Tell us about your last flight

[BrendAn]

12 hours ago, Moneybox said:

I can see your attraction to a huge flat paddock with no obvious hazards but if you walk one of those paddocks the plough usually leaves them far from flat and if they are soft enough that your wheels don't want to spin then I think you'd be upside down very quickly.

 

Keep in mine I haven't even got my plane off the ground yet, it's just my thoughts on the subject. Some light planes have very small wheels that don't look suitable for travel over bumps and furrows.

these paddocks are LASER LEVELLED. Not ploughed. They are graded with a blade. Flat as a road. Designed to make the water flow to a catchment at one end for reuse.

[facthunter]

It's banked and designed for the water to soak into the ground and could be very muddy. It's not an efficient method of irrigating.  Nev

[PureCaboose]

Tell you about my last flight? Sure

 

Took my vehicle mechanic up for his first light plane flight on Friday morning, perfect morning for a first flight. 15knt's, gusting to 18knt's direct down the runway line at 240 degrees. Did the W&B the night before, added 10l of fuel in the morning to MTOW, pre-flight before guest arrives so all we need to do it taxi to the club house, brief and then head off.

 

Flight was magic, just enough turbulance in the early morning air to ensure the 'small plane' feel of the flight (JAB 160), but not enough to make you grunt when it comes. No haze, a few little clouds to play slalom with, plenty of photo opportunities, flew over his house and his workshop.

 

Arrival back at the runway was fun, the wind has picked up, 20knts, gusting to somewhere in the low 30's and a bit of a mashing machine on the strip with the windocks pointing in opposite directions to each other. Nice approach, single stage flaps in case of go around and near perfect landing.

 

Mechanic had a great flight, wants to go again. Took plenty of pics, and even wanted pics of him in the plane on the ground etc.

 

Good outcome all round I think. Wile we were putting the bird away the wind picked up, went a little crazy and we had the socks spining around on the pole. Perfect timing.

 

Cheers.

[facthunter]

Even  "BIG STUFF" gets affected by winds. Be alert and avoid. Nev

[BrendAn]

7 hours ago, facthunter said:

It's banked and designed for the water to soak into the ground and could be very muddy. It's not an efficient method of irrigating.  Nev

where is the bank on boom irrigated paddocks .  most water efficent irrigation there is. have a look at the pictures .

if i have an engine failure you recommend i don't look for a paddock to land in.  complete opposite of every instructor i have flown with.

[facthunter]

Land where Vehicles have been moving and you won't get a  surprise. Like a place where Cattle have been fed from vehicles. Any grass above about 15" can trip you up. It  (FLOOD Irrigation)is NOT the Most efficient form of irrigation. It will get water to a parched surface but it will quickly pass through the Root zone and be Unavailable to the Plant.  It also has to be dead level laterally or it's uneven. Done in hot weather there will be a lot of evaporation Loss.. 

    With the Planes we fly you don't need a great Length and it doesn't HAVE to be straight. It can have a gradual curve and Land BEFORE you run Out of fuel. Not after, IF you have a choice.

  Brendan you have chopped and changed in your latest Post.  Land in Paddocks by all means,  but be aware of some traps  like chains and Irrigation HOSES etc. Open Paddocks can Have small stumps, fallen branches and rocks and the odd piece of junk that may have fallen off something. Old bits of fencing wire.  Nev

[onetrack]

Pick a golf course every time for a forced landing! Lots of nice smooth fairways - just the odd sand trap or water trap to add excitement to your day - and when all the crashing noises have stopped, you can get out with your clubs, and play a round to steady your nerves! 😄 

[Blueadventures]

9 minutes ago, onetrack said:

Pick a golf course every time for a forced landing! Lots of nice smooth fairways - just the odd sand trap or water trap to add excitement to your day - and when all the crashing noises have stopped, you can get out with your clubs, and play a round to steady your nerves! 😄 

And have refreshments at the 19th.🙃

[facthunter]

Usually quite a few trees to dodge and  not a lot of level ground. Good chance there will be People around. IF you are over Houses you don't have a Lot of Options. I suggest Limiting your exposure to those situations where you can't glide clear or fly twins and Know how.  Nev

[RFguy]

and people on the ground wont hear a engine out gliding airplane (like at Mona Vale golf course last month) 

good reasons to have hooters on airplanes to alert people I the ground (covered in another forum post).

[BrendAn]

1 hour ago, facthunter said:

Land where Vehicles have been moving and you won't get a  surprise. Like a place where Cattle have been fed from vehicles. Any grass above about 15" can trip you up. It  (FLOOD Irrigation)is NOT the Most efficient form of irrigation. It will get water to a parched surface but it will quickly pass through the Root zone and be Unavailable to the Plant.  It also has to be dead level laterally or it's uneven. Done in hot weather there will be a lot of evaporation Loss.. 

    With the Planes we fly you don't need a great Length and it doesn't HAVE to be straight. It can have a gradual curve and Land BEFORE you run Out of fuel. Not after, IF you have a choice.

  Brendan you have chopped and changed in your latest Post.  Land in Paddocks by all means,  but be aware of some traps  like chains and Irrigation HOSES etc. Open Paddocks can Have small stumps, fallen branches and rocks and the odd piece of junk that may have fallen off something. Old bits of fencing wire.  Nev

i have not chopped and changed , i merely pointed out what i considered good emergency landing sites , especially for my little aircraft.

do you think the cut and windrowed grass might be a hint the paddock has been driven on.   if i showed a pic of a long bitumen runway there would be a reason not to land on that too.

