sfGnome

There wasn’t, to the best of my knowledge, a Gen 5 on display, but the new boss did wave around a cylinder head with some extra holes while talking about the fuel injection that they’re developing. Interestingly, they’re going to keep the carbies as a backup. Run on injection normally, and fall back to the carbies if the injection fails. I don’t know how that works, but it sounds like a good idea (assuming the carbies are still functional after 1000 hours of idleness).

Yep. There were 2 in the under-wing camping area. Don’t know what was on the flight line.

A couple of points about the show (and some topics from various threads…) There were 3 slings on show. Bernie just showed you the dream machine. The Sling 2 is much more affordable (for various descriptions of ‘affordable’), especially in kit form. If you want cheap, the powered parachutes were there (~$5k up for 2nd hand, $35k new). Take off easy from a small paddock. Fly low and slow. Sounds like a pretty good replacement for 103 to me (but that’s not my thing, so don’t yell at me for suggesting it). I had a yarn with the Dexter, the Atec distributor (haven’t seen him for years). The low Aussie $ is not making his job any easier. I asked about CTA transit rather than full access, but the view was that the required training was the same for both, so there was no advantage in doing one before the other. Errol (GAP - BushCat distributors) confirmed that BushCats were not being manufactured any more, but the parent company (who actually manufacture all the parts) was doing well and will be continuing to supply spares. He said that when sales started to decline, they put up their prices to maintain margin, which of course made sales decline even further ‘til it was terminal. I was really interested in the AvPULP product. Essentially, mogas with guaranteed quality control end to end, and guaranteed no Ethanol and high end volatiles. Currently only available at one airport (Victorian, but don’t remember which one), but promising quite a few more within 12 months. It will only be installed at airports that will consume sufficient quantities, so don’t expect to find it at Upper Cumbucta International. They claimed that the price would be comparable with servo mogas. Saturday crowd was mostly aviation types (ie all ancient - myself included), but Sunday was largely young families. Just maybe a dream or two were born in little brains. 🙂 The only down side to the weekend that I noticed was that because the visiting aircraft were parked airside, you couldn’t wander around having a gawk. Had to satisfy myself with the ones parked in the under wing camping area that was accessible. Regardless, happy I went.

Just make sure that the cap is tight when the Good Samaritan is taking you back to the field from the servo. Don’t ask me how I know… 😳

One end of term at school, they put all of us in the hall and played a 16mm print of the movie (presumably easier than trying to teach us something on the last day). However, in an unfortunate error in timing, the school bell went before it finished, so we never got to see if they made it off safely. I assume that they did… 🙃

Drove one of my Minis (I had 3, or more accurately, I moved one engine through 3 bodies) down a boat ramp one misty rainy night mistaking it for road. Oops! Pushed it back out with the help of some mates (bare feet on knobbly concrete in mid winter water 🥶), gave it a good spray with WD40 and it ran no worries. Mind you, I never went anywhere without a full tool kit and my overalls, and there were a few romantic evenings ruined by me having to fix the thing on the side of the road. Still got a really soft spot for them though. Occasionally I find myself thinking that it would be fun to restore one (a proper one; circa ‘68-‘70), and then I give myself a swift uppercut to bring me to my senses. 😵‍💫

Too far away for you, but by way of comparison, Fly Illawarra at Shell Harbour charge $240/hr for instruction on a J160. The prices you’re paying at Sale seem a little(?) on the pricey side. 🫤

Yep, bung the list on here. I’m in need of some clecos, and who knows what else you have might be of interest?

Just for a moment, that’s the highest elevation AGL that your plane has achieved… 😁

The biggest issue with the 3G shutdown is that a lot of older phones automatically switch to 3G (and only 3G) for emergency calls. I presume that was because the designers thought that 3G had a better chance of getting through in remote locations, but it’ll mean that they won’t get through at all after the shutdown, and the worst aspect of that is that they won’t know that their phone won’t work for 000 until they try it…

It was a 24 reg, used by the RA flight school there (Valley Ultralights if my memory serves me correctly - long since shut down and the aircraft sold off). Cost him a fair bit to get it approved. That would have been about 15 years ago, so the processes will likely have changed.

Being an RA pilot, I was taught to expect engine failure at any time (ie always have somewhere to land in sight). I got a real shock one day talking to a friend who was a CPL and instructor in the GA world about not flying over tiger country and he asked “why not?”. When I explained, he said “Oh, I never thought of that”.

There was a bloke at the Cessnock club doing them 7 or 8 years ago. Not sure that’s terribly useful information though…

True, but the alternative doesn’t look too good either… 🫣

Ok, I definitely wouldn’t want someone shooting at me while using it (I guess I should say that I don’t want someone shooting at me any time! 🫣), but wouldn’t it be awesome fun to use.