sfGnome
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Everything posted by sfGnome
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Has anyone had any experience with the effectiveness of suction-type iPad mounting brackets? I tried one a few weeks ago that seemed (on the ground) to hold nice and tight, but 10 minutes into the flight it dropped off and into the lap of my passenger. I noticed that the CASA regulation on EFBs requires that impermanent mounts must be stowed for take off and landing and for flight below 1000ft (and now I know why), but still, 10 minutes seems to be pretty much on the useless end of the spectrum. Do any of them actually work?
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There's two sides to this type of story, and I've seen (and suffered through) both in my working life. I've worked for companies where the leadership was technology-centred, and when they left and the MBA's took over, the companies foundered. On the other hand, I've also worked for companies where the leadership was so technology-centred that the companies were on the verge of failing when the MBA's came in and rescued them from oblivion. As in everything else in life, you need a bit of everything and not too much of anything!
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Savannah Incident At Caboolture
sfGnome replied to Cosmick's topic in Aircraft Incidents and Accidents
Maj, Can you please expand on what you mean by "correctly connected"? Was it a case of someone putting the tubes in the wrong place (which would have caused problems right from that service onwards), or is it some form of adjustment (meaning that it could randomly start occurring if something moved)? I ask because our Rotax has started exhibiting symptoms exactly as you describe in the last couple of months, but it hadn't concerned me because the only other one that I've flown did exactly the same thing all the time. -
The plane's nice, but the thing that caught my eye was the hangar. Do they surgery in there as well? Sooo clean...
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I've been working in software for long enough to know that when a client says that there is a problem, then there is a problem. Having said that, I've just run through all the procedures I could think of to create the failure being described, and all I could get was either the correct results, or an "incomplete copy/paste" message. When you say that you couldn't progress past the disclaimer, I think that must mean that there is no data being created, because normally the disclaimer is just the first line of the translated weather report that you want. Dunno, but I'll keep thinking... While I'm at it, Ian, I think that the link into the ARFOR on the PilotTools/Weather page is no longer working now that individual logins are required.
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Years back, I knew a bloke having trouble starting his mower, so he removed the spark plug, held it against the head and cranked it to see if it was sparking. Unfortunately it was, and he was sprayed with burning fuel from the plug hole. Months in hospital ensued.
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Geez. Move those cars out of the way and you can pretend that you're in Thunderbirds. I'm sure those trees will lie down...
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I might be missing something important here, but the RA training syllabus requires that the student can "execute recovery from incipient spin". I definitely had to do that during RA training. Isn't that what ausadvance was proposing?
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Yep, I had a chat with the owner of one last year. I was running past the Mt Beauty strip (with one eye on the sky, as you do) and noticed this strange looking beast coming into the circuit, so I doubled back and ran down to the hangers instead. The owner had imported it from the states, and it wore a stars and stripes livery. He was quite confident of its single engine flying characteristics. I understand the maths, but at a gut level it still seems amazing that my engine happily pulls me along at 100kt, but he only does 60 with two of them! (Oh, but wouldn't it be great for photos... )
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Would a bit of google advertising help, or are there not enough of us to make it worthwhile?
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My (pharmacist) wife loved it. I wouldn't advise going in to her shop with a cough any time soon...
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I don't think I've ever seen a 1 yo who would keep anything on their head, so I wouldn't get too worried about the beanie. Babies' hearing is much more sensitive than adults - including high frequencies that we wouldn't even be aware exist - and some kids are much more sensitive to noise than others. If bub was happy with the ear plugs in, then I'd guess that you've found the cause of the previous problems.
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That's pretty much what my passengers look like prior to take-off too...
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Noice! I'm trying to work out from the second photo whether the rego is VH-FOO or VH-POO.
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No, I think what the bloke was saying was that if the tourist development went ahead, *then* CASA would not allow it to be used as an airport - ie it was an argument against the development.
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Yep. Wife & I both have 'R' licence. She had a ZX6 but broke her wrist in a snowboarding accident and never regained the strength required for the brake, so that was the end for her. I just got sick of lumping a super-sports machine around in city traffic, so it sat in the garage for longer and longer, so I sold it to a mate who wrote it off. Kinda wish I had it back again now...
