Killing you soflty with Larfter

[AussieB1rd]

Hey chaps, I'm AussieB1rd or you can call me Greg, seems I'm in esteemed company and a few with grey whiskers in here. Just wanted to know if you all know what PMSL means cause if you do I'm about to test you out.

 

Well I always wanted to fly, years go by and commitments take hold and life passes you by, stopped long enough at one stage to do a spot of gliding, went solo and have 41 flights in log book, commitments change and give it away, time to take up the challenge again. This time cutting off some of the fat, Tug Planes, GONE, Tug Plane expenses GONE, expensive gliders GONE, GFA definately GONE, long tiring trips to gliding field GONE.

 

Ok so I wanted to get back into flying, buy I plane he says, raises eyebrow and says hmmm that's expensive, must be something around that isn't going to cost a lifetimes savings to get into. How did the oldtimers do it, they built their own, hmmmmm, rickety and dangerous, move forward a few millennia, ahhhhhh the 1970's and 80's the birth of the Ultralights, that's more like it. Start researching Ultralights, my god, 80 years of aviation and their still rickety and dangerous, but at least they have got away from wood.

 

So there I was one evening, sitting at the computer checking my emails and GumTree tosses me an email about stuff of interest being the pervasive snoops they are into your browsing history, What's this, an Ultralight for sale, hmmmmmm and not very expensive, needs some work, that's ok work is cheap these days, and not far away either, just a tad over 330 klms from home.

 

Started chatting to the owner, see more pics, has possibility's, told him its a bit rough, drops the price a whisker, ok so I decide if your going to do this stupid thing then do it with gusto, no friend of mine, don't think gusto has any actually, anyway prepares to go get the said Ultralight, what do we take, tools, heaps of tools for last minute changes, protective coverings, most of it has been on the ground in a shed for years, trailer, can't get it home without a trailer, ok modify the camping/general purpose/boat/ ok enough of what this flash trailer can do now it's an ULTRALIGHT trailer.

 

So on the pre arranged day I travel out to almost Moonie then hook a right for a bit and finally reach the farm, OMG OMG if you know what PMSL means then OMG is a cinch, it's a damn mess, in for a penny in for a pound, I should have walked away right then and there, but I had to haggle didn't I, ok he comes down a heap more but only, YES ONLY if the engine runs, ok so two hours cleaning out fuel lines, checking spark plugs add some fuel to tank that is growing some unbudgeable green lump in it, a couple of pulls and it runs sweet as KIA on steroids, ok now I'm committed, backed into a corner by a little two stroke that had Thomas the Tank engine as a role model and is never gunna give up, with a trembling hand I hand over the money and take the receipt, start loading it onto the trailer for the trip home.

 

Some good research had given me the lenght of this little craft so I had modified my little trailer yet again to cart this little B1rd home, it doesn't weight a lot I think that green lump in the tank was most of the weight.

 

Finally I have my new aircraft tied down and ready for the long haul home, full of renewed trepidation I head out to the farm gate and make a right heading for the Moonie to Dalby Hwy, my goodness what's wrong, hit 60klms and the steering is all over the place, some thing must be out of balance, ok I have a cross wind and it is playing havoc with the steering, it's just a few clicks to the Hwy and it will be a tail wind, turn left towards Dalby and a beautiful tailwind pushes me along, OOPS 80klms and again the steering is uncontrollable, well 80 is better than 60 it's just gunna be a long trip home, well I get about 20klms from the farm and as I round a corner I spot a shadown of the tail creeping up and passing me, OH look I say to self there a silhouette of my planes tail on the ground then the light buld switches on, YOU IDIOT, all the sail cloth up there in the wind is just like a big rudder, managed to climb up and cut away old perished sail cloth, and head off once more, gee what a difference, now doing 100 and sometimes a bit more, make it home in quick smart time and good thing it was summer, nice weather and light lasted till I was home.

 

Unhook my new little beast and push the trailer under the house, it can stay there till another day when I'm not so tired, push the bike under the house where it normally belongs and went and made myself a cuppa tea now being the proud owner of my first plane.

