Mick

DrizzT I use colour copies of the charts on A4 size sheets, much easier to handle during a flight. If required I use multiple A4's, overlapping at an obvious waypoint and order numbered for quick reference. I also use a knee board, would not travel with out it. Mine is an exotic creation, a masonite A4 clipboard cut down to A5 size and some slots cut to take some elastic & velcro straps to go around my leg. I made this the night after my first X-country lesson for use the very next day. It was only going to be temporary, but when I saw how well it worked and the cost of commercially available knee-boards it has become permanent. Enjoy the Navs. Cheers Mick

Having a wife who is just as mad about flying is my way of addressing this issue;) Mind you it sucks being at home watching & hearing your aircraft flying around when the wife goes for a fly and leaves you at home:angry:

This could be a case of since all the imported stuff has gone up due to exchange rates, why not lift the price of a local product and increase profits.

So those of use who do not qualify for a Class 2 medical will have to continue to "risk flying over unsuitable terrain in the unfortunate event of something going wrong......." Interesting..................:confused:

Does any flyer ever get to have a surplus of brownie points??????;):confused:

An interesting example of how effective all our expensive airport security measures really are......... Maryborough Qld Aero Club that is located airside, yes inside that all terrorist stopping and oh so expensive fence, was broken into last night.:ah_oh: Attending Police believe most likely it was KIDS!!!!!:confused::confused: Thankfully nothing was actually taken, we suspect that once they gained entry by smashing a window, reaching through and opening a door, that the alarm has gone off and they have done the bolt. Good thing we were not depending on that $850,000 anti-terrorist fence to protect the club house.:hittinghead::hittinghead:

Reported in today's Fraser Coast Chronicle....... Yesterday a J160 flipped while attempting to take off from Fraser Island's Orchid Beach airstrip. The pilot was flown by helicopter to Hervey Bay hospital suffering serious cuts to his head while the passenger received a few cuts & bruises. The incident was witnessed by a local GA pilot who was quoted as saying he "watched a small plane skid across the dusty Orchid Beach airstrip, clip trees and slam into a bank". It was reported on the local radio that the aircraft involved was from Caboolture. See attached pic from the front page of today's local paper.

GFClint, Check this out......... Sport Aircraft for the Sport Pilot Looking at the list of area rep's there is one in Aus. Cheers

Brent, I think you might be looking at the wrong aircraft as it states on the EcoFlyer webpage that it is a composite construction. It is the "Private Explorer" aircraft by the same company that is a steel tube fuse. Have a look at the pic's attached & tell me if you think this is a steel tube structure??? I only have one word to describe this thing - "Flimsey" Also note the stand under the tail to stop it tipping back when people sit in the back!!!!

Yes these have flown. There were 2 of them at Oshkosh 08, one with a rotax and one with a jab. I saw the pair of them take off and depart at the end of the show. I have my doubts about it carrying too much gear as it is LSA and as such has a MTOW of 600kg. On close inspection it also gave the impression of being very fragile, I have a photo somewhere of my wife sitting in the back and you can see sunshine through the composite fuselage!!!!

This is a question for your instructor. Most will have a system where they will get you to study what will be relevant to your next lesson, that way they can reinforce / demonstrate what you have read. Enjoy!!!

Pabloako, If your trip is on Saturday feel free to drop in at YMYB, we usually sell burgers for lunch and cold drinks are available all day. The local RAAus school operates Saturdays and it is the most active day for the aero club. Cheers Mick

So they might meet the new weight limits, but what about stall speeds??? :hittinghead:

Hi Melissa! Good to see you on the forum:welcome:, even better to hear you are enjoying 4010. Wow! Another aircraft already!!!! 4010 will be jealous. My Skylark is going really well, has over 200 hours on it already. Have you seen the new Sportstar yet? It's a pretty swish looking bit of gear. Cheers Mick

I would like to add to my post above that the condition that I have which causes Casa to deem me unfit to fly dictates that I visit the doctor much more often than any medical would. Most of these visits are only to get prescriptions for medication but my GP rightly will not give me prescriptions without giving me a check over. These regular check outs could mean that my health is more closely monitored than some of you who seem to get some comfort from your less frequent aviation medicals. Mick

