farri

Big Guy! Glad you decided to join this Forum!........Cheers...Franco

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of taking Tony Lanzi up in the Drifter for his first Ultralight flight! Next was to be Matthew, our eldest Grand-Son and a 13-year-old boy who Matt mentors at school, but unfortunately, just as they arrived mother nature unleashed a Thunder Storm that would have been the equivalent of a category 1 cyclone! it knocked out the power to 250 homes in the Babinda area, fortunately, we have a standby generator so we didn`t have to sit in the dark for several hours! The current forecast is for fine with very little wind for all of this week which is great but "MAN! IS IT HOT AND HUMID!" Tony Lanzi is a very experienced pilot who owns and flies a 1981, RG 182 Cessna,Turbo, currently based at Innisfail aerodrome...I met Tony for the first time,yesterday. Franco.

https://updatetrendynews.com/mini-helicopter-crashes-into-the-ocean-near-capel-in-western-australias-south-west/

Only a fool would believe their engine would never fail, regardless of make!

G`Day Don! Rain, Rain, More Rain, Then! Even More Rain! and it`s not finished yet! Following a very dry year for this part of the country, the dry ended in mid December... We`ve been flooded in twice already this year and it`s only the beginning of February and the Cyclone season doesn`t end till the end of April. I`ve had to bring the Drifter up to higher ground here at the house for the second time! it was tied down here for the best part of last week...This morning there was a break in the rain and the wind so I decided to go for a fly! I had to use the strip up at the house here but nothing stops the grass growing and I havn`t been able to mow it so it was fairly high but not a problem! I landed back on the other one and put the Drifter back in the shed but I don`t know for how long it will be there as that low that`s been flooding so many areas of North Queensland is expected to last at least another week. Franco.

http://lightsportaircraftpilot.com/airventure2010/23.html?fbclid=IwAR2xDqfqlddC_ND_mE_XeG8c-ziz4tmT9c9qravssSDEKJyhynWcdUKEJUg

Hey Todd (bunyips)! good to know you`re still around!!! Been doing any flying? Floats?????

Yesterday morning, big Jimmy,(previous flight) /monthly_2018_12/1277896720_Jimmy.(Large).thumb.jpg.b0a9aae67acd062cc2530e3405f13f1d.jpg turned up with his friend Ron! Jimmy had told Ron about the two flights he`d had with me and Ron was keen to see what it was all about. Ron is the first passenger I`ve had who chose to wear his Motorcycle helmet, that was fine with me but I did explain that in the event of a heavy landing the helmet could cause severe neck injuries. Back on the ground, usual question from Me, " First impression! what did you think of the flight?" Ron, "Great but I forgot to press the record button, for the Video". Ah well! you win some you lose some! Ron reckons he`ll be back so hopefully next time he`ll remember to press the record button. Franco, Ps, Before anyone jumps up and down about the Camera, I`ll make it clear that I allow anyone to take a Camera, provided it is secured in a manner that is safe. Pps, Big Jimmy is determined to lower his MTOW!

Hey Bob! You want the Chicks, you`ll have to fly a Drifter!!!!...Frank.

What a brilliant way to draw attention to easyjet as well!!!

Old Drifter pilots have more fun!!! .......Sisters, Natashia and Deliah having their first Ultralight flight in the Drifter, with me, yesterday afternoon! Franco. Ps, After the flight? Two very excited, happy ladies! Pps, Photos posted with their permission!

The Scout caught my eye also! I can say I`ve successfully flown a Scout a couple of times.

After almost a week of of strong wind that would blow a drovers dog off a chain, not to mention the heavy rain, today was sunny, with the wind back around 15 kts so Frances and Me had a hard days work at our eldest Daughter and her Husband`s big property at Mundoo , Me mowing and Fran taking care of the garden! got it all done and back home with enough time to go for a fly, so I did and what a fly it was! First solo flight for 2019. High above the valley! Sun just going down over Mt Bellenden Ker. Franco, Ps, No matter how much flying I do taking others flying with me, I have the need to get up there on my own and just enjoy the magic of it all.