 

Here is a pic of me and the plane on my highly modified trailer with the previous owner still larfing and shaking his head, but not as much as the rubber neckers and Police I passed on the way home and whose identities shall remain nameless to prevent a dereliction of duty charge LOL PMSL

 

All the best

 

AussieB1rd

 

 

 

[kasper]

 

That B1rd has seen better days ... and i'm sure will see better days again.

 

Have fun and be safe.

 

 

[AussieB1rd]

Thanks heaps Kasper,

 

I hope it will as well, for something so little so much work, bit like the females of some species lol

 

 

[AussieB1rd]

 

Ok so while I have you all larfing, does any one know of any other B1rd's flying or otherwise in Queensland or Australia, anyone in South East Queensland sew sails for them, I have heard of a lady over the border somewhere that does, and pretty sure I rang a lady down near Vic that doesn't do them anymore just makes covers I believe.

 

Any help in the B1RD area greatly appreciated. am on the forum in the States but be nice to chat to someone local about them.

 

PS: Did have a long chat to a great guy by the name of Fred Burke down Wagga way, flew a few back in the 80's

 

 

[Geoff13]

Two things about your story that has me ROTFLMFAO.

 

1. you are actually going to fly that?

 

2. you towed it home with a motorbike?

 

But seriously welcome to the forum and the joy of flight. Please keep us updated on progress.

 

 

[AussieB1rd]

Thanks for the welcome Geoff13,

 

1. Once I have finished restoring it of course I'm going to fly, it's far to big to hang from my lounge ceiling as an ornament.

 

2. And yes story is true and correct, towed it home with my Honda Shadow 750

 

3. Glad you had your ROTFLMFAO moment, if you had your legs up in the air at the same time and wiggling them then all the better. lol

 

 

[merc]

Love the photo of bike with trailer,

 

For sails try Alan Daniel at www.wingtech.com.au

 

If you have the old set he can use them as a pattern. He does beautiful work, and is a nice bloke as well.

 

 

[AussieB1rd]

Love the photo of bike with trailer,For sails try Alan Daniel at www.wingtech.com.au

If you have the old set he can use them as a pattern. He does beautiful work, and is a nice bloke as well.

Thanks Merc will give them a ring, no one in SE QLD you can think of

 

 

[kaz3g]

Doc Fergy had one at Dookie back in the late 70s. He also had an SIAI Marchetti!

 

I haven't seen or spoken to him for 20 years but try {[email protected].} and see if you get a response.

 

I remember it was extremely slow but climbed nearly vertically from no takeoff roll.

 

Good luck

 

Kaz

 

 

[DGL Fox]

Great story AussieB,

 

Yes I think you have your work cut out for you all right, It's a wonder those coppers you went past didn't turn around and pull you over just for a look and a larf.... Anyhow good luck with it and like someone said have fun but most of all be safe..

 

David

 

 

[AussieB1rd]

Thanks Kaz, loaded into email address book and will flip of a note to see if the bell actually rings lol, yes virtually no take off roll on these old girls, have a vid here for anyone to look at, probably the shortest roll I have seen and from memory the second one is shorter, they are basically a glider that wont glide and a motor just to get it up, but I think their cool. It has a 72 inch wooden prop the same as the Slepcev Storch and at less weight all up than the engine of a storch probably lol

 

 

And David, I tend to push my luck to the max, going back is just looking for trouble, but on copper in a little town not that far from me was still shaking his head, jaw on his chest as I rounded the corner 150 yards up the road, luck on this one was most likely they rang him and told him his counter tea was ready or come get yar Pizza, lol

 

 

[Soleair]

Loved the tale, AB. looking forward to hearing how you get on with everything.

 

Once you have the sail off, it would be a good idea to photograph everything, & then take all the fasteners out. You'll prolly find quite a few are rusted.

 

Good luck with the project.

 

 

[farri]

Aussie.....And how grey are your whiskers?

 

Frank.

 

 

[AussieB1rd]

Loved the tale, AB. looking forward to hearing how you get on with everything.Once you have the sail off, it would be a good idea to photograph everything, & then take all the fasteners out. You'll prolly find quite a few are rusted.

