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Wayne T Mathews

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Everything posted by Wayne T Mathews

  1. And that, Boys and Girls, is why we fly...
  2. I was gunna click the like button, but I just couldn't bring m'sef to do it on this one, Mate... Geez, it's a scary scary thought....
  3. Stroof Mate... Ava go at that pitchar... bloody 'ell,,, 'E's probly wearin' budgee smuglers too, eh?...
  4. While it's true there are some who don't understand the basics, David, I don't agree there's a lot, because I'm finding most pilots do have the basics. Admittedly, there are the few Know All Know F**k Alls (KAKFAs) who annoy the bejeezus out of the rest of us when they don't read their ERSA. But I'm finding even they respond reasonably well to polite reminders. Here at Gunnedah, we have our own CTAF freq of 127.4, and we have R/H ccts on RNWY 29 to minimize traffic overflying the town. It's not at all uncommon for people to overfly to join the circuit with out having made any transmissions on CTAF. A gentle broadcast from the ground on 126.7 stating Gunnedah's CTAF is 127.4 and RNWY 29 has R/H ccts usually fixes the problem real quick and with no hassles...
  5. Back in '72, I was a new (read, inexperienced) flight fitter on Iroquois. We were on an exercise supporting the SAS in Western Australia and an Army Captain let me go up with him and pole his Pilatus Porter. Sort of like a TIF, only different... I've never been the same since...
  6. Finding out how fast your aircraft goes isn't all that hard to do. Just push the throttle forward on a calm day and hope the controls don't flutter. Finding out how slow your aircraft goes is a tad more complicated. But then I'm prejudiced. The first aircraft I ever poled was a high performance aircraft at the bottom end of the speed spectrum.
  7. Part of the Crewies' job on Caribous was to stand outside with an intercom wander lead during engine start and monitor the engine, in particular, that big ol' exhaust augmenter. When asked, "What will be the first indication of an engine fire during start-up?" One pilot was heard to say, "If I see my Crewie is 200 yards away, idly kicking pebbles, the odds are I've probably got an engine fire."
  8. And we're back to what Ossie had to say over a week ago...
  9. Yabba dabba doo Barney... I used to have one o' them handbrake thingies on my billycart. When I used both hands and really pulled on it, I could get at least one of the back wheels off the ground. And some times the billy cart slowed down... But it scared the horses so they made me stop using it...
  10. In my opinion, the extra weight and/or cost of putting both differential braking and tailwheel/nosewheel steering on your aircraft, is irrelevant... In my opinion, if you have the option to have both, then take both... But then I was in an incident once where the aircraft only had a castoring nosewheel, and the R/H brake failed. So maybe I'm being over sensitive...
  11. Good morning Shags, Differential brakes are where we have two brake "pedals". One for the left main wheel, and the other for the right main wheel. They work independantly of each other and as a result, can be used to steer the aircraft by applying "drag" to the left wheel to make the aircraft turn left, as an example. Normal brakes, like in a car, only have one brake "pedal" (in aircraft, it's usually a hand lever of some sort) which applies equal brake pressure to both (or all) wheels at the same time. So "normal" brakes can not be used to "steer" the aircraft.
  12. And in some, eg the Cub, they're mandatory...
  13. The Echuca Aeroclub has a couple of numbers listed in the ERSA Oleg. They'll probably be able to give you up-to-date info...
  14. I understand and agree Turbs. In my opinion, differential brakes are much better (I keep saying differential 'cause the Cub has heel brakes) no matter where the tailwheel is (front or back ). But the fact is some people think they don't need diferential brakes, and I'm not going to bother arguing with them... Hell, there's even people out there who reckon they don't need ailerons... and I'm not going to argue with them either, because in their aircraft, they probably don't need them...
  15. A handbrake is not a major problem GAFA. A bit like stopping your car with the handbrake rather than the foot brake. I will say though that in the Tecnams I'm flying, I find the nosewheel steering a bit harder to use with the handbrake applied.
  16. Some do, some don't... I'm guessing complexity, and therefore cost, is probably the main reason some choose not to have differential foot braking... There's also the argument; if I've got nose wheel steering, why do I need differential brakes on light aircraft?
  17. G'day SAJ, and welcome aboard.
  18. Hhmmm, this one could get real interesting... Back in the 70s, when as a young man I first started flying proffessionally, my Dad gave me some advice that has stood me in good stead over the decades, and I'll pass it on here. Aircraft are not designed to be on the ground. They're designed to be in the air. So if you have a problem with your aircraft while you're airborne, do not rush to put it on the ground. In the vast majority of instances it will be much better to get the aircraft into a holding pattern that is clear of other aircraft and terrain, and then work out what your problem is and what you can do to compensate/correct it. The old chant, "Aviate, navigate, communicate," pretty well sums it up...
  19. Good morning James, welcome aboard...
  20. Kev Walters used to have one on line at his place in Lowood, QLD... Kev's ph 07 5465 8888 or 0428 718 072
  21. Good afternoon GAFA, Zane Tully, the Operations Manager, lives up in your area. A quick phone call to him on 0428 282 870, or even better, an email to [email protected] and it's London to a brick you'll get the answers...
  22. Hear hear... Basic is good... Attitude + power = performance...
  23. After the bumpy bit is over, the folks with nosewheels can usually see where they're going...
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