Spin

Probably true at one time, in relation to annual sales, but I'd be surprised if even their most popular model (MX probably) came close in total production.

Thanks Willie, there are a couple there that I would not have come close to guessing eg FW-190 coming within 300 of all marks of Spitfire. As for the Mig-15 and the DC-3, wow.

Looks like a crocodile and whilst I'm no aerodynamicist, those intakes are going to be a joy to get working in a high alpha situation, something all the other modern jets excel at. Smoke and mirrors I say.

Thanks for that, very interesting.

Mods perhaps the article could be moved to the correct thread, it is well worth discussing - I'd give the link if I could find it! Good piece about a difficult issue. I was involved in something similar before I even started flying - was invited along for a Sunday morning jolly by a friend, along with 2 other relatively husky young blokes as it turned out. The appointed steed was a Cherokee 140 with what turned out to be 3/4+ tanks of fuel. I knew no better and was quite prepared to climb aboard when another, much more experienced friend drifted down from the clubhouse and had a few quiet words with the pilot. Things got a bit heated with the pilot apparently not wanting to back down. 2nd friend bluntly advised us would be passengers that the aircraft was in his opinion, overweight and he did not advise that we took off. In retrospect a pretty courageous move and one that I hope I would have the guts to emulate, because it caused a great deal of ill feeling between the two of them. I backed out of the flight, which similarly didn't go down well, but was consoled when an identical aircraft went down in a backyard about 6 months later, carrying a similar load and having failed to gain altitude after take off. All survived, but the pilot's wallet took a beating when insurers did the weight and balance calcs and walked away from the claim.

mnewbery, are you sure you have posted this in the correct thread? I suspect you intended it to refer to the accident where a trike departed at or shortly before dark and subsequently crashed killing pilot and passenger?

I didn't grow up in Aus, but sounds as though some things were pretty similar; - Milk delivered in glass bottles - we would put the empty ones out with the correct change inside to pay for the day's delivery. Later on we got the modern innovation of plastic tokens AND orange juice in similar bottles. - Going to the drive in, in Dad's new Ford Fairmont (XY Falcon in Aus), or Valiant with manual column shift and front bench seat. - Scalextric set up on the lounge room floor on Sunday nights - Only the corner cafe opened on a Sunday, no shops, no movie theatres. - Listening to the radio or reading of an evening - no TV until I was a teenager - Going to the coast on holiday, towing the caravan, kids riding in the back of the Chev El Camino (Holden ute) - 8mm movie camera, clockwork powered, waiting weeks for the processed film to be returned. - Waiting to finish the film so that you could see your holiday slides. - Smoking in a movie theatre / aircraft - Kero fridge and having to go out to start (and stop) the generator at night. - Going to boarding school and only communicating home by letter, written with a fountain pen. (There were only 5 telephone lines for 450 boys and 100 odd staff, all running through a manual exchange ie you physically connected the call via a large plug. Telephone calls were thus for emergencies or urgent matters only) - Pocket knives, carried by just about every male beyond the age of 8 or so. Ok, some things I don't miss, but we do seem to have lost a lot too in our striving for individual rights, cocooning kids and ever growing collection of gadgetry.

Mate from overseas sent me these and a brief explanation. You know you're having a bad day when you have issues - for apparently unrelated reasons, on both engines in a twin! "According to the pilot the aircraft came out of maint. yesterday After taking off Runway 17, the pilot noticed a drop in the left engine's oil pressure and an increase in the oil temperature. While trying to conserve the left engine, he noticed that the right engine was on fire. The pilot then decided to return to the field, but had to land her before reaching the runway due to the rapidly spreading fire." I believe the aircraft had been a bit of a hangar queen for several years due to an owner doing a runner, but had recently had quite a bit of cash spent to bring her up to scratch. Pilot bailed as soon as she stopped on the ground but on board fire extinguisher was not sufficient. [ATTACH]18285[/ATTACH]

Blackrod I'm not going to plough through the verbiage and return the compliment of cherry picking comments to make my point. What I do wish to say is that I don't like underhand behaviour and found your manoeuvring to change the constitution and immediately attempt to call another general meeting, distasteful. Yes RA Aus needs to improve and further changes are required but forcing the board into siege mode and bailing them up with personal attacks is not the way to do it, it merely ties up their time and is more likely to entrench the status quo. Furthermore what came out of the meeting was that widely circulated claims about the insurance cover, misrepresented the true position. I would hope that this is a case of being poorly advised, as poorly advised as taking on a board position without carrying your own insurance cover for potential liabilities. Frankly words fail me!