 

Good luck with the project.

Thanks Soleair, I certainly intend to do this, sails are still rolled up and hanging under the house awaiting a day when I will pull them all apart, as for rusted bits, all fasteners are stainless, they did a quality build back then, as far as I can tell the only steel in the craft is a 4130 axel shaft and suspension/wheel shafts and rudder pedal shaft assembly, all of which has been chromed and has flaked off.

 

 

[AussieB1rd]

Aussie.....And how grey are your whiskers?

Frank I could say I have reached the end of the colour spectrum, no where to go from here but out.

 

AussieB1rd

 

 

[storchy neil]

camping/general purpose/boat/ ok enough of what this flash trailer can do now it's an ULTRALIGHT trailer no just a plane trailer great story

 

don't fly it use it as hand brake for bike

 

copper was having one those W T F moments that gotta be a 5 pound pom doing that

 

aussieB1rd great story never mind the colour of his hair sence of humour is the main thing neil

 

 

[AussieB1rd]

camping/general purpose/boat/ ok enough of what this flash trailer can do now it's an ULTRALIGHT trailer no just a plane trailer great storydon't fly it use it as hand brake for bike

copper was having one those W T F moments that gotta be a 5 pound pom doing that

 

aussieB1rd great story never mind the colour of his hair sence of humour is the main thing neil

Zactly Neil, always believed one has to larf at oneself first, then everyone else is hilarious, worked with a pom years ago whose favorite saying when he came into work every morning was, Yar gotta av a larf mate, Yar just gotta av a larf, and took up his mantra ever since, Thanks.

 

Wadda yar mean a hand brake for the bike, Japanese engineering is beaudiful mate, could use a second disc though

 

 

[storchy neil]

second disc gotta box of em ear fit any com neil

 

 

[Methusala]

G'day. I did have a chance to fly the B1RD at Holbrook back in the early 90's. It was with the Holbrook ultralight club and on line for about $42/hr. It would levitate from the strip and in any reasonable headwind seemed to take off vertically. It had a Hall airspeed indicator and would not fly faster than 40mph even with WOT, forward stick, on the Cuyuna 430 2-stroke. From memory the ailerons were quite effective and it was great fun but not for going anywhere. As you mentioned, the prop was 72" and the reduction was by toothed belt at about 3:1. At idle you could almost count the revolutions. It was produced by Robinsons who I think had a thriving business building wing tip performance accessories for GA aircraft. The build quality was exceptionally good and featured custom cast rudder pedals and a high level of quality fittings. I don't know what happened to it, it could be an exhibit at the museum down there. Don

 

 

[AussieB1rd]

G'day Don, yes you mostly certainly did fly one down there, seems to be the gene pool breeding ground for all modern day ultalight flyers, spoke to a chap called Fred Burke from Wagga and he flew a few with his mate, at first they just had the one, and one sat on the others lap and went two up, they got bored real quick and soon had old car lights on them with a car battrery and did a spot of evening flying lol then they started flying between gum trees finding ever smaller gaps to fly thru, bored of that did a 90 degree roll and went thru that way, He said one crashed on the drive at either Wagga field or Holbrook, also gave me a few names from Holbrook, Bob Phillips, believe he is a bit of a legend there, Brian Gabrielle and Lionel Callaghan.

 

Yes the custom cast rudder pedals have RAC cast into them being Robertson Aircraft Company, designed and built by Bruce and Glen Bashforth originally and then produced and marketed by RAC and a very high quality and some of the smallest and best stainless turnbuckle screws and cable I have seen, it's tiny and cable pressed into the turnbuckles with some non control cable even plastic coated. AB

 

PS: Someone will know where there is one, maybe two just laying around waiting for me to find.