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Thanks for the comments. Yep, Avocet, I should have said that it was a Tecnam. I'll be having a closer look at the nosewheel structure I think. I've got about 70 landings in this craft, and I've only noticed it recently, so I guess something has changed. One of us has tapped it a bit hard, perhaps? :(
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I've noticed over the last little while that on both the take-off and landing roll, there's a period of time where the rudder and the nose wheel seem to be fighting for dominance and creating a bit of a shimmy dance. My first thoughts were that the two were out of alignment with each other, but then it occurred to me that under power on the take-off roll, I have to have a fair whack of right boot which is obviously not required on the power-off landing, so there's clearly no single alignment between the two that will suit both situations. Is this a normal thing that I've just been too unobservant to notice before, or is there normally some compromise alignment that works well enough to not be noticeable? Or, more simply, should the rudder and nose wheel just line up visually? (I should note that the aircraft's line maintenance manual merely says how adjustments can be made without specifying what the adjustment should be).
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If cost is the total determinant, then hire. Choice et al have done studies that show that it's cheaper to hire a taxi all the time than own a car. Question is, do you want to have to wait for a taxi every time you want to go somewhere? That's why so many (but not all) people own cars. Having said that, I expect that being in the 'wrong' syndicate would be like being in the 'wrong' marriage. You have to be really careful to make sure that you're all on the same wavelength before you lock in. I've been lucky and have really good partners. We don't always agree on everything, but everyone listens and we have always found a consensus (and, as MM says, there's nothing like thinking to yourself "Hmmm... nice day" and just toddling off to the strip and finding your A/C exactly how you left it, ready and raring to go).
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Flight Test coming soon - advice?
sfGnome replied to ayavner's topic in Student Pilot & Further Learning
Think of it this way: Your instructor thinks that you are ready to do the test. He's been watching you for months so he already knows how much you know (or don't). He wouldn't be bothering to test you if he didn't think that you're likely to pass OK. Most importantly, he's not going to be thinking up any tricky scenarios just to make you fail. He could achieve that just by saying "you failed". So, just treat it as yet another lesson, and don't panic if you don't remember something instantly. Enjoy it! -
I was flying with my adult son this morning and he asked about which control did what, and eventually the conversation drifted to the need to keep your head out of the cockpit - the point being that you can't feel the beginning of a drift into a spiral dive. I got him to close his eyes and tell me when when we deviated . He didn't pick it at all, and I got him to open up again when we were nose down and 30 deg bank - came as a bit of a shock! So, the question is, is the problem with flight sims that they have no feel, or that they trim so nicely and fly so stably?
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Helicopter Crash Wollongong
sfGnome replied to i_like_planes_too's topic in Aircraft Incidents and Accidents
The pilot's family have taken some small comfort from the fact that CASA has now acted. Too late for them, but hopefully soon enough for someone else's spouse & children. -
Thanks. I wondered if that's what it was. That means they'll be flying safely out to sea, and not in the vicinity of 24-7155...
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It's probably a bit late to be asking this, but looking at the notams tonight for a flight tomorrow, I find that "MIL HAWK JET ACFT" will be "OPR BLW 5000FT AGL ON FLW RTE". Ok, I can decode that, but it is the route that has me stumped. WILLIAMTOWN / WILLIAMTOWN 179008 / WILLIAMTOWN 192032 / SYDNEY 012039 SYDNEY 012037 / SYDNEY 102015 / SYDNEY 188044 / WOLLONGONG 200010 / WOLLONGONG 211016 / WOLLONGONG 217017 / WOLLONGONG 127006 / SYDNEY 012021 / SYDNEY 003032 / SYDNEY 012037 / WILLIAMTOWN 195037 / WILLIAMTOWN Fair enough, they're flying from Williamtown to Wollongong via Sydney, and I presume that the numbers describe the actual path they are following. Question is, how do I interpret those numbers (so that I don't get a jet up my backside tomorrow morning... )
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At the risk of thread drift, I just have to share this... My PLB is (and has been for the last 3 months) in being serviced under warranty. Kannad won't replace it (2nd time it's died in the 2 years I've owned it - useless junk) and they insist on it being serviced by the approved centre instead. Problem is, they need a new battery for it, and - get this - the battery cannot be sent to Oz from France by air because it is classified as dangerous goods! This is the same battery that powers the PLB that I'm required by law to carry when I fly! Talking about it with a LAME I know, he told me that they have the same problem with some aircraft radios - they can't send them by air, but they can install them in aircraft. 'Tis a wonderful world we live in.
