Ok, How did you get the flying bug??

[Bryon]

My Mum must have known something cos she had a crush on Douglas Bader and give me my middle name after him.

 

I guess it was a gift from me Mum

 

 

[winsor68]

My Mum must have known something cos she had a crush on Douglas Bader and give me my middle name after him.I guess it was a gift from me Mum

What... she named you stumpy????

 

 

[Bryon]

What... she named you stumpy????

You heathen, dont you know that he had both legs removed and Stumps is my middle name, otherwise I would be called "He who walks in circles"

 

 

[JollyWalter]

Funny really. I first knew how badly I wanted to fly as a result of a flight I never went on.

 

Back in my first year of high school my best friend's brother was a young commercial pilot and for my friend's birthday the brother told him to invite his two best friends and we'd take a flight in a light a/c to Rottnest Island (from Jandakot) for the day.

 

I got the nod as one of the two friends and I've got to tell you I had never been so excited about anything in my life.

 

Well the flight got cancelled for some no-good reason I can't remember now, but ever since that time I talked about how much I wanted to fly (and talked about it, and talked about it).

 

Thirty five years down the track I was still talking about it, so my partner (whose Dad was an airline pilot for years) gave me a TIF for my birthday this year. Signed on for lessons immediately!

 

 

[S.Drifter]

I got sick of 160 to 260km a day chasing stock through thickly timbered and rocky terrain while mustering on a bike and having to do rebuilds on a regular basis and not getting clean musters.Not that I don't like riding bikes it's just that I can utilize my time much better. My current work bike is nearly 10 years old and I did its first top end rebuild last year a far cry from needing a new one every year or two .

 

After 10,000 hours+ air time I still find it extremely rewarding working stock from the air.For me the more hours I do the more cautious I become and the learning never stops.

 

 

[Guest eland2705]

There were these two blokes who owned a bicycle shop near us who...... na, just kdding.

 

Dad was the local equivalent of the Flying Doctor in Rhodesia. I flew with him often during school holidays, and later after I joined the Army. It was second nature for Dad to let me "drive", and eventually I made it legal by getting my SPL, and Dad got his Instructors rating. I went on to PPL, but then the whole situation in Rhodesia / Zimbabwe got nasty and the Army wanted more of my time doing army stuff.

 

I remembers one morning we were taking off out of Charles Prince with two of Dad's work mates in the back of the PA28-180, and for some reason they were quiet nervous. Later, after we landed in Umtali, Dad asked me not to wear my cammo jacket. I had my para-wings by then, and they were sewn on to the right shoulder above my stripes. In a Cherokee there is only one door, and I was flying right seat, next to the door. Our passengers figured that I knew something they didn't!

 

A lot of military life is done in and around aircraft, either riding, loading or unloading (or jumping out of) them. Fixed wing and rotor wing.

 

Many years later I was out on the motorbike, abeam the end of 01 at Warren Hills, I saw a glider, (found out it was a Blanik L13, and I later soloed in that very craft off the winch) on final. I followed it in and signed up for lessons. Met the Wife because of the Warren Hills Gliding Club! Later that week talking to my Mum, she told me she had got her C Cert in Scotland in 1948 on an ex Luftwaffe trainer. She'd never said a word about it in all those years!

 

Kids, houses, life, all got in the way for about 16 years, but we ended up here in Oz. I am now involved with the Australian Air Force Cadets as an Instructor (both the kids being Cadets - and now my Daughter is an Officer Cadet in ADFA with the Army) teaching the Aviation subjects and introducing a new batch of youngsters to the wonders of flying.

 

I am back in the air now with the VMFG flying their Purchatz (however it's spelt, we just call it a Pooch) and on my way to Coldstream this weekend to see if I can get some RA time with RVAC.

 

Regards

 

 

[poteroo]

I'd actually flown in RPT DC-3's as a schoolboy, but my 1st light aircraft exposure was at the tender age of 20, in 1961, Mt Hagen, PNG.

 

It was with Peter Hurst, one of Territory Airlines junior pilots based there, flying Cessna 180's, and the then new Cessna 185. We did a breathtaking round trip out via Baiyer River,(4500ft), Wapenamunda,(5600ft), to Wabag,(6800ft) - then back past the actual Mt Hagen,(12,500ft), via the Tomba Gap at over 9000ft and a steep descent into the old Mt Hagen town strip,(5600ft). It was in some rare fine weather,(looked rather easy!), so I decided to save my shekels and learn on return to Oz. By 1965, I was back there in a 185 - living the adventure!

 

happy days,