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Hi all, this site, and all sister sites will undergo some changes over the coming days as we remove the need of all US services. This includes our server in the US which will now be in Australia through a French provider which will actually end up a little bit cheaper as well. We are also looking at dropping all US produced software and minimising all US manufactured products sold in Clear Prop. This is my way of putting my own tariffs on US products and services and supporting Ukraine. It's not much but if everyone just looked at what they buy from the US and US companies and reduced the money we give to the US then collectively it just may send a message. Besides just my US server costs were around $250 a month to the US, now they will be around $200 a month with some of that staying here in Australia and NONE of it going to the US. Oh, also the server admin person is no longer someone in the US, but an even better guy that is in the UK. He will start setting up the new server tomorrow and will migrate the sites over. Thanks for your understanding and your continued support of the sites over the 20 plus years we have been going, helping you to fly safer and learning from each others experiences.

I’m happy (and relieved) to report I completed a successful first flight of brand new Vans RV-9a VH-ORZ at YCAB this morning at ~08:00h. All T’s and P’s in the green.

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.

Had a very nice fly in the thruster following 61mm of rain on the canola. Money falling from the sky, the joy of farming.

Another beautiful weekend in the eastern isles. Headed to one of my favourite strips for an overnight hunting trip in the J230 ute. The dog is getting used to flying finally. D'Urville Island is the largest island in the Marlborough Sounds. Once again Wellington Approach very helpful with radar monitoring across the Strait. Its always reassuring knowing someone is keeping an eye on you in a single engine over water.

Happy New Year, everyone! Just letting everyone know I`m still going strong, the Drifter is still in Demand and they just keep coming, wanting to experience Drifter flying, with me... I took up several people over the Christmas period! These guys are two of them. Fred is an airline Captain! He learnt to fly, with Peter Reid, in the Drifter at kooralbyn Valey, at 15 years of age! He has flown the A320, A330, B787 and currently flies the B747. Stephen is a Helicopter pilot, who flies workers out to oil rigs, off West Australia. Andrew Dunning, a facebook friend of mine, whom I`ve never met, gifted me the T-shirt and a mug, with the same design on it. Franco. Ps, I`ve just paid my Drifter Rego, for another year.

Did a couple of hours of circuits today. A bit windy to travel in the xair. Good fun getting touchdowns down to 30 knots though.

Had a great overnight fly out to Lake Dunn a nicely prepared strip surface and is planned to be lengthened a bit for Royal Flying Doctor requirements / use. Weather was mint, great company and good feeds. It's a 207 N/ml flight from my home strip. Lake Dunn August 2025.mp4

First flight for grand daughter no 2. I'm going to try to make Pilots of them both👩‍✈️

The official statistics from The Old Station Air Show 2025! This year, we were absolutely blown away by the community support from near and far. We had people travelling from as far as Melbourne and Adelaide to attend this event, with a few making the trip all the way from New Zealand. The turnout was nothing short of phenomenal, and The Old Station Flying Club is over the moon with how the weekend went. Here’s what the weekend looked like by the numbers: Approx 11,000 gate entries 1,150 camp sites - with over 500 campers rolling in before lunch time on the Thursday 252 aircraft 55 bikes 32 cars 40 trucks 34 tractors in the tractor pull An outstanding showing of heritage machinery This event would not have been possible without the support of our volunteers, with 430 amazing volunteers pulling together to make this event happen! We’re still finalising a few things behind the scenes, so while we can’t share how much money was raised yet, rest assured — that announcement will come at our official presentation event soon.

