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cscotthendry

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Everything posted by cscotthendry

  1. Mike: Some fun for you. When Greg and I went to do your Nynja's first flight.
  2. I had the 100HP engine in mine. When I built it, the difference in price between the 80Hp and 100Hp wasn't enough to justify the loss of 20HP.
  3. Yes, that was blindingly obvious in the first proposal. There was a lot of buzzwords and blah blah, but not real justification in terms of safety either for us bug smashers or the heavy metal drivers given in the blurb. I was about to have my say about it but when I read RA-AUSs submission, they pretty much said what I was going to say, and said it better than I could and had more impact than I would have. WRT Class E in the US, you may be better informed than me (I only did a little research while I was there), but I thought that most of the Class E starts at 1200' AGL and in some places goes down to 700' AGL (mostly near airports). I wasn't aware though that a TXponder wasn't required in E airspace there. That you don't require a radio in that airspace really surprises me. Since we travel 3-5 months of the year in the US, I thought about getting a PPL over there so we could rent planes and fly. But in the end decided it would be easier and cheaper to go for joy flights when we felt the urge.
  4. Recently CASA started making noises about lowering Class E airspace to something along the lines of what it is in the US. Here's a couple of things about that: a) CASA is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist here in Oz, that is the traffic density that exists in the US. b) They got royally spanked for their suggestion, but don't assume that this has gone away. They'll likely just get it quietly legislated and then announce it fait accompli. And c) if they do that and you want to fly at over 1,200’ AGL or whatever they set it at, you WILL need a transponder. IMHO, the move to lower E airspaceis a result of a bunch of bored bureaucrats trying to justify their existence. We don't have anything like the traffic they have in the US and we NEVER will. Re ASIC: A total WOFTAM. I had one for three years and was asked for it only twice, once at Dubbo and once at a FIFO airport, both times by some officious little jerk asserting his power.
  5. The Legend is manufactured in Czech Republic by a company called Aeropilot. Yes, it was deliberately designed to look like a scaled down C182. It is carbon fibre and the cabin area has an extra layer of Kevlar from the firewall to the rear window. Ours has the normally aspirated Rotax 100HP 912ULS. The BEW of ours is 313KG with a MTOW of 600KG. My wife and I can safely take off with full fuel, 120L, and 35KG of luggage behind the seats. Some more pics In the second pic, you can see (if you look closely) the cargo area behind the seats. It can accomodate much more luggage than we can safely carry. But even then we can carry 35 KG and remain in CG and MTOW. In this video, you get a better look at the luggage space.
  6. Some pics of the Legend
  7. Stewart:
    I left a comment on your channel. PM me if you want to talk.

  8. One of the things I don't like about the “Crab and kick it straight” method is the precise timing that requires and the other thing is changing from the Crab to the Crossed controls at a very critical point of the landing, ie right at touchdown. If you miss the timing of the switchover, you'll start to drift off the runway, or worse yet, if there's a bit of a bump on the runway (as most I've taken off and landed on have) and you snag a wheel while still crabbing, it can be unpleasant at the least or damage the plane at worst. But in any case, you are still landing with crossed controls. BTW The aileron on the into wind wing is actually up, not down. If the aileron were down, it would lift the into wind wing. Finally, this was not meant to sound snarky and I hope it doesn't. As I said before, cross wind landing technique is a personal choice and it comes down to what works best for each pulot and aircraft. There is no “right” answer.
  9. Do birds do recreational flying? The Galahs certainly do! They also hang upside down from powerlines like some lesser skilled pilots.
  10. I have a Flight Data FC-10 in my plane. It is good and relatively cheap.
  11. If you're flying straight and level and you kick the rudder over, what happens to the wings? I think your statement that the wings stay level is not accurate or true. It doesn't matter if you do that at 10,000 feet or 10 feet, the effect is the same. If you kick the rudder away from the wind, the other wing WILL rise. That is how modern airplanes are designed. Worse yet, it will be the upwind wing and if the wind is strong enough it will lift the wing even more. What you are unconsciously doing is crossing the controls at the last instant. If that works for you, that's good. There isn't a right/wrong answer to this, only a preference dependent on your training and the type of aircraft you fly.
  12. I use the wing down method. Because? If you crab in, eventually you have to transition to the wing down (crossed control settings) to straighten up to the runway. If you start with wing down (crossed controls) you fly that all the way to the ground, no need to change methods just as you're about to touch down. Also it presents the pilot (me) with a direct view down the runway on final which I find easier for lining up the centreline rather than an oblique view through the side of the windscreen. HOWEVER, I'm aware that wing down has its limits for low wing aircraft.
  13. Hi Gary;

    How are you keeping with all the COVID going around down there?

    Just responding to your latest response to flightrite. I haven't encountered anyone quite as negative as that guy before.

