Old Koreelah

Just heard that he was a RAAF mate of my brother. His old squadron mates have produced a profile of his fascinating aviation career. I’ve asked permission to post it here.

Whoopie! I flew! This morning I flew my little plane for the first time in 14 months (since I fell on concrete and broke my hip). Over the last year I’ve done some overdue maintenance and made a few improvements. This morning the weather was ideal- no wind, clear sky. I had the airport and sky almost all to myself. I still remembered how to do it and everthing worked well, although I thought I heard the engine stumble a bit on climb out. I used my newly-installed reostat to adjust the water injector back from 12 lph to about 5 and she sounded sweeter. Although the sky was cloudless, above 2000’ there was a layer of dirty haze, presumably from fires further west. That sure cut visibility until I got above it near 4000’. OzRunways proved useful when I heard a garbled 10-mile incoming call and was able to read his Rego from my screen. As he was on a conflicting course, I called him up and he dropped below me as I climbed. As he passed within two NM I turned to get a better look. Despite having 20-20 vision, I never saw him, even though he’s white and was below me with the sun behind. I wish every plane showed up on my screen like that.

Hitting that squigly line icon brings up any plans you have previously created. They are saved automatically.

Can’t help you with that one, FD. All my plans are listed when I hit the Plans icon in the bottom RH corner of the screen. How to make a library of them? Maybe contact OzRunways- they are very receptive to suggestions and feedback.

For infrequent flyers, it might be useful to use OzRunways while passenger (in a car or plane). That’s an opportunity to try out a few of its features and practise using it in a safe environment.

A tough little aircraft that helped save Australia. My Mum was an aircraft spotter during the war and I have her diary. After weeks of terrible news- the sinking of two British capital ships, the fall of Singapore and the rapid advance of the enemy towards Australia- she was thrilled to report 52 Kittyhawks flying north. It must have been a stirring sight! They had been shipped to Melbourne, rapidly assembled, then flown north by inexperienced pilots to face the Japanese in New Guinea. Several never made it, getting lost or crashing on the way. Some of those that made it were used in the defence of Milne Bay (said to be the first land victory by the Allies against the Japanese). It’s reported that the enemy was so close to taking the airstrip that pilots didn’t have time to retract their wheels before making their straffing runs.

We need a thread just on hangar doors, which probably cause more injuries to pilots than air crashes. Our club didn’t have the real estate to fit sliding doors, so went with vertical bifold. They are pretty easy to build but very wind sensitive; I’ve been thrown several metres by one. Most of the time it should be less of a problem than commercial operations- our toys mostly come out to play in good weather. Recently a roller bolt broke, which had me three metres up a ladder -a year after a fall onto concrete broke my hip. I always liked horizontally folding doors, but maybe they’d be safer if they were flat (recessed into the ground) when open. The upper section could be designed for planes to roll across it.

We have become dangerously dependent on digital technology controlled by foreign interests. Elon Musk switched off his satellite system to stop it being used by Ukraine and America can control who uses GPS. Before my next long trip, I plan to brush up my wizz-wheel and compass skills.

A similar, but unrelated acronym VKG was traditionally used to signify Police HQ radio. We were told it originally meant Voice of King George.

There is one very prominant anomaly you blokes should definitely steer clear of while flying:

This twin has been flying back and forth at 3500’ over the district NW of Casino, NSW. It’s track on FR24 showed a precise survey pattern: screen shot below. Locals tell me it’s using thermal imaging to locate and count populations of feral deer, pigs, etc.

Can’t answer your question Marty, but a similar thing happened to me a few years ago. I tracked what was identified as a B-737 flying low up the Hunter Valley. I was a bit concerned when this Boeing disappeared from view over farming country south of Tamworth. Seems rego numbers are often transferred to other aircraft, but FR24 may not keep up.

Some of us who fly slow old bug smashers get very excited by ground speeds in three digits.

Thanks Nev. I was proud to have my name engraved on it (along with mobs of other donors) but not so now. The Bugatti 100P was a beautiful design, but one lesson taught by that tragedy is to value simplicity.

I did and have to wear the result.