I have known Trevor for about 50 years. First in RC modelling when a teenager. he has a hangar at YCAB and built the RV8. I have been flying it it but when he had a more sedate engine in it. Trev changed the engine out a couple of years ago with a much more powerful turbocharged suburu than what he had in it. It also had a constant speed 4 blabe prop. The plane was a weapon. He travelled regularly to Raglan to see Ron the owner as they were good friends. Trevor is a very strong person. We are all very upset by this and we hope like hell he can pull through. We are well aware of the odds of survival with the percentage amount of burns he has. As a signal of his strength to be that badly burned and also the chest and other physical injuries from the crash then to walk 2km back to the homestead shows just how determined and strong he can be. Trevor is a very experienced pilot and has flown a lot of different aircraft including WW1 Fokker Triplane and Sopwith Camels and many others. He has done a heap of first test flights on all sorts of aircraft. He can be a bit gungho at times but his experience in flying all sorts of aircraft and his skill can not be denied. The club at YCAB and all of his friends are praying that he does pull through of course. I looked at his track it seems he took off from Redcliffe on the 22nd and the accident took place on the 23rd at about 10am. We dont know for sure but pretty sure EFOTO most likely . The suuru would have been at full power and I would say it let go. There isnt a lot of options out of that strip but it is a very long strip. I think he has gone into the trees at the end and has walked all the way back to the homestead. I dont know anymore details yet. 11K views · 104 reactions | A pilot is fighting for life in the RBWH,... WWW.FACEBOOK.COM A pilot is fighting for life in the RBWH, after his plane crashed and exploded into flames in Central Queensland.

Hi gents. Im Nevan and own the Aircam at Old Station. The aircaft was built in the USA in 2000 then spent a few years in Costa Rico before going to Mexico. It appears the plans to use it for banner towing came to nilch and it spent 10 years in storage there. It then went back to the USA in 2019 and was rebuilt at the Lockwood Factory which included adding the Dynon EFIS. It finally arrived in Melbourne in Jan25 and was re-assembled in Tyabb. Total time as of today is only 500hrs. There are two other Aircams in Australia, both of them on floats in Mt Isa and Melbourne, and two kits under construction in Temora and Adelaide. Im idly bouncing my way back to Perth, probably over the top end. Its a great aircraft on floats but all the salt water in WA turns love into a labour - so wheels it is. I cruise along at 70mph and 20 lph (total) - so low and slow and enjoy the world slipping by. Takeoff is 3secs and about 30m so its a thrill to fly and asymmetrics are a non event. Thanks for taking an interest.

I've seldom seen so many column inches wasted by people wishing to blame the system. This is so obviously a case of an individual making the wrong decision. Regulators, instructors, qualified bystanders and family and friends cannot be blamed for the rash decisions of the victim of poor decisions. Coroners will often try to scapegoat by looking for 'system failings'. Recreational flying has and will always be potentially dangerous and, in common with all risk activities, will punish poor choices. Blaming instructors, regulators or regulations is a trap. The attraction of recreational flying is that it assigns the risk to the pilot. The obvious lesson here is to carry in mind, at all times, the knowledge that this thing can kill me.

Forgot a pic

I have been asked to delete this thread BUT the thread contains important discussion that could help ALL pilots so IT WILL NOT BE DELETED. Some posts have been removed and others edited so there is no finger pointing, no stating of anything as being factual to the cause of the accident. Factual information as to the cause of the accident will be released in due course after a formal investigation takes place I and I am sure every single other pilot on this site is in grief for the pilot's family and friends but if we can not discuss things openly with consideration to the family and friends then accidents will keep happening and more pilots will die. There are site rules in reference to discussing accidents HERE and as long as we follow them then this site is a learning resource FOR EVERY PILOT!!!

As a retired airline examiner & instrument rating examiner with over 18,000 hours I still can’t understand why this has to come up every few months, simple airmanship & a sense of self preservation should keep you on the ground during marginal VMC conditions or a diversion if airborne. This is my instrument panel which I deliberately chose when purchasing my Foxbat, not an attitude indicator insight. Continued flight in marginal conditions equates to a DEAD MAN WALKING.

Okay, it's a few months later, but finally ready to start the engine. Today with the help of some good friends I got the plane out of the shed, got the wings on and pounded in some star pickets to tie down to. Tomorrow I will also tie the main gear back to a very solid post before trying a start. I also made a control lock that I'm quite happy with. That's locking up the rudder and elevators now, if the flaperons were attached it'd lock those too. Will post photos of that later. Any final words of advice?

