Aircraft General Discussion

[Ed DuffnerParticipant @edduffner79357]

I heard a jet flying over the house today, not the usual Easyjet airliners in the area. Stepped out to take a look and it was a Tornado (I think, still waiting for the new varifocals!). Very unusual to see one over Bristol as we haven't had an air display in years as far as I know.

Edited By Ed Duffner on 25/06/2013 23:26:54

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

No military aircraft around here for a year or two, but sometimes the odd C – 5 or C – 130 heading either to or from Antarctica, Christchurch has been a base for Antarctic exploration for the last hundred years, starting with Scott, Shackleton, Byrd, then the Yanks really arrived about 1957.

The DC – 3s left from Dunedin, blasting off with 16 JATO bottles, now thats a sight!!!! IanS C

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

RAF merlins constantly as we are under the approach path for Benson. An occasional treat is the Martin Baker Meteor for ejector seat testing but I have not seen it for a while.

Mike

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Just been reading about Jerry Yegen, the bloke in the USA who got the Mosquito built in NZ. He's selling off his aircraft, and Museum, he's sold a B- 17, and a FW-190,theres about another 50+ aircraft to go. Some one in the UK should be looking out for the Mossie, they'll need deep pockets, but it may be the best chance of getting an airworthy aircraft in the fore seeable future. Ian S C

[Billy MillsParticipant @billymills]

Very special film on Ch4 last night starring the new Mosquito, looked absolutely beautiful. If the "Heritage" Lottery fund wanted to spend some money they could do a lot worse than to put this aircraft into the air over it's Mother Country.

Billy.

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Billy.saw that too…what a wonderful opertunity if its genuine enough to suit the heritage bods..with what was spent on the Olympics last year .be a shame if this couldn’t be funded.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

They should go for it, what ever the price, it would be cheap at twice that, it could be the last chance, at least for a number of years, some one should be heading to the States to get closer to the action. In reality it's proberbly one of the most valuable aircraft of it's time. Ian S C

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Just been googling gerald Yegan, and as far as I can see all his aircraft have been sold. The Mossie is said to have been bought by Rod Lewis.

http://www.lewisairlegends.com

At this stage it, or any of the Yegan aircraft have not come up on the web site, but it might be worth keeping an eye open here, seems like it could be a good home, but a pity it's not going "home" (UK)

Ian S C

Edited By Ian S C on 23/07/2013 14:48:57

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Seen in the Christchurch (NZ) PRESS yesterday, at the Eco Shop (recycled goods), a Piel Emeraud CP 301 NZ registration ZK CBR, it's minus an engine, prop etc, but worth $NZ 4000. Most other stuff in the shop is lucky to make it to $NZ 4. The bloke who was building it has gone to the UK. Ian S C

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Great news the other night, 9 kids from the Mercury Bay Area School had the test flight of the aircraft they had spent 2 years building screened nation wide on TV 1, it's a Vans Aircraft RV-12, 2 seat low wing, all metal type, powered by a Rotax 912 ULS 100hp motor with a Sensenich ground adjustable, composite propeller, the school will keep the AC. and the pupils will have use of it for pilot training, 2 of the builders are going to join the RNZAF, and I think some of the others are looking at aviation for a job when they leave school at the end of the year. A very nice looking little plane. Ian S C

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

It's striking how one quality experience for a youngster can set them on the path to a rewarding career.

Whatever convinced me the future was in counting trees…?

Neil

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

It's not the first aircraft built by a school class in NZ, a number of years ago, one of the girls schools in Christchurch built an aircraft. Ian S C

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

G'day.

On Melbourne Cup Day ( A Vic state holiday here in Oz) I heard a 'Buzzzz'.

Over Lake Hume a parawing was doing it's stuff (I live near the lake).

Imagine a modern parachute with a lawnmower engine pushing it along (anyway, that's what it looked like).

Quite jealous actually.

Regards from the land of the kangaroo

* Danny M *

[FMESParticipant @fmes]

Wow, some lawnmower engine

**LINK**

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Yesterday went and did the obligatory last minute shop. Cruising the pound shops I picked up a 'Grafix' snap together kit for me. I thought it was odd that the box, which had pictures of spitfires on. only claimed to contain a 'British Fighter'. The model went together nicely, but can anyone see the deliberate mistake?

Neil

[Clive HartlandParticipant @clivehartland94829]

So, canardly fly!

Clive

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

I can't help wondering what the fate of the mould maker was… it even has a nice aerofoil section (the right way around).

I How could they get the wings back to front but still, get the root profile right?

It looks soooo wrong.

Neil

[Anonymous]

This post is a continuation of the notes on EASA pilot licensing started in the 'What Did You Do Today' thread.

