[19 Oct 2017] AirVenture Australia (Narromine)

[Harry80]

I would but I have already been charged $90......

 

 

[David2ayo]

Quiet 1st day at Narromine, Decent wind blowing but stiil some light birds coming in, small crowds but it is still a working day for many. Not all exhibits set up yet but the ones with all the cool tech gadgets there. Nice bunch of winged toys on display, Tecnam, Sling, Bushcat and a few others. We left around 1.00. Off to the Zoo tomorrow then back for the full day on Saturday.

Marty, follow the keeper talks at the Zoo, you will get a lot more out of it.

A quiet day, which gave me a chance to talk to some of the vendors without feeling rushed.

 

I'm the long-haired geriatric wearing a pith helmet - its not bullet proof, so will give you blokes a chance.

 

Hopefully will catch up with you all over the next 2 days

 

David

 

 

[scre80]

I cancelled my trip, sad to miss out but considering was going to camp, I did not have the appropriate wet weather gear.

 

 

[SDQDI]

Sdqdi I am on site 14 caravan park airfield Neil

I am going to do it dodgy this time Neil and find a spot along the track (not on dirt LOL been bogged before and won't do that again!) and then spend the day at narrowing and then head for home and find another spot on the way back.

I will be the big fella with a wife and two kids in tow (6 yr old girl and 4yr old boy) I will be wearing a tshirt with some funny phrase on it (I will post here when I know which one)

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

I cancelled my trip, sad to miss out but considering was going to camp, I did not have the appropriate wet weather gear.

Perhaps wise. I've been successfully camping under my wing in the same ancient tent for yonks. Narromine's tie-down lines have recently received a layer of new ridge gravel and have been graded nice and flat. Looked like an improvement on the bumpy ground I'm accustomed to sleeping on. As a precaution I laid a tarp inside, but at 0200 this morning I awoke to rising damp. Somehow the muddy lake was on top of the tarp. Everything wet.

The local laundromat will do well this weekend.

 

(This is how it looked before grass was replaced by ridge gravel:)

 

 

 

[jetjr]

A lot of rain but gentle,

 

Gauge shows 33mm

 

Finished by mid afternoon so Saturday will be nice

 

 

[SDQDI]

Perhaps wise. I've been successfully camping under my wing in the same ancient tent for yonks. Narromine's tie-down lines have recently received a layer of new ridge gravel and have been graded nice and flat. Looked like an improvement on the bumpy ground I'm accustomed to sleeping on. As a precaution I laid a tarp inside, but at 0200 this morning I awoke to rising damp. Somehow the muddy lake was on top of the tarp. Everything wet.The local laundromat will do well this weekend.

 

(This is how it looked before grass was replaced by ridge gravel:)

I would brag about how comfy and dry my bed was last night but I wasn't in it until 4ish and was out of it by 6:30:crying: on the bright side though I finished my tractor work last night and have now caught up with my spraying and as it is drizzling I am going to sneak back into bed until lunchtime:wink: and then double check the van contents and wait for the kids to get home.

 

Anyway hope you dry out before too long:thumb up:

 

 

[storchy neil]

Under me old brown bush tit for tat hat is me can't find a mate for it to breed from Neil

 

 

[Roscoe]

Under me old brown bush tit for tat hat is me can't find a mate for it to breed from Neil

Hi Storchy, how many Aircraft do you reckon have arrived?......Weather in Sydney hopeless!

 

 

[Roundsounds]

Hi Storchy, how many Aircraft do you reckon have arrived?......Weather in Sydney hopeless!

The fcst say it should be flyable ex Syd basin tomorrow.

 

 

[storchy neil]

72 and a 1/4 ops 1/2 ops 73 about there not that my count not Shore wheather a green and yellow one :wasnt me:neil

 

 

[MartyG]

Marty, follow the keeper talks at the Zoo, you will get a lot more out of it.A quiet day, which gave me a chance to talk to some of the vendors without feeling rushed.

