Spin

Colonial? Clive Palmer bought this and one other for a song. Could be a clever move, money talks and I'm willing to bet all that land doesn't remain golf course for ever.

Geez Alan, you'll have to be careful, someone may take you seriously!!

Link for the South African discussion; http://www.avcom.co.za/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=82492 . I realise these are two different systems, however it is an indication of what is possible. Interesting that the SA Jabiru factory have been doing a lot of engine development work, only partly on account of the high density altitudes that many of them fly at. Unlike certain circles locally, the engines there have a good reputation for reliability. Exciting possibilities!

A fairly good summary from Wikipedia here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_U-2 I saw a TR-1 or a TU-2 (more modern version used for mostly civilian tasks) at an airshow overseas about 15 years ago and the thing that struck me was the take off performance - not only did it leap off the ground after a ridiculously short run, but also climbed out at an impressive angle. MUST go dig out some old VHS-C tapes and get onto DVD plus edit, there is some good stuff lurking there.

Video shows landings performed by pilots attempting to convert onto the USAF's U-2 spyplane. Shows even the experts can get it wrong - repeatedly!

Sorrreeee, been dying to use that one - sounds like an amazing trip, green with envy!

There's hope for the 'Coast yet - mine arrived today; good timing, I've got a week off to immerse myself in things aviation and this will be a good start.

John, maybe stick a note on the events calendar on this site, plus email the aeroclub - they put out a free email once a week/month updating people on fly-ins etc (worth subscribing to anyway). http://www.aeroclub.com.au/events/

Wonder what the alarm in the cockpit was? Past historyof meat bombers having the wrong fuel-air ratio in their tanks and the words "last load of the day" do tend to create certain suspicions though. Whatever the underlying reason behind the event, he certainly seems to have achieved a good result, no-one hurt and no apparent damage.

Hi Jordan, welcome aboard - enjoy the company. Who are you flying with at Archer?

Sounds good John, always looking for an excuse to go somewhere.

I got it, you'll find one rolling around in my post too

Oooerrr, is that pat on the back a way of finding somewhere to slip the knife in.....

Ditto the above; don't know that I've lost too many posts but having the discussion effectively shut down because of "complaint...., from someone close to the people involved" sticks in my gullet and if anything has a contrary effect on my sympathy levels. I have been very fortunate not to have bent an aircraft or done anything too noticeably stupid in my 20 odd years in and around aircraft, but have been through it with close friends who have, so have some understanding of the emotions involved. Sympathy for the pilot and what he is going through does not change the situation for everyone else, as Nev keeps saying we can learn from this and should do so.

Yeah I have good memories of the shows there - not of that red dust though, it could give the red centre a run for its money on a bad day. I ended up finagling an invite to the after party at a show there about 10 years ago, one where they had the Nimrod, B-1, Tornados, F-15, 16's and 18s plus a whole assortment of tankers and transports etc from all over the world. It was a bit of an eye opener how security had loosened up since the bad old days - we ended up crossing the apron and the runway at about 1am in a minibus, in a bid to find a short cut back to the parked cars. An abiding memory is of the driver wrenching the wheel to avoid colliding with an antenna protruding from beneath the belly of the B-1, imagine having to fill out that claim form! "Errr I hit a nuclear bomber with my minibus" Agreed on the Vampire dayglo - horrible stuff to work with though!

The link is via Facebook and the privacy control isn't set up for public access.