 

 

[Right Rudder]

Hey chaps, I'm AussieB1rd or you can call me Greg, seems I'm in esteemed company and a few with grey whiskers in here. Just wanted to know if you all know what PMSL means cause if you do I'm about to test you out.Well I always wanted to fly, years go by and commitments take hold and life passes you by, stopped long enough at one stage to do a spot of gliding, went solo and have 41 flights in log book, commitments change and give it away, time to take up the challenge again. This time cutting off some of the fat, Tug Planes, GONE, Tug Plane expenses GONE, expensive gliders GONE, GFA definately GONE, long tiring trips to gliding field GONE.

 

Ok so I wanted to get back into flying, buy I plane he says, raises eyebrow and says hmmm that's expensive, must be something around that isn't going to cost a lifetimes savings to get into. How did the oldtimers do it, they built their own, hmmmmm, rickety and dangerous, move forward a few millennia, ahhhhhh the 1970's and 80's the birth of the Ultralights, that's more like it. Start researching Ultralights, my god, 80 years of aviation and their still rickety and dangerous, but at least they have got away from wood.

 

So there I was one evening, sitting at the computer checking my emails and GumTree tosses me an email about stuff of interest being the pervasive snoops they are into your browsing history, What's this, an Ultralight for sale, hmmmmmm and not very expensive, needs some work, that's ok work is cheap these days, and not far away either, just a tad over 330 klms from home.

 

Started chatting to the owner, see more pics, has possibility's, told him its a bit rough, drops the price a whisker, ok so I decide if your going to do this stupid thing then do it with gusto, no friend of mine, don't think gusto has any actually, anyway prepares to go get the said Ultralight, what do we take, tools, heaps of tools for last minute changes, protective coverings, most of it has been on the ground in a shed for years, trailer, can't get it home without a trailer, ok modify the camping/general purpose/boat/ ok enough of what this flash trailer can do now it's an ULTRALIGHT trailer.

 

So on the pre arranged day I travel out to almost Moonie then hook a right for a bit and finally reach the farm, OMG OMG if you know what PMSL means then OMG is a cinch, it's a damn mess, in for a penny in for a pound, I should have walked away right then and there, but I had to haggle didn't I, ok he comes down a heap more but only, YES ONLY if the engine runs, ok so two hours cleaning out fuel lines, checking spark plugs add some fuel to tank that is growing some unbudgeable green lump in it, a couple of pulls and it runs sweet as KIA on steroids, ok now I'm committed, backed into a corner by a little two stroke that had Thomas the Tank engine as a role model and is never gunna give up, with a trembling hand I hand over the money and take the receipt, start loading it onto the trailer for the trip home.

 

Some good research had given me the lenght of this little craft so I had modified my little trailer yet again to cart this little B1rd home, it doesn't weight a lot I think that green lump in the tank was most of the weight.

 

Finally I have my new aircraft tied down and ready for the long haul home, full of renewed trepidation I head out to the farm gate and make a right heading for the Moonie to Dalby Hwy, my goodness what's wrong, hit 60klms and the steering is all over the place, some thing must be out of balance, ok I have a cross wind and it is playing havoc with the steering, it's just a few clicks to the Hwy and it will be a tail wind, turn left towards Dalby and a beautiful tailwind pushes me along, OOPS 80klms and again the steering is uncontrollable, well 80 is better than 60 it's just gunna be a long trip home, well I get about 20klms from the farm and as I round a corner I spot a shadown of the tail creeping up and passing me, OH look I say to self there a silhouette of my planes tail on the ground then the light buld switches on, YOU IDIOT, all the sail cloth up there in the wind is just like a big rudder, managed to climb up and cut away old perished sail cloth, and head off once more, gee what a difference, now doing 100 and sometimes a bit more, make it home in quick smart time and good thing it was summer, nice weather and light lasted till I was home.

 

Unhook my new little beast and push the trailer under the house, it can stay there till another day when I'm not so tired, push the bike under the house where it normally belongs and went and made myself a cuppa tea now being the proud owner of my first plane.

 

Here is a pic of me and the plane on my highly modified trailer with the previous owner still larfing and shaking his head, but not as much as the rubber neckers and Police I passed on the way home and whose identities shall remain nameless to prevent a dereliction of duty charge LOL PMSL

 

All the best

 

AussieB1rd

 

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Still larfing what a great storie