ayavner

ehh just an old wives tale Nev, not sure its meant to stand up under analysis... Kinda speaks to the human need to see patterns in everything I suppose.

Good on him i say. I can relate to FT's comment about memory leading into crashes... my last bike accident was in 1991 (touch wood), and while I do know what caused it, I have no memory of anything after seeing the car pull out of nowhere in front of me. it put me off my game for about 2 years... until the 1993 Ducati 900ss came out..

Best of luck to him, and i'm with dazza - hope this is 3rd time pays for all!

how bout that one where the jumbo skims right over the beach about a meter up?

Exactly, that commentary made it difficult to watch... very cringe-worthy...

On channel 9 last night, right between 2 Big Bangs (subtle, 9... subtle...).

The #1 was the Hudson River landing, but I am surprised QF32 wasn't on there. They showed one where a small twin landed on a small strip in the bahamas and slowly rolled off the end onto the beach... not exactly up there in the top 10 in my book..

Anyone else catch it? I watched it in the spirit of learning from other's misfortunes, but happy they didn't show any real disasters.

I emailed the people at aerov.com.au, will update with any news on when a kit or factory built might be available.

fantastic....

not sure that'll affect me asking hypothetical question on an internet forum

But surely there's something that could be retrofitted if the motivation is there?

Yeah very smart lookin' little plane - so what about the one in the link, its at Bendigo, is that far from where you are? It would HAVE to have a new paint job, and they aren't saying if its airworthy or what it would take to get registered. What do you think of the price?

I so want a saddler vampiure

yeah so its a couple years late, but here it is!! so ugly only a mother could love it, but for that reason too damn cool for words..

I always imagined if I had a sleek little plane i would paint it flat black and name it "Thuringwethil". Any Tolkien nerds spot the reference? ;-)

Unfortunately we have no imagination. We call them by the maker's name - the Rans, Lightwing, Karasport; and he calls mine "your poor plane" with a sad lilt reserved for old Cessnas sitting in the weather with the paint oxidising away. We are about to embark on a refurbish and repaint so I am sure there will be "other" names as the work progresses. I get to design a new paint scheme for the C152. Any ideas?Sue

"although I did hear more than once on take off "more rudder, keep ya wings level"."

Sounds like you are really cruising through this av8, I bet before long we'll see a new "first solo" thread!! I can totally relate to the "more rudder" comment, I have been told that so many times, I named my new blog morerightrudder.wordpress.com! I honestly don't know why I seem to forget it, maybe i am still too used to using the pedals to brake/accelerate! I remember my first few lessons I had trouble with the throttle because I was used to my lawn tractor being pull to accelerate and push to kill. Think I am rewired now, but haven't ridden a mower in awhile...

Thanks for all the updates, great to see!

Ayavner: Yeah, 15 hours in 15 months is a bit thin. I found, the closer I could space the lessons, the faster I progressed. But the first phase is bloody hard yakka when you're fully concentrating on just making the plane go where you want it and you're trying to concentrate on the extra stuff the instructor's going on about and watching for traffic and...and...Having said that, I remember my training time as high stress, high reward. I had a couple of really great instructors (shameless plug for Damien and Neil) and I always felt really great after a lesson. They were really positive, but also gave me critical feedback on the things I wasn't so good with. I've had good instructors and not-so-good. I'd rate Damien and Neil as my gold standard.

We'll see how natural it feels the first time I rotate for that solo!

This forum has really been a godsend to me, reading about everyone else's experiences, learning from others' mistakes, and in general just knowing that everything I am experienced has been gone through by someone else. I am hoping that as my blog fills out, that other people in my situation might find something that helps and encourages them.

Dont't become a masochist, invest the $8000 in a plane. There is one here for $4000 asking.

Though with the dividends being paid in smiles, it would be hard to lose!

I'de like a cheap (freebie) ETYPE Jag for my garage, Any offers, promise to polish it & make roaring engine noises, Just like my HummelBird.Cost nothing to dream!. No rego, No fuel bill, No hangaridge, No insurance.

spacesailor

Thanks CSH! I've definitely hit a few walls and come out the other side, and I feel like I can do this! The hard part is sustaining this level of enthusiasm week after week when lessons keep canceling and postponing, I feel like after a year and 3 months I should have more than ~15 hours in. But, as I mentioned, now that I am with the CFI I am hoping that my training will no longer be at the mercy of whether my instructor has plans on a given day, since its his only job.

Never to old to be young I reckon.

Also, I should point out - I am open to suggestions (constructive) on ideas for content, things that anyone thinks that a middle-aged student pilot might find useful!

Thanks guys and glad you enjoy!

Ballpoint, that made my day! That's one of the things about this sport that is so life-affirming - even at 43, I'm not too old to be young and apprehensive! When was the last time any of us felt that?? Honestly makes me feel the hours of drudgery at the office are worth it, even if the feeling only lasts an hour or two!

cheers guys!

I have been using the blog feature of the site to get my stream of consciousness somewhere else besides rattling around in my head. I will probably continue to post there, but I liked the concept enough, I decided to move the content to a blog site which will give me a few more features like the ability to have people receive updates etc.

The intention is to chart my plodding progress through the world of student pilot training, and hopefully provide useful information at some point to those who might in the future be where I am today.

(Disclaimer: this is not intended to be a reference or particularly complete. It will be nowhere as near as awesome as Eric's training diary. But I hope it will be entertaining and that it might be something that someone in my position could relate to)

So without further ado, I give you:

http://morerightrudder.wordpress.com/

It is in its infancy right now, mostly being content I have migrated from here, but soon I hope to have lots more. Enjoy!

to paraphrase my Dad's advice about vintage Jags:

"if you can't afford a new one, you can't afford an old one..."

sadly true, but hasn't (nor shouldn't) stopped me from trying :-)

oops and sorry, I meant "East"side!

There was an article a couple of Sport Pilots ago, i think a group of 3 who did it in Drifters?

that said, he's asking about local flying scene. There's a nice strip on the west side near Freycinet, think its called Friendly Beaches. its got a bit of a slope, and there are power lines on the approach, necessitating a pretty steep approach. I took a scenic flight with this outfit, and it sure was some beautiful flying around there. Honestly, I am just trying to work out a way to move to Tassie... only a matter of time :)

http://www.freycinetair.com.au/field.html

'Plane had been flying circuits'

Sam Todhunter, an instructor who was flying circuits in the area with his student, said he heard the pilot of the plane call in when it was "10 miles" out from Lismore Airport. He had heard two male voices making the call.

The aircraft then joined the circuit about 9.45am, he said.

"We would be doing landing and he would be calling downwind - that's the start of the downwind leg. After two of those, another helicopter had left on the same runway while we were on the final approach to land. And then I heard no more from this aeroplane," Mr Todhunter said.

"But I did notice when I was turning downwind that straight ahead of me - the track parallel to the runway - there was smoke. I just thought it was a grass fire and took no notice of it."

Mr Todhunter said he was told a plane had crashed after he landed and he returned to the crash site and saw that the aeroplane was burnt, but otherwise intact, with an "enormous grass fire" around it.

"The aeroplane was intact and it appeared to have gone down vertically, like a stall," he said.

Mr Todhunter said he believed the crash may have occurred while the pilot was turning during the base leg, which is the final leg in a rectangular flying pattern before landing.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/wow-hes-going-down-two-die-in-nsw-plane-crash-20121109-2922i.html#ixzz2BgoF91St

good on him!