Fly Me Friendly

Late last year my 42nd birthday came around and, while the number 42 has deep, universal meaning, I didn’t arrange any major, special celebrations. Kitt, however, did decide to buy me some time flying aerobatics with Andrew Temby in his Yak-52TW.

I’d met Andrew back in September when I interviewed him for the Plane Crazy Down Under podcast. Nykolai had been sitting in the cockpit during the interview, much to his delight. Andrew had said if I ever wanted to do some aerobatics I should give him a yell and while we stayed in touch, I’d never had the spare cash to take him up on the offer.

When Kitt started suggesting an aerobatic flight and that she’d put in most of the funds, I immediately contacted Andrew and we were on. I chipped in a few extra dollars and we also arranged a flight for Nykolai, his first ever aerobatic flight and his first flight in a “real” aircraft (tail dragger, radial, inline seating – it just doesn’t get much better :)

On the day we showed up on time and met Andrew at his hangar at Coldstream airport (YCEM). We helped prepare the aircraft in the hangar and then get it out around some of the other craft it shared space with. Once outside Andrew completed his preflight and we got Nykolai strapped in. He was nervous, but very excited (as was I :)

After warming it up, Andrew taxied out, took off and we were left to hang out. I caught up with Tom and his Luscombe 8A as he was getting ready to fly off to Sheparton (YSHT) for one of their fly-in lunches. Not long after Tom left, Andrew returned with a VERY happy Nykolai in the back seat. When I popped the canopy and asked him how it went, he replied:

“You’re right, dad. Life *is* better inverted!”

That’s my boy :)

Andrew took him through some good introductory aerobatics and he pulled +4G / -1.5G. He also had some stick time and Andrew reckons he’s a natural. Looks like we may wind up with a race to see who gets their license first :)

Once Nykolai was out and relaxing in the shade, I strapped in and got ready to go. I had plugged in my audio recorder so I could get our discussions (and my inevitable “Yaa HAHs!”) and had that strapped to a knee board so it wouldn’t go anywhere. As I’d done for Nykolai, I made sure I had a few sick-sacks on board so they could be easily reached if needed. I was counting on the psychological aspect of having them easy to get to meaning I wouldn’t wind up needing them. Good theory, no?

I had also made sure I had some food earlier so I wasn’t flying on an empty stomach and had lots of water to drink so I was reasonably well hydrated. All good ways to help keep your stomach from taking over and cutting short a good aerobatics session.

Once everything was ready, we fired up the engine and headed out. Andrew did a low power take-off as Coldstream is a gravel strip & he didn’t want to get any chips in his prop. He’d managed to collect a couple back in September during the airshow when I met him and had only just had the prop repaired.

After a nice straight climb-out to the north we headed over King Lake area and Andrew handed me the controls. I flew it around a bit as we headed over to a place where one of Andrew’s friends had an airstrip. It’s a very responsive aircraft and doesn’t require much stick movement to get it where you want it. Definitely an aircraft where you *think* what you want to do and before you know it, it’s doing it. Quite different to the Cessnas & Pipers I’ve flown before and even better than the Alpha I was last doing aerobatics in.

The panel layout was not your usual one as there was a big space in the middle where you could stick your aerobatic sequence diagram using Aresti notation. The instruments were scattered around this space and it was easier to use the outside world as my reference with occasional checks of altitude & airspeed as we flew about.

Andrew took over when we got closer to the strip and we did a high-speed pass along its length, laying some smoke to say “HI!” Andrew pulled back the revs as we came down and along the runway so we wouldn’t annoy the neighbours with the noise.

After this we went back over the hills near King Lake and got stuck into some aerobatics. We eased into it with a few chandelles, loops, barrel rolls & aileron rolls, then got into a few more manouvers including cuban-8′s, an immelman and some others. All up it was great fun and had lots of inverted flight. We pulled about +4.5G / -1.5G and had a blast.

My stomach was letting me know it was around but it was in no way ready to let it all go. Still, we decided some straight & level was a good idea and so we headed over to Lilydale airport, joined the circuit & landed. Runway 36R at Lilydale feels like quite a bumpy strip (it’s grass) and a couple of the bumps got us airborne again until we slowed down enough to just ride over them. Andrew taxied over to the fuel pumps and put some more in the tanks as he was going to fly another person after me and wanted to be sure he had sufficient on board.

We departed Lilydale on 36L and were able to do a full power departure thanks to the grass strip. It was also a bit bouncy but not as noticeable as the landing on 36R.

