Guest airsick Posted October 26, 2008 Posted October 26, 2008 Sunday rolled around and a quick look out the window in the few minutes left before dawn didn’t look promising. The cloud was everywhere and in general it looked overcast and bleak. Dragging myself away from bed and to the computer didn’t make me feel any better but once I had the NAIPS page up and showing details for the area, Canberra and Nowra things began to look up. The wind was a northerly and not too strong and the clouds were much higher than they looked in those dull moments just before the sun comes up so a quick shower, some food to satisfy the stomach grumbles and off to the airport. The departure was uneventful and we were soon on our way to Nowra for the 60th Anniversary of the Fleet Air Arm. Around 15 miles out we began to monitor the CTAF and not surprisingly it was quite busy, a few Jabs, some Cessnas and an array of other aircraft were headed in from all directions. What was surprising was the quality of the calls. Both GA and RA aircraft were making calls that were unhelpful missing information such as where they were or how long they expect it to be to get there or what their intentions are. At one point an aircraft called in to say he expected to join the circuit in a few moments. Is moments a new international standard measure of time? Did I miss that memo?!? We called at 10 miles and joined the crosswind leg of the circuit coming in number three behind a Jabiru and an Archer. To our dismay the ground crew were using the CTAF as their own chat frequency which led to some considerable confusion in the air. I think the Jabiru landed but couldn’t get his call in, the Archer ended up lining up on the wrong runway before going around, it was quite disconcerting. After a quick word to the ground crew they switched to another frequency and order was restored. We landed and taxied over to the parking area but spotted some nearby helo’s running up that got us a bit worried. The parking area had no tie down facilities and we figured if a Sea King or a Seahawk were to taxi by our little 285kg runabout would be nowhere near where we parked it. A quick chat to some of the marshalls and we were told we could put it on the grass and stick some pegs in the ground. A few moments later the plane was tied down, locked up and the airshow was starting. It all began with a mass flyby of Navy choppers ranging from the old Iroquois through to the new A109s with a spattering of Squirrels, Seahawks and a Sea King in between. Some civvy aerobatics were mixed in with ex-military flying displays and the RAAF did their bit too with an F-18 and a Hawk doing some impressive displays. Of course it was a Navy show though so the helicopter flying was plentiful with the dancing Squirrels, some winching from the A109 and a few guys fast roping out of a Sea King just for fun. The airshow ended at around 4 in the afternoon and the departures were quite orderly. We decided to avoid the rush and stuck around until 5 or so which also gave us a chance to get some close up views of a few of the fast jets. After sticky beaking for a little while we packed up and headed off back to Canberra and were followed out by ‘Hornet 02’. Our cruise was at 6500 but I think he made it to FL210 before we had passed through 3500. Be nice to have that sort of power! We chose not to fly back direct, instead we met up with two other planes over Lake George just to the north of Canberra. We formed up with them and flew back into the zone in company with them doing a quick scenic flight of the city before landing. The planes were then all packed up and we headed home for a good rest after a long day.
BigPete Posted October 26, 2008 Posted October 26, 2008 Brilliant report airsick - thanks for sharing with us. :thumb_up: Hey Matt - what ya gunna do when the PC9's come on the market :big_grin::big_grin: regards
Guest Michael Coates Posted October 26, 2008 Posted October 26, 2008 Sounds like fun ! I just wonder how many $$ it cost the jet to get to FL210 compared to your fuel burn ? Forgot to mention, there is a VAMPIRE for same on eBay, starting price $4,000 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330281282859&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:AU:1123 Now if you brought this, got her going by next Nowra >>>>>>>>>
Guest airsick Posted October 26, 2008 Posted October 26, 2008 I love the Vampires - a body built from plywood with a huge fire in the middle of it.
Captain Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 Sunday rolled around ......... What did you go over in? Yours or something else?
Guest airsick Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 Took the Virus down. About 40 minute flight direct from Canberra.
motzartmerv Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 Was a great day.. good to meet a few members in the flesh.. the thing that really worried me was there was no-one keeping spectators away from the acft, when we were being marshalled in in the gazelle, there were kids evrywhere, we'd no sooner stopped the engine when people were at the door peering in and playing with the control surfaces.. was great seeing some beeming smiles though when we let some kids hop in and play (under a watchfull eye).. The hornet display was simply magnificent, 32 thousand pounds of thrust in full after burner at 200 feet was a noise to behold.. gorgeous dirty pass with evrything out, flaps landing gear, brakes, refuelling pod, arrestor hook, and a very very high nose attitude, no lowering of the nose to transition from slow flight, just cleaned up, after burner on and vertical climb to be out of sight in seconds... absolutly awesome..and that guy was at work....damm...gotta upgrade my tickets soon i think.. anyway, cheers, good to meet you airsick..