    1. Garfly

      Garfly

      Hey Scott,

      good to hear from you. I've been thinking I should call you for a nice catch-up. 

      I am surviving okay. Actually staying in my little caravan at Taree airport at the moment.

      I was wondering how your eyes are these days.  I had an operation on the right one last year for a retinal tear.  And I was due for one on the left next week to remove a membrane on the macula but that has been postponed due Covid. But my vision is actually okay at the moment.Anyway, the more recent Flying Around vids are reassuring; they show you're back in the sky -saddle.

      I hope that you and Chris are doing well up there.  

      Let's hope the nightmare ends sooner rather than later so we can hook up again.

             g.

    2. Garfly

      Garfly

      Hey Scott,

      good to hear from you. I've been thinking I should call you for a nice catch-up. 

      I am surviving okay. Actually staying in my little caravan at Taree airport at the moment.

      I was wondering how your eyes are these days.  I had an operation on the right one last year for a retinal tear.  And I was due for one on the left next week to remove a membrane on the macula but that has been postponed due Covid. But my vision is actually okay at the moment.Anyway, the more recent Flying Around vids are reassuring; they show you're back in the sky -saddle.

      I hope that you and Chris are doing well up there.  

      Let's hope the nightmare ends sooner rather than later so we can hook up again.

             g.

    3. cscotthendry

      cscotthendry

      Yes, we really miss travelling, both here and overseas.

      Sorry to hear about your eye, but glad it seems to be OK.

      Last year I had my cataracts done (both eyes) so that was another procedure to endure. My eyes are going well at the moment. It has been over 12 months since my last eye injection and that problem seems to be resolved.

       

      We have moved the airplane closer to home and that has made flying easier.

       

      At the moment, we are painting the outside of the house. So that has put a bit of a damper on the flying for the past couple of weeks. We have about a week more to do and then I think we'll fly up to a friend's place in Childers and stay a night or two.

       

      I have a gig skippering on a cruise boat around the islands. The boat is owned by the community center and we carry about 6 or 7 passengers to one of several destinations. I have a cruise tomorrow to an Irish pub. So, staying reasonably busy.

       

      We're starting to look at flights to the US for early next year. Since we haven't been for going on 18 months, we might stay longer than our usual 3 month trip.

       

      How is your little bird going these days? I guess if you're up there you're getting some hours up.

       

      Have you had the vaccination yet? Chris and I have had both shots and we're ready for things to get back to (semi) normal.

       

      OK, that's it from here. Take careof yourself and stay healthy.

