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cscotthendry

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Everything posted by cscotthendry

  1. cscotthendry
    If you had been at Evans Head on the weekend you wouldn't have posted that. A radio-less drifter blundered into the middle of a flying demonstration by a P-51 mustang. Sure, this didn't become an "accident" but it very easily could have. That is only one incident that I know of caused by an aircraft without a radio. I would bet London to a brick there are many more. Had the drifter in question had a radio, he would have heard the calls by the ground operator announcing the start of the demonstration and warning approaching aircraft to remain at least 5 miles clear of the field. His error was a simple mix up regarding daylight savings, but if he had had a radio, this would not have resulted in the demonstration incursion.
  2. cscotthendry
    Bruce: Having a radio in the aircraft in no way absolves the pilot from keeping a lookout, nor was this suggested in my original post. The radio is our means to alert other pilots to our intentions and presence. They are still required to LOOK. In the same way as cars having turn signals and brake lights doesn't mean that the drivers don't have to watch traffic.
  3. cscotthendry
    Interesting thought. There seemed to be a few aircraft without radios at GEFI, or at least if they had radios, they weren't on the correct frequency or weren't working properly.
  4. cscotthendry
    Karen: Welcome to flying and the forums. I had a brief read of your blog. Love your sense of humor esp the bit about always flying with a fabulous hairdo! Looking forward to seeing the pics of your flyin travels. Your Cirrus will take you to anywhere you want to go, just ask Ryan Campbell. Happy landings, and smooth flying.
  5. cscotthendry
    I know this will be contentious with some flyers but I believe this discussion needs to be had. IMHO aircraft without radios are like cars without brake lights or turn signals. They're fine for paddock-bashing, but in traffic they are a menace. I've just returned from the Evans Head fly in where radio-less aircraft caused confusion and dangerous situations in the traffic. I think that aircraft without radios should not be allowed to attend fly ins where there will be significant traffic, but most particularly where high powered aircraft are performing aerial displays near the airfield. This could be done by implementing the equivalent of CTAF® by NOTAM for the fly in.
  6. cscotthendry
    Is the Pope Catholic? Are the Kennedys gun shy? Also works the other way round...
  7. cscotthendry
    At the risk of starting a range war, I never saw the attraction of soccer. I do understand soccer hooliganism though. The frustration of fans after 90 scoreless minutes must be excruciating. It would be something akin to 90 minutes of coitus interruptus!
  8. cscotthendry
    I saw that about the gift cards on the tv and thought that sounded like legalised theft. Your point about gift card sales for Christmas makes it even worse. Although, it was very prominent in the news that DSE were in financial trouble before Christmas. That should have made some people think twice about gift cards from them.
  9. cscotthendry
    Well, we like to think they're blockbusters, but they probably aren't even pebblechippers.
  10. cscotthendry
    Depends on how much gear you have. This is what I use It's from Jaycar and you can organize it to suit.
  11. cscotthendry
    Your point is well made. But from what I read though, even gentle turns can get you into trouble if they're not coordinated. For example, using too much rudder to sharpen the base/final turn is said to be a killer for stalling a wing. Since I read that, I am super careful about my base / final turn. I have looked down a couple of times when turning final and see how little room there is for recovering from a wing stall. It scares me so I take extra care there. Flying-wise it is very close to the ground. Falling-wise, it is a looong way down.
  12. cscotthendry
    Thnx, wasn't aware of that, but my partial defence of CASA still stands I think.
  13. cscotthendry
    More info please...
  14. cscotthendry
    The problem stems from our aviation regulator being our aviation safety body. Everyone knows the "safest" airplane is one that never leaves the hangar and that is unfortunately how CASA operates. What we need is to separate the safety body from the regulatory body, and to give the regulatory body a different mission with regard to aviation. In the US, the FAA is charged with promoting aviation, and is the regulatory body. The NTSB is charged with making aviation "safe" but it has little power with regard to regulations, and so needs the cooperation of the FAA to implement its safety policies. In the US, if one pilot does something stupid, the NTSB might want a whole bunch of new rules, but the FAA will filter that through how it will affect aviation in a more realistic and holistic way. It's very popular to CASA bash here in Oz, but the problem is in CASA's mission definition.
