Methusala Posted September 12, 2018 Posted September 12, 2018 Have been doing a bit in the Vision and the Thrusters. Have a couple of mates with MS and am working on a system to transfer them into the cabin. They are amazed at the freedom of flying in the open. 2 1
Blue Drifter Posted September 13, 2018 Posted September 13, 2018 Nice day to take the Drifter for a run around Coota 2 1
farri Posted September 16, 2018 Author Posted September 16, 2018 This afternoon, after day of hard yakka, I went to see my neighbours, Rodney and Patricia (Trish ) Albert, I mentioned flying and Rodney said Trish had been talking about wanting to go for a fly, so I said, "I rather do it than talk about it, so let`s go". This was Trish`s third fly with me! The view from 4,500 feet AMSL, with Bramston Beach, below. With the Sun going down behind Mt Bellenden Ker, it was time to get back home!... Yet another magic carpet ride!!! Frank. 3 1
farri Posted October 6, 2018 Author Posted October 6, 2018 Trish says flying in the Drifter is addictive! She`s caught the bug!!! Franco. 3
farri Posted October 8, 2018 Author Posted October 8, 2018 I met these two lovely young ladies and their mother, Louise, at a gathering of family and friends here at home yesterday! They were up here on holiday and as I`d previously taken Louise`s sister, Tanya, (Tanya is a local) flying, they were keen to see what Drifter flying is all about!!! Franco. 3 1
farri Posted October 14, 2018 Author Posted October 14, 2018 Taking Antonien Rosseau, from France, Drifter flying this morning! Near perfect flying conditions, made it an absolute, Magic Carpet ride! Another young guy, very impressed and going back home, with fond memories. Franco. 1
farri Posted October 21, 2018 Author Posted October 21, 2018 Just me getting high in the Drifter, this morning!... It doesn`t get any better than this!!! Franco, Ps, Within gliding distance of a safe landing area and home, at all times. 4
farri Posted October 24, 2018 Author Posted October 24, 2018 This mornings flight to the Atherton Tablelands, in the Drifter, with one of my neighbours, Patricia (Trish) Albert as my passenger...It`s a real pleasure taking Trish flying, as she`s so keen, it`s amazing!!! Franco. 6 1
Cosmick Posted October 24, 2018 Posted October 24, 2018 Hi Frank, that was a fair hike from your place, follow the Palmerston Hwy. Used to swim in Lake Eacham in the 70's. Used to be a Cassowary there that liked apples.
farri Posted October 25, 2018 Author Posted October 25, 2018 Hi Frank, that was a fair hike from your place, follow the Palmerston Hwy. Used to swim in Lake Eacham in the 70's. Used to be a Cassowary there that liked apples. G`day Mike, Not really that far! I`ve flown up over the Gillis Range many times over the years, just don`t feel the need to do it much anymore, I basically did it yesterday to show Trish what the Mulgrave Valley and some of the Atherton Tablelands looks like, from the air. I`ve also done the circuit up over the Gillis to Atherton, Malanda, Milla Milla, down the Palmerston to Innisfail and back home to Deeral, more than a couple of times over the years but I`m not keen to do that anymore! The terrain around Malanda and down the Palmerston, is mostly cattle grazing country with extremely steep hills and valleys, for safety, you need to stay high and it becomes difficult to judge a safe landing area, not the type of country I want to have an engine failure over, so these days, I avoid it. The place to see Cassowaries, these days, is, Etty Bay! One day I saw someone offer one a fairly large apple, it just gulped it straight down. Yeah! That`s Me! My wife, Frances and our Daughter Susan... Not too sure about this big bird. Franco. 1
ClintonB Posted October 25, 2018 Posted October 25, 2018 Looks like perfect weather there at the moment. We are enjoying some rain and storms lately. Just wish they would come after beeer o’clock and give us some flying weather. 1
farri Posted November 8, 2018 Author Posted November 8, 2018 Except for the smoke haze, good flying conditions here today so I took my favorite passenger, Trish, for her first flight over the Babinda Boulders and Broken Nose area of Mt. Bartle Frere. Franco, Ps, At all times within gliding distance of a suitable, safe landing site! 3 1
