Wayne T Mathews

What you have said is generally true David. But (here's that "but" word again) it's not impossable to get the numbers being quoted. I was told a long time ago that if you can get 1 Knot per horsepower, you've got an efficient airframe. It's one of the things that made CG Taylor famous in his time. He was getting 65 kts out of the 65 HP the J3 had. Then he built the Taylorcraft and got 75kts out of 65 HP. Yee Har... He did that in the mid to late '30s. Been a lot of water under the bridge since the '30s & '40s, David. Been a lot of advances in designs too. So there's no way I'd have the balls to say, "There is no way a STOL aircraft like the Savannah or Zenith will have a cruise speed of 97 knots.." I reckon with the right prop on a 100 HP 912 at altitude (which would probably be delivering around 90 HP), it's just possable the Savanah might true out at 97 kts. I agree it's not probable. But hey, it just might be possable. I'd want to fly one and try it before I'd commit to a definate opinion.

Very true. There was a tremendous amount of stuff going on, with Warbirds, RA Aus, GA, Autogyroes, Trikes, and even Radio Controlled models, all being represented and displayed (although the RC guys didn't get to fly, dang it!). We would have had the gliders here from Lake Keepit as well, but an unservicability kept them grounded. With the Air Tractors; Jono Middlebrook showed us how he does his GPS guided precision crop spraying. Then Andrew and Michael Kennedy showed us, up close and personal, how they "saturation" bomb the heck out of bushfires while flying a loose line of stern formation. Those Ag operators have come a long way from the days of silk scarfs, oil spattered goggles and open cockpits. The powered parachute didn't just do an overfly, Ray, he did a touch and go. I've never seen one do that here before. I must admit, watching him do it reminded me of a daddy long leg spider stalking prey.

It was a tremendous weekend here in Gunnedah. And next year is going to be even better. Paul Bennet had such a blast he's going to bring more of his equipment next year. Paul Bennet's display in the Pitts was amazing. And that Avenger? Holy molly... It's one hell of a single. And the sound as it goes by... Man it gives you goosebumps just listening to it. Dave Baddam's Yak is a sight to see too when he goes by. A few of our members went up with Dave, and every time, they come back saying things like, "I've seen videos and read about stuff like that. First time I've ever experienced it though." I couldn't decide who had the biggest grin, David the ex Harrier Jump Jet Driver, or his passengers. At the dinner on Saturday night, there was an auction where one of our local auctioneers, Bert Hewitt, working side by side with one of our local Ag pilots, Peter Middlebrook, sold off a whole bunch of stuff while keeping everyone laughing our heads off. One of the things auctioned was a ride in an S2 Pitts that Ryan and his Dad Col Taylor own. But the Pitts was to be piloted by Paul Bennet. Ryan's brother, Aaron, paid an astronomical amount for the ride but was too sick the next morning to take it, so he donated the ride to Chris Burgess's wife, Julie. The comment was made as Paul taxied the Pitts out on Sunday morning with Grandma Julie sitting proudly in the front seat, "That Pitts has never been flown so gently and smooth as it's about to be for the next half hour." And so it was. Julie came back with a grin that could have lit up London. For those who missed it this year, mark down the last weekend in June for next year. The Gunnedah Family Flying Fun Day, Christmas in June, will be on again, and it will be bigger and better...

Thanks Lyle, It was a tremendous weekend. And next year is going to be even better. Paul Bennet had such a blast he's going to bring more of his equipment next year. At the dinner on Saturday night, there was an auction where one of our local auctioneers, Bert Hewitt, working side by side with one of our local Ag pilots, Peter Middlebrook, sold off a whole bunch of stuff while keeping everyone laughing our heads off. One of the things auctioned was a ride in an S2 Pitts that Ryan and his Dad Col Taylor own. But the Pitts was to be piloted by Paul Bennet. Ryan's brother, Aaron, paid an astronomical amount for the ride but was too sick the next morning to take it, so he donated the ride to Chris Burgess's wife, Julie. The comment was made as Paul taxied the Pitts out on Sunday morning with Grandma Julie sitting proudly in the front seat, "That Pitts has never been flown so gently and smooth as it's about to be for the next half hour." And so it was. Julie came back with a grin that could have lit up London. For those who missed it this year, mark down the last weekend in June for next year. The Gunnedah Family Flying Fun Day, Christmas in June, will be on again, and it will be bigger and better...

