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sfGnome

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Everything posted by sfGnome

  1. sfGnome
    I said no, because I don’t *know* that I flew into a stall. There was one time in my early days - an ugly, gusty day - when as I was turning to crosswind from the takeoff, I hit what I assumed was a strong gust that put the aircraft on its side (or so it felt). My instructor took control, recovered, and we decided that it wasn’t a good day for learning… Maybe it was just a gust blowing us around. Maybe it was a wind speed change that turned my climbing power-on turn into a climbing power-on stall at 500 ft? Who knows?
  2. sfGnome
    My latest flight (hopefully not my last!) was today, just in a big sardine can (2 hours late while they replaced “a computer part that glitched”. 2 hours sitting on the tarmac in a totally full sardine can was no fun, but heaps better than running into a mountain because their instruments were cactus, so no complaints there). Anyhow, the point of this is where we went - Queenstown NZ. What a phenomenal introduction to South Island scenery that flight path is. You kiwis really know how to do hills! Still miles out from the airport on final, look to the right and there’s a main road full of cars *above* you. (Drove that road later going down to Wanaka. Lots of fun, but would have been more fun in a sports car 😁). This place must look spectacular from the air, though the thought of the rotors coming off those peaks is a little scary.
  3. sfGnome
    Remember the floods last year? What was the main complaint afterwards? “We weren’t given enough warning. Nobody told us it was coming!” Forecasters can’t win. They must get up every morning thinking “whatever I do today, 50% of the population will think I’m an idiot”.
  4. sfGnome
    Nup. Telecommunications equipment. About 30 years ago. Actually, it was the first of two times that companies I worked for were bought out by an American company. They second one they just destroyed by incompetence… 🤨🙄
  5. sfGnome
    Possible. I worked for an Australian company where we designed and brought to production a world-leading product. A North American company bought our company and dumped the product as it was affecting their sales. Mind you, it was very nice for the company’s owners (and they deserved every penny).
  6. sfGnome
    Look on the bright side. You’ll never have to bother with your 100 hourly inspections… 😛
  7. sfGnome
    Welcome! Look forward to hearing about your adventures. 🙂
  8. sfGnome
    Updating the pictures for google maps? The detailed ‘satellite’ photos in those maps are done from aircraft.
  9. sfGnome
    Absolutely! Even more so, GET cool and methodical, even if you have to break out of the circuit for a few minutes to compose yourself. Another memory to bore you with. I did something dumb (no idea what now) during a solo T&G, and I was berating myself all the way down downwind. Suddenly realised that I was so busy worrying about what had been that I wasn’t thinking about what was to come, and it was the ‘what was to come’ that could kill me. Got my head back into gear and all was fine, but it could have gone so wrong… 😑
  10. sfGnome
    I wouldn’t be too worried about finding a reason for the bad day. I remember one day when I was a bit further on in my training than you are now when everything should have been perfect; nice weather, well rested, enthusiastic for the lesson. Before we started that day’s topic (something new and exciting), the boss said to do one circuit and I screwed it up mightily. Hmmm, he sez. Better do another. Likewise crap. And another. And another. Spent most of that lesson just doing the circuits that I’d been doing fine (in much more difficult conditions) for many weeks. There was no obvious reason, and it never happened again (which is not to mean that I never did anything stupid after that, just that I never had that total brain block for an extended period again).
  11. sfGnome
    You and me both. I saw a picture of that plane when I was about 8 and thought “I could build that”, and the thought has never left me. I’ve been staring at the sky ever since.
  12. sfGnome
    Not yet... Have a chat with Peter at AeroKits. The one on that video was built in South Africa and imported.
  13. sfGnome
    Took me a while… 😂😂
  14. sfGnome
    I’ve flown into that strip a few times. One way, surrounded by mountains on three sides. There’s no way you’d choose to fly out of there in bad weather. This wasn’t bad training; it was Darwinism in action. 🤨
  15. sfGnome
    I’ve flown this inland route a number of times. On a nice day, it’s a lovely sightseer. On a rough day, it’s awful. No escape from the turbulence. The extra height in the first section will be good. I’ve only done the coastal route once (with a suitably licensed pilot). It was interesting seeing the sharks swimming near the surfers… 🫣
  16. sfGnome
    Looking at your pictures, it seems that ‘flat’ is definitely in short supply! As an aside, I see that you’ve purchased one of those new, ultra-low efficiency props… 😝
  17. sfGnome
    I always listen to area (as a second frequency when I’m within 10 miles of a CTAF AD), regardless of the activity on there. I’ve been warned a few of times about other traffic, and once (embarrassingly) that my transponder had failed and showed me flying through the middle of Sydney’s northern approach when I was actually under the step. I think it’s worth putting up with a bit of chatter.
  18. sfGnome
    Hmmm… I know some people (my son, for instance) who’d do +/-10G aerobatics faced with that. My beloved, on the other hand, would calmly ask me to please take it outside; a tad difficult at 1500’. 🙄
  19. sfGnome
    I’ve always dreamed of having an autopilot, just for alt and heading hold on the long legs (or to give my beloved some time and help if I had a medical incident), but I briefly flew with one for the first time recently on a day where there was a just bit of bounce in the air and the AP fought it like crazy. 😵‍💫 Really uncomfortable. Maybe ok on a totally smooth day, but how often do we get one of those? 🤷🏼‍♂️
  20. sfGnome
    A really interesting close up of the Spitfire, but thank goodness for you-tube’s 2x speed setting as the voiceover is incredibly tedious. 🙄
  21. sfGnome
    Used to be about 50 min which was ok(ish). I could drive up before work, do an hour’s circuits or whatever and get to work before morning tea (it’s ok, I worked late 😛). THEN, we moved to a 2 hour drive, meaning an hour’s circuits meant 4 hours of driving. My flying tapered off pretty drastically and we sold up. ☹️ My advice, 30 min good, >60 min bad, 5 min ecstatic!
  22. sfGnome
    Thanks. I really enjoy reading them, particularly the one-off oddities.
  23. sfGnome
    Two things to think about. 1. His phone won’t have been yelling “you’re low!”, it would have just gone ‘bing’, and were constantly told to ignore phone messages when we’re driving. 2. Diabetics who are having a hypo are often thought by bystanders to be drunk. I guess it’s a bit like hypoxia in that once it has taken hold, the sufferer is no longer in a position to deal with it. There but for the grace…
  24. sfGnome
    Geez. When I land, I’m normally looking to empty mine… (Sorry, it’s late and I couldn’t resist. 🙄)
  25. sfGnome
    Yes, it’s the engine, the airframe and how it is all put together. I limited my initial question because a) it was the engine that I was not confident about, and b) at that stage I didn’t realise the scope of the issue. Now I know… 🙂
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