farri Posted November 25, 2018 Author Posted November 25, 2018 Yesterday afternoon, we had a family get-together here on our property to celebrate our youngest Daughter`s 49th birthday and I had the privilege of taking my eldest Grandson, all 103 kg of muscle, flying! I`ve copied and pasted what Matt said on my facebook timeline! For me, there`s no better reward in recreational flying, than having family members and friends wanting to fly with me... I took the photo. Matt Cheetham 33 mins · It's been a while since I,ve been up in the air with Grandad, so yesterday I couldn't pass up on the chance to go flying. This is Franco Arri (Grandad) who's been flying for 39 years and still is doing what he loves. I've been flying with Grandad since I was just a kid and about 70kg lighter! I consider myself very lucky to have the chance to do this regularly. Franco. 5
Callahan Posted November 26, 2018 Posted November 26, 2018 You said "muscles" Farri....you were spot on! Big guy indeed! What's his weight? Easily a solid 100 kilos anyway. I was trying to see your motor. Is that a 503? I have a 503 in mine and had no problem lifting a 225 pound guy along with my 205 pound frame. Anyway, great shot! 1
Callahan Posted November 26, 2018 Posted November 26, 2018 Illinois River evening flight .[ATTACH]37179[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]37174[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]37175[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]37176[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]37177[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]37178[/ATTACH] Watch those uplocks closely flyxpl. Had one slip out on me landing a 45 mph. Cartwheeled. 2
farri Posted November 26, 2018 Author Posted November 26, 2018 You said "muscles" Farri....you were spot on! Big guy indeed! What's his weight? Easily a solid 100 kilos anyway. I was trying to see your motor. Is that a 503? I have a 503 in mine and had no problem lifting a 225 pound guy along with my 205 pound frame. Anyway, great shot! G`Day Callahan! Matthew is 103 kg or 227 lbs, at the moment! My current engine is a 503 DCDI, (purchased new) turning a Rotax E-type, 2.62:1 reduction gearbox, with an Ivo, 3 blades, 60-inch ground adjustable, Ultralight prop. The Ivo Ultralight prop is 72-inch diameter and has to be cut to size! the engine has now gone over 500 hrs without missing a beat, but I`ve pulled it apart, de-coked. honed the cylinders and changed the piston rings and all gaskets twice and the parts in both Carbies, once! Last week I fitted a new muffler can. I had that gearbox on 3 of my 582 grey head when I was instructing, it never gave the slightest bit of trouble so I decided to put it on the 503! I replaced the oil seals before putting it on and it`s still going strong with well over 3,000 hrs done. I`ve been using a Fuji Finepix 120 camera for a couple of years! I take all the photos of those in the back seat by holding the camera out to the side! Works fine for me.
Callahan Posted November 26, 2018 Posted November 26, 2018 Farri, You're like me a lot. Fly them until....whatever.....or....."if it ain't broke, don't fix it" crowd. Glad you're getting a ton of fun from little expense! So 227 pounds huh? That is a big horse! I mean that respectfully! Ha! Ha! Anyway, I used to be in the hang glider towing business. 503s. People used to laugh at me towing hang gliders & their sometimes healthy pilots, like Mathew! Farri, no kidding, I would tow them wide open at 6,600 rpm to 2,500 feet. This was done for about 3 years. Same motor with about 300+ total tows with a C box and clutch. Amazingly tough little motor. You take care! Great shots with your manual dexterity. I owned a Fugi Finepix for years. Finally broke. Bill Catalina Florida USA
farri Posted November 27, 2018 Author Posted November 27, 2018 Farri Great shots with your manual dexterity. I owned a Fugi Finepix for years. Finally broke.Bill Catalina Florida USA 3 Thanks, Bill! Here`s a couple more for you!!! Well! They just coming!!! Pia and Ingmar are from Germany, back-packing through Australia! They`re staying just up the road with friends of ours, saw me flying and just had to do it, so this morning, I had the pleasure of taking both of them for their first Ultralight flight!!! Franco.
