Oh where has the time gone. !!...............

[Doug Evans]

ya have to make me a copy Major >......

 

 

[DAVID SEE]

Hey Maj any chance of the owner of old No.2 getting a copy too?????

 

and a big YES on a Lightwing fly-in somewhere

 

 

[flyerme]

hmm now where No.3? need to start a photo gallery in order of numbers oo1,002,0003,me,etc..?

 

 

[Doug Evans]

Tryed that but not work

 

http://www.recreationalflying.com/threads/lightwing-models.29816/

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Sounds like I'll be burning some copies !......................Maj...

 

 

[Doug Evans]

COPY

 

 

[Marty_d]

Marty. . . .are you SURE you don't require therapy ?(!) Phil

Oh, I know I require therapy!! I never understood that old joke "Insanity is hereditary - you get it from your kids"... until I had some. Kids that is, not therapy.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Oh, I know I require therapy!! I never understood that old joke "Insanity is hereditary - you get it from your kids"... until I had some. Kids that is, not therapy.

My Grandfather had a split personality, ( I can't remember the Psycho - whatever it is name for that. . .) but I was 7, and he was Mussolini. . .

 

Phil ( I think. . .)

 

 

[Doug Evans]

Thanks very much Phil enjoy the trip across the never never bit low for my liking but would love to have been a part of some thing like this Good to have 0032 history ...

 

 

[farri]

Ross, Is LightWing Papa-032 the one that Carlo Prette, recently finished restoring?

 

Frank.

 

 

[facthunter]

ALL old blokes need therapy. There hasn't been a course that prepares anyone for it that is effective. I'm only contemplating it because the alternative doesn't look like a promotion. Nev

 

 

[farri]

Great that the Flightstars are still around. Maj...

Ross,On seeing the FlightStar mentioned,my mind was taken back to this accident. It happened way back when.

 

A guy up on the Atherton Tablelands had a Pioneer FlightStar. He was taking-off from private property ( No! not here! ) and had to climb-out over rainforest. While climbing-out he had an engine failure and came down into the trees. Fortunately he wasn`t injured and there was little damage to the aircraft. Unfortunately, he decided it would be better to get it out by helicopter than to pull it appart and carry it out by hand.

 

The chopper picked it up, lifted it above the trees and was about to take it back to the strip when something went wrong and the chopper droped it. (I kid you not). Well that was the end of the FlightStar.

 

I don`t know if the owner/pilot ever got another aircraft. I havn`t seen him since that time. The last time I spoke to him,he told me he had cancer. He may not be with us anymore.

 

Frank.

 

Ps, Someone on this forum might remember it.

 

 

[slartibartfast]

I know the posts about the movie were a while ago, but I just caught up with this thread.

 

Great photos by Arnold Cohen of the making of "On a Wing and a Prayer" here.

 

Also (so as not to start a sentence with "And"), let's hear no more talk of piracy.

 

You can buy the film here for $35.

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Frank that's a pity , I flew the Pioneer Flightstar in the States and it was about a nice a little aeroplane as I 've ever seen. Very simple, better viz than a Drifter (between your legs too) and simple to fly and land.......The Bantam flies very similar ........Maj...

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Ross, Is LightWing Papa-032 the one that Carlo Prette, recently finished restoring?Frank.

Yes Frank, Carlo did restore it..................Maj...

 

 

[dazza 38]

Peeps can still buy the single seat Flightstar, they are now made in China I think. The electric version looks cool. E- spyder (sic) they call it.

 

 

[farri]

Yes Frank, Carlo did restore it..................Maj...

Ross, I don`t know if Doug told you this,so here goes! A few weeks ago, I picked up an " Innisfail Advocate " news paper ( Don`t remember exactly when ) and on the front page was an article and a big colour photo of Carlo Pretty and the LightWing. I think Doug was in it also. Unfortunately,I never got to read the article but when I got home I phoned Carlo to tell him, " Well done, some good positive publicity for a change."

 

Frank.

 

Ps. Took my neighbour and friend, John the Ausi Pom, for a fly late this afternoon. ....Later, I`ll post a couple of photos, just to up all those desk pilots out there.

 

 

[farri]

Frank that's a pity , I flew the Pioneer Flightstar in the States and it was about a nice a little aeroplane as I 've ever seen. ........Maj...

Ross, I was mowing the lawn earlier this morning and your statement on the FlightStar came to mind. It got me thinking about all the UL AC I`ve flown over the years. Many years ago we were having a fly-in up at Peter Grimsley`s field at Kaban. I can`t remember if you`ve ever been to Peter`s! Anyway! I flew Carlo Prette`s early LightWing, up there, with Carlo in the right hand seat. I put it through it`s paces and it performed well...Money not being an issue, I`d have one tomorrow, but then, I`d have a stable of others as well.....Plus the Drifter, of course!

 

While on the subject of history!......In memory of AUF member, Peter Grimsley.

 

Once I`d received approval for my flight training facility, Peter Grimsley who was an FNQUA member, Drifter owner and pilot, asked me to establish a satilite flight training facility, at his field, as part of my school. Having flown there quite a few times in the past and with FNQUA members wanting their AUF pilot certificate, I decided to give it a lot of serious thought, before making a final decision.

 

The situation!..Property, 3000 feet elevation,surrounded by natural scrub. Big Trees! Peter had cleared enough area to have a strip, cross strip, big shed (Hangar) toilet facilities and his home. Being a nature enthusiast he`d left as much of the natural scrub as possible, all around the cleared area. With his old tractor he`d established two strips, main strip and cross strip. Both strips were long and wide enough but the tree line started at the end of each of the strips and continued on for some distance.

 

Going in there wasn`t much of a challenge but getting out again was a bit different. On a favourable day, not much of a problem but on a hot, low pressure day in a heavy aircraft, totaly different story. Peter had tried to make flying out of there a little safer by clearing strips through the trees, just long and wide enough to land if you couldn`t get enough altitude by the time you got to the end of either strip. If you had to carry out an emergency landing and got it right, you`d land OK but if you got it wrong???????

 

This day, I took a student on a cross country exercise, up to Peter`s field. Peter and his wife loved to have a chat and they would always invite everyone in for a cupa. We went in, time passed, it warmed up and now it was time to go home. Student in the front seat at the controlls, powers up, leaves it a little too long to lift off, me now thinking " I should have taken over earlirer " decide it`s still safe enough to continue but I take over the controls.

 

Now we`re not going to get over the trees! We are bellow tree height, between the trees, surrounding the emergency strip, at the end of the main strip...I need to make the right decision, quickly! "Is it safer to land or do I carry on? the trees ahead, are coming up fast". I decide that at this point to continu is the lesser of the evils, so I carry on... We made it but with no margin for error at all. Too close for comfort!!! Both Peter and myself finaly decided that it wasn`t safe enough to instruct there, however, fly-ins did continue for a while longer.

 

This is the way I remember the fatefull day!

 

We were having a get together at Peter Grimsley`s field. There was a big gatering of club members, a few Ultralight Aircraft and some want to be, Ultralight pilots. We had just started to have lunch when Peter Grimsley got ill. Werner Grimm, who was one of our club members and had previously trained as a nurse and his partner, Sandra, also a club member, took care of Peter.

 

The ambulance arived, Peter was put in and as it drove away, we knew that he wouldn`t be flying his beloved Drifter anymore.... It was to be the last time that most of us saw Perter. Not long after, Peter passed away and the property was sold. The new owner wouldn`t have anything to do with Ultralight Aircraft so all flying there ceased.

 

Frank.