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Bandit12

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Everything posted by Bandit12

  1. Bandit12
    Hi All Just wondering if anyone has much experience with building and flying a Volksplane? I've been tossing around the idea of building for years, and one day may actually get around to it. The VP-1 or 2 is on my shortlist for simplicity and even style (so, so ugly!) but I would be keen to get at least 75 knot cruise and I'm not certain it is that achievable. I like working with wood, and I don't fancy a kit, hence the VP option. A Starlet would be nice too, but more complicated to build. Cheers Shane
  2. Bandit12
    It's seems that as RAA moves to more high performance aircraft, so to is the cost increasing. I've regularly seen ultralights such as Javelins and other low performance craft on Ebay and for sale for less than $10K. Reading around on the RAA (AUF!) website suggests that there has been a large change in the number and types of aircraft on the register - more people want 100 knot cruise with two seats than a 55 knot cruise single seat out in the breeze. So I guess it can be a lot more affordable if people are prepared to fly low and slow....
  3. Bandit12
    Agreed - my local scout group struggles to run with less than monthly meetings, and our membership base/budget are considerably smaller....
  4. Bandit12
    I would be riding...or restoring my vintage bikes (which I never seem to get around to doing). I used to average around 60K kilometers a year on a bike, but I never lost the urge to get back in the air, so my riding was drastically cut back to free up the funds!
  5. Bandit12
    I'm no expert in aircraft...but that much frame damage on a motorcycle would cause it to be a writeoff. No chance would I risk that, it could be perfectly fine for years but you just can't be sure.
  6. Bandit12
    Here is one from the States.. And the story is here http://www.airbum.com/pireps/PirepCubTruck.html
  7. Bandit12
    Great write up there, and I am sure many of us have hit the wall too at times.... It also sounds to me like the instructor threw you by mentioning that "another session like that and you'll be going solo", as well as the extra pressure of flying two types before solo. Aside from any possibility of confusion between the two types, there was all of a sudden an expectation that you would go solo interferring with the job at hand. When I first went solo, after a few touch and go's the instructor had me pull up, opened his door and said "now you go do one, do it just like you have just been doing it, and if you need to go around, do it". It was very sudden, I had little time to think and then it was done. Too much anticipation isn't always a good thing.
  8. Bandit12
    Somebody has got to say it - Top Gun! As corny as it is, still a great flick. I recently acquired Cloud Dancer, haven't had a chance to see all of it yet due to children hogging the television, but if you want to see Pitts Specials doing their thing, it is spectacular. Terrible acting and weak script, great flying, what more could you want!
  9. Bandit12
    I have a few hours in a Pitts S2B doing spin training, and was fortunate enough to be taught many of the methods discussed here. There is no doubt that it made me feel a lot more confident with an aircraft at close to stall speed, and even flying below the stall speed in the aero training. It is sad that more pilots don't take the opportunity to experience spins.
  10. Bandit12
    I learnt to fly with DDAC - who was your instructor? Great bunch there, it was a great experience!
  11. Bandit12
    Surely governing bodies and electricity providers could get together and work out a way to increase visibility and reduce risk? It is in both parties interest to do so.... Oh wait, I should know better than to expect that a logical suggestion could work :black_eye:
  12. Bandit12
    FlyingVisla: Great to see another Scout leader on here! We are going to be giving it a try with our Cubs next year, sounds like a heap of fun. Cheers Shane (CSL 1st Bentleigh)
  13. Bandit12
    I'm looking at one at the moment - the MAG group based in Moorabbin. Do a search and email them, I'm sure they would be happy to answer those sorts of things. And they have been doing it for over 50 years, so must be doing something right. Incidently, their aircraft seem to be among the nicer on the field that I have seen so far.
  14. Bandit12
    Biggles....it sounds like there is a little bad blood, and it is being dragged out. Past mistakes aside (I challenge anyone to say that they didn't do a few silly things when younger, whether by car, bike, plane or hormones...), the important thing is to find a place that you can get checked out fairly. Maybe it is worth making the trip to another school, just so it is a clean start. Probably the best thing for you is to make it happen, and move on from the whole experience a little wiser.
  15. Bandit12
    Surely if you take out the CTA sections, there is little about navs that is any different between RAA and GA. I used the Trevor Thom series when I did my PPL, and found them very well written....
  16. Bandit12
    How much is it either an attachment to what we originally trained in, and perhaps even earlier dreams? I chose to start in Tomahawks and Warriors, and only flew the 152 and 172 later. I did feel that the high wings were a little easier to land, and having a little more sun off my head was a nice thing too. However....I chose low wing because I grew up on stories of WW2 aircraft, and one might suggest that a low wing looks a touch more like a fighter than a high wing. Taking that a step further, I adore biplanes, and have a little time in a Pitts and a joyflight in a Tiger Moth. As a youngster, I read a lot of Biggles books, so to me, a biplane was the real dream (more so than the Spitfires etc of WW2). I would agree that the bipe can have the worst of both worlds, but to me it is worth it. That's why I have a set of plans for a bipe waiting for the time and space to come available.
  17. Bandit12
    Another option is to contact a customs clearance agent like Mainfreight International, who are also freight forwarders. We use them regularly for our business, although not that often for sea freight. You need an agent to organise clearance anyway, as well as any applicable import duty and GST.
  18. Bandit12
    WWI biplane, something like a Pup. Fresh air, goggles and leather helmet, white scarf and just as the dawn breaks on a crisp morning.
  19. Bandit12
    Safe travels, PNG is an experience. I lived there for a couple of years as a youngster, would love to go back one day. If you don't mind me asking, how did you end up wanting to build an airstrip in PNG?
  20. Bandit12
    Always a sad day when you hear someone has gone down. Sympathies to the family, hope the cause gets sorted out soon.
  21. Bandit12
    Just force of habit - better to give too much information than not enough.
  22. Bandit12
    Using your example, I would turn 90 deg left and overfly the field at 500' over the pattern, let down on the offside in a 180 deg turn to the right to join crosswind. I would call overhead the runway and my intentions, and then again while joining crosswind.
  23. Bandit12
    When I was looking at that, my instructor suggested that I stay away from the twins straight after or while going for CPL. The reason given was that they are expensive, and you have a snowball's chance in hell of getting a job flying a light twin straight out of training. Most likely you will spend a season flying in a single anyway, and in that time, you will have to spend money maintaining a MECIR. The instument rating is not a lot of good when you are stuck in a VFR single. After getting some experience in a single, then go back to the school and get your MECIR, and then go chase the light twin jobs. I never followed through myself, but I watched others do exactly that. Good luck with it!
  24. Bandit12
    Welcome, I've been on the ground for 6 years now - it comes back, but I keep kicking myself for ever stopping!
  25. Bandit12
    I've never been on a committee that could get away with that sort of shenanigans....I'm not an RAA member, but I'm inclined to join, just to vote in new people!
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