sfGnome

Without wanting to get involved in this discussion, it’s worth noting that ‘silicon’ is not ‘silicone’. I think you’re talking about two different things.

Ok, dumb question time. If all you need for RAA is self declaration that you meet a car license standard, then why do you need to tell them about CASA medicals?

Yes, the prices now are nuts, but they’re not going to get any cheaper. If you want to build (as I do), then you either pay the price or go and take up lawn bowls. 🤷🏼‍♂️

My dad retired twice - once from his employment, and the second time from all the things where people said “now that you’re retired, could you just…”. I’ve learned his lesson, so I’m only retiring once. 😛

Not quite as elaborate as KG’s, but when I lost our dipstick (left it on the wing and then took off… 🙄🫤), I just used some Bunnings dowel (can’t remember if it was pine or tassie oak, probably pine), and tattooed lines and numbers on it with a sharp point. Otherwise unfinished. It was quite readable and I don’t remember it wicking, though I expect that we did a quick dip-and-read so I don’t know if it had time to wick. Hint for young players. Don’t lose your dipstick, ‘cause if you do, you have to drain your tanks to calibrate a new one. No fun.

When we were moving, we looked at houses in the Canberra area, but travelling hours to get to an accessible airport put the kybosh on that. My beloved would have been very happy to live there, but I gave up flying because I was driving a 4 hour round trip to do a hour of circuits. No way I was going back to that again. Anyhow, I’m no longer in the Canberra market, but as I have a son living there, I’d be more than pleased to use a facility if it were available. 😁

Of course they were dumping fuel! It’s just that they were dumping it into the engine. 😁😁

Yes, you’re right. I was looking at a draft (easier to find) which included some extra conditions like the ones I described. Thankfully, they’ve been removed from the final document.

There’s a few conditions on the exemption that make interesting reading. Like, if you are carrying a passenger, you not only have to tell them that you’re on a class 5 medical, but also show them the paperwork and (if I read it right) carry the list of conditions in the aircraft with you. If you don’t have a passenger, then you only have to carry the printout of the medical, not all the conditions. Strange…

My beloved had a much better bike than mine (which she let me use occasionally 🙂), but she had to give up after smashing her wrist in a snowboarding accident when she no longer had the strength to apply the brakes (so I inherited her bike 😁). I eventually sold it when I found I was using the push bike instead of it (now there’s a mode of transport you need to have eyes in the back of your head for in Sydney traffic). The bloke I sold it to wrote it off within a couple of months. I will add that she will fly with me, but unenthusiastically. 🫤

When I lived in Ireland, I could (and often did) fly to just about anywhere in Europe for about $100. That’s the difference that a large market with lots of competitors makes. Mind you, one of those carriers dropped me in Paris somewhat later than advertised - ie 2am, long after the metro had shut down for the night - so I had to walk through northern Paris looking like a tourist dragging a suitcase and expecting to be mugged at any moment.😳 Delays are the price you pay for cheap flights.

I’m impressed (and yes, I did have to go and look it up 😵‍💫).

Doesn’t look like much, just a country town, but it’s MY country town. First time I’ve been away from the airport since getting back to flying after a break of 7 years. Been doing lots of circuits; still not entirely comfortable, but getting there. It used to be so easy… 🫤 Amusing aside. My GPS decided to not function and I had to navigate using compass and clock. Lot of years since I last did that. Lucky it was dead still and clear (and I wasn’t flying very far 😛).

There wasn’t, to the best of my knowledge, a Gen 5 on display, but the new boss did wave around a cylinder head with some extra holes while talking about the fuel injection that they’re developing. Interestingly, they’re going to keep the carbies as a backup. Run on injection normally, and fall back to the carbies if the injection fails. I don’t know how that works, but it sounds like a good idea (assuming the carbies are still functional after 1000 hours of idleness).

Yep. There were 2 in the under-wing camping area. Don’t know what was on the flight line.