Bla82, One - This comment regarding being medically unfit - shouldn't be operating, depends alot on how you define medically unfit. By Casa's definition I am medically unfit. 17 years ago at the age of 20 I developed a genetic medical condition which by Casa's blanket definition deem's me unfit to fly. During this 17 years of managing my condition I have suffered no issues at any time that would have had any affect on my ability to pilot an aircraft. Some 4 years ago I discovered that under the RAAus system I could fulfil my life long dream to learn to fly. Since then I have become an aircraft owner and completed over 400 hours of incident free flying including a significant amount of long cross country flying. Two - why can't RAA administer their own medical system. If you take a look at the paperwork that is supplied with the renewal papers for your RAAus pilot certificate you will see that RAAus request that even if you are "medically fit to drive a car", if you suffer from certain medical conditions which they list, you are required to obtain a statement from your GP to say that this condition is sufficiently well managed to enable you to hold said car licence. In my own case this is what I do, and I make it perfectly clear to my GP that this document will enable me to fly a recreational aircraft. The GP is also aware of what a "RAAus Aircraft" consists of and under what restrictions we operate. Unfortunately the Casa system for many conditions is simply a blanket ruling with no provision for assesment on an individual basis. In many cases Casa's rulings regarding medical conditions are far behind the medical worlds ability to manage these conditions and also far behind other world aviation authority's standards. I have to say that I find it quite offensive for someone such as yourself, who may be fortunate enough to not suffer any condition which prohibits meeting Casa's standards, to stand up and say that we should all be governed by your standards. I know that I am far from alone amongst RAAus pilots in not meeting Casa standards. Maybe you should consider for a moment how many pilots would be grounded if a higher medical standard were to be introduced? Also consider that in many cases the people affected would by no means only be those with age related conditions. Would you like to be the one to tell my 15 year old nephew ( also a member of this forum ) who shares my medical condition ( I did say it is genetic ) and solo'ed little over one month ago that he would no longer be allowed to continue to fly? Unless there is convincing evidence of RAAus's medical standards contributing to accident rates, I feel there is no need to remove the rights of the numerous pilots that either choose or are forced to operate under the RAAus system to achieve the privilege of flight. Mick

A photo of my P-47 with the B-17, both models are 1/6 scale.

For a heap of photos of the B-17 during construction and finishing see - Welcome to WingSpan Models

Just managed to find this on the B-17 - http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkGs6VAyK5k&fmt=18[/COLO"]YouTube - Steve Thomas B17g Wingspan Models

HPD Yes their is some video on Utube, I can't find the link but if you search for steve thomas B-17 wingspan models you should come up with something. This model is 20 feet in span, powered by 4 x 50cc engines and is really something special to see fly!!!! The detail is also amazing. Cheers

The Temora Aviation Museum hosted one of the highest standard scale model competitions held in this country last weekend. Modellers travelled form all over Australia and from New Zealand to attend. I was fortunate to be invited to compete in the "Flying Only" category with my 1/6 scale P-47 Thunderbolt ( 2050mm wingspan ). See photo attached. For photos of the event follow this link - http://boatin.smugmug.com/gallery/6533083_GqRdg#415365947_j59tP

The school at Warnambool Vic had added a bracket to their Sportstar, as the buyer of our Sportstar 24-4010 was to be cross-hiring to this school I believe they were planning on adding it to 4010 as well. When you see what they have done it is a pretty simple fix. Myself in over 200 hours in the Sportstar I personally never had an issue with it. Cheers Mick

Tezza, There is only one simple solution to this, you just need to grow another arm!!!! ;) Good luck with it, Cheers Mick

Hi Steve, In my case I was only going to pass it on to a friend anyway as I get a "free" copy of the magazine with my mega$$$ advertising ;) It does seem there has been a loss of interest in the photo comp of late, not sure if it is due to the lack of a prize or what??? I would like to see the photo comp ramped up again, it was one of my favourite parts of this forum. Cheers Mick

I won the monthly photo comp a while back, forwarded my details to Shelly as requested but never received anything. So to me any prize you look at should be something that is actually awarded to the monthly winner. Maybe something small from clear prop, like the winners choice of WAC chart or something not so expensive, but something we would all use at some stage?