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Methusala

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Everything posted by Methusala

  1. I presume that what it "says" about Army pilots is that they prefer to "breathe" rather than "suffocate". Funny, what?
  2. Here is one of Alan Sheard's scratch built "Locust" out at Lake George last year. He has also built in the past copies of the Chinook, aka "the old Chook" and a pioneer Flight Star.
  3. Here's one of Howard Rocky (Scout owner), Art van Ousten (Builder of a Temain Monofly) and myself with my Pterradactyl at Holbrook in the mid 80's. Don
  4. Helped us with purchasing our Kitfox. A true gentleman but with a wicked sense of humor and fun. Regards Don
  5. Wondering what the legal limit for PCA is for pilots according to CASA rules?
  6. "Frigate Bird"(1953), Captain P.G. Taylor , "Carrying the Fire", NASA astronaut Michael Collins. Regards Don
  7. I saw one recently in the Berlin Technical Museum. Could get all the stuff...parachute etc. but seemed pretty unhinged concept really. Pteradactyls anyone? Don
  8. Hey Nev! Most Pteradactyls I've seen in the air at once was, years ago at Lake George when 2 of us flew together. Ah, the old days! Don
  9. I remember the Mustang that was used for towing target drones. Used to drive past occasionally. There was also a DC-2 parked in that corner. Identifiable by the 2 landing lights embedded in the nose. That was around '69 or '70. Don
  10. Wally Rudin was a great CFI. I remember flying a BFR with him at Holbrook in strong winds. Thrusters can handle strong conditions and we weren't out there too long. Hope he is enjoying his retirement. Don. BTW: a Gemini on Gumtree at the moment for $4500 (what a bargain!).
  11. I am like Farri, I only want access to a small amount of free air space in which to fly. I have access to this but, on occasions, I would fly to a local (200kms) air gathering. I liked to fly to Moruya and other airports. Moruya has RPT's and we could easily listen and hold out of the circuit for the small amount of time it took to do a straight in. Never had a problem. However, with increased surveillance of such get-togethers and the requirements to carry a full flight bag I don't bother anymore. I simply enjoy flying the T300 and the Kitfox locally.
  12. An interesting point about the sharp decline in price for dairy products globally. Remember that in the '90's the US imposed sanctions on Iraq. This included dairy products as well as medicine. The result was that 500,000 infants died. When questioned, Madeline Allbright, then Sec. of State replied that ,"It was worth it". The current decline in prices for dairy is said to be a result of US sanctions against Russia. I wonder what kind of world we live in. Sorry to be political and I really do lament the demise of Camit. I think that, for the price, these engines were good and getting better. I flew 550 hrs behind a VW and never had a problem. I tried not to fly over country where at least I would save my life if the noise stopped. Don
  13. Einstein was reported to have said that he wasn't sure what the third world war would be fought with but that the fourth would be fought with sticks and stones. Think about that. Don
  14. Sorry, correction.... Russel Firth was the guy with the Scout
  15. The prop strike occurred while the engine was fitted with a toothed belt reduction unit. This I later removed because it was so poorly manufactured the belt would run off its cogs and there was no way to align it. I don't think that the shock transferred to the crank indirectly via toothed belt should account for failure of the crank. You stated that some crankshafts were manufactured from crook steel - ergo the failure in my engine. I am not sufficiently in my dotage not to recall the frightening events of this time. It was probably on Ron Lang's advice that I fitted the exhaust seeing that he did not have an exhaust system supplied with the engine. I don't wish to open old wounds or criticise the guy for what happened so long ago. I accept that, in those days, we were all experimenting and that this was the way it was. I never flew at Pakenham and was fortunate, as were a lot of others, to come through those days alive. However I don't want anyone to remain under the illusion that this was a fit device to power any ultralight. I recall that Ron Firth, from around Bowral, had a Skylark with cast iron barrels and direct drive on his Scout and I never heard that he got anything but good service from it. Regards, Don
  16. Yes Dick, you can see from my earlier post that it was a brave attempt but dangerous in the air. Mine was "equipped" with pressed steel mufflers from an early Victa mower engine and one split into pieces flying through the prop and wrecking it. The motivation seemed to be to make a quid rather than to be a responsible aviation enterprise. I replaced my Skylark with a Fuji Robin EC 44 and had no further power plant related problems.
  17. G'day Geoff Ward. Yes I do and today I replaced the windscreen. I love the Thruster. Don
  18. Jim Cuthill, CFI of "Falcon Hawk" near Benalla is said to be a wizard. Never met him but have spoken to him on the electric telephone...seems a very nice bloke. FYI
  19. G'day Yenn, as I recall, that was a Yamaha Virago motor. Read the story in Kitplanes
  20. Mate of mine built a good one about 15 years ago. Built it for about $12,000. Best scrounger eva!
  21. Old Koreelah, I guess that your esteemed spouse is not a serial peruser of your posts to this lovely forum, huh?
  22. It looks a little like a Cygnet which is a very efficient design. Flying with an 1835cc VW can cruise at 80kts, 2-up and using 12lph.
  23. Most of the contributors to these wide ranging philosophical discussions have done far more posting and aviating than a few who rumble "I don't want to hear this." To re-state the obvious, "don't watch!" There are always 10 threads listed under "New". 9 choices should be ample.
  24. The answer is simple. Replace the present "representative democracy " model with a true "people power" arrangement which allows a number of citizens to put forward proposals which can then be put to a referendum of all interested electors. Forget the dumb mandatory voting concept and leave these matters to interested participants not football crowd crazies. Give free time on all media for candidates and turf them all at the end of 2 terms. Make any form of political lobbying public and threaten those that will corrupt the process with long periods of incarceration in the dungeon. There, try that for a discussion topic.
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