I went really well Scotty. Paul Bennet's display in the Pitts was amazing. But don't worry, you'll get to see it, he's going to do it again at Noon today. So bring Jack, he'll love it. And that Avenger? Holy molly... It's one hell of a single. And the sound as it goes by. Man it gives you goosebumps just listening to it. Dave Baddam's Yak is a sight to see too when he goes by. A few of our members have gone up with Dave, and every time, they come back saying things like, "I've seen videos and read about stuff like that. First time I've ever experienced it though." I couldn't decide who had the biggest grin, David the ex Harrier Jump Jet Driver, or his passengers. Come on over Scotty, and bring young Jack, there's heaps for him to see and do...

Hullo!... Why would the people running our association want to prevent us having meetings?... Nah, it wouldn't be a control thing would it?...

It looks like the weather Gods are going to be kind to us, and the weekend is shaping up to be to be a ripper. Hope to see you here...

But they're so coarse... Angle grinders take a little longer, but the final result is so much neater...

Sure they're different... They're heavier... The extra paperwork isn't light you know... And it costs heaps...

Rats/mice can/will chew through damn near anything that isn't as hard as metal or glass... They're not overly fond of chewing through plastics, but they will do it if they've a mind to.

The question is, will I support you? The answer is: YES!!!

Oops, sorry Turbs, I hit the wrong reply thingy and I don't know how to fix it. I meant to hit David's...

I dunno... But there's a really really BIG lake West of Pud that he probably doesn't want to try and cross in the Thruster...

Oh oh... You're not looking at that really really BIG lake are you Pud?...

Wow! So I'm not the only one who carries a little monocular to read road/rail signs? Wow!...

Or the wind is coming from.... at ... kts because we can see the wheat crop rippling. I always feel SO relieved when I guess that one right...

Sounds like a good call to me, Pete... Goodnight all, I'm out of this one...

That's easy to answer: If you google Piper cherokee and click images, that photo is the first one presented. She didn't muck around...

Now hang on David!... Positive vibes, Mate, positive vibes... Take some deep breaths... In with the good, out with the bad...

Good afternoon Shane, I hadn't heard of Kevin either before he was recommended to me as an instructor trainer. And Kev and I had gone to the same school, the RAAF School of Technical Training (RSTT), when we were lads (admittedly, Kev was seven years ahead of me). Now I'm not a head shrinker, but I did have to learn a bit about, and then teach defences to the hijack phenomena, "Stockholme Syndrome", when I was carrying out the "Safety" training and annual refresher courses that I used to run for the flight deck and cabin crews when I was in Air Nauru. I'll put it to you as a Psych (I think that's what you said you are in an earlier post, didn't you?) that perhaps Kev is unconciously employing a "Stockholme Style" of instructional technique occasionally? For I can assure you, that so long as he can see his students are listening and progressing, Kev truly does have the patience of Job and is a real nice bloke. But when you don't listen to him, and/or you try to tell him you know better than him and then can't defend your claim... Ho boy... That experience is not pleasant... Kevin will not suffer fools. And he will not apologise for not suffering fools... And I for one, despite its political incorrectness, will defend Kev's right to do that. It is my opinion that if I can't handle being told I'm being a "D#ckh#ad", then I can either 1/ not be one, or 2/ not go near Kev Walters.

Hear hear...

Hear hear...

Hmmm, I'm trying to think of a case/reason where/why I'd do a 270 deg turn after engine failure.... Seriously, of course there are heights where a turnback is doable. I just don't think we should be teaching it within say the first two minutes after takeoff. Which for most of our equipment, translates to something around 1,000' AGL. Not exactly "After Take Off" anymore is it? I mean to say, 2 minutes after take off, most of us have, or are about to turn onto downwind. And it's reasonable to expect that most of us could carry out a FLWOP from there with something less than about a 130 deg turn back onto the runway. Having said that, we're still going to aviate, navigate, comunicate. We're going to set glide attitude, choose where we'll land, turn towards it, and then we're going to do our emerg C/L in the minute or so we've got while we're going there. Bottom line? When contact with the ground is inevitable, land straight ahead with the wings level... It is true there are high performance aircraft out there like the turbines that can be operated far more aggresively than is normal for us. However, I'm unaware of any of them being on our register at this time, so I'll leave discussing them for another day.

In my case, I thought I knew what the rudder was for. I had hundreds of hours in the Cub for Krisake... But then I met Kev Walters...

Yenn, please, listen to what we're saying, "DO NOT TURN BACK!" The impossible turn is never attractive because it doesn't work. That's why we call it the impossible turn. It doesn't work... You have said, "If I had been using the opposite direction strip things would be very different, there is nowhere straight ahead to land," And that's wrong! It would not be even slightly different, and there IS ALWAYS somewhere straight ahead to land. It may well be between the trees, but it is far better to"Go straight ahead to the hospital," than to "turn back to the morgue."