First time at Longreach, pleasant conditions. Great strip and cafe. 12 degrees so not too bad. Plus at variable tailwind 10 to 20 knots.

Painted Hills, also Kings Canyon & Gosses Bluff.

I went solo again this afternoon. I have soloed twice before but due to long breaks in my training I had to start again plus I am training in a Texan now and tecnams before. It was a great feeling to get to solo again. I only have 4 hours to go and I will finally get my RPC.

Well, we flew Cootamundra to Holbrook for the Easter fly-in. Good weather and a decent roll-up of approx 50 aircraft, everything from Cirrus to RV's to Thruster T 500 and a sole Drifter. A sizeable coterie of die-hard Wheeler Scout enthusiasts celebrated the 50th (can you believe?) anniversary of this historic birthing of ultralight aviation in Oz. Sadly the wind made demonstration flights unwise, so none happened. The large range of historic types in the museum's collection, on display prompted various reactions ranging from nostalgia to horrified disbelief (there was even a Pteradactyl, one of which I once owned). Oz Runways presented a comprehensive summary of the almost bewildering range of capabilities from our premier EFB provider. This was followed by a presentation from RAAus. Many people had the chance to catch up and share enthusiastically memorable events and stories. An evening meal and guest speaker left all attendees believing that such events are too rarely held and a vote of thanks expressed our collective gratitude for the enormous efforts made by Holbrook Ultralight Club members. Next year hopefully, even more of us will make the trek because this is an event well worth the effort. I overheard at least one observation that it was far more rewarding than Avalon.

Update --- Drum Roll I'm happy to report after meeting my Pilot neighbour that all's well with the world and good communication goes a long way. He showed me and my wife his meticulously cared for plane and his logs which gave us alot of confidence that he knows what he's doing and cares alot about safety for everyone. He's had decades of flight experience which I think, gives our family the best confidence that we're in safe hands. So, for any pilots with neighbours ... Please Please Please ... Communicate with them. We ended up laughing about the communication issues as we left. He's a great guy actually. So ... if I have offended any pilots out there, I apologise. I came from a place of keeping my family safe and not one of restricting peoples ability to enjoy their hobby. Thank You and Fly Safely Everyone Brian

At the moment there's a bushfire in Snug Tiers national park, which is only about 10km or less from our place as the crow flies. For the last 2 days there's been between 3 and 5 Air Tractor AT8T's constantly bombing the fire. For the first part of yesterday they seemed to be going to the upper Derwent near New Norfolk to reload with water, but later - and all of today - they've just been touching down on North West Bay near Margate, obviously loading very fast (they're only on the water for 10 or 15 seconds before going again), doing the 3 or 4 minute flight to the fire and back for more. Apparently the fire is very difficult for regular vehicles to get to because of the terrain, so it's been fantastic to see these planes scoop up water every 10 - 15 minutes and hit the fire. So to the pilots of these planes, as well as the Bell 214 choppers that have been bucketing water - you are bloody heroes, thank you for your efforts to keep our properties safe. (Having said that, I really hope it doesn't spread quickly and burn us out!) Not to mention the people on the ground - the firies, police, coordinators, volunteers and everyone else involved - very grateful to you all. Tried to get some pics after work today but my phone camera is crap.

