Admin

The proceeds from sales of Clear Prop products at Natfly have been used to purchase a fantastic Blog system for all forum members so a big thanks to everyone that purchased something from the Clear Prop shop for making this happen.

THIS IS A HUGE ENHANCEMENT TO YOUR FORUMS!

A Blog is like a your own little forum and home page that you control. You can write anything about anything that you want to, post images, tell stories about yourself or anything that interests you that you would like to tell the world about. You can tell all your friends etc that you have your own blog at e.g. www.recreationalflying.com/forum/blog.php?b=1 and they can come and read it, post comments to you about what ever you are saying in your blog. people do not even have to be a member of the forums to read or post in your blog - note of warning, in your blog settings make sure you tick to moderate all comments first to make sure someone doesn't post anything you don't like there.

You can use your blog as an announcements or news about what you are doing, your aircraft kit building adventures, anything you want and you can even break it up into different categories like Family, Work, Flying, News etc.

I do sincerely hope that you will find it very rewarding having your own blog and if you already have a blog somewhere else then why not transfer it to here - your blog even has a Recreational Flying address.

Enjoy and it will be the vessel for some great and interesting reading

- glad you like the personal touch!

Every now and then I will change the greetings just to make it interesting ;)

I am talking to them about the fuel capacity and I am hoping that we can get the capacity upgraded here for Australia.

I have been advised that the first Master is in the jig now - exciting times coming up

My pleasure Tony, anything to support the flying of recreational aircraft - and if there are any other Aircraft Type User Groups out there that would also like a very specialised home with all the benefits that this community site can offer your users, then please just let me know and we could develop a great home with many extras for you

Bob, I am so glad to hear that you are OK - it is always sad to think about what we have lost as that is a choice that we all seem to make but we should think more about what we have gained - you being here to tell us all about it and the experience that you now have. I was told by my instructor that we will ALL have at least one scary incident in our flying life - it keeps the clubrooms buzzing with great stories ;)

Take it easy, let Chris (Techman) know as it would be great to find out exactly what happened so we can all learn from your valuable experience

If there is anything any of us here can do for you then please let me know

The fuel capacity is something that I discussed with them when I was over in Italy and yes, there is scope to increase the fuel tank size but I need to start working on the certification process which will define the MTOW for here which will then define what "luxuries" we can have such as increased fuel capacity etc.

At Natfly where the Master received a lot of focus I was informed by someone that was from CASA that I may be able to get a special dispensation for the retracts in LSA. This is something that I am also going to explore further as he gave me his card and said to contact him for help.

I am tossing up whether to go over to Italy again to talk further and build my own one over there with them so I can be intimate with every piece and lever off any information from Curzio while I am there putting it together - besides Curzio and Luisa are very nice people so it would be a great experience. Just have to work it all out and when?

I will put into motion an online reporting page on the website, which will give back a confirmation receipt number, or something along those lines. That way, if we in the office believe we did not receive a report, you can give us the receipt number so that we can track it down.The office is still busy even when no work comes in on a particular day (which never happens).

Chris

Here is the latest update on the Millennium Master - the cruise speed has been downgraded by 4 knots which I believe but not confirmed was due to a certification reason in Italy but I will prefer to wait and get one here first with everything I want like the right prop etc before I quote any definite and actual figures.

The Millennium Master

- Welcome to the future and the ultimate flying experience

• Construction: All Carbon Fibre
   
   
  
• Engine: Rotax 912ULS
   
   
  
• Horsepower: 100 hp
   
   
  
• Fuel Type: Premium Unleaded
   
   
  
• Fuel Use: 17 lit/ph (at cruise)
   
   
  
• Fuel Tank Size: 65 lit
   
   
  
• Endurance: 3.5 hours / 900 km
   
   
  
• Stall speed: 35 knots
   
   
  
• Max speed: 190 knots
   
   
  
• Cruise speed (75%): 166 knots
   
   
  
• Takeoff & landing dist: 150 m
   
   
  
• Wing Span: 8.10 m
   
   
  
• Length: 7.10 m
   
   
  
• Max weight: to be confirmed for Aus
   
   
  
• Empty weight: 285 kg
   
   
  
• Wing area: 9.96 m2
   
  

The MASTER comes as a fast Build Kit with minimum required assembly:

The kit composes of a totally built and glued aircraft but with the mechanical parts to be assembled: ailerons, controls, cloche, landing gear, engine mounting, hinges, canopy, etc. The kit contains all these parts except for engine, propeller, parachute, instrumentations, and electric system.

