Riley Posted February 7, 2017 Posted February 7, 2017 1975 Whing Ding - mac101 engine [ATTACH=full]48229[/ATTACH][ATTACH=full]48230[/ATTACH] Well done Mr Flyer! Congratulations are in order for your preserving another bit of Australian ultra-lighting history. I look forward to viewing your collection sometime. Keep up the good work. cheers 1 2
flyerme Posted February 7, 2017 Posted February 7, 2017 Well done Mr Flyer! Congratulations are in order for your preserving another bit of Australian ultra-lighting history. I look forward to viewing your collection sometime. Keep up the good work. cheers W and B. Done and ballast added. All complete. Just waiting on the lvl 2 to fly out here in next month and then RAA will reg it for me. :). Thank you so much Riley (Bob) for the donated Whing Ding, and prop help. And thank you Darren(RAA) for your greatly needed support :) 2
SSCBD Posted February 7, 2017 Posted February 7, 2017 I remember that yellow beast of yours, and flying around with you. As you know Frank and have said before, you are a God of the Air and true veteran, with a purple heart. You have also promoted the sport in FNQ all your life and still am. Hats off. 2
kasper Posted February 7, 2017 Posted February 7, 2017 Most people forget the great thruster flight by Aiden Wickes and three T83 thrusters back in 1983. It was filmed - DVD available from Orana films - and the HGFA has a lot of pics from the trip online at: On a Wing and a Prayer by Arnold Cohen. Photos Note - people have been looking for pics of the single seat thrusters on floats - there you go. I knew Aiden in an odd way. While he was a Qantas captain he also flew balloons out at canowindra in nsw ... I lived in billimari and my dad and all us kids were ground crew and available ballast for student pilots through the late seventies and early eighties. Really loved the first hang glider drop from under the balloon they did half way from home to billimari. Brilliant. Must dig out more photos from back then. 2 1
WayneL Posted February 7, 2017 Posted February 7, 2017 My 3 axis Pegasus canard on the first Gold Coast Ultralight club field behind Jacobs Well (about 2km south of the current Hecks Field). This would be in 1981. Col Winton test flying a new Sportsman at the Jacobs Well field, again 1981. Low flying was almost the norm back then..... A Scout, Jackaroo and Col in the back with the Sportsman. Too long ago, name of pilot alludes me. Resurgam, again don't recall the owner's name. The panel on my Pegasus. This aircraft was a cheaper copy of the American Aerolights Eagle XL. Due to legal action in the states over the copies, a shipment of aircraft to Aussie customers came up short on parts. I did not get a full kit of parts but then I never paid the full price in the end. Luckily I ended up with the major items and needed to only fabricate some control cables and joystick assembly. I had a lot of help from Brian Gane of Torquay Vic. Brian was I think the first to get his Pegasus assembled and flying. This was his machine. Wayne. 4 1 2
SSCBD Posted February 7, 2017 Posted February 7, 2017 I am sure this was Franks First Attempt at building at machine! 3 2 1
WayneL Posted February 7, 2017 Posted February 7, 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33cwKDCRBAc This one is no good for cross country flights, get tired standing up all day! Wayne. 2 1 1
WayneL Posted February 9, 2017 Posted February 9, 2017 Not in Australia, but here are some photos I took at Oshkosh 79 down the southern end where the ultralites were starting to lose the legs for wheels! Craig Catto of Catto Props designed this canard, just a big model aircraft covered in model shrink film covering. Named after a big prehistoric bird! Easy Riser, still used the legs for a U/C! Basic Gauges, altimeter, Airspeed & ROC. Devoloped from rigid wing hang gliders. Some RC models now have bigger motors than this! From memory I think the pilot had a wipper snipper style motor and shaft attached to his prone harness with a folding prop behind his feet! Definitely a Dreamer... New model..lets listen to the sale pitch.... Early Mitchell Wing....good flyers... Ultralight central! ...how many gallons per hours does she chew buddy...... Redundancy is always good! Shade is always good too! Early Weed Hopper I believe....not much higher than the weeds....... 3 3
