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Methusala

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Everything posted by Methusala

  1. Methusala
    Without wishing to pre-empt any factual findings down the track I am moved to point to my thread,"Does your aircraft fit your flying style?". We know that the test pilot of the 1st 707 rolled it. This does not give other pilots carte blanc to do the same. In relation to the event that started this thread, I am pro the RaAAus warning its members. There has been a lot of comment that this pilot at least was thinking about aerobatics when he bought the plane. The simple truth is that if every possible precaution is not followed you can come to grief. What do you want the organisation responsible for rec flying to say? It is often said in these posts that we want safety related outcomes to emerge following catastrophes. This is a well moderated message. Don
  2. Methusala
    I have been flying ultralights for over 35 years. I began flying with a gliding club while building a very early, US hang glider based rag & tube Pteradactyl. I moved through with Thrusters, Jeeps and Javelins while a member of Holbrook Ultralight club. I bought an Evans VP2 in the 90's and flew it for 11 years. During this time I modified it structurally, adding a full turtle deck to improve airflow over the tail. I experimented, with fair success, with EFI to an Aeropower 2070cc VW. I have flown in some exotic types eg. Lancair 320, and had a hankering for perhaps a Sonex or a Corby Starlet. Now I fly a Kitfox or ThrusterT300 around my patch. But it was when I started flying RC models that I found that some aircraft didn't suit my flying style. While my mate could fly a tea tray with an engine bolted on, I quickly got out of my depth with the sports models and found myself very, "behind the aeroplane". Do others feel content with 60kt aircraft and resist the urge to go faster and sportier? Don
  3. Methusala
    Thanks for the link Bex. It seems pretty clear from this brief account that the Ford boys definitely did the wrong thing and then tried to cover it up. Management can be aggressively dangerous to workers and (of course) labor sometimes get out of control. Nothing to see here...move on! Hehehehe. No offense meant Don:wave:
  4. Methusala
    Once again I am moved to give Facthunter a great big pat on the back for he has mentioned the elephant in the room regarding Henry Ford. "Henry put his workers salaries up in the late teens much to the chagrin of the other automakers. His reply to criticism was allegedly along the lines of " If I don't pay my workers a decent salary how would they be able to buy my cars?" However good things don't last and I remember that he later employed armed troop from the National Guard to violently brea k a strike at his plant. Things always can be depended on to go from good to bad to worse I suppose.
  5. Methusala
    I think that Forum members at large will take a serious message from this example of stupidity. They will have seen the extreme consequences of a pilot taking a foolhardy attitude to the very serious activity of manned flight. I have cautioned on a number of occasions, against flight over terrain that will not support a survivable landing. I see this as the "take-home" message here, not that it maybe, " that another jerk is making our hobby look bad". Let's keep it positive and as FH has it,"Never stop learning."
  6. Methusala
    36
  7. Methusala
    Love your inspectors HITC. Ours are equally helpful, Don
  8. Methusala
    It sounds as if the management are out of touch with their membership. "It's the customer, stupid!" If organisations start taking customers for granted we end up with failed enterprises and no one wins. Look at the stupid decision on penalty rates. The Govt could step in and avert this calamity through regulation. They will probably stand up for industry (and it is large organisations such as McDonalds who will take the most away from this decision). this will lead to another change of government and the beat goes on.... Why can't we have an organisation with eyes on the aims of members?
  9. Methusala
    I had a Makita bought for $5. It lasted a tough 15 years 'till I sold it last year. Buy from a sophisticated economy, not 3rd world (USA).
  10. Methusala
    Fair comment Bex but the electric aircraft still holds the record. In other words...simply horses for courses. Simple example, electric chainsaws are a commercial reality because they are more "neighbor friendly" in suburban backyards.
  11. Methusala
    Why Funny??? I've never had a funny before!!
  12. Methusala
    Canberra,"The bush capital" is a lovely, peaceful place to domicile. The weather is good and varied (4 seasons are guaranteed) and we are situated a good compromise from the ossie Alps and the south coast which has to be one of the most beautiful stretches of landscape ever. I've been here since 1961 and will call it home for as long as I last. (Other places can be great as well!)
