Author Archives: Scott

Overseas visitor to Foxbat Australia

Posted on by
Reply

Jörg & FatenToday I met Jörg (‘George’) Stobel and his partner Faten at Foxbat HQ in Tyabb Airport.

Jörg has been involved with Aeroprakt since the early days in the mid-1990’s.  Originally based in the UAE (where he still has a home) he is now taking on the role as Aeroprakt agent for Thailand. Jörg also has a home in Phuket (life’s tough isn’t it?) and his demonstrator A22 is kept an an airfield near Pattaya, just south east of Bangkok. I’ve seen pictures taken during his flights between the two locations and they are straight out of a travel brochure – deep blue-green sea, little islets with trees down to the water and tiny secluded beaches.

Anyway, I took each of them for a short trip in the skies over the Mornington Peninsula here in Victoria. It was a lovely day, if a bit hazy, but I guess the views can’t really compete with those between Phuket and Pattaya…although both remarked on how green the countryside looks at the moment.

Jörg and his partner – who works with Etihad Airlines – are in Australia for a few days to ‘relax, unwind and chill out’.

It was great to sit and chat with them over a coffee about the early days of Aeroprakt and hear about the times while they were working to get the business going. But that’s over 20 years ago now and Aeroprakt is close to manufacturing their 1,000th aircraft. I will be offering spares and other service back up & support to Jörg while he is building his business in Thailand, and wish him every success.

At the weekend, Jörg  and Faten are flying from Melbourne to Sydney to visit friends but we’re hoping to get a couple more flights in before then – maybe up around the top of Port Philip Bay to have a closer look at Melbourne and the bayside.

Aviator Magazine – Flying for Fun

Posted on by
Reply

Aviator Flying for FunI just caught up with September 2014 issue of Aviator Magazine (it’s a busy life you know) and found this short article about Flying for Fun – largely about Recreational Flying in Australia. If you haven’t seen it already, I thought you might like to read it here.

I think Aviator is now running a regular ‘Flying for Fun’ item – there’s another article starting page 18 of the October 2014 issue, which isn’t yet on line. So if you’re a subscriber, have a look at that….

NATFLY Easter 2015 is no more

Posted on by
1

NATFLY headerIn case you hadn’t heard, Recreational Aviation Australia (RA-Aus) has decided to postpone – to a yet undisclosed date and place – the 2015 Easter NATFLY event, which in recent years has taken place at Temora Airfield in New South Wales.

The October 2014 RA-Aus newsletter says: “The decision was made with a view to re-invigorating NATFLY to attract a wide and varied audience”. RA-Aus is expecting to make a further announcement in January 2015 and refer you to a link on their website for more information – but don’t bother, the link just takes you to the NATFLY 2014 site, with nothing about the RA-Aus decision to postpone/cancel next year’s event.

The announcement has been greeted with both joy and sadness in our home.

Joy because for the first time in over 20 years, we can enjoy the Easter holiday weekend like normal(?) people. Before coming to Australia 15 years ago (and attending every NATFLY since then) we used to take our hot-air balloon to a big Easter ballooning festival in southern England. Getting up at 4.00 in the morning for the dawn lift-off was not my forté but taking part in a mass departure of 50+ balloons did make up for the early start. But preparation, planning and attendance at these big events costs a lot of time and money. Because of job and other constraints, I was often separated from my partner at a holiday time when we would prefer to be together relaxing.

And sadness because I remember when NATFLY attracted 500 or more aircraft from every corner of Australia. I recall often meeting people who had flown to Narromine (the NATFLY location in those days) from Darwin, Perth, Cairns and all manner of other distant, and no doubt more exotic, locations. The club of which I was a member – the Gold Coast Sports Flying Club (GCSFC) based at Heck Field, just to the north of the Gold Coast, always flew several aircraft down – as many as eight, I recall one year. We didn’t necessarily fly together – some took close to six hours in the slower planes, and others maybe only four hours. But we all got together after arrival and walked round looking at all the planes and chatted to their happy owners.

But, alas, attendances at NATFLY (and for that matter Ausfly, a similar event) have decreased markedly in recent times.

Contrast this situation with ever increasing attendances at air shows & fly-ins overseas – Sun ‘n Fun (Florida, USA), EAA Airventure (Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA), The Flying Show (mainly British Microlight Aircraft Association, Shropshire, UK), the Light Aircraft Association Rally (various locations, UK), Blois Airshow (Blois, France) and last but not least, Aero-Expo (Friedrichshafen, Germany). Due to visitor and exhibitor demand, they have recently doubled the frequency of this last event to make it annual instead of bi-annual.

