Bruce Robbins

Oshkosh is about 150 miles North of Chicago. Went last year with my wife. We flew into Chicago then picked up a hire car and drove up to Oshkosh. Easy 3 hour drive on American freeways all the way.

The valve clearances tightening up usually indicates that the valve seats are recessing into the heads. The valves face and/or seats could also be wearing away. Either would warrant further investigation if the trend continues. Bruce.

Tomorrow - Saturday 30th June Hi Boys and Girls, Spoke to John Taru this evening and the field is still water-logged from all the rain this week. John didn't think we'd be flying till the afternoon, assuming no more rain. He will still be there from 8:30 am to open up however. The wind is also forecast to be a fairly strong westerly on Saturday, easing and going west/nor-west on Sunday. Cheers!!!

Steve, Vos goood to meet ze bandidos from ze mountain, who I zee now just come down to steeel our wimmin and learn ze secret flying styles taught by Daveedo Rolfo, our famoous CFI. Next time you will not be so locky! Ve zee you comin' and ve lock avay ze wimmin and hide Daveedo. Ze Jabbi you can fly, but ze LightVing is not for ze bandidos from ze mountain! Zat one is for peelots only. If you bring beeg bag of silver next time, maybee ve let you vatch vhile ve fly zat one. Maybee.

Your still welcome to fly over and have a look. I haven't been up there for three weeks due to all the rain we've had, but was going to ring the boys in the morning and see if they were going to be there. Even though we've had a pile of rain in the last three weeks the strip is fairly well drained, and holds up well for a grass strip. After so long with no flying I'm keen to get there. According to the BOM site, Camden has had no rain all day yesterday and today, so I'm hoping the strip will be useable tomorrow. If you want to drop in, over fly at 2,400 feet and look for any aircraft parked on the inactive runway. The Oaks (YOAS) has two parallel North/South runways, but the one closest to the hangers is being "spelled" as the farmers would say. You can also call All Stations Oaks, or Oaks ground on 126.7 and ask about the strip. Bruce

Ross, The only fuel available on the field is from a private supply of avgas held by Dave Rolfe, CFI of Dave's Flying School. Provided he has enough for his own needs he is happy to sell it to you. Cash or cheques only, no credit cards. If you want mogas you need to cadge a lift into town with one of the bystanders and get it from the servo. (Loan 20 litre drums available for the purpose) If Dave cannot supply you, or is not there due inclement weather, you can get fuel from nearby Camden or I think still at Hoxton Park. Camden is non-controlled during the week. Check ERSA for details. Regards, Bruce

Would sure save an exciting moment wouldn't it! In practice I've found that once you have both wheels down, the rudder (and therefore coupled nosewheel) will be in the right place automatically. ie: Centred or slightly into wind, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to be thinking about where you have it pointed. Bruce

btw Garrett, Talk to your instructor and follow what he recommends for the aircraft you're flying, the conditions at your field, and your level of experience.

