A subscriber has sent me this link to a video of the Spanish Air Force Aerobatic Team, Patrulla Aguila, making a very impressive formation landing.
Patrulla Aguila is Spanish for ‘Eagle Patrol’ and they fly CASA (not that one!) C-101 Aviojets, using a trademark yellow smoke during their display – they are believed to be the only aerobatic team in the world using yellow smoke. Yellow and red are – as everyone will know – the colours of the national flag of Spain.
With less than a week to go, our Foxy ladies from Caboolture are within 10% of reaching their goal of raising $2000 for the Cancer Council of Australia.
Maybe you can help them over the line by making a donation?
Click here to take you to their site, where you can make a donation: Foxy Ladies Flying the Baton
Every little bit counts!
After distribution to ‘official’ visitors, I have a limited number of free entry tickets for the Avalon Airshow Trade days – Tuesday 24 February-Thursday 26 February plus a few for the Friday morning, 27 February. Please note – Friday Trade attendees must depart the show before 1400 when the public show begins.
Each ticket allows entry for one person on one day. Minimum age limit is 16 and visitors should be dressed in ‘casual business’ attire, whatever that means.
Gates are open 0800-1700 Tuesday-Thursday and 0800-1400 on Friday.
Please contact me as soon as possible if you want tickets – maximum two per request. First come, first served.
PS – the dates shown on the photo are for the public days!
A while back I posted an item about acrophobia – a fear of heights – which seems to affect pilots proportionately more than other people.
It received a high number of hits and in response a friend sent me this video – about repairing the statue of Christ the Redeemer, which stands on the hill overlooking Rio de Janeiro.
Click on the picture to link to the video. Enjoy it!
MSFC A22LS Foxbat
Captain Sam at Mindanao Saga Flying Club (MSFC) has sent me some pictures of their newly decorated Foxbats – click the picture to take you to the Foxbat Pilot gallery where you can see more.
The decorations are decal-based and I’m sure you’ll agree, look very snazzy! Just shows what you can do with a bit of imagination…
Anyone got any photos of Foxbats with interesting paint and decals schemes?
In the middle of January 2015, Soar Aviation took delivery of yet another A22LS Foxbat – this one, used but with very low hours, was from White Gum Farm, near York in WA.
Having made this journey three times myself, albeit via different routes, I can relate very well to their story, particularly being bounced around in big thermals 9,500 feet over the goldfields of WA.
This aircraft, 24-7979 – fitted with the latest Dynon SkyView digital instrument technology – is now doing the hours as a trainer at Moorabbin.
For a Trial Instructional Flight (TIF) or further information about learning to fly, call Soar Aviation on 03 9587 5020
Heather Haynes, owner of A22LS Foxbat 24-9100 (officially the 100th Foxbat delivered in Australia) is taking part in the ‘Women Pilots’ Relay of Flight’ to raise awareness and money to fight cancer. This is part of an official Cancer Council of Australia fundraising activity.
Starting on the day after the Avalon Airshow finishes – Monday 2 March 2015 – aircraft are departing Avalon with a relay baton to begin what is hoped will be a complete anti-clockwise circumnavigation of Australia. In the end, there will likely be several dozen different relay ‘legs’ flown, with the baton being passed from one pilot/co-pilot to the next, all along the way.
Heather’s flight, with her friend Nathalie, is due for Sunday 8 March, carrying the baton between Caboolture – her home base – and Bundaberg. She’s hoping to raise at least $1,500 for her leg of the flight.
Here’s a link to her Cancer Council page: Heather Haynes Cancer Council Flight. Here you can sponsor her flight. Please donate some money to help her reach and exceed her target. Just click on the ‘Sponsor me’ button towards the top left side of her page and follow the prompts – you can enter your credit card details and the amount you want to donate.
Here’s a link to the Women Pilots’ Relay of Flight Facebook page which gives more information on the fundraising activity.
And finally, here’s a link to the Women Pilots’ Relay blog page, which will cover their progress.
It seems everyone loves the idea of bush flying – and the more remote and different, the better!
Well, click this link to an excellent short video (sent to me by a UK subscriber – thank you!) which covers a group trip in the Sierra Nevada. Keep watching – there’s a great landing towards the end, by the Maule in the photo above. Be sure to click the ‘HD’ (high definition) button and view in full screen!
And here’s a write up of the video by online blog ‘Flight Club’:
“High in the plateaus of the Sierra Nevada, internal combustion engines struggle for breath in the thin mountain air. Where the landing roll is short, but take-off distance is eternal. Follow a group of modern day trailblazers on a high-flying expedition to a giant sandbox for pilots.
Remote backcountry bush flying might conjure images of tiny dirt strips carved into the dense forest of toothpick pines at the base of a snow capped Alaskan mountain. Or strapping on floats and taking a dip into an ancient glacier lake in the heart of the Canadian wilderness, but behold the pilot’s playground in the dry, arid heat of western Nevada. Just southeast of Lake Tahoe, acres upon acres of public property under the domain of the Bureau of Land Management offer various remote landing sites between 4,000 ft and 12,000 ft above sea level.
Now every year 60-70 airplanes gather in mid October to be led by local expert Kevin Quinn on a guided tour to find the last legal landing destinations in the little remaining untamed frontier. The “High Sierra” tour consists of huge roaring campfires at night and short daytime excursions. Even if you don’t have giant bushwheels there is a plethora of dry lake beds, smooth grassy meadows and finely packed sandy strips in entertain pilots of every make and model light aircraft.”
There’s even more information about the video and the people who made it on the Backcountry Pilot Website (click here).
Maybe we should organise another trip to Lake Eyre??
Apologies to those of you who couldn’t access this last post – I don’t know why the link doesn’t work. Hopefully, this link will work OK: CLICK HERE
Gordon Marshall of Sky Sports Flying School at White Gum Farm near York, Western Australia, sent me this link to a short Foxbat video on YouTube. As you’ll see, it is taken from a different point of view. Pilot is Andrew Cotterell – now on his second Foxbat – carrying out low level runway inspections at White Gum Farm.
This aircraft has flown several hundred hours – nice to see such a clean bottom!