Ultralights Posted July 3, 2008 Posted July 3, 2008 finally got around to uploading some more pics from my time at Narrandera, this was a nav exercise from Narrandera, over Denilliquin, overhead Echuka, then over to Shepperton, onto Yarrawonga, for toilet break, and coffee, then return to Narrandera.. weather was perfect.... wind was 15kts from the west. nice for practicing drift angle correction after you realise the GPS sittong on top of the instrument panel has effected the compass reading! anyway, onto the pics.... about midway from Narrandera to deni, nice to see the dams full, considering how dry everything else looks.. cruising at 4500ft. 110Kts. I found navigation out here quite easy, considering the lack of apparent landmarks. example, this creek is a great landmark! as planned, and after discovering the 10 deg compass error due to my GPS resting on the instrument cowl, Denilliquin appear on the nose, and within a minute of estimated time. The town of Denilliquin. just overfly the airport, and take up track to Echuka. half way to Echuka, and the horizon starts to look sort of strange.. Yep. confirmed, what i thought was the horizon, was no longer the horizon, but a layer of cloud, and just below my cruising altitude. Taking note of the shadow, there is no sun on the ground behind the cloud, so its confirmed as a solid layer, and hence, we must descend to get under the cloud. no flying over the top here! Oh, Look! the Murray River! the Victorian border! Its no wonder the cloud starts Here! Its not all grey skies in Vic! the sun did come through in 1 spot, right over Echuka. at this point, its confirmed the airfield is Echuka, right on the nose, and right on time. so it time to turn to take up track to Shepperton. because i turned early, track is altered a few degrees to the south to take up planned track about midway to YSHT.. now travelling pretty much the same direction as the planned winds, it didnt take long to get to Shepperton from Echuka with a planned TAS of 110 kts, and a tail wind of 15 Kts. wind was as predicted, as Shepperton arrived under the wing at the same planned time...within the minute. a significant difference in ground colour from the Narrandera-Deni leg, amazing what a difference a little rain makes, even if it is only a little. half way to Yarrawonga. positioning to join circuit downwind at Yarrawonga. nice 10 kt crosswind component to make the landing a little more interesting, considering the width of the strip, or lack of it! not much water in the lakes! a little late to turn base, being over the lake, but we had to extend to ensure seperation of the trike in the circuit in front of us, and also give him time to backtrack and exit the runway.. On the ground at Yarrawonga. nice hot coffee, and a spot of shopping.. a solid 10 to 15 knt crosswind made perfect training conditions, plenty of trike flying going on! even though it was about 2 dec C! well, seamed that cold anyway! departed Yarrawonga, it was a little difficult to take photos, as flying into the sun made for quite a bit of glare, just past the planned PNR, (point of no return) i did notice something unsettling , the oil streaming from the oil door! so from here on, kept a very close eye on the temps and pressures, fortunatly there was no change, not to worry though, the oil was just some that was spilled onto the cowl when we topped it up rest of the flight was uneventful, landed back at Narranderra after a total trip time 2.3 hrs... now if only the Jab 230 would trip as consistantly as the Technam, and it will be a brilliant long legged tourer! im not sure if it is a jabiru thing, but i found it required constant trim adjustment to keep level within about 50ft, whereas the Technam i took to Hay earlier trimmed up and held altitude exactly for the entire hour long cruise.. anyway, enough jab bashing, thats not the point of this report.... just like to share pics and show others what the rest of Aus looks like from the air! ok, im jabbering now.....
Yenn Posted July 8, 2008 Posted July 8, 2008 Good report and photos, a bit easier for engine failures there than up here, how nice those big smooth paddocks look. Did you check the compass against runway heading prior to take off?
Ultralights Posted July 8, 2008 Author Posted July 8, 2008 sadly i did not check runway alignment with the compass, my bad, but in reality, how many do? as i found out, the compass error was caused by the big lump o metal and plastic right next to it called a Garmin GPS96c. as soon as i moved it the compass swung back to a more correct reading.. it was out by about 15 deg! due to the GPS siting next to it..
Aussie Steve Posted July 16, 2008 Posted July 16, 2008 Fantastic report again thx Ultra ! :thumb_up: I flew over that area (Hay Plains) years ago on my way to Adelaide F1 GP in a Baron. The thing that really stood out was the total lack of trees, all dozed over years ago. You could see horizon to horizon at 10,000 barely a tree to be seen.
Guest pecram air Posted July 16, 2008 Posted July 16, 2008 Great Pics Really enjoyed the views Flat is the only word for it. Phil C.
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