RD I see where you are coming from and do agree - only up to a point though. Gratuitous insults are not acceptable and even counter productive, however as one of the "offenders" in using the term screwed up, I was addressing my comments not to the pilot who is doubtless all to aware of the fact, but to previous posters who seemed to be pushing the line that "this could happen to any one of us". Granted we can all make mistakes, but I am uncomfortable with a too easy acceptance of poor airmanship. I strongly suspect that if the pilot had missed the wheel and a video of his low flight over the crowd had been posted, the majority of forum members would be baying for his blood and using stronger terms of disapproval. Nev probably summed it up best in his first post on the subject. I haven't been back to read your account of your own mishap again, however an overriding impression that I took away from reading it in the first place, was that you seemed to be shouldering blame for the incident, even where there seemed to be, to me anyway, some question marks over the role the bent axle may have played. I suspect that your own experience may still be too fresh for a truly objective view on this latest accident - and I mean that in a positive sense in that you may be overidentifying with the hurt the pilot may be feeling. Rgds Carl

Good find Ultralights, some pretty nifty aircraft handling involved there. Those first few seconds reminded me of learning to paraglide many years ago, galloping down a slowly increasing slope hoping not to trip on a grass tussock. That would probably be my major fear in attempting something like this, catching a wheel in a rut or similar, before you have sufficient airflow over the tail to allow some control. As I see it, the geometry of the raised tail must move the CofG closer to the main wheels than on level ground - hopefully not ahead though. Incidently the aircraft is a Just Aircraft Highlander, http://www.justaircraft.com/page.php?9 , another in the general Avid Flyer, Kitfox, Skyfox mould.

ave8rr I think we may be talking past each other, I intended to indicate that CASA and not SAAA would be doing the administering and don't see anything different in your post. A lot of the aircraft involved ie smaller Cessna and Piper types are outside of SAAA's main sphere of interest anyway. I must say my admittedly limited involvement with SAAA has been positive, which may be thanks to the local chapter members and I think they deserve a :clap:for their efforts. I certainly hope to take advantage of the new regime in due course.

A few more that arrived last night, attack chopper is a locally developed Rooivalk (translates as Redhawk),

Don and Don, I have to differ I'm afraid - I feel for the pilot and hope he can put this behind him, but the simple unvarnished truth of the matter is he screwed up and aviation is particularly unforgiving in that regard. I'm certain that if he had control difficulties or engine problems they would have been the first words out of his mouth when interviewed. In the absence of those, it is difficult to conclude anything other than that the pilot mishandled the approach and subsequent go-around, with dire results. Let's not forget that to hit that wheel he had to have been flying at well under 100' over a large gathering of people and with substantial trees just ahead. Even if he had avoided becoming worldwide news, he would have deserved a swift boot to the thinking apparatus for getting himself into that position in the first place. I am willing to bet that the very least of the fallout from this event will be that you and I will not be able to fly in to Old Bar for the festival this time next year. If the worst scenario had happened - ie wheel over onto the crowd, a ball of flame from the spilt fuel - it may have impacted on our rights to fly at all! Don't underestimate what hundred's of hysterical headlines can do to political bodies - RA-Aus could cease to exist if the relevant minister felt the heat. Finally, go back and read the roasting dished out to the pilot of the Jab in the ABC video for apparently exceeding a technical requirement re angle of bank, before getting too carried away with the touchy feely side of the site. The driver of a car who lost control and rolled into a children's playground would very likely be charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle or whatever the offence is south of the border - I don't see this situation as any different.

Well spotted gents, the Saab Gripen is a relatively new acquisition for the SAAF, a replacement for the Mirage F1's and Cheetahs (a local development of the Mirage 111, similar and to a degree related to the IAI Kfir). There is a bit of interesting history behind that F1 as well, the only one left flying in SA - it was re-engined with a Russian Klimov jet, as used in the Mig 29, giving it quite a bit more thrust and potentially making it attractive to other airforces such as Libya which have a mix of Dassault and various Russian jets in their airforces.

Chillax, as the kids say - it's really not worth getting worked up about something that a) you can't do anything about and, b) will probably never happen. All signs point to this being a CASA party.

A friend sent me these, taken at the Waterkloof Airshow in South Africa yesterday. Must say, I always enjoy the mixed formations and the big iron. Reminds me, surely Amberley must be coming around for an airshow again soon? Harvard Formation Old and new, pity they didn't put up the Mirage 111 as well Local variant of the PC-7, Harvard and B737