possum1
more info

[Old Koreelah]

Almost as good as being there, Scott!
I wish my radio was as clear as those calls.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Oi, Scott! Did you remember to switch on the transponder!!!???!! (the amount of times I have left it on standby and got a right ticking off by ATC is too many to admit to!)

 

 

[cscotthendry]

3 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Oi, Scott! Did you remember to switch on the transponder!!!???!! (the amount of times I have left it on standby and got a right ticking off by ATC is too many to admit to!)

 

 

Yep I did! Thanks for reminding me.

[Thruster88]

A trip into fine wool country to pick up a Tecnam for its annual yesterday. On the way back the Musketeer kept up at 55% power or 88hp, a little more fuel but not a deal breaker, for me anyway.  

[Kununurra]

We were lucky enough to get out of perth in early April & miss the latest round of lockdowns.

Our first leg was Bindoon Hill YBHY to Forrest YFRT. An overnight stay then on to Leigh Creek YLEC for the night. Our first stop there and it was great, easy refuelling, airport pick up & drop off and good clean accommodation supported by a nice meal at the tavern.

The next leg took us up to Charleville YBCV to do some exploration of the town & soak up some local history.

Friendly service at the airport with refuelling and plenty of tie down areas.

We met a group of Rotarians (11) who were flying to the same location as us Shute harbour for the annual runway dinner.

We set off the next morning and got to a point around 86 nautical Mike’s from Shute Harbour YSHR & had to turn back due to weather degrading.

Our diversion took us to Cleremont where we refuelled & sat out the weather for just over 4 hours.

Ok all looking good and we departed for Shute Harbour.

Safely made it into Shute Harbour and had a great stay for 2 weeks.

I had maintained contact with one of the group of rotarians as we both were flying RV 7A aircraft.

Unfortunately I had heard of the tragic accident involving an RV7 which was flying from Winton to Bowen. I tried to make contact with Ray to check on his welfare but to no avail (R.I.P).

I will never get to have the welcome drink with Ray or share any stories of our own RV grins.

It was great to catch up with the rest of the group and pass on our condolences. It was an emotional catch up for all.

We then departed Shute Harbour for Bundaberg another iconic Queensland town with nit only aviation history but also the rum distillery.

Next stop Archerfield to dodge some more weather heading this way for a few days.

The tower was very helpful as it was my first flight into there.

We managed to get an FBO who operate as Jet Base they a couple of hangars there and are very helpful if you ever have a stay and don’t want to risk leaving your plane out.

After the weather passes we will pick our track home to Bindoon.

If anyone wants any information on accommodation prices & ratings don’t hesitate to message me.

Safe flying 

[cscotthendry]

A bit of a mixed bag with this one.

Yesterday we went to the Gatton Mothers day “brekky”. The flight from Heck field to Gatton and back was a dream. Smooth as silk even at low levels. The “brekky” was another matter entirely. Officially, it started at 7:00 am. We arrived just after 8:00 and they had run out of food already! There was still a queue waiting for food, and, starving, I joined it hoping for a nice hot brekky. After 30 minutes it became apparent the line wasn't moving at all. There were people “cooking” but no one was walking away with meals. After another 20 minutes in line, I saw about 4 people ahead of me walk away with their meals. Then the line stalled again for another 15 minutes with nothing happening.

By that stage, I completely lost patience with the total lack of organising and got back in my plane and went home.

Not good enough Gatton. If you put on a fly in brekky, you should understand that the people aren't there just to try landing on your runway. If you can't organise the food, then you don't have a “fly in brekky” you just have a “fly in”.
 

I heard from someone that there was a bigger turnout than the organisers expected. That surprised me. A look at the weather the night before told me that there would be a large turnout and the “organisers” SHOULD have seen that coming. Even then, when they had food (I could see people cooking something) it took a very long time between meal deliveries. I've been to many fly in brekkies and I know it can be accomplished even with the uncertainties of weather and the whims of pilots. Also, I've been to other brekkies at Gatton which went well. Whoever did the organising for this one though needs to have a good look at what went wrong, and it wasn't the fault of the number of flyers that turned up.

[spacesailor]

Just those First.Big eater,s. LoL

Iv,e grandsons like that.

spacesailor

[Possum1]

Straddie used to be the place where you didn't get fed before 9.00 a.m.(except for some fruit), now Gatton...

[Possum1]

Straddie used to be the place where you didn't get fed before 9.00 a.m.(except for some fruit), now Gatton...

 

P.S. You could have stopped at Kooralbyn on the way back with not too much of a detour. It's a little expensive at $22 but you would have got a big feed straight away.

[cscotthendry]

On 12/05/2021 at 7:02 AM, Possum1 said:

Straddie used to be the place where you didn't get fed before 9.00 a.m.(except for some fruit), now Gatton...

 

P.S. You could have stopped at Kooralbyn on the way back with not too much of a detour. It's a little expensive at $22 but you would have got a big feed straight away.

Do you have to ring for PP before landing there? I would like to try that out sometime.

[Possum1]

9 hours ago, cscotthendry said:

Do you have to ring for PP before landing there? I would like to try that out sometime.

No, you don't. The landing fee is covered by your having breakfast at the resort but no-one has ever asked. Just smile good morning to whoever is on reception as you walk through to Lilies Restaurant where the breakfast is. This is about a 5 minute walk from the runway.

 

Hazards: There are kangaroos by the runway and joggers on the runway sometimes! All circuits to the south. You will find the base leg for Runway 30 most interesting!

 

Drag races are held on the runway once or twice a year and you should have a quick look at the events page on their website to see if one is on. Website is: https://thekooralbynvalley.com.au/ .

[Old Koreelah]

I understand people’s disappointment with going hungry, but spare a thought for the volunteer catering crew; if they overcater, lots of food is wasted.

Perhaps sending a text the day before could make their job a little easier.

 

Another aspect: every plane should have some tucker on board in case of emergency and this scenario would be a good opportunity to use it and replace it before it goes out of date.

[Old Koreelah]

...and another thing: we’re all getting old and with age even I am developing some patience and understanding. Aero club catering crews are often quite advanced in years, with some tapering off of efficiency.

 

I’m starting to notice this when phoning people; the “not here, leave a message” recordings of young, busy people I know are brief and to the point, while some who are even more ancient than me, take minutes to tell you they aren’t available.