Not for the faint hearted..lessons to be learned

[flyerme]

My Fascination with aircraft all started when I was 6..My ancle was having a garage sale and his mate decided to sell his hang glider.I watched it gettng put together with great intrigue,the big beautifull red sail shinning in the sun I was memorized..Then like reding my thoughts I was strapped into the huge harness then hung under the glider.I was then told how it flies and the instruction stuck with me ,as a 6 year old I understood the weight shift conceopt.Anyway I hung in that harness all day for around 6 hours..The hang glider did not sell and next morning I awoke to find the gider missing from the back yard?I emediatly woke my Uncle and informed him the glider is gone.A quick look over the fence found the glider resting in next doors back yard unscathed...From that point on I was hooked and an absession started..coming from a less than wealthy family aviation was only a fanticy, but in my late teens and working,I was finnally able to quench my thirst for the wide blue yonder.I bought my first Plane..An R/c glider .After sevral attempts at flight and much glue and sticky tape I had only managed a flight of around 3 secs..Well No one told me you need an engine or up droughft?I then purchaced a beginner 2 ch R/C and away I went..I went on to research obsessivly flight,aerodynamics,and engineering,spending the next 5 years designing and building scale R/c models..mean time I was reserching Recreational aviation,how to fly,how they perform etc....I was mainly fascinated by the early guys jumping in to these things,No exspierience and off they go? Being self tought in every thing I do I was convinced early on that I too could achieve flight with out phisical training(Also I had crippled myself in my early 20,s and was on a dissability pension so instuctional costs where out of the question..I embarked on a mission to read and obsorb all that I can and borrowed every book in every sorounding libary(No Internet back then) sevral times..I read every thing ,bought all the mags the works, How ever owning a plane was just a dream...So I thought..in 2003 I had been working for a local farmer and friend.He had gone away for a couple of days to an old friend of his whome once owed I believe -willaby station.It was around 8pm when I got a phone call from my mate and boss whome said."I have an offer to make your dreams come true"? My friend here still has his old mustering Planes "Bunyip" and I have talked with him and weve agreed to this?I was going to give you a payrise of $2 an hour but if your interested you can take these planes instead? insted? ( $2 hr goes to him)are you kidding.Of course ill take the planes .When can I pick them up?I'll leave now!...So the next morning me and the missus headed off to Padthaway to check out the ultralights.they were in an old shearing shed covered in lanolin,but what a beautiful site..I Loaded one at a time on my trailer and transported home.. 1 had recently been rebuilt the other just for parts..So came the time to fire up the beast.As they both ran I desided to do taxi runs in the older(spare) plane and achieved small bunny hops but unfortunatly this plane wings become very cracked( bit hard on the bunny hop landings..lol) So I then dragged the goody out and began small buuny hops again.I had got to a point where I could get her off the ground and fly for 50 - 100 meters then put her down fairly gently..I should ad I was on a massive sevral Hectare property with owners permission..Also I had never accually been in a plane before only flew the by radio control,and I always presumed that flight was smooth as witnessed? So the day came, wind was down ,sun was out, and had spent an hour bunny hoping.I desided to fly her.I built up speed pulled back and we jumped into the air I climbed to about 50-100ft when things became pear shape! The plane bounced and twisted and I thought she was breaking up so I cchoped throttle and dived at the ground tried to round out and sunk her in pretty hard.Got the fright of my life and swore my flyng days where over....Of coarse sevral days later the bug was back.I desided now would be a good time to have a lesson or 2 so enjoyed an hours lesson in a jabi then another hour in a cessna. after that I felt conferdent and took my bunyip up again(this time very early in the morning )and had the bests solo ever..all at about 100 ft(crazy bugger) this went on for sevral months but after some heavy landings and last take off I hit a rock bent the nose wheel and smashed the win scree< had my brother out on holidays so was going to show him how I fly,but the ussual paddock had been plowed so I used another not yet tested paddock ,after almost hitting 30 knotts take off ,a large rock appeered in my runup line I pulled back but the front wheel hit it and bent back and windscreen broke away,it was to be the end of my DIY pilot traing....a few years later and working for E.T.S.A ,,,I was able to purchace another aircraft(thruster) but as much older and wiser..I desided to do it for real and aquire my full pilot certificate and endourcments..So I did 10 hrs in the Jabi then was Kindly pointed to a Thruster CFI and the rest is history..gained my certificate and a heap of endourcments along the way.. I love flying but take head........ to all those whome feel invinceable as I did... DO NOT ATTEMPT my early outlock on achiving flight..I had luck on my side back then and thank my lucky stars I was not a statistic..Funny the more exspierienced I get in flying the more weary I am,

 

had I know what I know now I would have never embarked on such a dangerous adventure. And it sure feels good flashing the certificate around and flying behond once home boundries...

 

 

[storchy neil]

the young bull rushes in and does a few the old bull wanders over and does the lot the young bull tripped over the fence in his rush and broke his neck how lucky :peepwall: are some of us that we became old bulls:oops: neil

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Great story. Good illustration of the old maxim:

 

learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live long enough to make them all yourself.