So, what’s happened to the joy of flying recreational and sport aircraft in Australia? Why don’t people attend NATFLY any more? (See my earlier post/report about the 2014 event). Have people fallen out of love with flying? Are the aeroplanes too expensive to buy or fly? What effect have all the shenanigans at RA-Aus had over the last few years? Is the heavy hand of CASA – rightly or wrongly – blamed for recent low turn-outs? Has Easter just become the wrong time to hold a fly-in event? Or is it something else?

We need to get our mojo back and start enjoying our national fly-in events again, whether RA-Aus, Ausfly or whatever!

PS – Here’s a date for your diary: the Australian International Airshow at Avalon Airport, south west of Melbourne, 24 February to 1 March 2015 inclusive. See you there!!??**

Tyabb Airport upgrades

Posted on by
4

Tyabb FlypastOver the next few months, Tyabb Airport will be undergoing some significant works to repair and improve the main apron, taxi-ways, drainage and runway lighting. Money for these works was granted through the regional airports development fund – other airports near to Melbourne which have also benefitted significantly from the development fund include Coldstream and Lethbridge.

Tyabb is home to the Peninsula Aero Club (PAC) – a club and school open to anyone interested in flying, whether as a social or flying member. Current PAC membership stands at almost 600. On pretty well any sunny day, families can be seen picnicking on the grass in front of the club house, watching the aircraft taking off and landing. PAC organises the bi-annual Tyabb Airshow, the last of which was held in March 2014, with an attendance of well over 5,000. Plane Crazy Down Under has produced a video of the 2014 Airshow – details and ordering information can be found here: Plane Crazy Tyabb Airshow DVD

The airport is also home to a number of other aviation related industries, including service and maintenance facilities, as well as to Cubcrafters Australia, agents for the Carbon Cub, and of course to Foxbat Australia!

Of particular interest is The Old Aeroplane Company (this is a link to very nice current video), which is based on the western side of the airport. Owned and operated by Judy Pay, The Old Aeroplane Company not only restores and services older aircraft (as well as new ones), it also houses a unique collection of warbirds and other interesting aircraft – here’s a link to a Flickr gallery of some of them: Old Aeroplane Company pictures . You can visit – but phone to check first to ensure they are open: 03 5977 3355. Here’s another article and pictures about the recovery and restoration of a Curtiss P-40F Warhawk, one of the gems of the Old Aeroplane collection.

For those who want to fly in, Tyabb Airport is one of the few regional airports offering both Avgas and 98 Octane Mogas at the bowser. Daily and overnight parking is available.

If you’re visiting come over and visit Foxbat and Cubcrafters at Hangar 11 – the first hangar due south of the PAC club house.

Hope I’m still flying in my 80’s

Posted on by
Reply

PPC coupleHere’s a great story about an older married couple who fly their ‘his and her’ powered parachutes (PPCs) most days – Ziggy Coyle & David Bauchspies, aged 81 and 82 respectively.

The couple took up PPC flying about 15 years ago and now fly from their property ‘together but separate’ in central Pennsylvania, USA.

They have flown their machines which look, for all the world, ‘like flying dune buggies’ all over the States.

What I like about this story – apart from a couple still flying in their 80’s – is their approach to being airborne. No matter the aircraft only fly at 25-35 knots. No matter that anything much of a wind keeps them on the ground. It’s the sheer enjoyment of the views and sights which give them their lift(!). Autumn trees like a sea of colour, wild stags fighting, prehistoric ocean beds, all viewed from aloft. Not things you you take much notice of when you’re barreling from point A to point B as fast as you can…

Good on them I say. Very ultra good on them!

Read the full story here, courtesy of the Centre Daily Times: Heads in the clouds: Couple share passion for flying powered parachute crafts

RA-Aus AGM – membership apathy reigns

Posted on by
2
Lots of empty chairs at the AGM

Lots of empty chairs at the AGM

On Saturday 18 October I flew over from Tyabb to Lethbridge for the Recreational Aviation Australia (RA-Aus) Annual General Meeting (AGM). It was a great day for flying – high cloud filtering the warm sun and light northerly breezes. A perfect day for my first visit to an RA-Aus AGM.

However, out of a total membership said to be approaching 10,000 people, only around 50-55 attended and 15 of those were board and committee members and executive. That makes 35-40 ordinary members out of 10,000 willing to make the effort to go. Says a lot about something…

I know that AGMs in any sphere are not renowned for high attendance rates. However, RA-Aus does not have any electronic voting and proxy voting or live AGM web-casting, all of which would potentially reduce physical attendance.  So I was stunned by the tiny numbers. A mountain of pre-meeting burgers and bangers (‘snags’ to my Australian friends) went to waste. As did over 100 empty chairs in the meeting hangar.