Guest airsick Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 Ditto Motz, good to put a face to the name. Will try and get down to your airstrip sometime soon (although the next few weekends are pretty busy for me at the moment). I was also surprised at the free movement of people. Late in the day when everybody was leaving we wandered over to where the F18 was parked and had a good look around it and a few Hawks. No one seemed too bothered that we were there.
motzartmerv Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 Yea, i wanted to get the gazelle linned up next to the f18 and get some pics, the flight line at the local flying club..lol... but alass my student was keen to get into the air while some girls were still around to watch him take off...ggrrrlll the bugga rotated and lowered the nose and let the speed buikd to about 75 kts... he wanted to beat the strip up, i pulled the stick back to 55 kts and growled at him, i said, "ya wanna end up on the news or on youtube"... a normal (boring) climbout insued, much to his dissmay.. head on up, we'd love to see ya's... cheers:thumb_up:
Tomo Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 Was a great day.. good to meet a few members in the flesh.. the thing that really worried me was there was no-one keeping spectators away from the acft, when we were being marshalled in in the gazelle, there were kids evrywhere, we'd no sooner stopped the engine when people were at the door peering in and playing with the control surfaces.. was great seeing some beeming smiles though when we let some kids hop in and play (under a watchfull eye).. Yeah they may have had people trying to keep them away, but it doesn't work very well... We had the same thing when we had an airshow/flyin at Dalby....the CASA/SES fellas where walking around pulling there hair out, trying to keep people at bay and not go to close to the acft, etc... but then one bold fella said to them, what's the use of coming if you can't get close and have a look....Fair enough I thought. I tell you what I really enjoy being able to go up close and have a look/talk to the pilots myself.... One Helicopter pilot I talked to(RAAF Roulettes rescue chopper pilot), 'I asked him, do you like people touching your acft?' He said mate, that's the fun of looking, but as long as they act responsable I don't have any worrys.... very good answer I reckon. The hornet display was simply magnificent, 32 thousand pounds of thrust in full after burner at 200 feet was a noise to behold.. gorgeous dirty pass with evrything out, flaps landing gear, brakes, refuelling pod, arrestor hook, and a very very high nose attitude, no lowering of the nose to transition from slow flight, just cleaned up, after burner on and vertical climb to be out of sight in seconds... absolutly awesome..and that guy was at work....damm...gotta upgrade my tickets soon i think.. What do you reckon the Rate of climb from Sea level would be on those things....??
motzartmerv Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 Tom, the climb rate is about 13000 ft/min.. hehe, a bit quicker then the gazelle..and a hell of a lot quicker then the jab... No-one was even bothering to try keep the people away from the acft.. The marshals had kids standing behind them copying thier movements..lol.. a big old bi plane started up next to us and people were within metres of the prop.. he didnt yell clear prop either.. Pip borman started his plane up with spectators sitting within touching distance from the tail, blew chairs and blankets and crap all over the place. One kid got rocks in his eyes and was led away screaming...thumb_down
Tomo Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 One kid got rocks in his eyes and was led away screaming...thumb_down Poor Fella.... At least he will have something to remember the day....A plane threw rocks at me:laugh:
icebob Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 Sorry I missed you guys, the reunion dinner the night before went to 5.05am and i was definitely second hand, but enjoyed the airshow and the natter with current maintainers, the sound of the F18 repeated on me like a bad lunch and just had to have some of the"dog" to recover. Where did they park you guys? Although my eye sight was limited I only saw a couple of RAA craft. Bob.
motzartmerv Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 we were on the ga line.. the last acft .. next to the lake buckaneer..the little gazelle with kids climbing all over it and through it all day..hehe
icebob Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 Hell, I saw that but my wife had been into "B" hanger and picked up the S&W .38 revolver and said "oh like old times" the two gunnery guys there stepped back and I was a good boy all day, yes I know a chicken but she is a better shot than me with the 38;). She was the Gunnery Officers driver for two years so every day she got out on the range, me i was green with envy. I liked the back seat of the Lake anphib: boy couldn't you chaff the ears with your knees sitting there:ah_oh:. Seriously I walked right by you guys about five or six times, bugger! Not into being mauled by wild kids! Bob.
