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sfGnome

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Everything posted by sfGnome

  1. sfGnome
    50 minutes to Warnervale (but no A/C currently there for hire), 90 min to the Oaks, 2 hours to Cessnock, so an hour's circuits at Cessnock is a 5 hour exercise (5.5 if you include set up / check out / chat / etc). I think that's the thing that tipped me over the edge towards ownership - if I'm going to travel a long way, I want it to be when I want, not when an aircraft is available! Mind you, I don't think that it took much pushing to get me over the edge...
  2. sfGnome
    Now, were the parts shown at 3:37 the bits leftover when you'd finished??
  3. sfGnome
    Van's reason for supplying the higher power is probably as noted in this Dynon comment; "Currently the FAA ADS-B requirements specify the higher power Class 1 transponder. For U.S. customers, we recommend only the Class 1 SV-XPNDR-261." Doesn't answer the original question for Australia though...
  4. sfGnome
    You mean like in the Sydney basin???
  5. sfGnome
    I only had one instructor, but I've been on check flights since with a number of them and I think I understand a bit of what he was feeling. Different instructors have different emphases; one will crucify you if you don't know what his favourite acronym stands for, while another will take you to task for the 'wrong' approach in circuit. I'm confident enough now to know that I can learn something from all of them so there's nothing to fear, but the student is much more likely to be thrown by the variations.
  6. sfGnome
    I reckon it depends. I recall getting the cuts from a few psychopaths who just did it for fun. Then there was the one teacher that only ever gave me the cane once, but I can still remember what he said to me afterwards. Him, I respected. The others; waste of oxygen. Not wishing to rain on too many it-was-better-when-we-were-young parades, but there was a helluva lot wrong back then just like there's a hellava lot wrong now. The only difference is that we only remember the good stuff from back then, and we only hear about the bad stuff from the shock jocks now. My daughters are both teachers and I reckon they do a pretty good job (and while I'm on a roll, until you've had an ADHD child and understand what is involved, pull yer collective heads in about the 'doped up on Ritalin' jibes. Go break a leg and then tell me that you don't think it should be treated...)
  7. sfGnome
    Pardon the dumb question, but who is guaranteed to be at the meeting that I can nominate as the proxy? Are they legally bound to vote as I request, or do I need to find someone who is going to be there and will follow instructions?
  8. sfGnome
    I was really surprised when I read of your first passenger. My niece's boy is autistic and they come and stay with us for a week a couple of times a year. There's no way that I could try to control him and fly the plane at the same time. Then I read the bit about him being in the back seat... Isn't it great when you do something that makes him smile!
  9. sfGnome
    Thanks again Wayne. Would you believe that I scoured that document, but somehow skipped section 4.0.
  10. sfGnome
    Thanks Wayne. Comprehensive answers, much appreciated. It's possible that I'll be talking to Adam et. al. before too long, but I didn't want to bother them until I had a better general picture. Thanks again.
  11. sfGnome
    I've been hunting through the regulations regarding maintenance, and now I'm even more confused than before I started. I understand that if a factory built (24-xxxx) aircraft is being used for training, etc, then its maintenance must be performed by an L2 or better. However; If it is just being used by the owner for their own fun and games, are they then allowed to do their own maintenance? If they are allowed, then can the aircraft be used for training in the future, or does the first non-L2 maintenance render the aircraft forever marked as unsuitable. If a syndicated limited liability company owns the aircraft, are the shareholders in the syndicate considered to be owners for the purposes of maintenance, or does the company put them at arms length so that an L2 has to do any work? John Brandon, in one of his excellent tutorials states "Where there is a group-owned aircraft one owner must be appointed to be responsible for — and control of — all maintenance on that aircraft". Whilst that makes good sense (just as one should be responsible for finance and one for booking, etc), I couldn't find where in the regulations such a stipulation is made. Any ideas? Thanks. Any answers much appreciated.
  12. sfGnome
    Nice photo. What height are you at there? I've flown over the bridge a number of times, but I've never dared to get right down there on the basis that there's not a lot of landing places if things go quiet...
