Cooda

kaz I suspect the Board is operating with an alternative view.

From clause 20 of the Constitution

I know a chap who's thinking of putting his hand up. Spent the last 15 years as CEO to an industry self-regulatory body and sits on/chairs a number of government and community committees. Twenty years public sector experience prior to this; including executive management, political advising and national forum representative roles. Also a lifelong aviation tragic and RA-Aus member, although he hasn't flown ultralights or trikes. I also know that he's monitoring this site and is wondering whether the General Manager's position will accord with the constitution, as the constitution and ops manual refer to the CEO but are silent on a GM role. He's also having doubts about whether the current executive will a) consider interviewing him or b) if he was offered the job, actually let him do it properly.

You get some surprisingly strong winds down your way Nev. I recall reading of a Tiger Moth going backwards over Sunbury in the 1930's while trying to get to Bendigo from Essendon. Happened to me too in a C150, out past Clarkefield, circa 1976. Recall it was a very rapid RTB when I turned her around.

Know it well Nev. Spent a couple of years flying in your neck of the woods. Still remember watching a C150 at Penfield look like it hit a brick wall on downwind when the 20kt northerly swung to a 30kt southerly in the blink of an eye. My first visit to Tindal. I should have realised something was up when my earlier landing had proved more adventurous than usual. Ah well. We live (hopefully) and learn.

A technique that saved me and my passenger during take-off at Tindal last year. ATIS was reporting 10kts gusting 12 kts from 110 with Runway 14 in use (although some gusts felt stronger to my untrained senses). I applied some into-wind aileron at the start of the take-off run but had it centred as we approached 40 kts down the centreline. Without warning, the left wing lifted dramatically and did not respond to immediate full application of left stick. In fact, it kept rising. So there we are, still accelerating at full throttle, nose and left wheels off the ground, left wing well above our heads and still going up, the stall warning sounding and no response to stick pressure. An instinctive boot full of left rudder brought the nose into wind and helped level the wings while the speed built up to a safe climb out speed. Fortunately, Tindal has a very wide runway but I was almost off the edge before things came back under control. Discussing it later with my passenger, a solo level student, he remarked that the ASI had jumped briefly from 40kts to 75kts as the wing lift occurred and that he was rather disconcerted to be then looking down the centreline through his side window. (It hasn't stopped him from pursuing a professional flying career though.) I'm not sure whether we were hit by a rogue gust or a a willy willy but I am very glad the Jab has a high wing so the right hand wing tip just stayed clear of the surface. I'm also very grateful to the instructor who taught me about the secondary effect of the controls.

Caught up with the pilot on the weekend. He had planned correctly, including reserves. Winds developed to significantly greater than forecast but by the time the problem became apparent he was short on alternates. He had already given his 10 mile call and was probably 4 minutes from landing when the engine began to surge. It ran long enough to allow him to position for a landing on the best available landing site, which was thankfully clear of cars and trucks at the time.

Put another down for Macho 18, Worry 19, Self confidence 19. Must be the way we've been trained. Obviously a healthy balance of self confidence tempered by caution aka worry. And macho 'cos we've all got big........watches.

I'll ask the pilot concerned for more info when I next see him. Just a comment on the print media; the last time I spoke to a journo he presented me with his version of events, I corrected his extensive misunderstandings and he proceeded to publish his own version but attributed it all to me. Not an unusual occurrence. Just 'cos we've read it, doesn't mean he's said it.

A brand new Officer Cadet headed off to ADFA this morning. He only managed to fit in one flight in a Jabiru while waiting for the call. Took him three landings to remember it wasn't a CAP 10 and to hold off rather than plant the wheels. The next five landings were greasers. :csm:

Although, after the gummint brought in the 130km/hr speed limit on the Stuart Highway, both my life insurer and workers comp insurer said they considered it safer for me to fly (Jabiru 230) to Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs than to continue to do the trips by road.Perhaps we need to compare only longer distance/higher speed road useage/accident figures with aircraft useage/accident figures. We rarely use our aircraft to taxi to the shops.

Thanks Maj Sadly, I'm too old and inept to be trusted with a spanner....but I know a young fella who might be interested. I'll pass on the details.

Maj Going back to the original post, are you still looking for an entry level type person?

Even better, I passed my own Pilot's Certificate while he was away, to add to my 1976 RPPL. So, as soon as I get my passenger endo, I can get him to show me some of the drills he's picked up, particularly wrt "looking out" and scans. I won't be starting on continuous circuits but he's certainly picked up a fair bit that can only help my own airmanship. I reckon that if I ever get to the stage where I think I have nothing else to learn, it will be time to stop before I cause some damage.

18 yo son has just completed the 2 week RAAF Flight Screening Program at Tamworth. His prior "hands on" flight experience has been a couple of hours in a Drifter, a couple in a Storch, a couple in a Texan Club and four hours in a Jabiru 230 over the past 20 months. Forgive a proud father's skiting but my lad passed the course with a score of 9 out of 9 for the flying component, well ahead of his colleagues. While he was initially disconcerted by the higher levels of accuracy demanded of them, it was his RAA training that gave him the foundation to work from. First stop after he gets home is off to the airstrip to thank his instructors.

Just found this site and thought I'd drop in. I'm an aviation tragic with an underutilised 1970's PPL and a dream of getting back in the air when the kids stop expecting me to spend my money on them. :hittinghead: My histor.....sorry, log book tells me I've flown C150, C152, C172, C182, Thorp T18, DH82, PA28, Tripacer and Chipmunk but that was all a long time ago - back when Penfield was new. Have flown out of MKTbut that was over 10 years ago. Looking forward to learning more about recreational flying as we go along.