Thx1137

G'day Tony, welcome to the site :-) Yeah, bad isn't it. I would sure hate to fly through that muck!

From reading lots on the net it sounds like the early Jab engines might not have been fantastic but pretty much everything I read about the later ones sound like they are pretty good. I had my heart set on a J160. I will be doing a few hours in an SK (and any other aircraft within budget range that I can find) soon. I welcome opinions but the proof is in the pudding :-)

Thanks Dexter. The prop certainly sounds interesting. Would the difference be enough to climb at MTOW on that day? Me and most of my passengers aren't particularly light! :-) I reckon I could be asking a bit much there :-)

Thanks Guys, Yes, I was looking at a certain Gazelle. I also couldn't see how the wings folded. I can't rely on having someone to give me a hand to setup an aircraft so it would have to be doable by one person. The other thing was our summers get pretty warm and it seemed it has a bit of trouble climbing when temps are in the mid thirties. I know with my budget I won't get everything I want but I have only just started looking too :-) If I didn't have to pay hangar fees (OUCH!) then I could badget a fair bit extra. (I feel more calculations coming on!) Unfortunately, no way would I fly an aircraft I built. I have no patience or skills in that area!

I do like the sound of the Savannah but as you say. It might not fit the budget. I have done a spreadsheet that captures all my living expenses (realistically :-)) which is proving useful. It has: 1. Income 2. Mandatory Expenses (regular including lotto tickets, regular lunches/dinners etc. ie:all the ittle things we do we can still do) 3. Loans (short term loans. ie: a year or two to run in my case) 4. Aircraft expenses broken down into 4a. Static expenses (loan, maintenance, hangar, insurance, etc) 4b. Per hour expenses (EG: 50 and 100 hourly type of expenses, fuel, etc) 5. Fuel burn and an expected hours per fortnight The results of the calculations are: 1. Cost per hour to fly 2. Total allocated to maintenance for a 12 month period 3. Amount of money left after: 3a. Mandatory Expenses removed 3b. Mandatory Expenses and loans removed 3c. Mandatory Expenses and aircraft expenses removed 3d. Mandatory Expenses, loan and aircraft expenses removed 3c Gives me an idea of how much money I would have left over if I bought something after the loans are paid. 3d gives me an idea of how much money I would have left over if I bought something now. The key to getting good data from the spreadsheet is to make sure everything is included. For that I went though the last three months of bank transaction history to help jog the memory. It is amazing how quick the little things add up! So far it seems to agree with how much I have left in the bank each fortnight so that is probably a good thing but it also lets me play 'what if'... Steven.

We had done a number of circuits and I thought some of my landings were rather ordinary. He said "make the next one a full stop", I thought time must be up already so didn't think much of it. When I got off the runway he said something like "ok, you can go up by yourself" and I said "you have got to be bl**dy joking!" and "are you sure!" :-) I was expecting to do it around the 9 hour mark and thought before the lesson I was ready but when it came upon me I was still shocked :-) It just so happened that on this very day I just happened to bring my partner and youngest daughter so I managed to have an audience and captured on (rather shaky, camera was heavy :-)) film! After the instructor got out I waited a bit so I wouldn't give him a blast of the fan. I probably should have waited a little longer given how he covered his eyes (he reckoned it wasn't a problem). (almost word-for-word, I remember this very well :-)) Once lined up I paused and thought "this is it, once I go I am commtted!" then thought "I have done the work, I know what to do, lets go!" Take off was uneventful as was the climb, I was about 100 feet too high on downwind so brought it down to 1,100, I know I wasn't nervous, I was just flying the plane. Base was fine, got a little nervous then when on final, my one last thought here was "this is looking good" and was no longer nervous at all. The landing was smooth though a bit flat (I tend to be, definately mains first but nosewheel only a couple of inches off). During the shutdown checks I couldn't remember the RPM for the dead-mag check and ended up having that being higher than normal but other than that I was pretty happy with how it went. :-) Man that was about 42 hours logbook time ago!

Yeah. I know thanks, I have done the numbers. And I don't have a PPL so not terribly interested in a GA machine!

