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[Planechaser]

It's funny how when people have a car accident, we usually don't ask what they were driving anymore, but when someone goes down, the first question is "what were they flying?"

 

Summing up the lass 5 years worth of accidents around here, I would have to say it's usually a mixture of pilot error and uncontrolable conditions, pretty much like on the road.

 

In my mind, inherently bad design leading to injury or death seems to be a thing of the past.

 

 

[bones]

Now the thread is warming up...!Gyros. Sorry Bones, but I just don't trust myself!! I know you need to be 110% when flying, but I have the feeling you have to be 130% when flying Gyros??!!

Actually the other way around, the work load is easier in the gyro, because of the fact your not getting thrown around in thermals, it is quiet easy to do 10hr days and still be fresh ready to go again the next day, i was going for 3 weeks straight just 10 days ago, of course it is compulsary to have just a few amber fluids that night to ensure you keep your body hydrated :)

 

 

[kaz3g]

Thanks for the input everyone.Have mustered on the ground with a gyro and there are a few around.......but I'm still a chicken when it comes to them!!

Very seriously looked at a 912 airborn for use at home, (90,000 acres) but the new place is 460,000 acres, and most blokes with planes at this size or bigger use cessna 172's. Still an option, but I would need convincing.

 

If I could buy new, which is to say, if I could spend $100,000, not $50,000, the Hornet is a real contender, but the second hand market is a little quiet!

 

Will keep at it and keep you posted; need an outcome within 6 months.

 

Thanks again,

 

Hamish

Both C172 and C150 have some nasty slow speed habits. We used a C172 on cattle but my very good friend next door but one was killed in his C150. Stalled in a climbing turn --- too hot, too low, too slow!

 

I like the 0-320 Lycoming for reliability and there are some reasonably priced Piper Cubs around, but the Sav and 701 are impressive performers. The Foxbat is pretty interesting, too with a Vso = 32 and excellent vis and short field performance http: http://www.foxbat.com.au/forms_and_manuals. The new carbon Cubs are amazing but so is the price.

 

How far out of The Hill are you?

 

kaz

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

planechaser, I've maintained three Slepcev Storches in Western Qld now for over six years. They all have well over 2000 hrs on them now and all are on thier second 912.

 

How do you seperate a cowboy from his Storch ??........with a bloody big crowbar !!.....they love them. They use them every day (often 6-8 hours flying in hot and big winds). One pilot South of Prairie has just sold his to his neighbor and has ordered a custom Hornet from Taree which he will get in a couple of months.

 

I've flown at least 10 different Storches over the years, (possibly more than Nestor himself, but I doubt it !) They are a good machine and you can land them anywhere, but they are a big and heavy machine and really not the perfect machine for chasing cattle at low altitude. As a station utility aircraft for checking waters and finding cattle, checking fences etc..they are ideal.

 

I've cattle spotted in a 582 Drifter which wasn't bad, but tiring in hot turbulant conditions, but ok, cheap, and very effective in good conditions.

 

The 582 Xair is surprisingly stable and more manouvable down low, than the 582 Drifter and also offers excellent visability for cattle spotting and moving.

 

The savannah VG is an excellent machine, and with the doors off would make a perfect mustering or spotting machine. In the right hands should do the same as a Storch, and may be better allround. With the tundra tires fitted all round you can also pretty much put them down anywhere. And I can guarantee you they would be a lot easier to maintain and get parts for..

 

Sorry bones, I don't have any gyro time so can't really comment first-hand on flying or operating them. I do know however that gyros generally over the years, (for whatever reason) have amassed the highest rate of accidents and pilot fatalities of any flying machine in Australia. Those are ATSB figures, not mine. I would agree however that any machine in the wrong hands is inherently dangerous.

 

I'll try and let you all know how the Hornet compares to the Storch whem my friend recieves his new one........................................................................Maj...

 

 

[nong]

I recently did a little cattle and sheep spotting using, of all things, a J230. Not swerving through the Mulga, just stooging along above the foliage.

 

Sitting low and to one side wasn't the best, I thought. More cushions to sit as high as poss, made the best of it. I formed the view that a narrow fuselage and high seating position in relation to any front mounted engine would be good.

 

The fuel consumption, however, was a revelation. Ten lit/hr at 2000 RPM.

 

After a night outside in the frost, it aint gunna start.....and that, you CAN rely on. What ya need is the nearest Landcruiser and a length of black poly pipe. Ten minutes of 'cruiser exhaust up the cowling is a wonderful thing.

 

There were times when I would have liked to have slower loiter speeds than were reasonably possible in this machine.

 

MEDIVAC. We had a stockman down and hurting about seven kliks from the home strip used by the Jab. A chopper would have been really good in this situation as the pilot could have gone straight to the homestead to access the medical chest for morphene, and then may have been able to comfortably and quickly transport the patient to the homestead or a suitable airstrip for onwards transport. In our case, this process took considerable time by a necessarily slow Landcruiser.

 

All the while we were looking at where an RFDS aircraft might be able to land but the Jab proved to be the best bet, as the day was fast running out. Initially I thought we could make the patient comfortable reclining behind the seats but as it turned out, he was OK sitting in the front. Of course the Jabby was in its element for the 100NM run into Broken Hill. The Paramedics who met us were pretty amused when the King Air they were expecting....turned out not to be! One of them even sported a hubby who is building a Sonex.

 

Anyway, I don't think a J230 is your answer.

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Enjoyed your experience there nong !..I hope the stockman made a fine recovery................................................................Maj...