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Just so there is no confusion: yes, I have been volunteering on NATFLY and also finishing off the main site (some work by sub contractors paid for) and while there will always be a degree of that (i.e.: there will be no 6-minute lawyer style billing for my advice and help), from now on there will be a commercial agreement between RA-Aus and my company. This is the result of a competitive quote process; the competition was presenting in Canberra on Saturday too. There is both too much work for anyone to do this voluntarily and RA-Aus also wants to make sure a company is supporting them, which I think you will all agree. Imagine the chaos if systems failed and there was nobody there to make them work again because the volunteer lost interest? And of course, as a passionate member, I will also have more than just a commercial interest in this project. The best way to have a successful product is to make something you want for yourself. And while it is rare for a consultancy to get that opportunity (you just make what the client wants you to make) it is also the case here; I *want* it to be easier for me to deal with RA-Aus online and make the organisation more efficient!

Our organisation (and any, in Australia) requires a board and they cost money. I think you are way of the mark here, CFI. Those are expenses, not pay. If you think spending a a few nights a year in the Best Western while spending all day in a devoid-of-daylight board room is a "reward" because you happen to get your meal paid for in a nice restaurant, you should probably try it some time! Such is the reality of any business travel; it seems glamorous only to those who don't get to do it. Those that do, know better.

Thanks Dex! Yeah, and I credit much of it to the influx of new board members, including the executive, spearheaded by someone who likes to get things done and someone who knows how to manage money. But the other members too; if you don't have that confidence and have been burnt in the past, it is easy to procrastinate making the decision and going "all in". And this time the decision came real quick after the competitive presentations and quotes. I don't want to blow my own trumpet too much, but I think that the majority of people, when confronted with someone who clearly knows what they are talking about, understands the needs and explains well how to meet them, and is obviously a passionate member wishing nothing but the best for the organisation then it is easy to go for it.

If you've seen the magazine and read the presidents report, he was expecting the magazine to be delivered later than it was. The February issue in people's mailboxes at the start of February, that's an improvement over a year ago for sure! I was in Canberra on Friday to talk to staff and on Saturday, to present the new website and plans for more, which was well received. We just have to put some finishing touches on it with input from a few more people and the site will go live. It will give us a great, professional "first contact" point with new aviators. Plus... ...We're going to do great things for RA-Aus this year, technology wise, to make things better for members and way less burdensome to staff. This was one of the things I said I'd like to see happen in my board election attempt and I am really pleased I'll be able to help get this done this way. It was great to spend a day in the office and meet the staff, they sure work hard for us! And that includes the very knowledgable interim tech manager who was on site while I was there. Cracking on with things and getting them done by the sounds of it. Office IT wise (which I am not involved with, but have scrutinised the proposal from the company that will) they are going to get some great updates too this year, which is very much needed, and I think the winning company will do a great job supporting them. Other than that, I wasn't in any meeting, so couldn't tell you what happened. :) PS: Not sure why the site was dysfunctional, nothing to do with me. I do have some suspicions as to why and that will get better soon too.

Since we stopping "graphing" things onto paper with "photo" (light) and just started viewing them on screen! :p

Yeah, the viking is very interesting. It also has the advantage of having 30 more horses than the AeroVee and (arguably) the reduction drive. I have seen a few models where take-off distance a Rotax 80HP is quoted as a lot less than another popular 80 HP brand. Someone in the know (he's on these forums) tells me this is because geared props spin up to full thrust quicker. Can anyone confirm? It even offers 10 HP more than Rotax for 10 grand less!

I think just about every Sonex flies with one of these and they don't seem to have a bad rep. If I were doing a homebuilt that didn't need a lot of power, I would certainly consider it. Lyle: the AeroVee is a 2180cc engine with a fair bit more power than your 1600 and not significantly heavier than a Jabiru or Rotax.

Has anyone got some good photos of trikes (weight shift) and powered parachutes? It would also be great to have pictures of people inside aircraft, student and instructor, etc. Thanks for all the pictures so far!

Ask not what camera you should buy - they are almost all the same; ask what lenses you need to successfully capture the things you want to photograph.

Thanks for the ones coming in so far, some really great ones! I am away this weekend, but just because I have not replies to your emails yet, doesn't mean I have not seen or appreciated them! Sent from my iPad. ;)

Uhm, that should be "for" new RA-Aus website. Can't edit it, maybe a moderator can...

Hi Guys and Gals, I am looking for some good photos of recreational aircraft for the new website. They will go on the "aircraft" page to give people an idea about the kind of aircraft we fly. So I need: Ultralight / LSA category: Jabirus, SportStar, Morgan Aeroworks, etc. Trikes / weight shift powered chutes. I don't want to randomly grab them off the internet and having to chase people for permission. So if you have good quality photos, please send them to me under the understanding they may be used for this purpose! Please email them to [email protected]. Thanks in advance!