Once in the air we headed off to the King Lake hills again and started into some more aerobatics. This time we did a few series, linking multiple manouvers together in a routine. One of the highlights was an avalanche which is a half loop with a snap roll at the top. Great fun.

After this lot of aeros I’d pulled +6G / -1.5G and we’d had a blast. Andrew suggested we go & do some “fun stuff” so we flew flat out & (relatively) low level up an empty valley then headed over to the lake near Maroondah where we did another high speed run up the lake but at higher level this time, venting some smoke as we went. Woo hoo!

From here Andrew handed over the aircraft to me again so I could fly us back to Coldstream. We were in the circuit and on base leg when he took over, not least of which was because I was getting way behind the aircraft and not managing height & airspeed properly. Andrew reckoned I was doing fine for someone who hadn’t flown an aircraft in ages but I felt rather embarrassed as screwing up so badly. Oh well – better luck next time.

Andrew made a great landing and we taxied back to the hangars to shut down. All up we’d been gone for about 1 hour & 20 minutes yet it felt like no time at all. We’d done the best aerobatics I’ve ever had in my life and I’d had a go at flying the fastest & most responsive aircraft I’ve yet had a chance to control. Wow. As I said to Kitt later: “Best birthday present EVER!”

Now to save up some money so I can go & do it all again :)

I got word this morning from Carlo at Flight Experience Melbourne that he’d just arrived at Melbourne airport (YMML) and seen an Antonov parked on the ramp. Talk about perfect timing as I was taking one of my workmates to the airport for his trip home to Sydney (flying Tiger Airways – good luck with that!).

After dropping him off, I shot off around to the viewing area near the AirServices compound on Operations Rd. As expected, this was too far away to be of much use for photos, but gave me an excuse to go check out where it was parked (and take a couple anyway, what the heck).

 

 

On my way back I stopped off at one of the ramps where some of the cargo, VIP and QANTAS maintenance operations are so I could get a shot of the Ansett DC-3 (VH-ABR) parked in front of a RAAF BBJ (A36-002) and the A319 that flies to the “blue ice runway” in Antarctica (VH-VHD). Nice :)

I then scooted back around towards the main terminal area, stopping on Link Rd to get a distance shot of the An-124 that, although a bit further away, was better as it had fewer fences & hills in the way. From there I headed back to the freight area and started hunting around for a good view of the ramp. Fortunately I found a spot where I could park the car and get up to a fence, shooting through the links to get a reasonably good view of the beastie.

While I was snapping the shots, a QANTAS 737 was being towed from maintenance to the terminals, letting me get a good size comparison shot. Yes, that thing is *huge*

Not sure why it was parked on the ramp at Tulla, but if I find out I’ll be sure to post it here. Meanwhile, you can see all the shots I took (including larger copies of each shot) over at the YMML Antonov page on my photo gallery.

While returning from Nykolai’s scout camp I dropped into Avalon airport (YMAV) to check out Tanker 10, a converted DC10 that’s now used as a super-heavy water bomber. It’s parked in the keyhole and not easily viewed without a huge zoom lens, something I don’t have.

On the day I was there, a QANTAS 747-400 was also in the keyhole, possibly getting ready to depart after maintenance.

Over at Plane Crazy Down Under, we’re trying to get up closer to Tanker 10. If we do, I’ll be sure to get better images loaded here.

 

 

 

 

While I was there, I also grabbed a few photos of Canberra A84-232, now parked as a gate guardian near the entrance. I also grabbed a photo of QANTAS’ last 747-300, ex VH-EBU. Once painted in the Aboriginal “Nalanji Dreaming” scheme, it is currently stripped of engines and remains as just a fuselage & wings painted a base blue colour with a red tail. It was being used to provide spares and keep the other 747-300′s running. Now that they’re gone, it is probably going to get parted out into scrap.

Once again crewing balloons in the Yarra Valley produced some amazing “Kodak Moments” today. Given the weather this morning, I was pretty sure we wouldn’t get to fly.

On my way out to the shed at o-dark-hundred I was driving through patches of thick fog around Lilydale airport. At the shed near Balgownie Estate, the winds were blowing around me as I waited for Davin to arrive so we could start preparing the balloon & vehicles for the day. After meeting the passengers, we tried a few different launch sites but all were too high winds to stand a balloon up.

At 7:30am we were on a field that’s usually sheltered from northerlies as one of QANTAS’ A380s did its usual morning arrival into Melbourne Airport (YMMB). We were about to cancel the flight when the winds dropped and we realised there was a chance to go. We quickly set up, inflated and got the flight underway. While the passengers enjoyed a near perfect day for a flight, Davin & I played chase on the ground, trying to get ahead and be ready to help out when they landed.