A couple of points about the show (and some topics from various threads…) There were 3 slings on show. Bernie just showed you the dream machine. The Sling 2 is much more affordable (for various descriptions of ‘affordable’), especially in kit form. If you want cheap, the powered parachutes were there (~$5k up for 2nd hand, $35k new). Take off easy from a small paddock. Fly low and slow. Sounds like a pretty good replacement for 103 to me (but that’s not my thing, so don’t yell at me for suggesting it). I had a yarn with the Dexter, the Atec distributor (haven’t seen him for years). The low Aussie $ is not making his job any easier. I asked about CTA transit rather than full access, but the view was that the required training was the same for both, so there was no advantage in doing one before the other. Errol (GAP - BushCat distributors) confirmed that BushCats were not being manufactured any more, but the parent company (who actually manufacture all the parts) was doing well and will be continuing to supply spares. He said that when sales started to decline, they put up their prices to maintain margin, which of course made sales decline even further ‘til it was terminal. I was really interested in the AvPULP product. Essentially, mogas with guaranteed quality control end to end, and guaranteed no Ethanol and high end volatiles. Currently only available at one airport (Victorian, but don’t remember which one), but promising quite a few more within 12 months. It will only be installed at airports that will consume sufficient quantities, so don’t expect to find it at Upper Cumbucta International. They claimed that the price would be comparable with servo mogas. Saturday crowd was mostly aviation types (ie all ancient - myself included), but Sunday was largely young families. Just maybe a dream or two were born in little brains. 🙂 The only down side to the weekend that I noticed was that because the visiting aircraft were parked airside, you couldn’t wander around having a gawk. Had to satisfy myself with the ones parked in the under wing camping area that was accessible. Regardless, happy I went.

Just make sure that the cap is tight when the Good Samaritan is taking you back to the field from the servo. Don’t ask me how I know… 😳

One end of term at school, they put all of us in the hall and played a 16mm print of the movie (presumably easier than trying to teach us something on the last day). However, in an unfortunate error in timing, the school bell went before it finished, so we never got to see if they made it off safely. I assume that they did… 🙃

Drove one of my Minis (I had 3, or more accurately, I moved one engine through 3 bodies) down a boat ramp one misty rainy night mistaking it for road. Oops! Pushed it back out with the help of some mates (bare feet on knobbly concrete in mid winter water 🥶), gave it a good spray with WD40 and it ran no worries. Mind you, I never went anywhere without a full tool kit and my overalls, and there were a few romantic evenings ruined by me having to fix the thing on the side of the road. Still got a really soft spot for them though. Occasionally I find myself thinking that it would be fun to restore one (a proper one; circa ‘68-‘70), and then I give myself a swift uppercut to bring me to my senses. 😵‍💫

Too far away for you, but by way of comparison, Fly Illawarra at Shell Harbour charge $240/hr for instruction on a J160. The prices you’re paying at Sale seem a little(?) on the pricey side. 🫤

Yep, bung the list on here. I’m in need of some clecos, and who knows what else you have might be of interest?

Just for a moment, that’s the highest elevation AGL that your plane has achieved… 😁

The biggest issue with the 3G shutdown is that a lot of older phones automatically switch to 3G (and only 3G) for emergency calls. I presume that was because the designers thought that 3G had a better chance of getting through in remote locations, but it’ll mean that they won’t get through at all after the shutdown, and the worst aspect of that is that they won’t know that their phone won’t work for 000 until they try it…

It was a 24 reg, used by the RA flight school there (Valley Ultralights if my memory serves me correctly - long since shut down and the aircraft sold off). Cost him a fair bit to get it approved. That would have been about 15 years ago, so the processes will likely have changed.

Being an RA pilot, I was taught to expect engine failure at any time (ie always have somewhere to land in sight). I got a real shock one day talking to a friend who was a CPL and instructor in the GA world about not flying over tiger country and he asked “why not?”. When I explained, he said “Oh, I never thought of that”.