WayneL Posted February 11, 2017 Posted February 11, 2017 Going through my old slides I found these photos taken in 1984 at the Gold Coast Ultralight Club's Jacob's Well field. Most were taken on one day when we had a flyin (more like a tow it in the fly!) The black & white shot (was shot in colour but now tinted) of a Scout with a Wankel rotary motor was taken at the Kingaroy. I seem to recall it was made by Kawasaki. I number of people that have had a long association with ultralights were there. The late Chris Conroy shown with his version of the Jackaroo on floats, he flew in from the Gold Coast and landed on the grass on the floats. Two shots show his attempts to takeoff again on the long grass....only managed a slow walk speed! Col Winton is there in one shot holding the yellow helmet as a potential customer taxies out in Cols Sportsman for a trial flight. I can't be sure due to my fading memory but Bill Knight is probably in one of those Scouts...Playboy bunny comes to mind...Peter Reed is there with a Maxair Drifter, Barry Hughes with the Rotec Rally and Dick (Richard) Sweetapple with his all metal ultralight. The red tail dragger pipe fuselage drifter style ultralight with the black & white german graphics suffered an engine fail on takeoff later in that year at this field and the pilot was killed when the aircraft stalled after the engine failure. He was looking to buy the aircraft off the owner at the time. The American aerolights Eagle on floats was the first ultralight I flew, my first flights were off the beach shown in the photos at South Stradboke island just north of the Gold Coast Seaway. Hope you enjoy these photos, was an exciting time, Wayne. 8 3
winsor68 Posted February 12, 2017 Posted February 12, 2017 I'm loving these photos. So sad to see what was compared to what is now... 1 1
flyerme Posted February 12, 2017 Posted February 12, 2017 Going through my old slides I found these photos taken in 1984 at the Gold Coast Ultralight Club's Jacob's Well field. Most were taken on one day when we had a flyin (more like a tow it in the fly!) The black & white shot (was shot in colour but now tinted) of a Scout with a Wankel rotary motor was taken at the Kingaroy. I seem to recall it was made by Kawasaki. I number of people that have had a long association with ultralights were there. The late Chris Conroy shown with his version of the Jackaroo on floats, he flew in from the Gold Coast and landed on the grass on the floats. Two shots show his attempts to takeoff again on the long grass....only managed a slow walk speed! Col Winton is there in one shot holding the yellow helmet as a potential customer taxies out in Cols Sportsman for a trial flight. I can't be sure due to my fading memory but Bill Knight is probably in one of those Scouts...Playboy bunny comes to mind...Peter Reed is there with a Maxair Drifter, Barry Hughes with the Rotec Rally and Dick (Richard) Sweetapple with his all metal ultralight. The red tail dragger pipe fuselage drifter style ultralight with the black & white german graphics suffered an engine fail on takeoff later in that year at this field and the pilot was killed when the aircraft stalled after the engine failure. He was looking to buy the aircraft off the owner at the time. The American aerolights Eagle on floats was the first ultralight I flew, my first flights were off the beach shown in the photos at South Stradboke island just north of the Gold Coast Seaway.Hope you enjoy these photos, was an exciting time, Wayne. [ATTACH]48329[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48330[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48331[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48332[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48333[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48334[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48335[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48336[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48337[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48338[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48339[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48340[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48341[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48342[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48343[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48344[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48345[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48346[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48347[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48348[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48349[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48350[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48351[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48352[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48353[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48354[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48355[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48356[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48357[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48358[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48359[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48360[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48361[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48362[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48363[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48364[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48365[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48366[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48367[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48368[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48369[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]48370[/ATTACH] There are some absolute beauties there. Love the pics. 2