Guest ozzie Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 Wow can't belive the poor displays of airmanship that is discribed in the above posts. This is the sort of thing that gets the crowd pushed back 200 meters from the aircraft. Maybe some or all of the "airventure" rules for mixing people and aircraft should be used by airshow operators. That said if you thought the FA18 was a blast, wait until you see the Raptor. When the FA18 made it's first appearance at Schofields years ago. they put it up against one of the Mirages. At the end of the display they both started flying ever tightening 360deg turns, with the Hornet hot on the mirages tail. just when it looked like both could pull no tighter the Hornet pulled inside and 'lapped' the Mirage then sat it on it's tail and disappeared to 20,000'. Amazing stuff. i'd expect that would be comparable to a duel between the hornet and the raptor. Ozzie
Tomo Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 I just had a thought, It wouldn't take much to ask the spectators to move away from the acft on start up..., if you said i'm gonna start up now, do mind moving away a bit... Or even just yelling the mandatory "Clear Prop" would make them aware that something is happening..... Because one day if someone get's hurt, Gee you know what will happen, there will be more fences, and 50ft distances to look at acft....and we don't wont that happening...!! Common Sense ain't Common no more....thumb_down
motzartmerv Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 Yea, remember, we are talking abut PIP Borman.. this guy has been around for ever, when he does his aero's, he talk's to the crowd the entire time, .. i was very surprised when i saw him start up like that..i would have expected more from him.. that kid looked seriously in pain.. and the chairs and stuff went flying, they put out a bit of blow those engines.... cheers
icebob Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 Hi guys, on a similar subject I overheard the allocated ground crew from the RAN, they were told to stay at the Western end of the display area and they had the towing arms and tractors to move the drover and the DC3 and the Connie if need be but were "told"/ordered to say at the other end out of sight. The drover had an engine issue and needed towing and it took 3 hours to get approval to bring the tow motor up to them????? One has to wonder who was in charge????:confused:. The Vampire was refueled within 8 meters of the general public and the was no - no smoking signs up AND the gravity refueling nozzle was not earthed - I got my wife out of there real quickly - the refueling team on the aircraft were not Navy/military but the refueling tanker was. The historical society DC3 leaked a little oil on the taxiway around 11am and it was not washed off until after the firefighters display, they spotted it and washed it down on their own initiative???. Bob.
icebob Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 Merv, That kid was sent to hospital via ambulance soon after that. I was talking to the St.John Ambulance guy that was in charge and both eyes were blood stained and he could not see. Bob.
Tomo Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 Merv,That kid was sent to hospital via ambulance soon after that. I was talking to the St.John Ambulance guy that was in charge and both eyes were blood stained and he could not see. Bob. OhH gee, That makes it a pretty bad turn of events, Poor boy..... I wonder if Pip Borman knows about it... I bet-ya he'd feel pretty bad if he found out what he caused, well he should...!!
Ultralights Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 what ever happened to common sense, like im going to set up a picnic area behind an aircraft parked at an air show!
Guest airsick Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 A lot of the aircraft were parked behind barriers and then pushed/pulled onto the taxi way. Most of the aircraft that I saw pulled out ready for a flight were turned so there was no blast toward the crowd. I think it is pretty inconsiderate of a pilot who should know full well how much air a prop moves, to point the tail of the aircraft at a crowd (full of kids) and fire it up. A few seconds to turn the aircraft could prevent a lot of heartache in these situations.
icebob Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 well how about people smoking in the shade in front of the hangers - common sense? There were heaps of military people walking by and no one said anything?????? anyway enough of the negatives, the wife and I had a ball, we caught up with people we had not seen in 40 years, some of them still the same ratbags and jokers. We got our fix of jets,jet fuel,military gossip and noise well lubricated in the Navy tradition. We got so many new addresses and phone numbers and our Christmas card list has grown like you would not believe. The only down side of the reunion is of the 107 guys(maintainers) of my old squadron only 27 survive today but all of them were there:big_grin:. Bob.
Guest airsick Posted October 27, 2008 Posted October 27, 2008 anyway enough of the negatives, the wife and I had a ball, Me too. :)
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