 

 

[facthunter]

Circumstances prompt us to do things that rely on luck to get away with. This gives us experience that makes us do things better. The trick is to gain the experience required before you run out of the luck. Nev

 

 

[Guest Howard Hughes]

Funny the more exspierienced I get in flying the more weary I am,

I find pitfalls that I would never have even noticed in my twenties!

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

I find pitfalls that I would never have even noticed in my twenties!

This is so true, HH!

Alan Kohler often shows interesting graphs during his financial analysis on ABC TV news. I can visualise a graph of rashness vs caution over our lifetime. A peak in adolescence and steep decline after 25, bottoming out in elderly years. Wonder what the happiness and contentedness trends are like.

 

 

[Ballpoint 246niner]

Nice one flyme! Grab a copy of Rob Woodward's "Catch the wind" if you can- it's available through aNZ book distributor these days circa 1976- it captures the very romance of early hang gliding and was a huge catalyst for me to move over from years of gliding as a teenager when I moved to Sydney in the early eighties. The aviation flame burns forever in the true aviator and no matter what we fly we all share a similiar passion.

 

Great story!

 

 

[Guest nunans]

This is so true, HH!I can visualise a graph of rashness vs caution over our lifetime. A peak in adolescence and steep decline after 25, bottoming out in elderly years.

That's so true but a bit backward when you think about it. Potentially one has the most to loose when they are in thier younger years with the most life ahead of them. Later on, more of the days are behind you and there are less reasons to be cautious?

 

This is only a quick observation and i'm not trying to paint a doom and gloom picture for the mature pilots amongst us.

 

My father often says "It's a pitty all the youth and energy is wasted on young people who have no idea" (I take this as pertaining to me, tongue in cheek ofcourse) He ponders all the things that could get done if the more experienced, seniors had the youth of the teenagers.

 

 

[flyerme]

should ad having a child will make you "think twice" it sure made me weary, I now double over on the preflight,,just to be sure....

 

stay safe my fellow aviators and enthusiests:wink:

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Flyerme, your story touched my heart, in as much as it shows a great determination, and never-ending drive to get into the air, one way or another. This characterized many of the early Ultralight aviators, many still around, and a few who weren't so lucky in their early attempts.

 

I can relate. My ascent was probabily no where near as exciting as yours, however we all travel a different route, and I'm sure I could come up with a story or two that might even entertain you . My determination was certainly no less.

 

Interesting that we now both own Lightwings. You won't be dissappointed. They are aircraft that love adventure, and great machines in which to just simply savoir the pleasure of flying...You have an early one, they are light and fly great, don't hesitate if you have any questions about Lightwings ok................Maj...

 

 

[flyerme]

Flyerme, your story touched my heart, in as much as it shows a great determination, and never-ending drive to get into the air, one way or another. This characterized many of the early Ultralight aviators, many still around, and a few who weren't so lucky in their early attempts.I can relate. My ascent was probabily no where near as exciting as yours, however we all travel a different route, and I'm sure I could come up with a story or two that might even entertain you . My determination was certainly no less.

 

Interesting that we now both own Lightwings. You won't be dissappointed. They are aircraft that love adventure, and great machines in which to just simply savoir the pleasure of flying...You have an early one, they are light and fly great, don't hesitate if you have any questions about Lightwings ok................Maj...

thanks Maj will do..

 

 

[bushpilot]

Nice one flyme! Grab a copy of Rob Woodward's "Catch the wind" if you can- it's available through aNZ book distributor these days circa 1976- it captures the very romance of early hang gliding and was a huge catalyst for me to move over from years of gliding as a teenager when I moved to Sydney in the early eighties. The aviation flame burns forever in the true aviator and no matter what we fly we all share a similiar passion.Great story!

The book is actually by Glenn Woodward.. Here listed in the National Library: http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/701673

 

But indeed Rob Woodward was also one of the pioneers of the sport of hang gliding; I flew with him quite a bit when at uni in South Australia in the 70s. I, like you, moved to Sydney in the 80s and lost touch.

 

 

[Ballpoint 246niner]

The book is actually by Glenn Woodward.. Here listed in the National Library: http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/701673But indeed Rob Woodward was also one of the pioneers of the sport of hang gliding; I flew with him quite a bit when at uni in South Australia in the 70s. I, like you, moved to Sydney in the 80s and lost touch.

Hey Bushie- we probably hang waited together at the tops or H60 or Kiera sometime?

 

 

[bushpilot]

Hey Bushie- we probably hang waited together at the tops or H60 or Kiera sometime?

Yep - H60, ST and Tongara (near Robertson).. Lived Bowral - so pretty handy..

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Or a burger round at Bulga Dan's?

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

That's so true but a bit backward when you think about it. Potentially one has the most to loose when they are in thier younger years with the most life ahead of them. Later on, more of the days are behind you and there are less reasons to be cautious?

Exactly what I remember thinking when a callow youth: the older you get the less you have to lose, so the more risks you should be able to take!

I made a tentative return to the race track last year and was severly toughened up by the frightening speed of the young blokes. Despite having a lot of fun, I arrived at the painful realisation that the intervening 34 years had turned me into the sort of careful old fart I used to sneer at.

 

Youth is wasted on the young!