I'm the long-haired geriatric wearing a pith helmet - its not bullet proof, so will give you blokes a chance.

 

Hopefully will catch up with you all over the next 2 days

 

David

Zoo was good, Showers and misty rain most of day which I dont mind, Not many there so no one getting in the way. We caught one of the Keepers talks at the African Lion section(Very informative), Great zoo to attend, Cool being able to drive between sections considering the weather.

 

 

[SDQDI]

72 and a 1/4 ops 1/2 ops 73 about there not that my count not Shore wheather a green and yellow one :wasnt me:neil

Watch out for that green and yellow one!

Or more importantly watch out for the owner! He is the owner of an amazing mind, it is such a pity he lost it:whisper:

 

 

[Roscoe]

The fcst say it should be flyable ex Syd basin tomorrow.

Too late i'm afraid..... was looking forward to a relaxed day there friday and leave on Sat before the airshow.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Watch out for that green and yellow one!Or more importantly watch out for the owner! He is the owner of an amazing mind, it is such a pity he lost it:whisper:

...maybe it's the company he keeps!

 

 

[ClintonB]

would've like to have flown in. haven't had enough hours in the days to finnish all my work and the final bit of training to get set free in the 182. Hope it all goes well over there. should make the next one.

 

 

[alf jessup]

Zoo was good, Showers and misty rain most of day which I dont mind, Not many there so no one getting in the way. We caught one of the Keepers talks at the African Lion section(Very informative), Great zoo to attend, Cool being able to drive between sections considering the weather.

Yes Marty

It is a great zoo, the old jail in town is also an interesting place also to visit

 

Sharon & I enjoyed Dubbo the 4 day’s we stayed there while passing through to Adelaide from Port Macquarie while in the van

 

Flying to Adelaide Sunday hence why I’m not up there

 

+ the weather is not the best this side of the range

 

Alf

 

 

[David2ayo]

Just about to head out to Narromine for the last day - weather good, yesterday damp but didn't stop the action. Saw a cute Jodel, green, yellow, black, white patches - I don't care how pretty some of the aircraft on display were, to see a real working fun machine made my day. Sunny today, so will be wearing my pith helmet.

 

David

 

 

[red750]

Photos, anyone?

 

 

[David2ayo]

My impressions of Airventure.

 

Cost - reasonable, 3 day on-line ticket worked for me.

 

Displays and trade - loved the BushCat, the Kelpie and the Quicksilver, Thursday was a good day to talk to the dealers as the crowd wasn't there. Friday was good too, the weather kept all but the diehards away.

 

Shame that Jabiru couldn't make it, not their fault but it would have been nice to have a recorded presentation.

 

Swap and sell was a good idea, hope it will be better supported next time.

 

On-field PA either dominated if closeup or couldn't be heard properly if at a distance, and intruded terribly into the seminars. One part of my business is PA, and it disappointed me.

 

Main tent exhibits good, couldn't find headset adapters (GA to Heli) so will need to order from Ian.

 

Seminar tents with airconditioning! A bit noisy, but hey! If it had been a real scorcher (not unknown in Narromine) would have been essential.

 

SAAA took their talks up to their hangar, good in some ways but not good if you wanted to get 'a bit of this and a bit of that'.

 

Food ok, but I brought my lunch from home so not sure of value. Did buy cups of tea, that was nice.

 

Security. Really! it was about as sensible as ASIC. For the amount they would have spent on that horrible 6 foot fence they could have employed / coerced some extra marshalls and had a safer and friendlier outcome. Made it very difficult to walk the aircraft parking area, which is a good way of seeing real in-use machinery and their accessories. A low mesh fence, a few sets of sensible eyes watching and a firm message on arrival (PA and written) to keep clear of active taxiways will work better.

 

Airshow - Roulettes are just so polished (although did one wingman drop back briefly once?)(says someone who has difficulty pointing in the right direction let alone getting speed right). Good variety for the rest, Matt Hall was scary,

 

A real highlight -met up with Old Koreelah, Storchy Neil, MartyG and his wife. Would have liked to have met the other forumites, but they probably were scared I'd take the pith out of them...