farri Posted November 28, 2018 Author Posted November 28, 2018 We`ve been getting heat-wave conditions here in the Cairns area for the last week and yesterday it came to a head with a powerful thunderstorm! Here at Deeral by the damage done to the trees where it hit most, I guestimated the wind to be around a category 2 Cyclone, there was rain and hail also! fortunately for us here at home, most of the force of the wind went through along the Bruce Highway, just 2.5 km up the road... Another thunderstorm forecast for this afternoon but by far better than the fire`s that are burning throughout Queensland at the moment! After the storm comes the sunshine and this morning started with perfect flying weather so I decided to take Peter flying! Peter lives just a couple of hundred meters up the road, loves flying with me and I love taking him! Peter was born totally deaf and still is but he is extremely skillful at lip reading! once we`re in the air we communicate with hand signals, works just fine. Franco, Ps, I don`t know why I give him the headphones... 2
farri Posted December 16, 2018 Author Posted December 16, 2018 Well! we missed the wind we were supposed to get from Tropical Cyclone Owen, last night, but we got one hell of a thunderstorm, with a total of 210 mls of rain so this afternoon I couldn`t use the strip, down at the Drifter shed, due to water on the strip and had to come up to the one behind the house! got off and back on, just fine! Andrew`s first Ultralight flight! A couple of weeks ago, Andrew and his partner, Lynne purchased a house here on Ross Road and became locals so I reckon I`ll be taking Andrew flying again! Lynne has flown with me several times! Franco. 3
farri Posted December 19, 2018 Author Posted December 19, 2018 Some great flying this morning with Jimmy and Andrew! I took Jimmy for his first flight two weeks ago but my camera was out of action so no photo then! Jimmy is 137 kg, we were still below MTOW and the Drifter handled it easily! He`s so impressed that he is considering becoming an Ultralight pilot and would lose weight to achieve it! I`ve offered to assist however I can so we`ll see what happens. This was Andrew`s first Ultralight flight! he only came along with Jimmy to see what this Ultralight flying was all about and take some video of Jimmy but after seeing me take Jimmy up and listening to what I had to say, he was sure he wanted to go up! the result? he got back a very happy excited man and now they`re both adamant they will be back and bring others with them. Franco, Ps, Keep it safe, keep it fun and there`s no end of people wanting to have a go! PPS, I set the post up the way I want it but when I post it, it comes up different to the way I did it! I`ve tried to edit 4 times, with no success! is anyone else having similar problems? This is happening to me all too often, don`t know what the problem is! 2 1
farri Posted December 19, 2018 Author Posted December 19, 2018 Guys, please bear with me! In an attempt to find the cause of the problem I`ve been having, I`ve made a couple of changes at my end and I`ve had to write the post again to see the result. Some great flying this morning with Jimmy and Andrew! I took Jimmy for his first flight two weeks ago but my camera was out of action so no photo then! Jimmy is 137 kg, we were still below MTOW and the Drifter handled it easily! He`s so impressed that he is considering becoming an Ultralight pilot and would lose weight to achieve it! I`ve offered to assist however I can so we`ll see what happens. This was Andrew`s first Ultralight flight! he only came along with Jimmy to see what this Ultralight flying was all about and take some video of Jimmy but after seeing me take Jimmy up and listening to what I had to say, he was sure he wanted to go up! the result? he got back a very happy excited man and now they`re both adamant they will be back and bring others with them. Franco, Ps, Keep it safe, keep it fun and there`s no end to people wanting to have a go! 2
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