While chasing balloons as ground crew, occasionally you get the chance to grab a great photo (like the one here). Usually, you see what could be a great photo but are too busy clearing the launch field or giving chase (or there’s no where to pull over and stop).

Today was one of those days where it sometimes just all comes together and you get a chance to take a good photo. Gotta love it.

Each day I crew in the Valley or in the city, I try to get a few good photos if time & effort permit. Today’s photos were few but, generally, good. Any good photos I manage to take while crewing wind up in my Best Of collection.

After crewing I dropped by Lilydale Airport to see if Dominique was flying at SkyDive Melbourne but not today. I then went over to the aeroclub to see if someone knew the pilot of “Grumpy” (a beautiful old Stinson L5B). Sure enough, they did – in fact, I got to meet Jeremy who was probably flying when I was out there the other day and got a great photo of “Grumpy” on short final.

Another great day in the valley. Blue skies, warm sun and lots of aviation related activities. Not bad for winter, eh? :)

The other morning I was crewing hot air balloons out in the Yarra Valley. It was very foggy so the drive out was “interesting” and we spent a couple of hours waiting for it to lift. While it was very thick horizontally, it was only about 150′ high so Ronnie (the pilot) thought it would burn off after sunrise.

We gave the passengers their breakfast while we waited (usually they eat after the flight) and it paid off as by 8am the fog was breaking up and sinking further into the valley. By 8:30 it was sufficiently dispersed to make for a great flight so we piled the passengers into the vehicles and went to the launch site. Today was very close – actually just across the road from the winery restaurant in a clear patch near some vines. Throw in a bunch of kangaroos coming over to investigate and the passengers were ecstatic.

 

As usual we were too busy getting the balloon inflated & launched then packing up and starting the chase for me to get any pictures, which was a shame as there were some spots I would have loved to have been able to pull over and take a few. We stopped in Yarra Glen to get a drink and I managed to get a couple of shots there.

The rest of the flight went well and we retrieved them from a dairy farm’s field. Fortunately no cows had been in the field for a while so there wasn’t much need to “mind where you step” :)

 

On the way home after cleaning, refueling and packing up, I noticed a small aircraft with an interesting colour scheme doing circuits at Lilydale airport (YLIL). Given the road I use goes right past the threshold of RWY36, I decided to stop and get some photos. So, do you think it was worth it? :)

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Jump aircraft about to land"][/caption]I’d seen “Grumpy” once before at the Lilydale Airport Airshow late last year so it was great to get a flying photo (especially one like this :).

While I was waiting for another circuit and photo opportunity, a Piper Warrior taxied out, did a run up and then entered the runway & took off. Not long after I watched a pair of parachutes land (looked like two tandem jumps) and, of course, a few minutes later their jump plane landed. By then “Grumpy” had finished flying and things were quiet, so I got in the car and headed home.

So, is Lilydale airport always this good around 1pm on a beautiful Friday afternoon or did I just pick the right 10 minutes to take a few photos? The sun wasn’t in a perfect spot for some of the photos, but it certainly seemed to be the right place, right time and right incentive to stop and watch a great aircraft – gotta love it!

I’ve uploaded the photos I took while crewing and the photos from Lilydale in my photo gallery.

Europa Film Treasures have made available some footage from the Austrian Film Archive showing Wilbur Wright demonstrating their aircraft in France. In addition to some low approaches and a landing, the 1909 silent movie film also includes a section where the camera was mounted in the aircraft with Wilbur. Hailed as the first ever air to ground filming from an aircraft, it is well worth watching and I’m ecstatic to see it being released for us all to enjoy.

I was also excited to recently stumble upon the National Film Board of Canada and the titles they have available to view and/or purchase (where possible). From an aviation perspective, these include Airplane Casualties (a collection of archive footage), Rosies of the North, Churchill’s Island and many others.

Enjoy :)

While at Avalon Airshow 2009, the FlightPathTV.com team got to interview a C5 Galaxy pilot and film the aircraft opening up prior to letting the public walk through. Together with Captain Lee (our media liaison) we made our way down the far end of the static area to where the C5, a KC135, DC10 tanker (not a KC10) and a pair of B1Bs were parked.

Damn that’s an enormous aircraft :)

We discussed the interview with the crew and one of the junior pilots was “volunteered” for it (the chain of command in action :) After a few discussions outside and some establishing shots, we put our earplugs in and they fired up the APU (very noisy). First up the nose was opened, lifting up over the cockpit and looking very much like a Great White Shark about to bite. The ramp was extended in stages with crew walking around to check everything was deploying correctly. Naturally, this started to draw a bit of a crowd at the public fence area.

