Guest pelorus32 Posted January 5, 2009 Posted January 5, 2009 Well guys this is how life is meant to be lived. We went for lunch today - as always. Today was a little restaurant that is right beside a 550 metre strip. Giovanna and Mauro had flown in from Rome in their Storm Century 5XL for lunch with us. It was late afternoon, the shadows were getting long and it was very clear and crisp - maybe 8 degrees. The aircraft performed superbly in the cold air - off in a flash. [ATTACH]7003.vB[/ATTACH] Mauro had flown down from Rome so it was Giovanna's turn to fly back. They made a turn at 200 feet and headed off south - probably to Naples for a look then head back north to Rome along the coast. The food was good as well. The last couple of days have made me forget the nice weather in Australia and forget the 23 hours getting here. Regards Mike
Guest Brett Campany Posted January 5, 2009 Posted January 5, 2009 Mike ya tease!!! I'm envious mate, look forward to hearing about the rest of your trip!
Guest David C Posted January 5, 2009 Posted January 5, 2009 Mike ... Seems like you are having a great time in La Bella Italia . The Storm is a beautiful looking aircraft . I'm waiting to see the high wing model in the flesh . BTW is my mate John Mc with you , are you flying solo this time ??.. Dave C
slartibartfast Posted January 5, 2009 Posted January 5, 2009 Pfft! They've just copied the Cheetah. Have a short black one for me Mike. (Maybe a coffee too)
Guest pelorus32 Posted January 6, 2009 Posted January 6, 2009 Mike ... Seems like you are having a great time in La Bella Italia . The Storm is a beautiful looking aircraft . I'm waiting to see the high wing model in the flesh . BTW is my mate John Mc with you , are you flying solo this time ??..Dave C Solo this time Dave, he had his turn a few months ago!! The Rally is a great aircraft. When I have a photo of John's aircraft out in the sun I'll post it here. I'm sure he won't mind!! It is 5 degrees here today and less than that in the factory. Makes you value our lifestyle more. Ian the big sports aviation magazine here had a multi page spread on the Millenium Master in its November or December issue. It's by my bed and I am slowly wading my way through it with my less than satisfactory Italian. I'll send you a copy when I get home. Slarti, ignoring the double entendre ;-) I have never seen so much coffee drunk in all my life - nor so many cigarettes smoked. Coffee is a way of life - I like my one very good coffee a day, not 15 very good cups....twitch, jerk, spasm. More to come. Regards Mike
Ben Longden Posted January 6, 2009 Posted January 6, 2009 Oh dear... I cant function without my 15 cups a day... (which explains an awful lot, I guess) Sweet ship, Mike. very sweet. Whats the latest on it? Is the Storm in production, costings etc.. Ben
farri Posted January 6, 2009 Posted January 6, 2009 G`Day Mike, I was born in Turin,Italy, 1/1/1948, my parents migrated to Australia 11 months later. Have never had the chance to go back,please have a good look around for me. Regards, Frank.
Admin Posted January 6, 2009 Posted January 6, 2009 G`Day Mike,I was born in Turin,Italy, 1/1/1948, my parents migrated to Australia 11 months later. Have never had the chance to go back,please have a good look around for me. Regards, Frank. Frank, Turin (Torino) is where the Millennium Master is :big_grin:
farri Posted January 6, 2009 Posted January 6, 2009 Frank, Turin (Torino) is where the Millennium Master is :big_grin: Good onya Ian, Regards, Frank.
Guest pelorus32 Posted January 7, 2009 Posted January 7, 2009 Well yesterday was a holiday in Italy - something about children and presents. I worked int he morning and then we went to the local airstrip and met a lot of old friends. We flew there last time I was here. Catching up on the news required that we all go off for lunch - 9 in total. A great lunch of pasta followed by fish. Then back to the airfield for some flying. I went flying with an Artillery guy who had just returned from 6 months in Afghanistan where his boss was an Aussie. He now owns the Rally that I flew last time I was here. It's the high wing in the photo. We went off to Terracina and flew along the coast and then back through a little pass in the hills. The rules have changed here since last time and we flew at the now allowed height of 1,000'. The aircraft at 27" MAP and 4,900rpm on a Rotax 100hp was doing 200 - 210 km/hr. Beautiful crystal clear flying. [ATTACH]7019.vB[/ATTACH] When we came back an old friend, Gaspari, decided that a little fun was in order. He lit a red smoke flare. That prompted someone to use their propwash to blow the smoke back at Gaspari in the hangar. Someone else then started their Piper Vagabond in the hangar to blow the smoke back out...you get the picture. [ATTACH]7018.vB[/ATTACH] Overnight a front came through with thunder, lightning and rain. Now it's both wet and cold. Farri, without knowing you, all I can say is you must be a great bloke - Italians are great. You should come and have a look. More tomorrow. Regards Mike
farri Posted January 7, 2009 Posted January 7, 2009 Mike, Great to see you all having a bit of fun and without knowing you also,you must be a great bloke to say what you have. Regards, Frank.