  15. cscotthendry
    In some airplanes, the numbers can be quite critical, for example, the stall angle of the wing of a replica Spitfire. The guy who tried to take off at Watts Bridge without lifting the tail wheel can verify this now. So yes, in some cases it's important to know numbers. However, in most instances with well designed sport aircraft, the pilot can tell by feel when it is wrong as something will be quite different to his usual flying experience. For example, the nose might be pointing way too high, or the controls feel way too light. Mostly it is near the stall that we recognise when things are wrong, but there are probably times when the very adventurous go to places they weren't taught, like doing aerobatics in a drifter, that a pilot may come to grief by not knowing "the numbers".
  16. cscotthendry
    I really don't mind being asked these and other "dumb" questions. In fact I really enjoy talking about my flying (maybe a little too much) and I always assume the person is genuinely interested in how my plane works rather than checking to see whether I'd qualify as a test pilot. RickH, I taught computer engineering for 15 years and I learned that there is no such thing as a "dumb" question, only ones that don't get asked.
  17. cscotthendry
    We're hoping to go down Friday and return Monday. But if I can't get a solid read on the weather I won't chance getting stuck there. There has been a lot of rain and flooding further south which doesn't bode well.
  18. cscotthendry
    I've lost count of the number of times I've been asked questions like; What distance does it take you to get off the ground / land? or How fast are you going when you land / takeoff? How far out do you go before you turn base? etc etc. I don't have specific answers for these questions, but the questioner is always looking for specifics. Maybe I'd be a better pilot if I knew the answers to the numbers around flying. But I know what my plane feels like when it's flying correctly and I know what it feels like when I start going near the boundaries. A friend said to me "Fly in the middle of the air, not near the edges." and that's what I do.
  19. cscotthendry
    And the other 10% into noise.
  20. cscotthendry
    Sounds like just the sort of pilot that will end up on the evening news. I don't mind if stupid people win Darwin awards, as long as they don't take anyone else with them when they go.
  21. cscotthendry
    DJ: You can get a bit sneaky with the mounts. I made some mounts out of sheet metal that attach to the wing struts with a velcro strap. Quick on and off in case someone is snooping. I'll try to send a pic or a graphic of the design.
  22. cscotthendry
    David: There may be controlling circuitry in the LED units that are generating EMI into the radio. A simple fix to try is to go to Jaycar and get some of those ferrite suppressors to put on the wires. May or may not work but it's cheap enough to try. http://www.jaycar.com.au/Passive-Components/Ferrites%2C-Inductors-%26-Suppression/Bars%2C-Beads%2C-Sleeves-%26-Cores/U15-Ferrite-Voltage-Spike-Protectors-Noise-Suppressors---Pk-2/p/LF1294
  23. cscotthendry
    How much does an XP80 cost? You might like to investigate the GoPro Session or one of their other starter range cameras. They will take videos or pics under wifi control and GoPro also have an extensive range of mounting solutions, With the Fuji, you might have to devise your own mountings and that will add to the costs. I have tried a few "el-cheapo" sports cameras from various suppliers with mixed results. The worst one I bought came from JB HiFi. It was VERY fiddly to set up and operate and I lost quite a lot of footage because of that camera. It now sits in a drawer like a naughty boy because it doesn't play well.
  24. cscotthendry
    This discussion about Trump has totally hijacked this thread. I think we should either drop this or start a thread about lunacy in politics ... Wait, ignore that last suggestion as ALL politicians seem to be Looney Toons these days.
  25. cscotthendry
    Took a mate up for a local flight. We went out and had a look at the Woodford Folk Festival. Then we flew over Somerset and Wivenhoe dams. It was a bit bumpy, but my mate loved it!
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