Magic morning for a local flight. Overcast but the air was smooth as silk. lake Glen Maggie was like a mirrorsalad farms

Passengers on Delta Flight DL466 from Atlanta to Las Vegas were stunned when their captain suddenly announced he was refusing to fly their assigned Boeing 757. The veteran pilot, with over 25 years of experience, revealed that he had flown the very same jet the day before and filed a maintenance request for a possible elevator issue—an essential control surface for safe flight. Despite a nine-hour inspection that cleared the aircraft, his “gut feeling” told him something wasn’t right. Walking off the jet bridge, he ordered boarding stopped, explained his decision over the PA, and declared he was rejecting the aircraft for safety reasons—something he said he hadn’t done in 22 years. Even his first officer admitted it was only the second time in his career he had rejected a plane. Though the decision caused more than an hour’s delay, passengers at the gate broke into applause, praising the captain’s transparency and commitment to safety. Delta quickly dispatched a replacement 757, and the flight eventually departed without issue. The incident highlighted the ultimate authority of the pilot-in-command, who by law has the final say on whether an aircraft is safe to fly. While the delay was inconvenient, the overwhelming sentiment was clear: passengers were grateful for a captain who put their lives ahead of the schedule.

FINALLY got my rpc. it took 50 hrs because of all the breaks in between. now i can fly the xair to my hearts content. i know the basic rpc is just solo practice in the 25nm zone but that is fine with me for a while until i start x country lessons.

While we will shortly be delivering our brand new 110hp Zonsen CA510 engine to the aircraft, an old Rotax is being used to finalise the engine mount geometry, as well as to facilitate the installation of the final engine accessories such as radiator, oil tank and cooler etc. When the new Zonsen engine arrives at the airframes location, we will be able to drop it straight in to replace the Rotax. The attached photo shows the Rotax and the associated firewall to engine ring frame mount. A jig will be fabricated from this first (non-airworthy) engine mount from which the airworthy mount will be made. The prop hub has been determined to be in the identical position to the Jabiru hub and we hope to be able to use the original cowling with minimal modifications. Now to plan the installation of the engine accessories.

I was one of six Bathurst Soaring Club members in four aircraft (C182, Maule M4, Hornet Cub & Corby Starlet), who enjoyed an 808nm five day trip around NSW (& briefly VIC) last week. Day 1 Bathurst – Temora (fuel, brunch). Temora – Hay (fuel). Hay – Mungo Lodge Day 2 Guided tour around the (dry) lake & its World Heritage features. Day 3 Mungo Lodge – Swan Hill (fuel, lunch) Visited the Catalina Museum, Lake Boga. Day 4 Swan Hill – Tocumwal (fuel, lunch) Visited the Aviation Museum & the Gliding Club hangar (one of the original, huge WW2 hangars, which accommodated B24 Liberators) Swan Hill – Temora (fuel) Day 5 Temora – Bathurst. Cancelled planned visit to the Temora Museum, due encroaching weather at Bathurst. All together a most enjoyable trip. Both aviation Museums are well worth the visit and comprehensively detail the importance of these aerodromes / lake during WW2.

Sorry for the long breaks folks, and thanks for your responses. The six year halt on progress was due to a complete change in life direction after I was offered a position I couldn't refuse, to establish and head up a new helicopter operation in PNG, a place in which I had always wanted to fly and due to other commitments, never had the opportunity previously. It also very conveniently bridged the whole covid thing, for me. It turned out to be a fabulous adventure, purchasing an Airbus AS350B3 out of Nevada, having it converted from air ambulance to utility format, shipping to Australia, re-assembling and re-certifying/registering it in Australia, flying it up to Port Moresby via Cape York, crossing the Torres Strait, then along the south coast of PNG. Certifying it again in PNG and working with the CASA there for the next two years was another whole new experience and operations in the Highlands proved to be all they are infamous for. Overall a fascinating experience that is worthy of a book! The owners have now sold that operation and we have moved onto other ventures there in remote area construction and export of produce, both of which are likely to result in the need for another helicopter, this time for private operations and most likely will be an R66 - but that is still in the planning stage at the moment. Meanwhile, my shout out a couple of months ago was going to be an attempt to see if there was anyone interested in finishing off the DooMaw build because I have had so little time for it, and on top of that have bought a house in FNQ so a big move of machine shop, workshop and household is underway. As it turned out I loaded DooMaw in a trailer and took it up there first to get that problem solved for now, so the build is in abeyance once again. But if anyone is inspired please do let me know. Otherwise, who knows, I may get around to working on it again at some stage, or find someone in FNQ who might be interested in helping out or taking it over. Either way I'm looking forward to a long overdue change of pace and scenery! Will let you all know as we progress.