Been and gone - frankly there are many more enjoyable ways of spending 6 hours of my life, but with it being on my doorstep so to speak, I felt I should show my face this once. General impressions: - I don't think either side came out of it particularly well; the board looked a little under-prepared and were caught flat footed by a couple of questions, the "anti's" or government in exile as they seem to be styling themselves came across as overwhelmingly negative and dogmatic and I don't think they did their cause a great deal of good. More on this later.... - I'm not sure that we will ever get right to the bottom of what exactly was done by the supposed anti-christ duo, Tizzard and Runciman, in relation to the junior members and the Lismore inquest. That said, I gained the general impression that whilst the procedure may have left something to be desired, their actions were not the sinister conspiracy others have tried to paint them as. - I would like to have heard more about the bogey man lurking in the undergrowth ie. the current legal case which has apparently exhausted our insurance cover (for this aspect only). I am familiar with the concept of sub judice and whilst it wouldn't have been right to discuss detail or merits, a broad factual outline of what is at issue would not come close to offending. - Notwithstanding some of the horse$#!% being spouted elsewhere, there is no financial risk to ordinary members of an incorporated entity, such as RA Aus. I am constantly amazed at the "wisdom" of the bush lawyers, who are prepared to offer an opinion on just about any technical, legal subject off the cuff. Officers of the organisation are a different matter, but even there people would do well to educate themselves before spouting some of the drivel I heard. - If the numbers of attendees are to be repeated, a more formal procedure for verifying voting rights would be a good idea. - The host club, GCSFC did a sterling job of catering for what turned out to be a much bigger event than had been anticipated. I thought it was 150 plus, ie multiples of previous years. So the amendments all got up; I was a little iffy on the change to the numbers required to call an extraordinary general meeting and had my suspicions about motivation confirmed, when an attempt was made to get a petition for yet another general meeting, at the close of the AGM. That makes for a minimum of 3 talkfests within a year, seeing as the Natfly meeting has also been agreed to! IMO if you want to run the organisation, get on board and do your bit within the constitution- the current fashion of coup d'etat and extra parliamentary politics sets my teeth on edge. Michael Coates probably described it best when he said he was embarrassed for the board, having had to sit through the attacks made on them. Interesting times in the Confucian sense, but I see no reason to flap about in circles a la Henny Penny, screeching that the sky is about to fall in....

Ah, knew I had a pic somewhere, taken back when the PC7Mk11's (Astra) were new.

I was sent the attached link via email; apparently the South African Airforce are having another of their toy sales, this time for the remainder of their C185's and a dozen PC7's. There are probably any number of practical and financial obstacles to actually getting one on the Aus register, but I'll have one of each thanks! http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/former-saaf-aircraft-and-other-equipment-on-sale-at-air-show-2012-09-19 Image is of the Silver Falcons formation team - standard PC7s are white upper, red lower half of fueselage, red tail and wing tips

Bear in mind that Matekane is also at around 8,000' amsl, enough to make any non turbo aircraft feel a wee bit lethargic:eek:

Yeah cfi, pray tell....? Only one I ever heard of, turned out to be a mock up put together by some over enthusiastic outback mechanic - I have a photo somewhere in my archives, will see if I can find it. From memory the story was thrashed out on the prune quite some time ago.

Glad it all turned out ok mate, one way to get your adrenalin jolt for the year though! Amazing how what was drilled into you does come back when it's needed. Well done! Dex has good advice having been through something similar, albeit with a less favourable outcome for his plane. Take a couple of deep breaths, be thankful for the positive outcome and move right along - nothing good ever came of getting to mired down with the what ifs and second guessing yourself, especially in a pastime like ours.