  14. Here in Brisvegas, you'd get a sizeable ticket for doing that speed through the tunnels!
  15. True enough. We have a doctrine of separation of judiciary and state, and a doctrine of separation of church and state. We need separation of business and state. And BTW, in Trumpistan, the separation of church and state was sorely tested. If I were POTUS Biden, there are a lot of churches that would lose their tax exempt status for politicking from the pulpit.
  16. Jay; I am an American living in Australia, but I travel quite a lot in the US and did a little research on flying there. This is what I discovered after just a little research. There are places that teach Recreational pilots, but not very many. I think the reason for that is the amount of controlled airspace in the US, certainly compared with Oz. In Oz, (currently) class G airspace extends to 8,500’ and then class E starts. That means that aircraft that don't have a transponder can fly up to 8500 in a larger portion of Australian airspace. In the US on the other hand, class E starts at 1,200 AGL in most places so that means you have to have a transponder. That pushes the price of an aircraft up. Not prohibitive, but still affects the rec aircraft market. Also, around 85-90% of Oz airspace is class G currently, but CASA is trying to Americanize our regs, (eg class E at 1200’ agl) which is being resisted. Secondly, a good percentage of American airports have towers and so are controlled. That means sport pilots aren't allowed there (under Australian rules and I'm assuming US rules are similar) so again this limits the sport flying market. But something the US has that we don't have here in Oz is the (I forget what category it is) that allows you to fly without a license. The aircraft would fall into the very light microlight category and I think they may be limited altitudes wise, but still that may be something to look into. But even if you can fly them without a license, you should still seek proper flight training before attempting to fly. These aircraft are exclusively single seaters, so you better know what you're doing before you go up in one, or your first flight might be your last. Good luck with your flying and please keep us updated on how you get on. I for one will be very interested as I would love to do some flying in the US while we're travelling there and would like to know what other options might be open for me.
  17. A LOT of this "My Freedom" BS is coming straight out of the Murdoch media. The Republicans and the Right wing echo chamber have created a self-reinforcing feedback loop of self-destructive behavior and rhetoric. It is no more clear than the linkage between numerous Fox opinion pieces touting snake oil "remedies" for COVID like Ivermectin, which has caused a rush to the feed stores by the Trump/Fox cult. That has sparked a rash of hospitalizations from poisoning. Ivermectin is a neurotoxin designed for worming horses. The difference in dosage for worming horses and for human use is substantial, but the difference in dosage between safe for human use and potentially fatal poisoning is miniscule.
  18. Yes, I've encountered people like that, on the water and in the air and on the road. And they might be dead right one day. Like the guy who jumps out infront of an oncoming truck and is certain he has the right of way, but still gets squashed by the truck.
  19. All this discussion and the fact that other airplanes are hard to spot even at relatively short distances, brings to mind the discussions past about radios in planes. I remember some comments from people with very simple aircraft that they”didn't need a radio” because they could “see and avoid” and that this was superior to having a radio anyway. But then, even having a radio is not the be-all end-all either. I remember a situation at Gympie where I joined the circuit on crosswind with a radio call announcing such. I turned and tracked downwind and at the point where my finger was descending on the PTT to announce my turn to baseon 14 I heard “Gympie traffic Jabiru ???? Is turning base 14” WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT!!! Where did HE come from? I heard no radio calls from him prior to that, neither did my pax, a very experienced pilot. I held my breath waiting for the hit and extended downwind and saw the Jabiru shoot out directly underneath me. Since then and after a number of other circumstances with crap Jabiru radios, I have no faith in whatever radios Jabiru put in their planes at all.
  20. There is also this: On a long trip with a group, I ended up in a situation where another aircraft was above me in close proximity. I could hear him transmit to me telling me that we were close together, but he couldn't hear me. My guess is that his antenna was on the top of his metal plane and the plane was blanking my transmissions. I'm not sure why I could hear him. Maybe it was the signal strength. That is, the attenuation from his metal airframe had more impact on his received signal than on his transmitted signal. It was a scary situation because I knew he was close and I kept asking him what height he was at (about six times in the space of about 30 seconds) and he kept calling me to see if I'd heard him say we were close together.
  21. Don't wait. As soon as you're eligible, get the shot. Apparently peak resistance occurs about 40 days after the second one. I saw an interview with a woman who lost her husband (in the US) they weren't ant-vaxx but were waiting to see which one had the least side affects. While they were waiting, hubby got the bug and died from it. Now she has a Go Fund Me to try to pay the medical bills. BTW, I've started calling Delta The Republican Mutation after the numerous morons in the US who are ant-vaxx, ant-mask, anti- social distancing, anti-lockdown ... basically anti-everything to keep them safe. Don't like me calling them "morons"? What else do you call someone who gets their medical advice from politicians and Rupert Murdoch?
  22. The vaccine was never promoted as preventing us from getting the disease. It was always a mechanism to prepare our bodies' immune system to deal with it and reduce the effects. Each year, I get a flu shot and fairly regularly, I still get the flu. As more and more people get resistance to COVID by either vaccine or by having the disease, this virus will become like most of the other viruses that we are exposed to and get infections from. The COVID-19 virus is from the same family of viruses that cause the common cold. It mutates like the cold virus and we will still have to deal with it going forward. It is here to stay. But hopefully soon, its significance an lethality will become like the common cold and flu viruses, and then life can go on as before. What rankles me is that the people who refuse to get vaccinated are walking petri dishes for new and possibly more infectious and lethal strains of the virus and that is keeping the danger level high and as a result, the governments are keeping things locked down to try to stop the spread and reduce the contagion. I also object to paying (through my taxes) for intensive care for these people when they get seriously ill from a disease they could have done something about.
  23. At the rate we're going, Scomo's target of 80% vaccinated before we get back to “normal” looks unachievable. The anti-vaxxers are multiplying by the day and I don't understand their motives or reasoning. I do however, suspect that a very successful disruption campaign is being waged by someone via social media. In the US the choice to vaccinate or not has become highly partisan. I can see some direct actors pushing it there, but I suspect some others doing it behind the scenes as well. Here in Oz, it doesn't have the party political flavour to it, and it could just be the effect of “If the US sniffles, we catch a cold”. But the effect is the same. The anti-vaxxers are preventing all of us from returning to any normalcy and I'm bloody angry at them for that!
  24. If it was windy (20kt+) and you were in proximity to hills, you may have experienced wake turbulence from the hills. It extends quite a ways above the height of the hills and quite a distance down wind too. As the winds get stronger, so does this type of turbulence. Be very wary of the lee side of mountains and hills in windy weather and expect turbulence there. Below the height of the hills, you can expect Rotor effects as well. Rotor can smash you into the ground and can exceed your aircraft's climb rate which can prevent you from climbing out of it. I don't mean to frighten you, just to make you aware of where the turbulence is coming from so that you expect it if you fly in those areas in those conditions.
  25. You mentioned paint thinners, is that white spirit? I use that on glue residue. It still takes a bit of manual effort but it works reasonably well. I worked for Bunnings for a while and they used to use metho and turps mix to remove stickers from the shelves. That also required rubbing. I don't know what that glue is made of but it's sticky stuff!
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