Mick

Mat, I would love to go but I need to do a 50 hourly on the Skylark. Also have to do an annual on the Sportstar. Took the Skylark to Canberra last weekend and Narromine just before that. Should really spend some time at home. The guys at Temora have flying days with the warbirds pretty regularly, maybe we should plan a trip in the future. Cheers Mick

Hey Mat W, What means of transport are you considering? I too could be tempted. Mick

24-4010 comes complete with a full set of covers. I have never taken them out of their bags as 4010 has always been hangared. Cheers Mick

Something else to consider with low wings and the possibility of a roll over is that the lower centre of gravity of the low wing makes it less likely to happen.

See this thread for a previous interesting discussion regarding ballistic chutes. http://www.recreationalflying.com/forum/showthread.php?p=31138#post31138 I have not changed my mind, my current Skylark has one, but my future aircraft will not. Cheers Mick

Don't forget to check out the Skylark on site 29. ;)

Redair, Must be them new fangled "Tailerons"...........:confused: Maybe Ailevators.......... Cheers Mick

Guys, With my 2 Rotax 912uls's I change the top set of plugs at 100 hours, bottom set at 200 hours, top set at 300 hours, bottom set at 400 hours etc. This method over time uses no more plugs than doing all 8 of them every 200 hours. By doing this I always have a set of plugs with less than 100 hours of use. I also always have a proven set of plugs in. Call me paranoid :hittinghead:, but I prefer not to buy my plugs in bulk, that way if there happens to be a dud batch come out hopefully I will not be effected with more than one set. Cheers Mick

Guys, There does not seem to be alot of interest shown here about the fly-in. Not a single post in 6 days. With under a week to go I thought there would be a bit more enthusiasm and plenty of chat. The weather is not looking to flash for my planned departure from home on Wednesday. I am starting to wonder if it will be worth trying to get there................

Hi Chris, C150/152's and early Pipers is part of the complexity I refer to. Unqualified and possibly inexperienced owners maintaining 40 year old aircraft using Lycosaurus' and Continental's, with a much higher likelyhood of corrosion and/or fatigue problems would have to be more demanding than maintaining a 1 year old aircraft with a low hours Rotax or Jab. Trouble is if we are all bundled in together, when the sh*t hits the fan we will all suffer together. I have to point out that I do not subscribe to some people's theory that bringing in all these old aircraft will see it raining Cessna's and Pipers. But I do think it may contribute to a higher accident / incident rate. If this happens it might cause us to loose some of the freedom's that attract alot of us to recreational flying. I do hope that I am wrong.:) I guess that like most things, it's a matter of weighing up pro's & con's. Cheers Mick

OK, I will get the ball rolling. Last year while at a field away from home during my pre-flight walk around, some guys came over and started asking questions about the Skylark. After about 15 mins of chat I finished the walk around, jumped in, taxied out and took off with the pitot cover still on. :;)1::confused: The penny dropped just after lift off with the ASI still showing ZERO. :ah_oh: I did notice the ASI before lift off, but before I had worked out what was going on I reckon I must have been up to about 60kts already and the Skylark just flew off. I thought about how to handle a circuit without flight instruments ( done it before in training ), but then realised that I still had 1500m of tarmac in front of me ( thanks to the short take-off of the Skylark and a bloody long strip!!!! ). I pulled the power, put the Skylark back down and then did the "Taxi of Shame" back to the apron to remove the cover. Lesson - Don't allow yourself to be distracted during a walk around. I do not blame the guys that came and spoke to me, it was my fault for allowing the distraction. Prevention - It's pretty rude to tell someone to bugger off while I do my pre-flight ( especially when I'm selling aircraft, anyone could be a potential customer! ). The only option, no matter if I am in a hurry, is after the distraction is gone start the walk around all over again from the beggining and do it right. I hope that others can learn from this :).

My own concern with the idea of upward spiralling weights and increasing complexity is that eventually I fear this will lead to more complication for all of us. Such as an increase in training requirements ( not such a bad thing other than cost ) and a higher medical requirement which may exclude some of us that are currently permitted to operate LSA / Recreational aircraft. I find it hard to believe that the increase in weight and complexity will not eventually lead to us loosing some of the freedoms that have taken so long to be gained. The line between LSA / Rec and GA has to be drawn somewhere. Personally I am happy with where it is now. Cheers Mick

Darren, Looks to me like you were above 5000ft. I hope your pilot had a PPL!!!!!! Cheers Mick

Hi Ian, I would like to book the parking spot I had last time, hopefully there might be a little more company this time!!! I reckon since I will be about the only one that will have flown to this fly-in twice, the Skylark should be given a good parking spot!!! Cheers Mick PS. For the longest distance travelled, can I add the 2 trips together????

As long as there will be decent numbers there, I will bring the Skylark down from Qld again. Also planning on bringing Bernie with me again. Cheers Mick

Hi Steven, I passed these links on to a mate of mine who is right into flight sim. He has loaded the Eurostar and is flying it heaps. I have not had a chance to get to his place and have a go, but he has sent me a couple of screen shots and it looks good. He even has his in the same colour scheme as 4010!!!! Cheers Mick

Hi Pete, Funny you should mention that, you will never guess what I spent yesterday doing:):):) Weather up here has been just like Echuca Take 1 since Xmas, can't play with the Skylark in the air, so I just have to play in the hangar. Looking forward to Echuca Take 2. Cheers Mick

More Options Hi Redair, One of the best combinations of Stol and cruise is the Evektor Sportstar. It's take off and landing capabilities will surprise you. I have flown one in and out of less than 400m no problem. Yet they still cruise @ 100-110 knots depending on the prop. All metal, excellent corrosion proofing, UV proof canopy so no sun burn. I know where you can get an imaculate second hand one with less than 200 hours on it for a really good price. If you decide that cruise is more important than Stol and you want range, speed and carrying capacity, check out the Skylark at www.hangar1.com.au Cheers Mick

NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!;););)

Hi Darren! Personally I did not see any evidence that the Air Pageant was organised????? Cheers

Hi Guys, Our Sportstar & Skylark have not been out of the hangar since before Xmas Needless to say we did not go anywhere Cheers Mick

Anyone going to Evans Head for the Great Eastern Fly-In on December 28-31? See - www.greateasternflyin.com for details. We are taking the Sportstar and Skylark down if the weather allows. Cheers Mick

Not so technical, but I SMS the name of each town to my wife as I pass over it. Even if she does not see the message immediately, the time of the message is automatically recorded. She is equipped with a copy of my flight plan and hence can keep track of me. She is also a pilot with a nav rating so she can make sense of any diversions that end up occurring. As I say not as technical as GPS co-ords, but it will certainly help narrow down a search area should something bad happen. Cheers Mick

What do you guys consider to be a reasonable minimum endurance and range for an aircraft that you want to tour in? Reason I ask is that it seems the biggest obsticle to selling our Sportstar is that it is the early model with the 65 litre fuselage tank. This gives an endurance of 3 hours plus reserve, at 100 knots a range of 300nm. The new Sportstars have 60 litres in each wing. Our Sportstar with only 170 hours on it represents a saving of over $20,000.00 over a new one with the bigger tanks. Would you consider the bigger tanks to be worth this much to you? I would like to hear everyone's thoughts on this. Cheers Mick

I am seeing some answers here that I saw last time............. I just hope the weather lets you guys carry out these threats!!!!! I am still amazed how coming all the way from Qld we got there when all the NSW and Vic guys didn't. :confused::confused::confused: Maybe all you guys should head for Echuca a few days early like we did so you make sure you get there. I also hope we can get home in less than 4 days this time. See you all there!!! Cheers Mick