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marshallarts

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Everything posted by marshallarts

  1. marshallarts
    Hmm well that's interesting, what model Motorola, and which Aldi plan? My phone at that stage was a Motorola Moto G31, not bought from Telstra, and not 5G-capable. It was on the Aldi $19/mth plan. After changing it over to the Telstra SIM, I also got to thinking a 5G-capable phone might be a good thing, so I bought a Motorola G34 from Telstra - not something I ever thought I'd do, but the (very reasonable) price was almost the same as what I had paid for the G31. Nobody else seems to sell the G34, which makes me wonder if Telstra had that variant developed specially to suit their network, i.e. the specific set of frequencies/channels it can use.
  2. marshallarts
    Very good to hear that, I wish them well. I live quite near Jandakot and there are a few GA-8s here that ply back and forth almost daily, mainly to Rottnest I think.
  3. marshallarts
    Yes, I found this out recently in graphic fashion. I'd been with ALDI for a year or so, quite OK around town and even on some drives in regional WA. But on a recent road trip across the paddock, where Telstra has reasonable coverage almost all the way across the Eyre Hwy, ALDI had zilch - not a dicky-bird of coverage between Norseman and Ceduna. I wasn't impressed, so in Port Lincoln I bought a Telstra SIMM and prepaid plan that wasn't too much more expensive than the ALDI plan, and bingo, coverage everywhere. It was chalk and cheese. Good to know that Boost uses the whole Testra network though, thanks for that.
  4. marshallarts
    I don't think it's as simple as that. Both 3G and 4G can work at several different frequencies. The providers have been saying that the old 3G towers would be re-purposed for 4G (or even maybe 5G), which suggests to me that it is not frequency-related, and that 4G can use the same frequencies and it's only the data transmission protocol that changes. The antennas on the towers would have to be designed for the specific frequencies they were to use, so if the frequency had to change then so would the antennas. It's hard to see Telstra et al running around changing antennas all over the place. But I'm no expert either, I just do a bit of work with a guy who works in the RF sphere extensively. I'll ask him what he knows - it would be good to understand this. And of course RFGuy is very active here, maybe he can cast some light on it.
  5. marshallarts
    I tend to agree. From what I've seen it's only the police saying this and I wish they wouldn't, because I don't think it's established beyond doubt. In one of the videos, when the aircraft banks left before impact, both floats are visible and both look intact. If it had hit a rock, I'd think at least one of the floats would be severely damaged, possibly even torn off. It's not good quality video, but I don't see that. I've seen some pics of a badly-damaged float that was brought ashore, but that could have been caused by the impact with the water. Lots more to learn here.
  6. marshallarts
    One surprising thing (in a good way) is that one passenger got out of this completely uninjured. I'm speculating he might have been sitting in the right seat, next to the pilot. If there is a door on that side too, he would have had by far the easiest exit from the aircraft. And the way it went into the water, on the left side of its nose, may have protected him a bit from the initial impact. Plus the better seat belts there too. I guess this will come out in time.
  7. marshallarts
    Sadly, reports are confirming that the pilot is one of the deceased. Egress from a sinking Caravan would be nightmarish - it's very cramped in there, and even though this one wasn't full, anyone would have huge problems getting out. Most of the passengers were apparently over 60, which would only make it even harder. I think there is a separate pilot door, but he/she would of course need to be conscious/capable to make use of it.
  8. marshallarts
    Well, one of those reports above says the pilot was among the deceased, so the previous thing I saw was clearly not right. But things are still a bit fluid, so final official confirmation may be yet to come. It won't help the investigation if they don't have the pilot's input on what occurred. Three fatalities, what a terrible thing.
  9. marshallarts
    Just heard another report on this, and the pilot WAS mentioned, as one of the survivors. In the news report it was stated with some certainty that the aircraft "struck Philip Rock", but the "expert" who was interviewed after the news didn't say that, which I think is prudent. From the video above I'm not convinced of it. The ATSB has confirmed they will be investigating, and things have swung into action to get a team on the ground. Let's see what they discover.
  10. marshallarts
    I don't imagine you'd be able to set ailerons into a crosswind like you do on land, the risk being that if you dipped the upwind wing even a tiny bit it could cause the upwind float to dig into the water. Wings would have to stay level, I'd imagine. But I've never flown a floatplane so happy to be corrected. I've been a passenger in the same type of aircraft as this one, at the Horizontal Falls a few years back, but I don't remember the wind conditions and in any case there was plenty of room to land in almost any direction out at the falls. It was one of the great experiences of my life. From what I've seen the company operating this aircraft was originally set up by Troy Thomas, the same guy who set up the Horizontal Falls operation. I'm guessing this operation was a way to keep the (very expensive) aircraft earning income during the Kimberley off-season. Visitors here might remember that Thomas lost his life in a helicopter prang in Broome a couple of years ago. Dangerous business, this flying! It's conspicuous that the pilot has not been mentioned specifically in any of the reporting I've seen about survivors and those missing - maybe he/she is one of those still not accounted for.