  13. Methusala
    I did not think exactly of laying "blame" for any young people's behaviour. They are prisoners of their epoc just as we were of ours. I was just trying to find a logical reason for their lack of fascination for flying. Computers and their altered (or simulated) reality offerings are far more seducrtive than the tv craze which captured us in the 50's and 60's. You could substitute music, tribes (as in rockers, mods or hippies) and other cultural themes but I can imagine how younger people can be addicted to their "games'. Just different reality for us.
  14. Methusala
    I have thought about kids (millenials or whatever faddish name the media comes up with lately) and I see that they can enjoy many thrilling pursuits, not quite vicariously but through the medium of silicone chips. Remember that they don't have a distant memory of heroes such as Biggles, Douglas Bader or even the Red Baron. So they are motivated by other themes. If they wish to experience flight they are most disposed to try it through a simulator program If they stall and crash then just reset and go again. It takes no greater effort on their part than playing any other computer game. The commitment required to actually enlist into a program that few of their peers even recognise and devote large chunks of time and money towards a somewhat anti-social pursuit, well, I don't see that happening. I look around at my peers when enjoying aviatic pursuits and see all grey (or white or no) hair and shrug. What other response is valid?
  15. Methusala
    This photo was taken some years ago at Narromine...a 4 engined Lazair (sounded good too!)
  16. Methusala
    This was taken some years ago at Narromine A 4 engined Lazair (sounded good too!)
  17. Methusala
    We had the good fortune to take our daughter and a friend snorkelling with the seals at Montague Island this past weekend. We had a great time with Narooma Charters ($60 for 4 hours). Not the Reef but the water was crystal clear and a good temperature and the sea was full of aquatic creatures. Absolutely will do that again
  18. Methusala
    Our recreational flying pursuit was never designed to be some sort of industry. So no, I don't think that it is "the customer" or " the general public" who need to be considered here. We started this movement as a group of amateurs who wanted the freedom to fly our recreational aircraft away from populations and to be self regulating. There are a large number of us who have seen our sport hijacked by another group who want GA but don't want to fork out the dollars. They are highly risk averse and pretty cashed-up. The answer for them is to go back to Ga, listen to the controllers on the ground, be beholden to their LAME's and give CASA all the power to "protect" them. I don't want that and I am not alone. The AUF is where I came from and it may be time for GA to wander back to their "roots".
  19. Methusala
    Every recreational aircraft is mandated to display a prominent warning about the lack of official oversight both in design and maintenance, and that people fly in these aircraft at their own risk. Aviation has been officially recognised in the law courts as a potentially dangerous activity. Just like...Umm, base jumping or snake handling. No person is innocently flown in such aircraft, they are all advised to make their own judgement. I think, regardless of the circumstance, for example flight training, that they still have to make their own judgement . Warnings are not placed in our aircraft as a simple sop to conventions. Some of the faux concern and hand wringing comments are out of order.
  20. Methusala
    Fuel consumption is related to work done. Your engine, being 625cc is probably capable of producing 65hp or so. But the air-frame is relatively light and fairly aerodynamic. So it is not doing a great amount of work. 2-strokes do use a significant proportion of their fuel to run rich and control internal temperatures. I fly a Kitfox and a T300 Thruster. Both are quite draggy and consume around 18l/hr on their 582's. Not very efficient! Don
  21. Methusala
    The essential message here is to use the rudders. I have been involved in ultralight aviation for 35 years and have flown many types but all of them have been "low performance" and mostly tailwheel. Modern utility aircraft are designed to be easy and instinctive to fly. Differential aileron gives the pilot the idea that rudders are used on the ground to steer when taxiing. I know that this statement simplifies things a bit but I remember a female GA pilot who landed in a Grumman Traveller and asked whether she could do a circuit in the Thruster. Immediately after take off I became alarmed at her aircraft control. I asked her when she was going to get on the rudders. She exclaimed that she wasn't used to flying with rudders and would I do it for her. I quickly shouted,"my airplane" and completed the circuit. Every aircraft flies uniquely and requires correct technique to be operated safely. Air Force and airlines invest a lot of time and money in familiarising their pilots with the equipment. Don
  22. Methusala
    And surely that is LAME.
  23. Methusala
    Seen them but haven't flown one. James Waller, CFI at Hollbrook in the 90's reported ineffective ailerons. Did not like.
  24. Methusala
    No sign of damage caused by impacting a wire.
  25. Methusala
    In my limited experience, parachutes are worn in single-seaters but not usually in training a/c. Blaniks certainly not. Don
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