Thank you Phil! All the best to you, your family and friends... Franco (Frank)

Over the years I`ve considered building a shed for the Drifter up here on high ground that doesn`t go under water, considered it again with the bit of flooding we`re just getting, and then I`m reminded of the song, Manana Manana. Peggy Lee November 25, 1947. " The window it is busted and the rain is coming in If someone doesn't fix it I'll be soaking to my skin But if we wait a day or two the rain will go away And we don't need a window on such a lovely day " Getting everyone home the day after I moved the Drifter! Sam holding the Tinny so I could take the photo... Sam`s father, Bernard, lives in New Zealand and came over here to spend Christmas with Sam and the rest of us! New experience for Bernard! I reckon he`ll remember it. The Mulgrave river rose again over night and flooded Ross road again so this morning I had to take our Grand-Daughter Alison to the other side so she could go to work! No need for the Tinny and really! no big deal!!! Going Across! Franco, Ps, I`ve had a life time of experience on the water and under it! Don`t try to cross flood water if you are not absolute sure you know what you are doing. I havn`t yet found the problem but when I submit a post, it comes up different than I wrote it! Hopefully I`ll get it worked out or is it the new system that`s got bugs in it...I`ve had to edit 3 times

You could be part of some of my stories if you really wish to! There`s a very nice house for sale, just 750 mts up the road, on two blocks of land, with Mulgrave river views! owners are friends of ours and it`s their home away from home, at Alvina Bay, NSW. Cyclone? I went through my first Cyclone at nine years of age with my parents when we were living at Tully NTH QLD! Forgotten how many we`ve been through on our property here at Deeral but we`ve never sustained any really serious property damage and hopefully never will, however, we have lost many $$$ due to crop damage but we`re not farming anymore! it has been absolutely nothing like the losses so many people have had to bear due to bush fires...No chance of any fires here the way it`s raining right now. Frank, Franco!

At the end of one of the driest periods in many years, we`d been getting extremely heavy rain for a couple of days but no major flooding expected...After a very pleasant boxing day spent at Mission Beach, with some of our family and friends, Frances and I got back to Deeral at about 6 pm to find Ross road, the road to our property, flooded at the boat ramp( nothing new)! fortunately, there was a local guy who had just come across with his tinny so I got home with him and Frances went back to a friends place, just up the road, for the night. Down at the Drifter shed, the Drifter was sitting in water up to the belly tank, my Grand-son`s Jet-Ski, was on it`s trailer in the shed beside and it was about to float and the water was still rising! by the time I did what I had to do to get them out, it was dark, there was no one else here at home and I had to get both up to higher ground here at the house, in the dark and rain! I did have light from the Hilux ute and a very good torch, though... I`ve gone through moving the Drifter from flood water numerous times over the years but never in the dark, on my own and at 71 years of age (on new years day)...LOL...It`s amazing what you can do when you have to!!! Before the rain. I`d just finished mowing and went for a quick fly... Day after I shifted the Drifter. Same day. /monthly_2018_12/49571212_home1.thumb.jpg.74c2020c5ca1c0f5693884822e34ea9a.jpg Franco, Ps, We can get flooded in with next to no rain here at Deeral! It`s the amount of rain in the Mulgrave and Russell river catchment area and the Atherton Tablelands that determines the height of both rivers! at the moment our next threat is a low pressure system to the north of us that could develop into a cyclone! all we can do is to be prepared and wait and see!...Frances and Me wouldn`t live anywhere else! we plan to live out our life here. http://www.bom.gov.au/australia/charts/4day_col.shtml

Thank you Geoff! it`s been a long time coming and so plenty of time to come to terms with it but it`s hard not to let the mind go back to better times and that is when it really hurts! Fonti was in her early thirties when I got a phone call from this lady I`d never met saying her and her husband, Uwe, were wanting to learn to fly! she was such a beautiful, full of go, soul... Hopefully, Uwe, will recover from his loss and start flying again. Franco.

As Fonti was an AUF pilot, I decided to post here for anyone who may have known her! My wife Frances just made me aware of a photo she took at a gathering of some family and friends, at her house, just a few weeks ago! Fonti is the beautiful lady holding the flowers Frances gave her on the night.

This morning, Fontini Von Gunten, lost her long battle with Breast Cancer. Fontini, also known as Fonti and her husband, Uwe, were both students of mine, when I was instructing and both achieved their AUF pilot Certificate! they were keen Ultralight fliers and until recently, flew their X-Air from my strip! they were also personal friends of my wife Frances and Me. Rest in peace Fonti, you will now be flying with the Angles.... Fontini Von Gunten, 13.08.65-----27.12.18. Franco.

https://www.pipistrel-usa.com/electric-propulsion/?fbclid=IwAR21qZzEcmxmxS9QahytlhBmQpwdZLiYnZx74jxXukWlsnIWyhhwZEGZqaQ