 

[BrendAn]

 

whatever negatives you lot throw at me i will still land in a clear paddock when the time comes.

and what do you call those things past the end of the runway with cows in them. 

are we not taught to land inside a 30 deg cone straight ahead  with efato.

not encourage people to turn back.

 

Edited October 26 by BrendAn

[Moneybox]

3 hours ago, BrendAn said:

 

whatever negatives you lot throw at me i will still land in a clear paddock when the time comes.

and what do you call those things past the end of the runway with cows in them. 

are we not taught to land inside a 30 deg cone straight ahead  with efato.

not encourage people to turn back.

 

Let's hope it's a decision we don't have to make. At least you're planning ahead so that has to be a good thing.

[facthunter]

Only trying to give YOU a Bit of advice Mate, based on actual experience and a lot of discussion with others. Nev

[BrendAn]

13 hours ago, Moneybox said:

Let's hope it's a decision we don't have to make. At least you're planning ahead so that has to be a good thing.

Yes. I just work on the assumption that it will but I am sure it will be a huge surprise still if it does.

[BrendAn]

3 hours ago, facthunter said:

Only trying to give YOU a Bit of advice Mate, based on actual experience and a lot of discussion with others. Nev

It's ok nev.  I don't ever hope to have your knowledge and experience. I take onboard what you say but I disagree about the paddock landings. As you know my lightweight rag and tube glides like a brick so need to get it on the ground quick If engine fails. It stops flying at 38 knts with me and half fuel . 

 

[facthunter]

You don't need much distance, especially if you are into wind. Nev

[Thruster88]

Had a nice fly in the mighty musketeer to a friend's strip in the hills for some Thruster flying this morning. The approach to the strip follows a curve in the creek valley, strip becomes visible on very late final and always looks very short. Good fun and the musketeer performs very well at light weight. 

[BurnieM]

On 09/10/2025 at 10:41 AM, BurnieM said:

Tumut originally

 

Tumut north upgrade pic

 

Tumut south upgrade pic

 

Looks like they may be getting an AWIS and a different CTAF

 

Current re-opening date is 21 November (but they have had a few delays previously).

 

 

Re-opening of Tumut delayed till 22 December

 

 

Edited November 14 by BurnieM

[Thruster88]

Harvest number 43 complete. Was a great year. Love the thruster. 

[skippydiesel]

"Spy -In-The- Sky"

 

I have heard some use drones😈

[onetrack]

Very nice, how were the yields? W.A. is well behind on harvest, due to a cool and wet Spring. A lot of harvesting will still be going on well after Christmas - and that's with big, late-model harvesters, too.

 

But the overall harvest in W.A. is a cracker, and is going to make a record for W.A.'s total grain tonnage, I reckon it will go over 27M tonnes in total. W.A.'s biggest-ever harvest was 25M tonnes in 2022.

The yields are just amazing, some barley crops are going 7-11 tonnes/ha, I've never seen anything like it.

 

I was watching a big harvester video on FB, at Esperance, they were pulling off 80 tonnes an hour on barley! We have harvesting operations here, where 2 double roadtrains can't keep up with the harvester, just on the short haul to the local rail bin. Huge amounts of grain are going to port by road, the rail network can't cope. 

 

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1499670794616183

 

https://www.giwa.org.au/wa-crop-reports/2025-season/giwa-crop-report-november-2025/

 

Edited November 21 by onetrack

[Moneybox]

8 hours ago, onetrack said:

Very nice, how were the yields? W.A. is well behind on harvest, due to a cool and wet Spring. A lot of harvesting will still be going on well after Christmas - and that's with big, late-model harvesters, too.

 

But the overall harvest in W.A. is a cracker, and is going to make a record for W.A.'s total grain tonnage, I reckon it will go over 27M tonnes in total. W.A.'s biggest-ever harvest was 25M tonnes in 2022.

The yields are just amazing, some barley crops are going 7-11 tonnes/ha, I've never seen anything like it.

 

I was watching a big harvester video on FB, at Esperance, they were pulling off 80 tonnes an hour on barley! We have harvesting operations here, where 2 double roadtrains can't keep up with the harvester, just on the short haul to the local rail bin. Huge amounts of grain are going to port by road, the rail network can't cope. 

 

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1499670794616183

 

https://www.giwa.org.au/wa-crop-reports/2025-season/giwa-crop-report-november-2025/

 

Is that going to create an over supply bringing the price down?

[onetrack]

Moneybox, there's already a global oversupply of grains, and prices have dropped accordingly. Canola is possibly still one of the bright spots in the grain market, because of strong demand, mostly from Europe, as a fuel additive. The canola price peaked during 2022, and has dropped off somewhat since, but it's still a profitable crop.

European countries have set targets on biodiesel percentages, and the European farmers alone, can't grow enough oilseed crops to meet the demand.

 

Plus, canola has a wide range of uses, from food use (cooking and salad oils) to industrial uses (lubricants, soaps and cosmetics) - and the meal left over from oil processing can be used as animal feed, fertiliser, and pet food.

 

Edited November 21 by onetrack

[BrendAn]

Magic morning for a local flight.

Overcast but the air was smooth as silk. lake Glen Maggie was like a mirrorsalad farms 

Edited November 22 by BrendAn