Just some more guys, who wanted to experience Drifter flying with me, over the Christmas holidays! Alex is in the Royal Australian Air Force! He told me it was the most exhilerating flight he`d done! Being in the breeze, feeling free, did it for him. Lauren is a medical Doctor! Said she`d deffinately do it again! Amelia, Happy as! and Yes! I did make reference to Amelia Earhart, to her, and she did know of Amelia Earhart. Franco Ps, It`s the joy that those who fly with me in the Drifter experience, that keeps me wanting to do, what I do. Facebook

Happy New Year for 2025 to all members and enjoy plenty of nice safe flights.

After dragging the plane in and out of the shed a few times, I decided to construct a tow bar to make the process a bit easier. Bent it up out of some 0.064" scrap, attached an old Bunnings table leg to it and put a cross piece on the end. I thought it may have been too short, but just tested it and it works a treat. Because it slides over the axle just inside the fork, it's easy to turn the plane too.

I didn't track my whole day because it was just more of the same. The purple is my Test Flight..... and I passed. 😇 The morning started out dead calm with take-off and landing from runway 14. I got told off for not doing a flyover on my solo return from the training area. The wind was up and had reversed so I actually landed down-wind. I had been away for an hour and never checked the windsock. By the time I got to my test there was a strong varying crosswind so my landings were a little less than smooth but I think I was given a bit of a concession for the gusty conditions. Tomorrow was meant to be the Sportstar test flight and my variable pitch propeller endorsement but the weather is likely to put a stop to that.

1st flight was 13 October 2015, now ten years young and still totally enjoying the flights.

244 knts seems way too fast for a lightweight aircraft. Imagine what rough air would be like. That's why I never take the xair over 200 knts.

In the PA28-180, Flew up to Mudgee (from Cowra NSW) for lunch to see a mate a couple of weekends back, good TAS at 9500. nil significant cloud. and then went up and had a good look at a Gulgong airstrip. YGGG Now is bitumen for about 1km, and nice grass at each end for a few hundred meters. great approaches, seems wind wise well orientated. E-W It's PPR, look up Bob Priddle in the book, he is a very nice bloke. then , last weekend flew down to wagga for lunch (again to see a mate) , plenty of canola flowers. few/6500 down there, scattered/5500 back. that's the nice big wing on the Archer, an extra foot longer compared to the Cherokee 180. non tapered.

What I have found after ignoring every AvData invoice for the last 3 years - since they got my details wrong and refused to correct it, in turn, billing me for operations at a place I've never, been - is that they have no legal authority to raise a debt against you - they are simply the intermediaries between aviators and aerodrome owners. They say as such in their letter, "The airport owner may deny you use of their facilities or commence recovery action.." yadda yadda - but AvData themselves, appear to have no recourse if you simply use their invoices to line your kitty's litter tray. Indeed I've dealt with a Council (Gladstone) directly - who got my details from AvData, mind you - and when I explained why I refused to deal with AvData anymore, but would happily pay you if you send an invoice directly, so that's what they did. I paid it that afternoon and everyone was happy.

Its about to ship. So in a few months I will start a Kitfox build and a you tube. Stay tuned Lyndon

Arrived in perfect condition. Unpacked and box dismantled in two and quarter hrs. Now for inventory Lyndon

Beautiful flight to Bairnsdale last week. Family stuff till today. Now patiently waiting for the weather to improve to fly home. Don’t think it will be for a couple of days though.