G'day Everyone, I have been doing some sums based on information in these forums plus info I have read elsewhere and have come to the conclusion that I would like to purchase an aircraft with a cost of approximately $40,000. I was hoping to go to a Jabiru 160 but while I could buy one I don't want to spend that kind of money, I would need to fly 4 hours a week to justify it and I wouldn't be able to do anything else! There are two main requirements. 1. Safety (!! I am not terribly interested in fragile aircraft whos engines always conk out!) 2. The ability to carry 2 people 3. Nosewheel or tailwheel The rest of the requirements in order of importance 1. Comfortable (for me this means not open air) 2. Cruise speed 3. Range I have done (and continue to do) an amount of searching but the number of test reports seem fairly limited so I am interested in pilot opinions.

Ouch alright! Sorry to hear that Bill. :-(

G'day, I just spent a couple of hours writing a PocketFMS to FSX flight plan converter. It obviously isn't rigorously tested but seems ok. If anyone wants a copy PM me. It requires .NET 2 and some PocketFMS flight plans. :-) Steven.

Well, I couldn't afford it this week but purchased it anyway! I don't like to break my word :-) You will see the payment in two parts Ian. The first one I managed to forget shipping! :-) It is a pity really. I like to play with my toys but people might get upset if I play with this one!

Excellent :-)

That sure is rude isn't it. I am happy to pay my way but if they really expect that kind of money per circuit then they should be told where to go. The issue is of course that it is pretty difficult to set up competition. Steven

So does that mean people think there should be no landing fees? I imagine there is some upkeep required so the owner should be able to recoup the cost. I don't mind a small fee and won't try to cheat my way out of it but noone likes to be gouged. I reckon there should be a rule that if you spend more than X amount at the field then the fee is waived. That way everyone contributes without people who purchase stuff getting hit twice (it isn't like stuff at airfields is ever cheap!). Steven.

G'day Tony. Welcome to the site :-) Yeah. It can bite you can't it. I now have to fly every week or I get grumpy! Steven.

I will order mine from Ian on payday, next Wednesday. Thanks for going to all the trouble Ian! :-)

I agree, for normal operations it was pretty good. I was using the Eurostar in FSX and found it very similar to the SportStar. Grab a copy of the scenery from ORBX. Great stuff.

But then it looks like your hiding something or maybe just arrogant! If they want to paint you a particular way there is nothing that can be done about it.

We could always ask our instructor if we can have a quick try too :-) I was going to but I didn't want to spend that kind of money early on so I didn't bother!

Well, I always buy my own present because noone else in the family has any idea of what to get me. I somehow tend to get really nifty presents :-)

G'day Doug. Nope but thanks, I just found the MBLAFS website. I might make a booking today :-)

Me. My wife reminded one of my daughters and I reminded the other (I said, hey Laura, thanks for the wonderful fathers day wish it was sooo sweet!!!). hehe. I am not really concerned as I am not really into fathers days. Sure it would be nice to get a surprise but it bothers my mother WAY more than it bothers me :-) I am more interested with how I am treated over the long run, not one particular day :-)

Great stuff Jodie! It is a pitty I know I don't have the stomach for it because I would love to give it a go. :-( I will do it later because I am getting bette, I think!

G'day Dave, The SportStar is a great plane alright. :-) If you need breaks to control taxi speed then the engine might be idling high or your going downhill. The brakes don't normally need to be used to maintain a slow taxi but the throttle can be a little tricky I guess because there is certainly a lag between power change and the effects on the taxi being felt. The rest I can certainly attest to! I take it that your saying it is hard to see the trim lights during pre-takeoff? it is hard for me to remember a "bright and sunny day" :-) but yeah, not as easy as the mechanical trim (which I prefer anyway) but at least it is only a small problem because it is only useful on the ground. I want to have a go of a J160 but the only one I have found so far is a 1.5 to 2 hour drive (each way). Arrgg!

G'day Jodie, Yep, got some pics. Gaylene also took one of all three of us so she could put it on the "Our Stories" page I imagine. Christine was using the picture taking as a way to calm herself down. She reckons she only needed it for that for the first 5 minutes or so. I dunno about "whole family aboard" but I _did_ mention last week how cheap Jabiru 160s are and that we had enough equity in the house... :-) I have been trying to find syndicates but they are either tough to find or there aren't many around. It would be hard to get in one now I think because I only have 15 PIC hours anyway! Also, I think I was leaning towards Bose for Christmas :-) Steven.