Marty_d

Beautiful landing.

Who was it kept saying the Australian Defence Force should invest in fleets of Jabiru drones? Looks like they listened... Autonomous aircraft boost logistics reach WWW.DEFENCE.GOV.AU Air Force is developing autonomous aircraft to strengthen logistics across northern Australia.

Yeah... At around 300k Euro if I remember the Sport Pilot article correctly... And Skippy thought the Spirit was expensive!

My main issue with this is not the concept, the mechanics or even the structure - it's trusting AI to control it.

Interesting piece about Germany working on intelligent trailing edge warping instead of flaps/ailerons. As much as I don't want AI in the cockpit, the concept is intriguing. Mighty morphin' flap-less wings trialed on experimental aircraft NEWATLAS.COM Imagine looking out the window of an airborne airplane and seeing the wing rippling and twisting. You'll probably...

I reckon you'd be better off using something similar to this rather than weighing down the edges. (Not recommending this particular system, it's just the first that came up on Google) https://groundgrabba.com.au/pages/commercial-ground-anchors?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=RC-GG-Lead-Gen-Search-Commercial-Ground-Anchors-Generic&utm_id=22934205014&utm_term=commercial ground anchors&tw_source=google&tw_adid=784190180111&tw_campaign=22934205014&tw_kwdid=kwd-2435452255622&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22934205014&gbraid=0AAAAA-KJzmABs7pU0jp3ftInPHb3WKSZO&gclid=CjwKCAjwqazPBhALEiwAOuXqdFIDoFT0ER1rxR4Q3pMIuO2LimWltLkVsBBvk2047LpJivUsHVkxyhoC3FIQAvD_BwE

What's the MTOW of that tractor?

Ah, so include "...and I have life insurance" in the pickup line.

Interesting story on the forces during ejection - including the story of a bloke who ejected while supersonic. The last-resort decision to eject from a fighter jet at supersonic speed - ABC News WWW.ABC.NET.AU A retired F-15 pilot who survived one of the fastest known fighter jet ejections in history, describes what two US airmen...

All the best Meglin!

Hey folks, looking at getting an antenna and intercom. Already have a panel mount radio. From looking at Aircraft Spruce etc there seems to be a huge range of VHF antennae ranging from over $200 to $6k or more. The one Danny mentions here looks good at $185. With a metal aircraft, does the double antenna have any benefit, or is the lower one blocked by the aluminium fuselage? Any hints or recommendations for intercom? Again budget is important. Thanks!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-03/pilot-uninjured-nsw-plane-crash-albion-park-rail/106529716

Oh - forgot to mention - on the way back to Sydney I detoured to Williamtown AFB to check out the Fighter Museum. Museum itself was a bit naff (or maybe I was spoiled by the warbirds at Scone) but I did see some Hawks and F35's taking off. I don't particularly like F35's, with their long history of problems and massive price tag, but jeez they made some noise taking off.

Well, AI says 15,000 people attended - but I can't see where it's sourcing that from so it may be total BS. Also whether it's for a sum of both days, or a sum of ticketholders regardless of whether they came 1 or both. But there were definitely in the thousands each day, so it's probably not far off the mark. One thing's for sure, I rang at least 20 motels before I found the last Airbnb in Muswellbrook, so there would have been a good tourist dollar influx to the region.

Wow, that must have been after the mass formation flight. I left before it finished to avoid traffic.

For far better photos, my wife just showed me a Facebook thingy #warbirdsoverscone - there's some beautiful pictures on there from some of those people with the big ass cameras.

As promised - some pics; sorry about the quality, I only had our little OM-7. Some of the people there had lenses as long as rifles - would love to see some of their pics. If they load the way I think, they are: - Boeing Stearman - Paul Benet in his Wolf Pitts after a brilliant display - Beech 18 - Five - FIVE!! P51D Mustangs in formation - Grumman Avenger with F4U Corsair - The crowd... - T28 Trojan - Tiger Moth rolling back after deadstick landing - Fokker DR1, Sopwith, Stearman, Tiger Moth - Sea Fury (fantastic flying displays with this machine too) - P40 Kittyhawk - Australian flag being parachuted down - Pilatus PC9 - How often do you get a lineup like this? Spitfires, P40, P51, Lockheed Hudson - A flight of Wirraways in the perfect sky above the ramp full of warbirds - Transall C160 - massive aircraft and flung around the sky with skill. Soon to be a firebomber here. - Spitfires in formation. Does life get any better? - Spitfire again (my wife asked me tonight if I was dehydrated from drooling so much) - F4U pulls in after a display - The aerobatic crowd - Pitts, Pitts, Pitts, Extra 300, Yak 52. All brilliant performers from the Paul Benet Airshows stable - Mustang loaded for bear. Mind you I think those bombs may have been fake given 2 blokes quite easily carried them. - Lockheed Hudson - Paul Benet lighting the barbie - Fire Boss putting it out - RC Model F16 ($30,000 worth) - they weren't game to say how much the twin turbine F14 Tomcat model cost, because the guy's wife was in the audience. (If the pics aren't in that order, you'll figure them out.)

Give that goose a Spitfire...

I found out on Sunday Nev that there were another lot of dunnies on the other end of the ramp. Not signposted at all so there were no queues. I learnt my lesson, went an hour earlier on Sunday, got a park on a side street close by (didn't block anyone's driveway) and no queues to get in. Then I left while the "Balbo" was still forming up and watched a couple of passes from outside the airport, there was pretty much zero traffic when I drove off.

No aircraft or their occupants were injured during the airshow, fortunately. But a fair patch of ground next to the runway could be referred to as "badly burnt Scone".

Well that was fantastic! Perfect weather both days, heaps of warbirds in the air (minus the unfortunate Spit which landed sans undercarriage), great routines. Got to meet and have a chat with Nev (@facthunter ) which was great. Most of my photos are on the camera so I'll post them here when I'm back home. A teaser from the phone though (camera battery ran out halfway through today)... Paul Benet doing his knife edge past the pyros. Was anyone else there?

Yes OT, as I said it sounded like BS to me too. I guess the only person who actually knows exactly what happened is the pilot.

Tiger Moth just did a dead stick. Perfectly handled, even managed to roll it into the taxiway. Very professional.

I'm currently at Scone and just talked to a guy showing his 65 Mustang (car not plane) who lives adjacent the airport. What he's heard (note this is second hand and unverified) is that there was a strong crosswind, the Spit had to land, and it was a conscious decision to land wheels up rather than run the risk of being blown over and wrecking the aircraft. As I said this is second hand from a local so may be complete BS. I can't see it myself, but then I don't know the Spits crosswind capabilities. It's pretty flat land around here so if that was the case, I would have thought it a better option to land into wind in a paddock somewhere, but I don't know the circumstances.

That's an expensive mistake.