After a long hiatis I have finally been able to get back to work on Mabel. 20 months it has taken to get the subdivision done at our place and to be honest a lack of enthusiasm didnt help due to being too tired to do work on her at night after doing all the work around here we have done here. The parachute is now hooked up just have to finish off some final running the main strap out of the hole at the top. The seat bases are back in and the foam has been made and ready for upholstery for them to be done. They will velcro then to the seats that are std for a savannah. The tail feathers are on and cables run and ready for hookup. Wiring for the elevator trim is done,static is run up to the top of the fin also. I will bring the wings back from the hangar shortly and fit them. I will be adding some dihedral to these wings this time. I have 4 new sections of strut material so I have to cut and fit them then I have a bit of painting to get done. There are some cover strips that have to be painted and once the new struts are done they will have to be painted. The roof section has been covered in IR and heat film and it has been fitted. The windscreen is all fitted but out at the moment while I am working on it. Then once it goes it the base section will be sealed with black sikaflex..a special one I managed to source. It would be nice to get her flying by the end of this year 🙂. Also got to trial fit the mrs and myself in there today..she likes the new comfy seats

The channel country is really putting on a show this year. Pics from a flight 2 weeks ago between Birdsville and Windorah

Nice 2.6 hour flight from Longreach to Charleville arrive 4 minutes earlier than the flight plan a mix of light tail and then head winds plus some showers under the dark sky areas. Both airfields are in beautiful condition and excellent cafes there for mid morning breakfast.

Nice fly out to the coast to see if the water clarity is good enough to dive tomorrow and chase some Barra. Over cast and low cloud but nice. One other training Tecnam in the air as well. So not too busy🙃😊

What an awesome long weekend (Friday to Sunday). Great organisation, staff, ground staff directing aircraft by SAAA, clear inbound and in circuit comms supported by the ground support. On arrival I joined overhead and number 2 to the Trojan. Great food and airshow. Caught up with many forum members and old mates. The amenities were added close to the aircraft so no need for long walk to showers each day. The airshow is great with the hills close behind as a back drop. Images to follow.

Having now spoken with several J160/J230 owners who have retrofitted Rotax engines to their airframes, and also having spoken with several of the individuals/teams that actually undertook the conversions, It is very interesting to note their experiences and also their aircraft’s demonstrated performance with the Rotax installed. I am not going to repeat them here as the information would be second hand, but it is motivating for us to fit and demonstrate some Zonsen engines in Jabiru airframes. To that end, we now have a J160 airframe being prepared to have the 110hp Zonsen CA510 that we took to AusFly installed. Once that combination is flying, we will be able to provide first hand performance figures for the combination. We also intend to take that aircraft on a demonstration tour to allow flying schools and Jab owners to experience the conversion for themselves. This will also build hours on the engine in real life operation that together in conjunction with other Zonsen dealers around the world, we can start building reliable data about the reliability of the engines. It’s a start…. Anyway, here’s a photo of the recipient J160 that is currently undergoing a full restoration with the necessary firewall forward and instrument panel conversion to be undertaken. Standby for further updates.

If he was colour-blind, he shouldn't have been in possession of an electrical licence. "Woke" is a very abused and misused word today, it originally meant, "be awake" (to conniving trickery, as regards racism and social injustice). There's nothing wrong with people who have some kind of physical or intellectual deficiency being employed in certain jobs, provided they can perform the job to the required standard, and be generally accepted as capable. Now "Woke" is applied to anything that offends conservative senses and established values or positions. There are plenty of incompetent people amongst conservative ruling classes, just look at the recent list of British PM's. As regards employing women, I have employed women dump truck drivers and they had a better attitude to operation of equipment than most males. They had a better maintenance record, when it came to things being broken by abusive treatment. They were better at repetitive, boring tasks than many males. But not all women were capable of doing the job, it was no different to how some men weren't worth employing, either. And when it came to WW2, 30% of the workforce during WW2 were women, and they built everything from machine tools to aircraft, without too many problems. Most of the problems that affected them were related to abusive and domineering treatment by men. The women who carried out transport of new aircraft from the factories in the U.S. to Britain, did outstanding work.

If it saves you money and makes it sustainable - go for it. We all appreciate what you do for us. Thanks Ian.

……..and a few more rivets later