I think it is correct that if you want to convert to an EU PPL(A), and include an instrument rating, then it has to be done by April 2014. Otherwise I think it can wait. However, I plan to make my application ASAP, as it's one less thing to do later. I already have an EU Class 2 medical so I might as well try and convert to an EU PPL, rather than the LAPL. Fortunately we have somebody in the gliding club who has spent many hours trawling through the legislation and talking to the CAA about inconsistencies. In order to apply I need to show evidence of training in radio nav aids, so we've got a lecture at the gliding club tomorrow evening to sort that out.

For the gliding side I'm going to go for the LAPL, but need to get a BGA aerobatics rating first. I'd also like to get a cloud flying rating, as and when it actually makes it into law. I used to have a SLMG and TMG rating, so I might try and get the TMG rating renewed and added to the LAPL(S).

All the inspector stuff is changing too, to Part 66. The BGA stance is get as many ratings now as possible. So last year I got my self-sustainer inspectors rating.

The over-riding outcome is that after the changes everything to do with licences and ratings will be a lot more expensive. So I expect a lot of people will give up.

The seminar on Sunday was started with the statement that the new licencing will do nothing for safety, and in some ways the new rules are less onerous that they used to be.

It's all down to the Eurocrat horror of people actually doing things willy-nilly that they don't control and regulate. There used to be a glider at our site with the registration G-EUFO!

Regards,

Andrew

[TSHParticipant @tsh73987]

Andrew,

Sounds like you have some good advice available in your club.
You might like to know I've received my shiny new EASA PPL with all the ratings I requested (SEP, TMG, glider towing, aerobatic and night). It took about 3 weeks. I too am going to wait a bit before applying for the sailplane
licence. Like you I'll wait until the cloud-flying rating is in place, and also the flight examiner rating is still not quite sorted.

At least that'll give me a bit of time to (carefully) move my new milling machine from the garage at the front of the house to the man-cave at the back. I'd rather not drop 300 kg on my foot…

Regards,

Trevor

PS For some reason, the first time I posted this it didn't appear.

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

News in this evening from China, Pacific Aerospace, a NZ company is proposing to start production of their P-750 XSTOL 10 seat aircraft. This aircraft was developed from the original F-24 Fletcher topdressing aircraft, through the Cresco, turbine powered topdresser. ZSTOL take of and land in 800ft, I think they are looking at 200 per annum.

Ian S C

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Just home from a wonderful week end, we had a 50th anniversary reunion of joining up with the RNZAF Boy Entrant School at RNZAF Woodbourne. I think all of us were surprised at the changes, and shocked at some of them. In the 1940s there were 4500 personal on station, when we got there in 1964 there were 800, and the place was quite busy, now there are 80 airforce staff, and maybe more than that as civvies. The only work of note is the refurbishment of three C-130s (complete rebuilds of the airframes), the thing that shocked us about them was the shocking "quality" of the original build of the aircraft by the manufacturer in USA, from what I saw, the aircraft should not have flown, although they have since 1965, and all 5 aircraft went back to the states in1972-73 for wing centre section mods that seem to be about as poor as the original build.

The grub in the Airmans Mess was about the same as always, the steak was something like rubber, and the spuds like bullets. 81511 B/E Clark I S. Ian S C

[AESParticipant @aes]

@Ian S C:

It's not for nothing that a/c built by Lockheed during that time were known as "the world's only bio-degradable aircaft"!

But the grub in the apprentice's mess at RAF Halton during that period was excellent – as one would of course expect !!!

Thanks for the post (and all the others, always interesting).

AES (ex Trenchard Brat, 98th Entry, May 1961- April 1964)

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

I've eaten both (UK) Army and Royal Air Force grub, and by my recollection it was excellent.

Neil

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

Actually the food in the mess was good in 64, and it was only the steak, and spuds this time, made a wrong pick with the meat. The meal was cooked for us by the cadets.

I think the worst Airforce meal was breakfast on an over night stop over at RNZAF Wigram/Christchurch, when I flew from Dunedin to RNZAF Woodbourne/ Blenhiem, in a Hastings C3, the year before I joined up. Bacon, and egg, it was about 2 mm thick, hard and tough, could be used as roof shingles, and the bacon wasn't much better. The airman that got the job of cooking it wasn't a cook, think he was an engine fitter. We didn't actually mind, it was part of an adventure, and we thought the Hastings was the main part of it, probably the fastest transport aircraft in the country at the time, unless NAC had their Viscounts by then(can't remember), but they where about 15/20 mph faster. Think we all were impressed by the seating in the aircraft, it was reversed, and proved as successful in a couple of accidents. love the sound of the Bristol Hercules engines.

Edited By Ian S C on 25/03/2014 12:11:01

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Haven't seen a Viscount for years. They were always flying over home when I was a boy.

Neil

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