Tell us about your last flight

[Moneybox]

1 hour ago, BrendAn said:

i did flightless flights up and down the airstrip on saturday.  

it just wouldn't leave the ground.

I did that in my Polaris Microlight in a car park in Balcatta. It’s powered by a Rotax 503 and 60” three blade prop. For the first three metres or so it took off slowly then gripped the wind and virtually flew, up on one rear wheel, then the other before a dramatic tumble down the car park. 
After that I need a new prop and a fair bit of skin regrowth. It may have helped if I’d fitted a helmet and attached the seatbelt 🥹.

[BrendAn]

22 hours ago, Moneybox said:

I did that in my Polaris Microlight in a car park in Balcatta. It’s powered by a Rotax 503 and 60” three blade prop. For the first three metres or so it took off slowly then gripped the wind and virtually flew, up on one rear wheel, then the other before a dramatic tumble down the car park. 
After that I need a new prop and a fair bit of skin regrowth. It may have helped if I’d fitted a helmet and attached the seatbelt 🥹.

Remember the bloke on the news that drove the Cessna down to pub in Newman. That was a classic

[Thruster88]

7 hours ago, BrendAn said:

Remember the bloke on the news that drove the Cessna down to pub in Newman. That was a classic

Not all aircraft are Cessnas Brendan, the guy in Newman had a rare Beechcraft Skipper.

[Flightrite]

It’s funny I’ve just completed driving a plane across the Pacific and I’d rather fly my bug smashers at grass level than 49000’!😂

Edited May 27 by Flightrite

[Reynard]

Not quite 49000’, closer to 4900’ but I got overtaken by Rex out of Winton.  
Good separation by good communication.

[BrendAn]

On 27/05/2026 at 5:12 AM, Thruster88 said:

Not all aircraft are Cessnas Brendan, the guy in Newman had a rare Beechcraft Skipper.

yes they are according to the news report i watched it on.😀

 

[Moneybox]

I woke this morning, raised the blind and looked at the trees that were dead still, a rare occurrence but perfect for Mrs M's first flight.

 

 

I hadn't be up for more than a month so I decided on a practice flight first over Lake Austin, a few stalls, a few steep turns and a few touch-and-goes.

 

 

This is before, her smile was even bigger upon our return.

 

 

That sick bag is still in the glovebox unused 😉.

 

 

This is the Great Fingal mine. The historic gold mine office can be seen at the top of the pit. It's a heritage listed building with an uncertain future. There have been years of discussion on how to save it. One option is to move it into town but that tends to destroy the heritage value.

 

 

We took a flight over several of the old gold mines.

 

 

My aim was to make her first flight as interesting as possible while keeping it short.

 

 

Clock time was 0.6hrs so about 0.5hrs in the air. Shortly after landing the wind came up with a well timed shower of rain.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 6 by Moneybox

[Kiwi]

Same story for me, no wind and clear skies when I looked out the window this morning, but my quick local flight ended up been a 250 nautical mile / 2.7 hour nav in the 140 Cherokee.

Then after lunch a quick flight in the Drifter, followed by some circuits in the Rans S6S. 

 

[planedriver]

22 hours ago, Kiwi said:

Same story for me, no wind and clear skies when I looked out the window this morning, but my quick local flight ended up been a 250 nautical mile / 2.7 hour nav in the 140 Cherokee.

Then after lunch a quick flight in the Drifter, followed by some circuits in the Rans S6S. 

 

Gee! some blokes have a great life, envied a bit by others.

Never forget that.

[danny_galaga]

My flight before last was doing circuits after being overseas. Was rusty, pretty strong crosswind, with a bit of gusting. I got into a bit of bother on several of the landings. Was not handling my side slip technique well. So my last flight two days ago was no wind at all. Practiced a few different things in the circuit- flapless (with a half arsed 'almost' wheeler landing) and a number of deliberately high approaches to do some forward slips. Easier than side slips for me but at least it helps me keep my crossed control 'feels' up.

