Guest RossCJ Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 Hi everyone, I have been interested in aviation since an early age but have never really persued the learning to fly part, past a few hours when I was in the airforce. I have always considered it to be out of my reach financially and I am a little hesitant with anything that seems overly regulated as I also enjoy my freedom. I have decided to take another look at the options out there and have been considering learning to fly a trike as they look like a good fun aircraft to at least begin with as well as being fairly common for training and access. Besides, they seem to have come a long way as far as design, safety and improvements in the last 15 years or so. I am pretty much interested in anything that flies, although I have joined this forum to mainly access information about trikes and more importantly, what you can and can't do with them. As well as where some of the best places to learn to fly them are in Australia and overseas. I'm even considering making some internet videos of my travels & adventures in the persuit of flight, if and when they happen. Since 1994 I have been a ground pilot on motorcycles so I am thinking it's about time I got my wings as well and learned to fly properly. RossCJ.
slartibartfast Posted February 19, 2008 Posted February 19, 2008 Welcome RossCJ. A worthy goal. Unfortunately, I believe the closest trike training to Canberra is with Peter Wilson in Tumut. Great place to train though. I decided to go ultralight because of this (and my desire to go places), but ending up having Peter as my CFI for that anyway. Tumut is only 2 hours away if you use the highway, or I can do it in 1 hour through the mountains. Not the recommended route though. Sooner or later you'll hit a roo (I did eventually) or have a head-on on the narrow corners (Peter has). Good luck and welcome. Ross
Guest Waspot Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Hi Ross, If it helps, I fly out of Tumut and use Peter Wilson's J160 (pending building my own tinny but that's another story). Peter is down to earth and not too hung up on the administration/regulation side of things, and does a lot of Trike flymg and instructing. He is constantly assuring me that the Trikes are toughter and stronger than the "real aeroplanes" I feel a bit happier flying! I travel through over the mountains - live at Wee Jasper, so half way there anyway - and if you take it easy, it's not a bad trip from Canberra, tho' the early morning an afternoon 'roos can be a challenge. I don't think trike flying is all that expensive, although a good trike is still a pretty big investment. Anyway, why don't you give in to the aviation bug and head over and do a TIF and see how you go. Only live once. Col
Guest Crezzi Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Welcome Ross & good luck with the triking. There are quite a few of us flexwing flyers on the forum so I'm sure you'll be able to get answers to any questions you have. Unfortunatel there aren't as many trike schools as 3-axis &, if there isn't one close enough to you, maybe you could consider travelling further afield to do an intensive course. I'm not trying to discourage you from visiting Tumut & you should definately go for a trial lesson first. Cheers John
allowera Posted February 20, 2008 Posted February 20, 2008 Dear Ross, If you like Bikes, you are going to LOVE Trikes! Lean into the turns with a pillion passenger and high power to weight! All the best, Paul.
Guest RossCJ Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 Thank's Slarti, Col & everyone else, I wasn't sure if Tumut had trikes. The only other strip I know of is at Adaminaby with the Snowy River Aviators that also looks interesting. I will probably take a look at both to get the two different perspectives. I have never been big on joining clubs, however I do enjoy the social aspect and knowledge that they often provide. I'm hoping to gain my flight experience through different locations if possible. Throughout Australia and maybe even overseas (not sure if there are any regulations to try and stop me from doing this or at least make it more difficult). I might even get a bit of flight time as a passenger for a number of hours first. To build familiarity and confidence with the aircraft, before starting any official training. I realise, that a good majority of pilots would probably want to purchase their aircraft fairly soon after completing their certificate or at least be considering getting something. However, I have always been a bit unusual so I would like to travel to different locations and add to my flying hours that way, after I have attained my certificate. Might take a little longer to gain hours than the conventional way but could also be more rewarding as far as experience is concerned. This of course is assuming that it is reasonably easy to hire a trike from some clubs etc and not too expensive. I might be being a little optimistic here, at least in Australia, not sure if this option even exists. I presently have a training facility for trikes in mind, not far from Alice Springs called Air Creation . It looks like it would be a good holiday as well. RossCJ.
Guest Crezzi Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 I'm sure Chris will be pleased to welcome you to his school at Alice - he is a contributor to these forums. Once qualified, I suspect that it might not be easy finding places which will allow you to hire trikes to fly solo. I know of at least one school in Aus that won't even let their students fly the school machines solo (effectively means they have to buy a trike before they can get their pilots certificate). The problem is insurance though things might have changed a bit now more schools seem to be using 4-stroke trikes. I'm sure most schools would be happy for you to fly with an instructor but this might not be what you want once you've gone to all the trouble of getting your pilot certificate. You can learn a lot by flying with a variety of instructors though Cheers John
Matt Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 G'day Ross, welcome aboard...why is it that now Kaz and I have left Canberra there seems to be an influx of Canberrans joining the site?!?!?!?!? Cheers, Matt.
slartibartfast Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 I'm a member of Snowy River Aviators at Adaminaby. The club has had a long fight to get things sorted at their airfield, but we finally own it and the hangars are going up soon. There's no trikes there though. Adrian is our senior instructor for fixed wing and is really good at teaching people named Ross from Canberra. Peter Wilson (at Tumut) is the man for trikes. He is also the CFI for Adaminaby. So many options, so few Brians. Cheers, Ross
Guest Waspot Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 Have to agree - Peter Wilson at Tumut is the local trike guru in this Sthn Tablelands area - he even taught Dick Smith to fly trikes. He operates as Airescape, not a club, but has sort of a casual 'clubhouse' on the back of the hangar. Don't know why I'm in this discussion - I've never been in a trike - would scare the wits out of me (I suffer from fear of heights, of course.) Anyway, leave procrastination until tomorrow! Col
bushpilot Posted February 21, 2008 Posted February 21, 2008 Welcome Ross, You should not have any trouble doing trike lessons in different locations. I self-taught in a powered hang-glider, but with heaps of regular hang-gliding experience before that, then did 9 hours training in a Cosmos trike in Seattle, USA, then came back to OZ, bought my Redback trike and did 6 hours more with local instructor to get signed off... I'm now doing conversion to Jabiru, but will keep on triking.. It's a bit like owning a motorcycle and a car... 2 different purposes.. double the fun! Cheers, Chris
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