Hi Garrett, What you are doing is perfectly correct. If you try and touchdown on both wheels, you will inevitably start drifting off the runway. Now let me start preaching! While the aircraft is in the air it doesn't matter if you're drifting sideways. However, when you come to place it onto the ground during landing, it's very important to have no, or as little side drift as possible, especially in a tail dragger. We need to have the aircraft aligned with the runway so that the wheels will track straight ahead once they touch the ground, and we need as little side drift as possible. If the aircraft is drifting sideways too much as it touches the ground, you will either damage the undercarriage, tip up onto the downwind wingtip, or the aircraft will veer off track. The only way to have an aircraft with its wheels aligned down the runway, and no sideways drift, is to have the aircraft sideslipping into the wind at the same rate that the wind is drifting the aircraft sideways. ie: In a left crosswind, the aircraft is slipping to the left at the same rate as the wind is pushing it to the right. (Note that some people call this a forward slip) To make the aircraft slip to the left while still staying aligned with the runway, we lower the into wind wing (in this case the left wing), while pressing on the right rudder to prevent the nose yawing off to the left. You lower the wing as much as is needed to stop the aircraft drifting off the centre line, while using the corresponding amount off rudder to keep the nose in line with the runway. So, there are two methods to handle a crosswind landing. 1) The crab method. (Your method) Point the nose of the plane off into the wind all the way down final, then as you begin the flare, transition into the sideslip described above. Touch down on the into wind wheel, then lower the high wing down till the other wheel touches, then release back pressure to smoothly lower the nose wheel. Once the nose wheel is down, push the stick (or control wheel) back into the wind untill you've parked the plane. The difficulty with this method is to time the transition into a sideslip at the same time as smoothly flaring into the hold off, then judging the right amount to lower the into-wind wing. If you are flying a low wing aircraft with a low set undercarriage, this method may be the only one possible. 2) The wing low (or sideslip) method. Whenever possible, this is my prefered method. All we do is this. Roll onto final and align the aircraft with the runway. Lower the into-wind wing while at the same time pressing opposit rudder so that the nose stays aligned with the runway. If the aircraft is drifting downwind, lower the wing a bit more. If you start drifting upwind, raise the wing back up a bit. The whole time you are doing this, your feet are simply keeping the nose aligned with the runway. Keep doing this all the way down into the flare. Keep the wing down during the flare and land on the upwind wheel. Lower the other wheel, lower the nose, and then put the stick back into the wind. Notice that in both methods the end is the same. In method 2 you carry a sideslip right down final into the flare and touch down. In method 1 you transition to the sideslip as you commence the flare. If your are using method 2, and you find that you end up with full rudder but still cannot keep the aircraft aligned with the runway, then be aware that the crosswind is beyond the limits of the aircraft. Go find another place to land that is more into the wind. Here endeth the lesson! Bruce

Steve, There are two schools operating at the Oaks. Dave's Flying School: (operates 7 days per week) Jabiru, Quicksilver or Lightwing. CFI is Dave Rolfe 4657 2771 Sydney Recreational Flying Club: Training in Lightwing. Saturdays only. Contact Arthur Armor 0425 251 939 Regards, Bruce

[b1rd]Blast !!!! I was going to go down yesterday Bruce but thought it would have been too sodden or worse ! That'll learn ya, won't it. And wasn't sure if you instructed on Sundays/Mondays ? Filling in for Dave, who had the long weekend off. I could have kept you on your toes in those cross-winds :confused:. Glad to hear there was no damage and the planes are okay. I'm shattered! I thought you guys trusted the talking ballast in the right hand seat.

No, the field is suprisingly dry. Obviously didn't get as much rain as other areas. Wind today was West/South West. (Good for some crosswind practice.) Only had four people flying today, so pretty quiet for a long weekend. Cheers, Bruce

Evening Boys & Girls, Flew today with two students. Weather was good. Light wind straight down 18, very mild turbulence and a cloud base of 4,500. Had to land a bit long to avoid a puddle or two on the runway, but otherwise a luvverly day to go for a fly (and absolutely no queueing for an airyplane). Hope to see a few more of youse out and about tomorrow (Monday). Bruce

You blokes are making my head hurt! If you can't sleep go to here http://williams.best.vwh.net/avform.htm ..........and when you finally get to sleep, go to here in the morning and download the fruits of some-one else's labour. http://www.airborne-aviation.com.au/resources/flightplan/flight_planner.zip It's a brilliant piece of excel programming and works a treat. I used a password cracker a few years ago to peek at the formulas when I first started to use it. Took one look and quickly closed the bonnet again!

Dave, From another forum. Quote: I flew over the top, looked like they were ok from the air apart from being surrounded by about 40 very curious cows. Could see both people walking and they sounded ok on 124.55. 100% a C152, MFG. They reported "engine trouble" around 5:15pm then shortly after a mayday. They called from the ground saying they were both alright. Aircraft appeared to be all in 1 piece.

...... and a few more. [ATTACH]1975[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1976[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1977[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1978[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1979[/ATTACH]

Hi Dino, and welcome to the forum. You'll get a better response on advice if you post under Jabiru User's Group forum on this site. Bruce

According to CASA, VH-ABC is a Tigermoth registered to an Elwan Ferguson who lives in Paddington.

Oshkosh 2007 pics A few pics from Oshkosh 2006. Cars, Caravans and Motorhomes. Air Show runway behind [ATTACH]1682[/ATTACH] Some of the display area [ATTACH]1683[/ATTACH] Aircraft parking on the last day. Was full on day 1. [ATTACH]1684[/ATTACH] Loud ones [ATTACH]1685[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1686[/ATTACH] Old ones [ATTACH]1690[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1691[/ATTACH] "Am I seeing double?" ones [ATTACH]1692[/ATTACH] Big ones [ATTACH]1688[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1689[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1687[/ATTACH] (Can't seem to drive these big guys without the windows down!)