  13. sfGnome
    I think if I had a lot of money and was able to fly every day, then I wouldn't have a lot of money any more...
  14. sfGnome
    Yep. I was disappointed too, because I enjoy reading the magazine, but it's the kind of thing that I pick up for 15min when I'm going to bed or spending time in a Doctor's waiting room (or even occasionally when I'm... ). The iPhone is too small for reading stuff like that, and I didn't want to purchase an iPad (my cunning plan is to wait for someone to discard theirs because they're upgrading - that's how I got my iPhone. Ok. Call me cheap! The occasional bit of honesty doesn't go astray ). Still, I guess we'll all learn to live with it. We've worked around a helluvalot of other changes.
  15. sfGnome
    Geez. Pity about those very un-1960's houses in the background. Wouldn't want to get them in the shot...
  16. sfGnome
    Welcome aamer. You've got a few choices of school up your way. Enjoy it! :)
  17. sfGnome
    Are there any issues with weight distribution if you use the tanks individually, or do you have to drain from them both simultaneously?
  18. sfGnome
    Both my daughters are school teachers. One was telling me the other day that when some of her students really struggle with the concept of multiplication, she'll tell them not to think of it like numbers along a ruler, but to think of it like numbers in a square instead. While most of the class - even the bright ones - won't have a clue what she's talking about, these kids have to see things in shapes before they get it. The point of the story is just that there isn't a one size fits all when it comes to learning. You have to have a whole arsenal of techniques, and hope that one of them will work for your current student. Some will be totally confused by introducing AoA early on, while some will find it just makes perfect sense. Good luck working out which is which. I guess that's the real skill of the teacher, isn't it?
  19. sfGnome
    It's amazing how much fun 25 miles can be. Congrats.
  20. sfGnome
    My beloved is very supportive, as long as being supportive doesn't require her to be in the air with me. She's glued to the coverage of the Tour de France at the moment, and I keep reminding her that the countryside only looks that good from the air. She even got as far as asking the other day whether my certificate was valid in France, so maybe she's coming around if the payoff is good enough (pity it isn't ).
  21. sfGnome
    Umm. Dumb question, but assuming you're not aiming to fly it off, how are you going to get it off that platform when the time comes? I think I'm almost as jealous of your work space as I am of your project; almost, but not quite!
  22. sfGnome
    My elder son has been working his way down from ~130kg over the last 12-18 months ( in the high 90's now, but aiming for 85). His particular passion (failing?) was coke - the black fizzy stuff, not the snorting variety - and he remarked to me one day "y'know dad, I'm not carrying around six dozen cans of coke on my waist any more!". He's also gone from running 10k in 65 minutes then to 45 minutes now. Constant exercise didn't only help him shed the weight, but the desire to run faster gave him a *reason* to lose it. OME, I reckon that your quest for a goal that really matters to you is more important than the method you're going to use to achieve it. Now, what was my goal again? Oh yeah. That's right. My very own li'l aircraft...
  23. sfGnome
    Ian, I haven't voted, not because I'm lazy or apathetic but because I'm happy with whichever you choose (and there wasn't a button for that ).
  24. sfGnome
    Wilbur & Orville didn't exactly fly too far on their first flight either, but the main point of something like this is that it is in the limited environment that we learn about efficiency. You can always add a few more cc to an engine, but if it's human powered then you need efficiency, and that can be always applied back to those more typical engines you know and love. p.s. I whip myself into a lather a few days a week, but I never even get myself a few inches off the ground...
  25. sfGnome
    This is where it all started... Got bored on holidays and wandered into a hobby shop. That baby in the middle is currently sitting at the computer next to me, yelling at his mates while killing alien zombies, having just completed his 3rd year Uni exams. Mostly I was into gliders, then electric motor gliders, but sadly, they mostly ended up like this... And here's our flying field, taken with a disposable film camera with a servo placed over the shutter button. That lake swallowed a few models
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