Guest pelorus32 Posted January 9, 2009 Posted January 9, 2009 Signs It's been a bit quiet here - the weather has been awful and cold as well. We've been working hard but without much to show for it. Italy however is a great place for signs - signs permitting various things and signs forbidding various things. The most common sign says: Vietato Fumare, meaning smoking forbidden. This one caught my eye whilst standing in a toilet: [ATTACH]7034.vB[/ATTACH] My rough Italian says that it means something like: Please leave as you would wish to find Clean!!!! We expect to be doing some flying in the next couple of days - the aircraft are due to go to the airstrip either tomorrow or Monday. I'll post some more pictures then. Regards Mike
Guest pelorus32 Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 Fuel Well yesterday (Sunday) was one out of the box. Beautiful clear skies, not a breath of wind and ultimately 17 degrees - hot for this time of the year. We headed out to the airfield for some flying only to find that the military had just closed the airspace so that was a bit of a dud. It's raining here today and back to a more normal 7 degrees. We're hoping to be doing some production test flying tomorrow and Wednesday. I thought you'd be interested in a pic I took on my walk the other night. We think fuel's expensive in Australia - these are Euro prices at around Euro 0.50 to the AUD. The one that says "Senza PB" is unleaded: [ATTACH]7063.vB[/ATTACH] I hope to have some real flying photos for you in the next couple of days. Regards Mike
Guest ozzie Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 strange sign or maybe my so so italian "evidence of transparent price managment." bet that when the weather crapped out that the miitary opened the airspace:sad: ciao amico, boun volare ozzie
Guest pelorus32 Posted January 12, 2009 Posted January 12, 2009 Buona sera Ozzie, you're right about the airspace ! I think it's more accurately translated: Transparent prices and always shown (always in evidence) Regards Mike strange sign or maybe my so so italian"evidence of transparent price managment." bet that when the weather crapped out that the miitary opened the airspace:sad: ciao amico, boun volare ozzie
Guest pelorus32 Posted January 13, 2009 Posted January 13, 2009 Off to the Airport Well at last the first aircraft is off to the airport for test flying. The wings go on a ute and the aircraft goes on a trailer. [ATTACH]7065.vB[/ATTACH] This is the interior of the first aircraft - sorry about the quality of the shot. [ATTACH]7064.vB[/ATTACH] Hopefully the weather will pick up in the next couple of days and we'll have some flying shots. Regards Mike From a rainy and cold Italy.
Guest Brett Campany Posted January 13, 2009 Posted January 13, 2009 That looks very nice Mike, can't wait to see some more shots of her put together!
Guest pelorus32 Posted January 17, 2009 Posted January 17, 2009 Bassano Grappa and Borgo Grappa Here's one for you Ozzie - an interesting little story. Not far from where I was is a little village called Borgo Grappa. I remembered that you had flown near Bassano Grappa and I mentioned that to the guy I was with. Interestingly there's a connection and here it is: In the 30's Benito Mussolini set in place a scheme to drain the Pontine Marshes and to turn them into productive farmland. That's the area where I was. At that time the people in the north of Italy were very poor - now it's the south - and so they were offered a farm, a house and a cow in the newly drained Pontine Marshes. A large number of people came and amongst those a large number from Bassano Grappa - a town noted for making Grappa! They settled and called the place they settled in Borgo Grappa after their home town. Even now the accent in the area I was in is said to be very northern. We test flew the first aircraft on Friday - the first really fine day of the trip. The "pista" - the airstrip was very wet but we found a dry taxi way and off the aircraft went. Here's a couple of pictures. Firstly the warm up and run up to full power: [ATTACH]7078.vB[/ATTACH] for those of you sitting there saying "it looks like a Jab" the answer is not apparent until you see them side by side but the Rally is huge compared to a Jab and stands well off the ground - in fact not at all similar. Then a distant picture of the take off - nerve wracking but uneventful [ATTACH]7079.vB[/ATTACH] And now a very poor photo I'm afraid of the man watching over it all - Il Duce - still held in high regard by some in the area: [ATTACH]7080.vB[/ATTACH] Regards from an early morning HK airport Mike
Guest Brett Campany Posted January 17, 2009 Posted January 17, 2009 Nice little aircraft, you have to look closely to see that it's not a Jab. Still jealous and very envious of what you're doing Mike! Keep the photos coming!
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