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Wayne T Mathews

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Everything posted by Wayne T Mathews

  1. Wayne T Mathews
    Just guessing... The volume decreases by roughly 9%? No... Hang on, that's not right 'cause only the ice's volume decreases, eh? Aargh shoot, I dunno. This's above my pay scale...
  2. Wayne T Mathews
    Welcome aboard, Drew.
  3. Wayne T Mathews
    I can imagine what you're describing Riley. I've never been on the ground in Northern Central Canada. But I did ferry an aircraft from Fairbanks across to Philly one clear, summer night. We were just inside the arctic circle at one stage, and there was a whole lot of rugged country below us. I distinctly remember sweet talking my engines to, "keep running". Fore there was no-where I'd have liked us to try a landing on our wheels, and that's for sure. Definitely skis or floats country. In a previous life I used to spend a bit of time going into places like Tapini in the PNG hi-lands and we used to think we were pretty special. Then, from up high, I saw the country the Canadian bush pilots operate into, and I've been tipping my hat to them ever since.
  4. Wayne T Mathews
    Thank you.
  5. Wayne T Mathews
    Holly mackerel! I didn't realize it was such a serious bingle...
  6. Wayne T Mathews
    I like the little yellow one, but hey, the blue ones pretty neat too...
  7. Wayne T Mathews
    This be true. But it's OK, we're learning how to handle it... As an aside, I can remember flying over Kansas USA back in the late '90s and seeing a HUGE concrete slab on the ground, 1 mile x 1 mile (640 acres), which I was told is one of the old airfields that were built back in WWII to train pilots. Now THAT was a proper landing field. YEE HAR! Landing and taking off into wind everytime with a minimum of 5,280 feet (1,609 mtrs)... But the concrete would have been hell on the tailskids...
  8. Wayne T Mathews
    Actually, having spent my formative years in the 60s & 70s, I always wanted to be a swinger. And these days, on my old girl, I have to swing the prop to get her purring. So OK, I guess I am a swinger, at last...
  9. Wayne T Mathews
    Good morning Ian, This's not a biggy, but after reading some of this morning's posts, could we get a "tongue in cheek" smilie? Sure is some of that going on, eh?
  10. Wayne T Mathews
    Hang on Met... I'm not sure we should be put on a pedestal like that... Ya gotta remember, the stats show most of us are afraid of heights...
  11. Wayne T Mathews
    Aargh jeez Turbz, relax, it's OK Mate,,, we understand... It's a known fact that not everybody can handle a serious aeroplane... But I salute your willingness to stick up for those who can't, and make them feel better.
  12. Wayne T Mathews
    Welcome aboard Scotty.
  13. Wayne T Mathews
    I understand and agree with what you're saying Nev. The point I was trying to make though, is that because they are slow, many people do not realise that both the Storch and the Hornet are infact high performance, specialist aircraft. Expecting them to be as easy to fly in gusty conditions as, let's say a Cessna, would be like expecting a rally car to be as easy to drive in city traffic as, well, let's say a Commodore. Doesn't mean the rally car can't be driven in city traffic though. Just means the blokes who do are gunna have to work harder than every one else. Which is the price rally car drivers are willing to pay to be able to do the things they do on mountainous dirt roads, whilst going to the places they can go to... It's not for everybody. When I was in 38 SQN on the 'Bous, we had business cards made up as a joke. The logo said, "No Sweat Airlines (NSA): We'll take you places no one else wants t'go to." We had to work bloody hard at times on that old balus! But damn! It was fun... And I've yet to meet a Storch or Hornet pilot who doesn't feel the same. But I will concede, it's not everybody's cup of tea.
  14. Wayne T Mathews
    Hear hear.
  15. Wayne T Mathews
    Welcome aboard Ausieaviatirx. You may not have realized it yet. But let me tell you, Tomo knows lots of things for a young bloke...
  16. Wayne T Mathews
    My mentor, Allan Coates (he taught my father, and then me, to be F/Es), told me that back in the 60s, Cambridge university in England did a study and came up with the stats that 7% of humans are afraid of heights, but amongst aircrew, 47% of them are afraid of heights. Apparently they (the people who did the study) theorized it had something to do with the personality type getting hooked on the adrenalin high. I wonder if that means almost half of us are junkies?
  17. Wayne T Mathews
    But it beats the alternative, Doug.
  18. Wayne T Mathews
    I know it's a generalization, so I probably shouldn't say this, but I would suggest all high performance aircraft can be a bit tricky in gusty conditions. And both the Storch and the Hornet are high performance aircraft. They just happen to be at the wrong end of the speed spectrum...
  19. Wayne T Mathews
    You know what's really scary? A/ Heights...
  20. Wayne T Mathews
    Because, It's very easy, and probably natural, to watch someone do something we would not be comfortable with, and then label that person as a "dumbsh#t".
  21. Wayne T Mathews
    Argh shoot, Nev... OK! Let me correct that... I must admit I have no idea whether Keith is a good man or not from a girl's point of view. But after having met and talked to him, I am of the opinion that he's one hell of an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer. And from my perspective, as biased as I am, that makes him a good man.
  22. Wayne T Mathews
    Welcome aboard Peter. Sounds like a fine, interesting life you're leading.
  23. Wayne T Mathews
    Guilty... But I'm in the North West. I understood Furio is looking for some one further South or to the South East. And if Keith is closer, well heck, he's a good man. My number is 0429 422 747
  24. Wayne T Mathews
    Welcome aboard Gentreau, Lovely place that New Caledonia. I haven't been there since the early '80s so I'm guessing it'll have changed a lot. Are you going there to work? Or to retire? I would think it'd be a great place to fly. And then there's the fishing. Oh WOW!!!
  25. Wayne T Mathews
    Very diplomatic. Thank you... But now I'll go back to what I diplomatically said in post #23: "So while luck may have played a part in his making old age, I suspect that hard work, self discipline and focus would have had a lot more to do with it than any luck. Test pilots who rely on luck, don't get to do it for very long." I think it's fair to say that Neil Armstrong was a test pilot extraodinaire, and he did it for a very long time. (how's that for diplomacy?)
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