Once the nose ramp was fully deployed we moved around to the tail where it was even noisier. A huge panel at the rear moved up and a pair of doors opened outwards. Once again a massive ramp slowly extended itself in stages, although this time there were a few problems with getting the rubber mats at the very end to sit right (typical that it would happen while filming). Apparently the rear ramp can be opened during flight but they don’t do that much any more.

Once everything was opened up and the APU shut down, we moved into the cargo hold and started the interview. Most of the crew sat around enjoying the show, heckling when the camera wasn’t running. We had a few interruptions as a RAAF F18 landed and taxied back, then the KC135 fired up its APU so it could extend its boom.

Eventually we moved upstairs to film the cockpit and crew space then complete the interview up there. I managed to get some shots out one of the escape doors and the hatch up on top. We also went back into the “passenger” area, a separate compartment between the wing & tail upstairs. This area is where any troops or specialists that may be travelling with a load will spend the flight (facing backwards). We were also shown the tail structure that’s above and behind the rear ramp. This area is unpressurised in flight and is bigger than the cargo hold of a C130. Wow!

The C5 Galaxy is definitely a HUGE aircraft and it was great to go clambering all over it. I’ve loaded the photos I took into the C5 Galaxy album in the gallery. A few will also make it into the Avalon 2009 album.

On my first day at Avalon Airshow 2009, the FlightPathTV.com film crew I was with spent about 3 hours in Lockheed’s F35 simulator. During this time, Ken from Lockheed (one of their human/computer interface team members) was working with a RAAF Air Commodore as he flew the aircraft through some example encounters. We also filmed Ken as he explained the F35′s systems, the cockpit interface and the STOVL version’s features.

What a freakin’ incredible piece of equipment the F35 is!

First up, there’s no HUD. All the information from the HUD is displayed on the pilot’s helmet, along with plenty of other information as required. The helmet’s movements are tracked and the displays adjust accordingly.

The main panel consists of two large LCD displays that appear almost as one. The panel can show any of the multiple information screens in any combination of sizes and positions with the pilot touching points on the screens to resize them, move them around and so on. There is a constant one inch high band across the top of the panel that has the information screens represented in miniature (with other information as well). Just touching one of the representations brings that screen up on the panel.

When a pilot enters the aircraft, they slot a mission cartridge into the system that contains information about the mission, munitions and the pilot’s default preferences for screen layouts. So, when the pilot turns the aircraft on, everything they like is all ready to go for them.

Throw in the sensor suite that includes infra-red cameras around the aircraft and you have an amazingly powerful real world display. In addition to showing on the panel, the sensor suite’s information can be displayed on the pilot’s helmet. Combine this with the movement tracker and the pilot can see a synthetic vision view of the world around them – like looking *through* the cockpit floor, wings, weather, etc. Simply amazing.

Being the IT geek I am (as well as an aviation geek), I was drooling at how well this interface worked. As if that weren’t enough, though, we were also shown how the computerised flight controls made it a LOT easier to focus on WHAT a pilot is doing rather than HOW they are doing it.

Say the pilot wants to initiate a 50 degree climb – they use the side-stick to put the nose where they want, set the throttle and then let go. The computers will keep the aircraft going where the pilot’s said. Total no brainer. The system takes the developments of the past decades and brings them into one incredible package.

There was, of course, more to it than this but I was still reeling from what I’d seen in front of me. I would have loved to jump in and go through the demo routine but we’d already been in there two hours and Carlo & Fletch had both had goes, so I didn’t want to overstay our welcome.

I’ve loaded some of the photos I took inside the simulator room into the F35 demo album on the gallery. Other photos from my two days at Avalon are also being uploaded into the Avalon Airshow 2009 album. Enjoy :)

It’s been over a week since I was at Avalon Airshow and I’m only getting around to posting about it now. Sure, I ran up a few Twitter entries about it but I’ve not had a chance to really blog it. This time it’s thanks to lots of work to do since the show finished, plus spending some good time with my son before he visits Argentina with his mom for a month.

I’ve also been editing photos before I can upload them. I’m not someone who can just slam the raw pix up online. I like to weed out a few first, plus edit those that need lighting towers removed (the bane of any airport photographer’s existance :) or any other gear like mobile lighting rigs, etc.

I’m getting there and the first few have been uploaded into the Avalon Airshow 2009 album on my flying gallery. I’ll upload more as time permits and post on the blog when it happens. I’ll also get around to posting what I got up to on the two days I was onsite along with other thoughts about the airshow.