WayneL Posted February 12, 2017 Posted February 12, 2017 Thanks guys for the likes...I am glad you enjoy seeing a glimpse into the past. Like most 'older people', we often get ribbed by younger people about us talking about the "good old days".....yes I know that all of the rules and restrictions we live with these days (not just in aviation but at work & at home) come about from things we did in the past that could be made safer, fairer, Eco friendly ......etc, but I will always treasure the memory of watching 5 or 6 ultralights on a mid to short final, slightly staggered, flying UP & over the boundary fence at Mangalore one Easter back around 1984........it was a So Un GA thing to see and it looked like a lot of fun! I can understand why things are the way they are today.....but I do miss the "good old days..." Here are a couple of photos I took at Mangalore Airshow/Flyin back in '84. Cheers, Wayne. 3 2
flyerme Posted February 12, 2017 Posted February 12, 2017 Patrick Normoyle got a new ride. He has agreed to play old Charlie in my movie and he bought this for his part. I will give it a tidy it up for him. :) It's a skyraider and is surprisingly big. It it is really advanced for an early 80's ultralight with differential heel brakes, adjustable c of g with main wing having an adjuster moving it forward or backwards. Kwaka 440 electric start...40 ltr seat tank. It's called a Sky raider. 4
WayneL Posted February 12, 2017 Posted February 12, 2017 Yep I remember the skyraider and thinking it looked so much more advanced than a Scout. My Pegasus had a fibreglass seat tank, was not original but was a neater setup. Funny windscreen, reminds me of those little glass plant terrariums. Wayne. 1
Head in the clouds Posted February 12, 2017 Posted February 12, 2017 Thanks guys for the likes...I am glad you enjoy seeing a glimpse into the past. .... Some great nostalgia there Wayne. I remember that Mangalore almost like it was yesterday but hellsbells, it's 33 years ago! If I'm not mistaken your third picture shows Gordon Bedson in the Resurgam, that would have been his last Mangalore as he died in a test flight of the two seat version, the Magra, not long afterwards. For those who didn't know him, Gordon was a truly larger than life person, one of the real characters of our sport and many others. He designed cars and race-cars, flew Halifax bombers, was a noted restaurateur and so on. In some accounts truth and embellishment becomes difficult to separate but there's some quite fascinating and entertaining reading about him on the internet. He first drew up the Resurgam way back in the 1930s but designing cars and the Bristol Aircraft Company got in the way for decades and he eventually built it in the late 1970s ... The Eccentric British Genius 500 Race I'm fairly sure the 'glider' type of aeroplane with the pod mounted engine in the third last picture is Keith Jarvis's Joey. It wasn't built as a glider although Keith had a background in soaring. In fact it was just about the only homebuilt ultralight that actually complied with the ANO 95.10 of the time, most of them were overweight or didn't have sufficient wing area. There are a couple of other treasures in that photo too - in the background, to the right of the T tail of the glider, is Robbie Labahn's Ranger which he built in 1981 while working with Sander Veenstra. Robbie went on and built a number of excellent designs including the Arrow and the Hitchiker. Robbie was also tragically killed while test flying and complying with the ridiculous 'not above 500ft' rule of the time. Although I understand he had a parachute, when he encountered aileron flutter he was too low to be able to deploy it. And, to the left of that photo I think might be Werner Becker's twin (Solo) engined Jackaroo in which he became the first person to fly the Nullarbor in around 1979-80. I must have a dig around and see what early photos I still have, unfortunately most of mine perished in floods and cyclones, but I have a few, somewhere. 1 1
WayneL Posted February 12, 2017 Posted February 12, 2017 Thanks for jogging my memory HITC, I do recall all of those you mentioned now! My biggest failing was to not properly document all my slides and photos with all the relevant details! I did take a lot of photos in those days. Took 36 rolls of 36exp slide film at Oshkosh 79 alone! Probably the earliest photos of ultralights in Australia that I have would be at the 1978 Schofields Air Show. They were taken with a 110 film camera though so not great quality. Will have to dig them out. May have some super8 movie film hiding in the storage boxes somewhere too! Wayne. 2
