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flyerme

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    Not for the faint hearted..lessons to be learned

    in AUS/NZ General Discussion

    Posted

    My Fascination with aircraft all started when I was 6..My ancle was having a garage sale and his mate decided to sell his hang glider.I watched it gettng put together with great intrigue,the big beautifull red sail shinning in the sun I was memorized..Then like reding my thoughts I was strapped into the huge harness then hung under the glider.I was then told how it flies and the instruction stuck with me ,as a 6 year old I understood the weight shift conceopt.Anyway I hung in that harness all day for around 6 hours..The hang glider did not sell and next morning I awoke to find the gider missing from the back yard?I emediatly woke my Uncle and informed him the glider is gone.A quick look over the fence found the glider resting in next doors back yard unscathed...From that point on I was hooked and an absession started..coming from a less than wealthy family aviation was only a fanticy, but in my late teens and working,I was finnally able to quench my thirst for the wide blue yonder.I bought my first Plane..An R/c glider .After sevral attempts at flight and much glue and sticky tape I had only managed a flight of around 3 secs..Well No one told me you need an engine or up droughft?I then purchaced a beginner 2 ch R/C and away I went..I went on to research obsessivly flight,aerodynamics,and engineering,spending the next 5 years designing and building scale R/c models..mean time I was reserching Recreational aviation,how to fly,how they perform etc....I was mainly fascinated by the early guys jumping in to these things,No exspierience and off they go? Being self tought in every thing I do I was convinced early on that I too could achieve flight with out phisical training(Also I had crippled myself in my early 20,s and was on a dissability pension so instuctional costs where out of the question..I embarked on a mission to read and obsorb all that I can and borrowed every book in every sorounding libary(No Internet back then) sevral times..I read every thing ,bought all the mags the works, How ever owning a plane was just a dream...So I thought..in 2003 I had been working for a local farmer and friend.He had gone away for a couple of days to an old friend of his whome once owed I believe -willaby station.It was around 8pm when I got a phone call from my mate and boss whome said."I have an offer to make your dreams come true"? My friend here still has his old mustering Planes "Bunyip" and I have talked with him and weve agreed to this?I was going to give you a payrise of $2 an hour but if your interested you can take these planes instead? insted? ( $2 hr goes to him)are you kidding.Of course ill take the planes .When can I pick them up?I'll leave now!...So the next morning me and the missus headed off to Padthaway to check out the ultralights.they were in an old shearing shed covered in lanolin,but what a beautiful site..I Loaded one at a time on my trailer and transported home.. 1 had recently been rebuilt the other just for parts..So came the time to fire up the beast.As they both ran I desided to do taxi runs in the older(spare) plane and achieved small bunny hops but unfortunatly this plane wings become very cracked( bit hard on the bunny hop landings..lol) So I then dragged the goody out and began small buuny hops again.I had got to a point where I could get her off the ground and fly for 50 - 100 meters then put her down fairly gently..I should ad I was on a massive sevral Hectare property with owners permission..Also I had never accually been in a plane before only flew the by radio control,and I always presumed that flight was smooth as witnessed? So the day came, wind was down ,sun was out, and had spent an hour bunny hoping.I desided to fly her.I built up speed pulled back and we jumped into the air I climbed to about 50-100ft when things became pear shape! The plane bounced and twisted and I thought she was breaking up so I cchoped throttle and dived at the ground tried to round out and sunk her in pretty hard.Got the fright of my life and swore my flyng days where over....Of coarse sevral days later the bug was back.I desided now would be a good time to have a lesson or 2 so enjoyed an hours lesson in a jabi then another hour in a cessna. after that I felt conferdent and took my bunyip up again(this time very early in the morning )and had the bests solo ever..all at about 100 ft(crazy bugger) this went on for sevral months but after some heavy landings and last take off I hit a rock bent the nose wheel and smashed the win scree< had my brother out on holidays so was going to show him how I fly,but the ussual paddock had been plowed so I used another not yet tested paddock ,after almost hitting 30 knotts take off ,a large rock appeered in my runup line I pulled back but the front wheel hit it and bent back and windscreen broke away,it was to be the end of my DIY pilot traing....a few years later and working for E.T.S.A ,,,I was able to purchace another aircraft(thruster) but as much older and wiser..I desided to do it for real and aquire my full pilot certificate and endourcments..So I did 10 hrs in the Jabi then was Kindly pointed to a Thruster CFI and the rest is history..gained my certificate and a heap of endourcments along the way.. I love flying but take head........ to all those whome feel invinceable as I did... DO NOT ATTEMPT my early outlock on achiving flight..I had luck on my side back then and thank my lucky stars I was not a statistic..Funny the more exspierienced I get in flying the more weary I am,

     

    had I know what I know now I would have never embarked on such a dangerous adventure. And it sure feels good flashing the certificate around and flying behond once home boundries...

     

     

    • Like 6

    First aircraft to land at sherlock

    in Aircraft General Discussion

    Posted

    I have a smile a mile wide..........That beautiful Jabi was here again,,this time was offered the ride of a life time,,,Thank you so much Helmet your a true insperation,- and have a heart of gold...

     

    enjoyed a very loverly 45min cruise to wellington and suround and then was to be the first pax to land on my strip....yep the jabi landed in 300 meters 2 up,,,awesome flying skills.:beg:this jabi is a awesome performer,,love it

     

    all this after an enjoyable flight in the supercat this morning,,what a day.what a life..

     

     

    RAA Pilot Certificate + First Aircraft!

    in Student Pilot & Further Learning

    Posted

    Haha, shall do my man! Think she'd be right from what I've seen thus far, but the flight manual states that she is not to be operated from strips with less than 2200ft / 670m available. I'd have to do some measurements under a few conditions and see what she ends up at.Progress so far is that I've finished my ground testing (shes a pussycat!) and am now awaiting clearance from the CFI for my tailwheel solo. I'm also awaiting a new 6x6.5" tyre and the prop that I ordered to replace the Flottorp 72x48" thats on there currently.

     

    The first flight tests will be in and around Goulburn; essentially the Lake Bathurst / Tarago / Windellema area. I do not want to push myself or the plane to do too much too quickly, and definitely want to nail my tailwheel landings before I start flying into other strips.

     

    Cheers all - Enoch

    what a/c are you using for your TW endourcment?I had the priverlige of a thruster..love that peddaling.

     

     

    First aircraft to land at sherlock

    in Aircraft General Discussion

    Posted

    Are you going to bring in a large roller to compress the stones ?Alan.

    I wish ,I made a small 5ft multi-wheel roller that I tow behind the ford,I did it last night after a heavy rain and its set like a sealed road,its old road rubble been sitting for around 10 years (left over from when they sealed a road here) it has a grey heavy dust(like concrete?) that seems to set it like concrete,...been informed by Pa that when its finished the old chemical drum markers will be removed and some nice new markers put in there place,also he wants me to build a shelter ,and tie down area(I thinks he planning an airshow here?..lol) ahhh more work.

     

     

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