[facthunter]

In my experience very few people get sideslipping correct. IF you don't have the wing well down it's just a Horrible skid and a bit dangerous. Airspeed control is essential. Too fast and you strain things Too slow and you are dangerous. Practice at Altitude till you get it right.   I've seen Plenty of Instructors who don't do it Properly so how are you going to Learn from them . Use it on Planes without flaps. IF you have effective flaps, use the Flaps because you will be slower. Nev

[danny_galaga]

2 hours ago, facthunter said:

In my experience very few people get sideslipping correct. IF you don't have the wing well down it's just a Horrible skid and a bit dangerous. Airspeed control is essential. Too fast and you strain things Too slow and you are dangerous. Practice at Altitude till you get it right.   I've seen Plenty of Instructors who don't do it Properly so how are you going to Learn from them . Use it on Planes without flaps. IF you have effective flaps, use the Flaps because you will be slower. Nev

Yeah, my instructor was great, he kept up to speed on a Tiger Moth and a Gypsy Moth. Also a Bird dog. Since the school closed down I've felt it. In the past, if I was feeling a bit rusty, I'd get him to come up with me to iron things out. 

 

And yes, I don't think I was getting the wing down enough. Will practice at altitude next time 🙂

[facthunter]

Drop the wing first, then top rudder to Keep the Nose up. Power off of course. Speed (pitch) control critical Do it at height  till you have it skun. A DH 82 is a good Plane to do it in. Do you do 3 Pointers? I rarely did it any other way, You use too Much runway.  I've flown the Gypsy moth, but there are ALL wood and made a Long time ago.  Nev

[Moneybox]

3 hours ago, facthunter said:

In my experience very few people get sideslipping correct. IF you don't have the wing well down it's just a Horrible skid and a bit dangerous. Airspeed control is essential. Too fast and you strain things Too slow and you are dangerous. Practice at Altitude till you get it right.   I've seen Plenty of Instructors who don't do it Properly so how are you going to Learn from them . Use it on Planes without flaps. IF you have effective flaps, use the Flaps because you will be slower. Nev

I need to practise sideslipping. The Zenith has no flaps and sometimes I don't manage to drop enough speed finding myself a couple hundred metres down the runway in the flair before touchdown.  I miss the mechanical flaps on the Sportstar.

 

 

Yesterday I spotted this beautiful little plane in classifieds and thought that would make a nice upgrade now that Mrs M has decided she loves to fly. I called but it was sold long ago. It'd be nice if people removed their ads or marked them as sold. I think the view might be much better from the high-wing. 

[facthunter]

Not in turns, but otherwise yes. Getting in and out can be easier. Gets through farm gates better too and you CAN have More Bank on when X-wind landing..  Nev

[danny_galaga]

1 hour ago, Moneybox said:

I need to practise sideslipping. The Zenith has no flaps and sometimes I don't manage to drop enough speed finding myself a couple hundred metres down the runway in the flair before touchdown.  I miss the mechanical flaps on the Sportstar.

 

 

Yesterday I spotted this beautiful little plane in classifieds and thought that would make a nice upgrade now that Mrs M has decided she loves to fly. I called but it was sold long ago. It'd be nice if people removed their ads or marked them as sold. I think the view might be much better from the high-wing. 

You want forward slip to lose height, side slip to keep your plane lined up with a runway with a crosswind.

[BrendAn]

Got no flying trips to report at the moment . So I thought I would post some pics of the Jabiru I am getting ready to fly. Hopefully within a few weeks.

Found a fair bit of work to do .

But it has good bones.

Have to repair or replace the exhaust.

Carb heat flap is seized.

Lots of cleaning and painting but it is getting there. Should be a nice plane. 600 hrs on engine . 1600 on airframe.

It's a may 2004 build which would be one of the last LSA 55 s I think

[kiwiaviator]

On 26/05/2026 at 11:53 PM, BrendAn said:

Remember the bloke on the news that drove the Cessna down to pub in Newman. That was a classic

I was staying next to the Purple Pub when it happened. The pub has a painted mural depicting the aircraft on it now. At the time I had no idea I would own a Jabiru J230 based at Newman c 2020 It kept me sane during the Covid era. It is now based here in NZ. Another Newman recreational  aviation identity passed away recently. Bill Kirwan flew out of the now closed 'Cappy' airfield just south of the current airport in the 2000's in what I think was a Savannah. A real character that I met in 2008. RIP Bill.

[Thruster88]

A pic of the Purple Pub Beechcraft skipper mural, the skipper is so rare it did not get a nick name like the similar "trauma hawk". Marketing departments were all go for t tails back then.

[facthunter]

I'm not keen on T tails. They get more strain on them than the Normal set up.  Some Planes just reflect a styling exercise. Nev