 

Only took a couple of photos (sorry Peter), my son got a few, will post them as I get time.

 

Will I go again? in spite of its imperfections, yes. of course, easy for me, just 40km down the road.

 

David

 

 

[SDQDI]

My only complaint was the pa as well. From the public viewing area for the air show the pa commentary was totally inaudible!

 

Still totally enjoyed it though:thumb up:

 

As a side note I wonder if the airshow would be better if it started with the slower displays and then finished with the Paul Bennet, Matt Hall and Roulettes? After the Roulettes the other formations came across as bland!

 

Paper plane comp was a winner with the kids:thumb up:

 

 

[bobcharl]

The above comments just about say it all, both good and bad. Lots of interesting stuff to see, interesting people to talk with, a variety of affordable (mostly) food made for a pleasant experience, spoilt by that STUPID B***DY FENCE, and an annoying PA system as others have commented.

 

Flew in from southern NSW Sat morning arriving a little later than expected (my fault), got to Seminar Room 1 for the RAAus forum at 0930 to find it deserted. Assuming it started at the advertised 0900 it must have been awfully brief , or did it not happen?

 

I also felt the day entrance fee for Sat a bit excessive for what was really only a half day. I don't include the air show because scores of people watched it from the carpark and roadway for nix. Many of them came to the entrance but when told the entry fee simply walked away. At the conclusion of the airshow many exhibitors had packed up their wares and the day was effectively over.

 

My final gripe: I camped underwing Sat night only to be annoyed by loud music. Sounded to be coming from the exhibitors area so maybe a party or such which is OK, but not until 0100 the next morning when I resorted to a couple of earplugs. Not very considerate of some people IMHO.

 

Having said all that, I will attend again next year because I am sure the organisers will have by then sorted most of the contentious issues.

 

Bob

 

 

[Nobody]

Having said all that, I will attend again next year because I am sure the organisers will have by then sorted most of the contentious issues.

Bob

What this event needs is a little consistency. This will allow the event to grow into a bigger and better event. In the past 3 years it has had 3 different names with effectively 3 different bodies running it.

 

Ausfly >> SAAA running it. (I think)

 

Ozkosh>> I am not exactly sure who ran it but I think it was shared between SAAA and RAAus

 

Airventure>> Started out being run by both RAAus and SAAA but in end only RAAus were listed on the website...

 

Hopefully the event continues and those running it learn from what went well and what didn't to make it even better.

 

 

[jetjr]

Its not run by RAA or SAAA

 

They are backers and beneficiaries along with others

 

If the event makes or looses money it goes back to them

 

Airventure is a company which cany profit running it

 

I believe the organiser doest it largely for free

 

Previous events paid organisers over twice as much

 

 

[Love to fly]

We had a great time. Caught up with old friends. Made new ones. Food and coffee in the Gliding Club and Aero Club was great and great value. Ditto for the Fish n Chip guy selling from the tent between the Clubs and the Main Marquee. Didn't try any of the others but didn't hear any complaints.

 

Our aircraft was parked in the allocated SAAA display area behind their hangar. Unfortunately also behind a big fence that separated it from the main airshow. Fence went up on Wednesday morning with some aircraft inside it that needed to get out. Some outside that needed to get in. And we were told it would be up till Wednesday. We were planning on leaving on Sunday so a bit confused ... Fortunately fence was taken down on Sunday. Meant we left a bit later than planned but it all worked out okay. Fence effectively isolated the SAAA hangar from the airshow which seemed a bit sad. But part of the overall 'security' or something.

 

Generator next to Seminar Marquee all but drowned out the speakers which was a bit sad. Also the raised floor of the seminar tent was a real trip hazard. Saw/heard several people fall as they entered. Still I'm sure this is all part of the learning curve for the organisers.