Hi Ian, I went there last year for the first time after many years of saying "must go to Oshkosh one day". Had a great time and recommend any-one interested in light aircraft to go at least once in their lifetime. The place is Huuuge, and there is so much to see that you'll need at least four days and then you won't see everything. They usually get about 15,000 light aircraft flying in and staying a while during the duration of the event. Australia has about 12,000 aircraft in total on the registery, so imagine every single aircraft in Aus (including airliners) at the one airport at the one time! Although EAA is primarily about home builts, it seems every-one in America (and many other countries) with a plane, product or aviation barrow to push is there to buy, sell, spruik, fly, or demo. Of course you can also spend three days just wandering down the flight line of vintage aircraft taking pictures and talking to the owners sitting on camp chairs under the wings. We (my wife and I) flew into Chicago and then picked up a hire car at the airport and drove up to Oshkosh. Three hours due North and pretty easy to find. We stayed at one of the local schools on the edge of Oshkosh, and they provided a free shuttle down to the airport twice a day. Cost will be between $US45-$US55 a day depending on whether you want single or shared rooms. They close for a three month summer break, and so rent out their facilities for the convention. I also joined EAA before leaving Australia, as I figured it would work out cheaper on entrance costs. Go to http://www.airventure.org/ for details and info on the whole shebang, and pm me if you want contact details for where we stayed or any more info. Cheers, Bruce

Gents, Don't be too qiuck to jump to conclusions. Landing a big jet is a lot more complex than the "bug-smashers" we fly, and when things start going wrong the situation can get out of hand very quickly. The CVR (Cockpit Voice recorder) has been recovered and sent back to America where they have managed to extract most of the data, despite some fire damage. We just need to be patient and wait for the investigation to announce its findings. Also: 1) Painting out aircraft logos after an accident is common practice in many countries, not just Indonesia. 2) The tower at the airport concerned was manned by the military, where it is also common practice to confirm undercarriage down and locked. Listen in to any Australian military ATC sometime. Happy reading! Bruce

Hey Mister, you wanna buy some paint?? Andy, Took a J230 for a quick trip YOAS - YNGN - YOAS via Katoomba Orange and Dubbo (The Oaks to Nyngan and return)today to pick up a friend. Averaged 19.6 litres per hour for a fast cruise at 2950 rpm. Ground speed around 110kts out and nearly 130 back. 5.9 hours total airtime. Lumpy as all get out down low, but smooth as the proverbial at 8500 and 9500. Looks as though Nyngan and Aramac hired the same architect and painter! Bruce

David, I have a Maicoletta 250cc scooter that I bought many many years ago with the aim of restoring. It had been fitted with a home made sidecar, and came with a spare engine. It's a fascinating design with fuel tank pressurised from the exhaust, and a crank mounted generator that turns into an electric starter. After 25 years it's still sittting under the house waiting some attention! Bruce

Polikarpov I-153 Yeah, you're right, forward visibility was a problem. VFR navigation must have been a right royal pain in the @!*&rse! The I-153 actually entered production several years after this I-16 monoplane. [ATTACH]1407[/ATTACH]. In both aircraft the cockpit sides came right up to pilot's shoulder level [ATTACH]1405[/ATTACH][ATTACH]1406[/ATTACH] On the I-153 and the top wing cut back down to the fuse in front of the pilot to give him a gap to see through. [ATTACH]1404[/ATTACH] Once flying in a level attitude the display pilot said the vis wasn't too bad, but landings were "tricky". In flight the Polikarpov's are fast, agile little planes, with a fantastic flat low pitched exhaust note from the 1000 or so round horses up front. "Harley Davidson on steroids" was the most popular comment. The Polikarpovs and the Lavochkin LA9 were probably my favourite display aircraft. [ATTACH]1408[/ATTACH] World's only flying LA-9

Waving to the crowd [ATTACH]1402[/ATTACH] Waving to the crowd, Corsair style. [ATTACH]1403[/ATTACH] ....Wanaka, New Zealand.