Guest Carl Booth Posted January 10, 2008 Posted January 10, 2008 Hi. I'm resident in Belmont Lake Macquarie and fly mostly a Sadler SV-2, but have done some recent conversion to Jabiru 160/170 at R.N.A.C. Also have a lot of floatplane experience, having built a CGS Hawk, and put it on floats. Have just returned 'home' after over 30 years in Sth Germany. Am anxious to get in contact with pilots interested in flying Belmont, when it opens. But also floatplane pilots in my area too. my Languages English and German .. looking forward to correspondence ! Charly
PaulN Posted January 10, 2008 Posted January 10, 2008 Hey Charly, Welcome to the forum family. Nice to see another Lake Macquarie flyer ... well I used to live at Warners Bay but been in the Snowy Mtns since 1988 and soon to move to Port Macquarie. My wife and I have lots of relis and friends in the N'cle area and like flying in when we get the chance. Can't wait for Belmont to open again. We usually fly in to Wallsend, a nice little strip but just a bit out of the way for our usual contacts. When do you think Belmont will be available to fly into? Paul
Guest Carl Booth Posted January 10, 2008 Posted January 10, 2008 Belmont strip Hi Paul and thanks for prompt reply. Of course I didn,t know about the strip in Wallsend (been away too long) .. but I,m learning ! Belmont is a fascinating fiction, with no real answers. Have spoken to several people recently who really should know whats happening, and all give me differing answers ! Firstly, nobody seems to be 100% sure about who really owns the freehold, at the present time. Nobody seems to know if raa aircraft will be able to "freely" use the strip. Nobody seems to know when the strip will be in service. And nobody seems to have an answer about Mervac's "real" ambitions .. and that's the big question mark too. So, I seem to get the impression that the whole thing is "still up in the air". And its terribly sad to see big business and politics just walking all over the needs and wishes of the local area. This area was served so well be those Aero Pelican twin Otters. It was a wonderful service, operating right into the heart of the city .. and now busted by greed, and sadly a very useful strategic strip going to ruin. Every day I cycle past this beautifully situated strip, and my heart bleeds. Who ever allowed this "complete catastrophe" to take place on the central Coast ? And so I continue to fly with the Royal Newcastle Club ( who by the way are great guys ) in the hope that one day in the not too distant future I may land my little SV-2 over the lovely blue-green waters of Lake Macquarie, fold her up, and sit her back again, just outside my bedroom, where I can just hear whispering when I wake up "Charly .. flying ? Charly .. flying ?"
PaulN Posted January 11, 2008 Posted January 11, 2008 Charly, last I heard about Belmont is that the Aero Club at Warnervale have plans of planting their operations there. I understand the Warnervale strip is facing closure shortly. Have you heard anything recent on this? Paul
Guest Carl Booth Posted January 13, 2008 Posted January 13, 2008 Warnervale closure hi again Paul. Warnervale will be closing soon , and the taxi-ways are already full of potholes, rather sad. Warnervale club seem quite confident though about their proposed "migration" to Belmont site. And from what I've heard there shouldn't be too much restriction on ra's landing' provided 'prior approval' is obtained. cheers carl
Jabby Posted January 16, 2008 Posted January 16, 2008 Hi Carl, I fly a Jab From Warnervale and am a member of the Central Coast Flying Club. You are dead right in what you say,As far as I know there is no definate date yet for the shift, It is going to happen, but when ,depends on wyong council allowing Mirvac permission to build on Warnervale. I also have access to a Storch ( thats the Italian one) with floats at Cessnock, All I need is a float endorsement, If anybody can help I would be extremley happy. Happy flying Mike
Guest Carl Booth Posted January 16, 2008 Posted January 16, 2008 Hi Mike and thanks for your notes and thoughts on Warnervale migration north to Belmont. But Mirvac getting a strangle hold on both those strips shows just how greed feeds big business and politics these days. Hope there are still a few 'honest guys' around to keep us pilots in the air, and carry on the Wright brothers spirit of 'not sitting on the fence watching the birds'. // Your Storch on floats really got me excited as I'm a float man too, having received special permission (regulated and restricted) to fly a floatplane on Lake Constance (big lake where Switzerland Austria and Germany meet) Where do you 'water' your Storch .. Hunter river ? Unfortunately I missed the float meet at Rathmines Lake Macquarie recently (2006). Right on my doorstep and I 'fluffed' it ! Am also presently converting to Jabs at Maitland. Would love to have a beer/coffee with you one day to talk over problems confronting us re shift and floatflying. Keep the line warm Carl in Belmont
Ultralights Posted January 18, 2008 Posted January 18, 2008 i recently moved from the newy area, i was in lemon tree passage and flew regularly from cessnock, what type of aircraft do you have? a sadler Vampire SV2? lovely flying in that part of the world.
Jabby Posted January 20, 2008 Posted January 20, 2008 Hi Carl, Unfortunately I have not been able to water the Storch anywhere at the moment as I do not have a float endorsement,and anyway I am improving the brakes at the moment for ground use, which is the only way we can fly for the present.Please come along to one of our meetings at Cessnock, I will let you know when I will be at the next one as unfortunately I will be away for the Feb and March meetings. You can phone me anytime on 0408203362 Cheers Mike
Jabby Posted January 20, 2008 Posted January 20, 2008 Hi Neal Thanks for the offer of the Floaties, I will more than likely need them when I start learning to land on water, Have a good day Mike
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