.Evan.

Things have been going well. Lots of milestones and such, but there is still so much more to learn. What I am finding now that I'm flying with different people (i.e. different weights), is that the aircraft seems to react very differently when landing at or close to MTOW. My instructor is not very heavy at all, and I'm only a medium build. The flying school has fuel in the hangar, so generally we'd only have a light fuel load meaning that the J160 was usually operating fairly low in it's weight range during my training. I have been able to get fairly consistent greaser-ish landings when practising by myself, but I am finding that once the weight is up (bigger Pax, more fuel, etc), it is a very different ball game. During the hold-off, instead of continuing to fly until the speed bleeds off and then it settles on to the runway, it seems to hold-off normally and then suddenly 'plop' on the deck from that last half a foot or so. Not entirely unsafe, but not so comfortable for my Pax (or me!). I think it is due to the already high wing loading on the 160 - add some extra weight and it decides not to fly so very much earlier. Has anyone else found this too? How do you guys cope with this change? I can think of two things: 1. Keep a trickle of power on through the flare and hold-off and pull steadily to idle once the mains are on the ground. 2. Raise the approach speed by 5 knots or so, bringing more potential energy into the flare/hold-off scenario. Or, am I barking up the wrong tree entirely?

:clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2: That's awesome news!

Wow. Amazing stuff, H.H! Gotta see LHI one day!

Agreed! It is an awesome moment when you line up on the runway and your instructor says "Your aircraft..." for the first time! Keep up the good work, and let us know how you go. :thumb_up:

:thumb_up::thumb_up::thumb_up::thumb_up::thumb_up:

The comments on the article are interesting reading. So many people don't quite know what they're talking about.

Well, my nav training is next on the list, so that's a real possibility!

Thanks guys. Glad I'm not the only one! :throw pc:The real thing is the only way to go!

Yeah, I just read about that. That sux indeed! I've had plenty of those days in recent history. But don't worry, a perfect day will come along and get you addicted again (or even more so!). Aviation is a fickle mistress.... Keep the faith.

Yep, today after weeks and weeks of waiting I finally got to go for a long flight with a friend. The victim willing participant was my friend Shane, who is currently studying for his PPL down at Moorabbin with Royal Vic. This was his first time in a recreational aircraft, so I was keen to get his feedback on what he thought about the flying experience in a Jabiru. It was a perfect day for flying, and we spent a whole hour touring around the local area and finished off with some circuits. It was great fun. I couldn't wipe the smile off his face afterwards! More details at my blog here. Maybe I'll convince him to join the dark side Recreational Aviation family and have some real fun!

Congrats, Don!

Wow! Cooper Basin looks awesome. Thanks for sharing, Jeff! :thumb_up:

Plenty do, Bob. Here's one that I can think of off the top of my head: http://www.lightwing.com.au/features.html

This is what I'm finding! Once upon a time I was pretty good at flying in the simulator. I used all kinds of tricks to ensure I was flying square circuits and flaring at the correct height, etc. While now that I'm qualified to fly the real thing, I came back to the simulator to see whether I could hone some skills and found that I am terrible at flying in the virtual world! Well, not exactly terrible... But you catch my drift. Procedurally I'm much better (I would hope so, too!), but I guess I put it down to the fact that I am looking for cues that the sim just doesn't provide. It is harder to sense the sink when on final, it's more difficult to judge 45 degrees when turning base etc, etc. Has anyone else found this? I guess that if I spent some money on a TrackIR system, a powerful computer and a good set of controls it might be better - but I find myself thinking "Hmmm...I could buy all this stuff at ~$1500+, or I could fly for many hours in the real one."

Living here in Ballarat, I've learned that you must take the opportunities as they come up (especially this time of year!). If you let that one perfect day pass, you can almost guarantee that the actual day you've booked the aeroplane will be s:censored:thouse!

Agreed! Which panel option did you get, Chris?

Looks great, Oz!

I'd like to try a microlight one day, looks like a great challenge - but great fun, too!

Looks beautiful, Chris! :thumb_up:

My instructor did that most lessons, CFI. I found it quite helpful to see how it all should be before I attempted it again (after not flying for a few days).

Spoilt for choice, Brett!!!

Heh... Cool.

Hehe.... I'm glad I wasn't the only one, Powerin!

You'd think that NASA could have afforded better padding on the seats!

That is cool.