If you are flying on a discount economy ticket, you can pretty much forget about doing that, as per David's experience. Only upgrades I ever got were operational; i.e.: they overbooked economy and were moving people with some status up a cabin. The best way to get an operational upgrade without a lot of status points is being a young woman traveling solo. Seriously. The idea being they are least likely to offend paying business class passengers.

Nah, I just pick easy to find points; crossing a road at right angles, a road intersection, abeam a town or lake, etc. then just round up to the nearest easy one; 13 miles is close enough to 4x, 18 close enough to 3, etc. We're not flying across oceans here, just 50 to 80 mile legs! It won't make much difference.

Stupid idea, but what's even stupider is that I can check in my 23 KG bag without paying extra, but the 50kg chick behind me needs to pay extra because her bags come up to 30kg.

OK, we're letting that cat out of the bag now. Carol and I have been hard at work the past week to get this up and running: a real home for NATFLY for years come. It will be a work in progress right until Easter, but now we have a place that staff, board and volunteers can easily update with the latest NATFLY information. And next year, we can make it even better, keep building it year on year. Have a look at: http://www.natfly.com.au/

A little birdie tells me there will be a pretty fine NATFLY website to start with soon, main site to follow soon after.

Not encrypted but hashed; there is no key to return them to what they were. That sounds very safe until you go into "login.php" and put an extra line of code in there that logs passwords before they are hashed, if you were so inclined. So CFI is right, if you use a password on one site, staff there could certainly find out what it is and log in as you on other sites. And then there is Cross-Site-Scripting (XSS) where hidden code in a website can do requests to another website that you are also logged in on, retrieving any session IDs, the attacker setting that as their own cookie and go browse as you. No password required! A reason many websites requiring greater security (your bank, Amazon, etc.) will bind a session to an IP (range) and if the same session ID is used from elsewhere, they will not allow it ask for the password again. Is this a reason to be worried? Not really. It's only a small number of sites that are problematic and it is no more a threat to you than the gas station clerk that copies credit card numbers to sell on: if it happens to you, it can be quite bad, but the chance of it happening is extremely remote. (Unless you frequent many dodgy sites with too-good-to-be-true deals, etc.)

When doing DR, 1 in 60 is so easy and precise and can be done of the top of your head; nothing to measure or write down. I don't see why anyone would want to attempt to get a map spread out and flat enough to put a protractor on it while maintaining altitude and heading; basically an impossible thing to do on any aircraft with a stick between your legs.

Yeah, unless all they wanted to test if it would punch through the hole, clear other surfaces and not break the airframe when it went off, it doesn't make a lot of sense. Their "worst case stall scenario" explanation on the YouTube comments doesn't cut it; in the worst case stall scenario you would be going down at a few thousand feet per minute at least and still have some forward speed too.

As a side note: I have been flying with these ever since I got them at Oshkosh this year and love them: http://www.clarityaloft.com/ They are every bit as quiet as any ANR headset, but for half the price, and no big ear cups mean no sweat and no headband means better canopy clearance for a big bloke like me. The in-ear foams are more comfortable than any earplug you'll have ever used. I do 3 hours flights without them being uncomfortable. On those flights, I also plug in my iPhone for some music and they actually sound very good. Bass response isn't great, but mids and highs are clear and very well balanced, very enjoyable to listen to. I can't recommend them highly enough.

For that budget, you could do a lot worse than getting the XCOM branded headset. (As anything XCOM, sold by site member Michael Coates) Proper gel seals giving you very-near-DC quality for half the price... http://www.xcomavionics.com/store/store.html

I am not sure he can do that there legally either, probably not! It doesn't take much to learn to do aeros; contrary to popular belief, there is no "rating" - you just have to go practice with an instructor and when they feel you are OK with a particular manoeuvre (loop, barrel roll, etc.) then that gets signed off in your log book and you can go and do them. Though only with a PPL in a VH aircraft, of course...

I know these are factory guys going testing, but does the POH actually approve of this for production aircraft? That would be a good reason to register one of these VH. :)

What needs to be matched about them? They are two completely separate items! :) If you want small, you can buy an X-Com radio and micro air transponder. Although a Trig TT21 will get you mode-s and ready for ADS-B, should you desire. If you want full size, you could do worse than Garmin SL40 and GTX 327. Jabawocky on PPRuNe is selling his GTX327 because he's just upgraded to a GTX 330. Could be a good deal for you. Don't muck about with the built in intercom in any radio, just get a PS Engineering PM1000 installed. You won't regret it.