  11. marshallarts
    Good work onetrack. So not a tailwind maybe, but still a pretty serious crosswind component to be dealing with during a take-off. From water.
  12. marshallarts
    Very interesting. Sure does look like a stall. I know these are not fast aircraft, because of the floats, but the lift-off speed looks very slow to me. Also, it's hard to tell but it almost looks like it's taking off in an easterly direction. There was a spanking sea breeze on the mainland this afternoon so I'm pretty sure there would have been one at Rottnest too. Surely it should have been taking off in a westerly direction. Lots more questions.
  13. marshallarts
    No that's true, but I believe it was a commercial flight - people would have paid money to be on that aircraft, so I would think the operator should be keeping proper passenger records. Anyway, it has been established that there were 7 aboard. 4 have been recovered alive but condition not revealed yet, 3 are unaccounted for. Not sounding good.
  14. marshallarts
    Further update - the incident happened as the aircraft was gathering speed to take off, from the water in Thomson Bay. A witness is quoted as saying that it had just about left the water when it "tipped over and crashed". Sounds like it might have hit something floating on the water, or just under the surface. Or even a sea creature - shark? dolphin? There were a lot of people around in boats, so there would have been helping hands there very quickly. Lots to find out about this yet.
  15. marshallarts
    Yes just saw this too. Doesn't look good. I think it is VH-WTY, a Cessna Caravan floatplane operated by a Queensland company. Flightradar24 shows that it went from Jandakot to Perth this morning, then on to Rottnest, landing at about 9:30. That's the last recorded movement as far as I can see. The story has just been updated - two serious injuries, and might be more, as nobody (among the rescuers anyway) seems sure about how many were on board. I think a Caravan can have 8 or 10 passengers, so this could get a lot worse. Let's hope NOT.
  16. marshallarts
    Reminds me of the ill-fated Lear Fan. Similar story, although I think it was a turbo-prop from the start.
  17. marshallarts
    For anyone interested, you can text the numeral "3" to 3498 and you will get back a text telling you whether your phone will be OK post 3G. Not sure how reliable it is, I think it's a Telstra thing.
  18. marshallarts
    The only surprise to me is that they have lasted this long. Beats me how they make ANY sales at the prices I've seen.
  19. marshallarts
    And I also note that the aircraft is now for sale on planesales.com.au
  20. marshallarts
    Just been hearing on the radio that the record attempt happened yesterday, and was successful - he made 145 takeoff/landing cycles during daylight. I didn't hear how much was actually raised for the RFDS, but good for him.
  21. marshallarts
    O Ooooh such cynicism. You must be nearly as old as me! 😄
  22. marshallarts
    Very like VH-ZND, the 787 Dreamliner with the "Yam Dreaming" decoration. That one retains the red tail, but the red fits in with the painting anyway, as the green does with this one. I like them both a lot. VH-ZND pic
  23. marshallarts
    Whenever I see a discussion like this, I am prompted to wonder (again) what the missing ingredient is. Example: Pilatus is a Swiss company, producing some of the world's finest aircraft of their type, like the PC-12 turboprop and the PC-24 jet, both used extensively by our very own RFDS. Heaven knows how many hundreds of millions the RFDS must have paid to Pilatus over the years. And it's not just the RFDS - Pilatus sells aircraft all over the world. Switzerland is a very small country - population only about a third of ours, tiny area, and probably far from ideal flying conditions compared to ours. If Pilatus can do that in Switzerland, why can't someone in Oz be producing top-level aircraft of some sort? What is the missing factor?
  24. marshallarts
    I've was told some years back by an ex-A380 captain that the ejection seats have all sorts of (very expensive) implications for private use of these things. I think he said it was best to have them removed, but I imagine even that would be eye-watering in the dollars department. I'm sure they would gobble up a LOT of jet fuel too, but that's partly offset by how quickly you get to your destination! It would be a huge buzz to fly one, or even IN one.
  25. marshallarts
    Very entertaining thead! Only just came across it, and a few things definitely caught my eye. That OMA SUD aircraft has a fuselage that is eerily similar in shape to the Flaris light jet which has been under development for the last few years. And the Lear Fan - I remember buying a magazine way back in the 1980s which had an article about that sad tale. I recall a story that the project had missed a deadline that was the last day of a calendar year, so to try and help out, the potential customer declared that the following day was the 32nd of December! But sadly it wasn't enough to save the project. Not unlike the Beech Starship I guess - both somewhat ahead of their time. At least Beech did build a few of the Starships - I think 1 or 2 are still flying. Sorry if this has all been mentioned already, I haven't been through the whole thread.
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