Riley Posted February 12, 2017 Posted February 12, 2017 Thanks for jogging my memory HITC, I do recall all of those you mentioned now! My biggest failing was to not properly document all my slides and photos with all the relevant details! I did take a lot of photos in those days. Took 36 rolls of 36exp slide film at Oshkosh 79 alone! Probably the earliest photos of ultralights in Australia that I have would be at the 1978 Schofields Air Show. They were taken with a 110 film camera though so not great quality. Will have to dig them out. May have some super8 movie film hiding in the storage boxes somewhere too!Wayne. Get digging Wayne. Your recollections and photos are delightfull. 1 2
SSCBD Posted February 13, 2017 Posted February 13, 2017 I'll be dammed, Wayne L, well done, You picture has caught me in the aircraft behind the amphibian. The good old days, when you flew above a tree you got a nose bleed and had to climb over the wire fence to the strip, or drag the wheels through the grass and around the trees. This flying was the most fun ever. Plus the beer, wine, scotch, rum and camp fires at night with the great guys. Thanks Wayne L 4 1 1
WayneL Posted February 13, 2017 Posted February 13, 2017 That's great SSCBD, pm me with an email if you would like the higher res image. I was only ever at Mangalore for the Sunday on the SAAA chartered Ansett 737 from Brissy. Flew down each year while Ansett was doing it then on an Australian Airlines DC9 after they did a deal to sponsor the SAAA airshow, heard it was a 5 year deal but only lasted 1 year. It was such a good show that last year with the Ansett fleet doing some nice flybys. The first year with Australian wasn't bad too...even landed the A300 for public display, it had to be pushed back into the taxiway though as it could not turn around on the runway. I always preferred Ansett to TAA/Australian service and jokingly pointed out the differences to my hang glider mate as we flew down to Mangalore on the DC9. The Ansett 737's had enough range to go from Brisbane to Mangalore return so we always went home on the same aircraft, in fact, I recall they let us leave gear on the aircraft if we wanted. Never was a hassle at Brisbane airport, just go up to the counter to get your seat (they would put a sticker on the seating plan to show it was taken) and then wait to board, we all only had carry on bags with camera and jackets etc. Arriving at Australian Airlines check in at the old Brisbane termainal we lined up waiting to step up onto the baggage scales. I will never forget the look on the face of passengers at check ins beside us trying to work out why we were standing on the scales. They did not want to use standard pax weights, they were wanting exact weights so to maximize the DC9 fuel load. Even the plan was to swap aeroplanes for the ride home. Our DC9 was to fly Brisbane-Mangalore-Adelaide while the Adelaide DC9 did the reverse direction. My hang glider mate did a walk around the DC9 and was shocked by the number of oil leaks and ding repairs from ground vehicles. This was just before Australian upgraded to B737's. I had only one more day trip to Mangalore after that, early '90's without looking it up. Chris Conroy chartered a Metroliner out of Archerfield. He did not fill all the seats and was looking at a loss. No airshow that year, a cold front swept through around 10am washing out the plans, still plenty to see and people to chat to, but we were glad to get back on board later that cold afternoon, Flew a weaving path around thunderheads with a good lightning show most of the way. Wayne. 1 1
farri Posted February 14, 2017 Author Posted February 14, 2017 the twin to Franco's Chinook. Built same time .... still flying [ATTACH=full]48235[/ATTACH] I lost track of it for a while but I reckoned it would still be flying...Goodonya. I am sure this was Franks First Attempt at building at machine! [ATTACH=full]48252[/ATTACH] No it wasn`t! But I would have tried to fly it! . Frank. 1
Teckair Posted February 14, 2017 Posted February 14, 2017 I lost track of it for a while but I reckoned it would still be flying...Goodonya.. Maybe the only VW powered Chinook, 1 1
SSCBD Posted February 14, 2017 Posted February 14, 2017 I lost track of it for a while but I reckoned it would still be flying...Goodonya. No it wasn`t! But I would have tried to fly it! . Frank. You sure Frank, or is this the one with bamboo struts that you flew, when you were younger, before "Pontius was a pilot". You are "older" and wiser than I, obi wan. The tyres are off your bike? Right. 1
farri Posted February 14, 2017 Author Posted February 14, 2017 You sure Frank, or is this the one with bamboo struts that you flew, when you were younger [ATTACH=full]48487[/ATTACH] I love it!!! .........
Head in the clouds Posted February 14, 2017 Posted February 14, 2017 Here's an ultralight that only a few of you might remember. Believe or not, and depending on the interpretation of the rules, it actually complied with the weight and wing-loading rules of the first ANO 95.10 i.e. was under 115kg empty weight and had a wing-loading of less than 4lb/sqft ... It was built and flown in the late 1970s/early 1980s. Looking at that tiny wing, how can that be? Anyone know the story(s) about the plane and who the builder was and what happened? 1
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