I want to say right out that I make no direct criticism of the officials – elected and employed – who have clearly been putting a lot of work into turning round the disastrous mess left by previous RA-Aus administrations. Solving and resolving the problems of registrations and re-registrations, sorting out the technical issues and dealing with the mighty bureaucracy that is CASA isn’t an enviable task. Also, it cannot be easy to report mounting financial losses, particularly when CASA pays RA-Aus about $7 per member per year for the $170 per member per year value of RA-Aus services CASA receives in return.

I was also stunned by the interminable questions from the floor – mostly inaudible and not repeated by the recipient using the microphone – about rearranging the deck-chairs. The new CEO, Michael Linke, made two short presentations (he only joined in July) about what he saw as the recent achievements and what’s on the radar to deliver. He seems to have a good grip after only such a short tenure and he was at least trying to look forward. Jim Tatlock, the Treasurer, also deserves a mention for a commendably concise and clear presentation of the financials. Much of the red ink is down to investing in technology and other things which should have been done long ago. It always costs five times as much to catch up as it does to keep up.

But for the rest…too much concentration on the cost part of the equation as opposed to income generation. And nothing remotely inspiring to get your blood pumping about the future. Maybe that’s why attendance was so low – although Eugene Reid (a previous President of RA-Aus) said that it was about ‘average’ for these meetings.

No doubt there will be a full report of the meeting on the RA-Aus website in due course (please note: you’ll need to be a member of RA-Aus to access financial reports and other similar material). And lengthy analysis in the forum chatrooms by people who didn’t attend….

I’m not going to end on a negative note. A few people – at least the 15 board /committee members and employees at the meeting – have been willing to put up their hands and spend a lot of their time and energy working to get RA-Aus back into a state we can be proud of. The least we can do is show up and support them.

So why couldn’t you muster up the enthusiasm to attend the RA-Aus AGM?

PS – One small point: I am wondering why RA-Aus has not formed a trade forum for recreational aircraft manufacturers and importers? After all, we experience at first hand the questions & reactions of buyers, all of whom are potential and existing RA-Aus members. 

Philippines Foxbats

Posted on by
1

MSFCI am very pleased to say that Mindanao Saga Flying Club (MSFC), based in Davao City, in the southern Philippine Islands has ordered (through Foxbat Australia) two identical A22LS Foxbats for flying training at their club. The aircraft should arrive in Davao in mid-November and I’ll be travelling there to help re-assemble them after their sea voyage from Kiev.

The two white aircraft are fitted with twin control yokes, analogue panels (including the traditional ‘6-pack’), as well as transponders and ballistic rescue systems.

MSFC is a premier sports aviation facility in South East Asia, producing highly competent, passionate, and safe sports/recreational pilots. They provide a safe, fun and friendly working atmosphere. The Club is committed to an eco-friendly and symbiotic relationship with its community and environment. their motto is: ‘We open the skies’.

They have both a website: http://www.mindanaosagaflyingclub.com
And a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MindanaoSagaFlyingClub

I’m really looking forward to going to the Philippines – a place I have never visited before. Hopefully, I’ll get to fly around the area with them during my stay…

Watch this space for more!

Lake Boga Flying Boat Museum

Posted on by
Reply

Lake Boga flying boatDuring my visit to Swan Hill, for the AAAA Spring Fly-in and AGM, I took the opportunity to visit the nearby Flying Boat Museum at Lake Boga, about 10 kilometres south of the town.

During World War II, Lake Boga was a major centre for military flying boat maintenance – it was outside the range of enemy aircraft and, long before the days of satellite surveillance, was well away from prying eyes. The facility serviced over 400 aircraft during its short 4-year life and about 1,000 RAAF and WAAF personnel were based there.

Catalina MuseumUntil recently, the main attraction – a complete but alas un-flyable Catalina flying boat – was parked outside, with other exhibits displayed in the underground communications bunker. However, in 2012, after many hours of work by the Lions Club of Swan Hill, the Catalina was restored and moved into a newly constructed hangar, which now also hosts a large collection of memorabilia and photos.

The communications bunker has also been restored to look as it did in the 40’s, using plans and photos from the time.

All the service hangars and personnel quarters have now disappeared, although the three main slipways, where the aircraft were towed out of and into the water still remain. The 3 miles long by 2 miles wide lake is tranquil and, on the day we visited, sunny and warm with families picnicking on the grass banks.

Well worth a visit if you’re in the area. The entry charge includes a 20-minute video about the base, from its origins in 1942 right up to the present day, as well as access to the communications bunker. At $10 a head or $20 for a family of 4 you can’t go wrong