The kit has a Ballistic Parachute option however the belts, doors, etc. are already fabricated into the aircraft but the parachute itself as well as factory painting is optional.

Professional, state of the art computation and modelling tools were intensively used in designing the MASTER with initial aerodynamic characteristics being identified through wind tunnel testing of a 1:10 scale model. The structure was designed and computed by the Aerostructure Department of Turin Polytechnic University Italy. Extensive use was made of Finite Element Modelling (FEM) and NASTRAN techniques. The structure was designed to comply with FAR 23 (CS23 in Europe) requirements.

At the moment the aircraft is considered in the European Utility category.

The aircraft has been designed with a "SAFETY FIRST" concept using high strength, composite material, 4-spar cockpit structure that provides a very resistant protective box around both pilots. An optional internal BALLISTIC CHUTE provides extra safety for the occupants in case of an emergency situation. Fuel tanks utilize Formula 1 foam technology which provides good anti blast protection and with both tanks located in the wings, away from the cockpit. Optimum design layout requires no individual fuel selector thus providing an inherent and effective protection against engine fuel starvation or mishandling.

The Millennium Master – welcome to the future!

This is why it is so important that we send incident reports in to the RA-Aus and confirm that they have been received so something can be done about things. These forums are great to let people know about things but we do need to be sure of facts.

Well done Tony for getting in on this and I am sure Chris at the RA-Aus will now be able to do something when he gets the incident report

Because I rewrote the database for the site I need to rewrite the query that gets them from the database but just haven't had the time to do it yet - will do it soon for you!

I agree with what Matt says and very much encourage it from a learning point of view BUT I will always draw the line and moderate very quickly if a finger gets pointed until facts come out.

Doesn't matter if it is the ex-CEO, an A380 Capt, an F1-11 jockey, you or me - every mishap can be used for learning and that is what is encouraged but with NO blame on anyone

It was our ex illustrious leader Middo that came to grief - pictures would be good.

I think what Lee was referring to was that no pilot came to grief getting to Natfly or getting back home again in all the different weather conditions that were around

Yes, was it a taildragger Jab?

What was even better was that given the appalling weather conditions everywhere that there wasn't one accident - as Lee Ungermann said, that makes Natfly 2008 a successful event!

Done - a forum for Zenith User's Group has been created and Gliders has been moved into the "Other Recreational Aircraft" forum.

Done! - well, better late then never. :big_grin:

However, if you want to search for say just members at Penfield then you can use the search and then Advance Search function in the Member's List page. You can search by any number of fields - hope this helps!

We have two usergroups that have not had a post in over 3 months, Gliders and Pioneer so if you feel a Zenith usergroup would get more interest then these then one of them will have to go ;)

At Natfly 2008, Recreational Aviation Australia Board Member launched a new program called GYFTS which is aimed at helping young people to experience the enjoyment of learning to fly.

GYFTS is an acronym for Giving Young people Flight Training Support.

This is an RA-Aus member-funded program. Each RA-Aus member is encouraged to donate as little as $2 per year and with over 8,500 members, the fund could support flight training for a number of young people every year.

For more information, contact Carol Richards.

Put your $2 coin where your passion is!!!! Help deserving young people learn to fly. Be a part of GYFTS.

On a search of the database of the Aircraft field in the forum users I can only find 4 users that have listed Zenith as their aircraft and even then one is Zenith Australia and one is from Canada so that only leaves two general Zenith users.

However having said this I am open to any further comments in support of a Zenith usergroup....

There is always something that is funny at Natfly - one time when I had just bought my first CT I ended up sitting at a table at the dinner where everyone owned a Jab - even sat next to Cliff Banks.

This time most funniest thing that I experienced at Natfly was at the dinner on the Sat evening again - not only did I get landed next to Geoff and Slarti but my father won one of the Raffles - a darn XCom Headset

What say we have an auction soon and see if we can raise any money for it and donate it to the GYFTS program that Carol Richards has started to help a young pilot get into training - what sayeth all?

Oh, and you would never guess who won the Recreational Flying Headset and Tent - the Secretary of the SAAA ;)