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 :)

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.

On Saturday I was taking Kitt out to the Yarra Valley for a “Hen’s Party” winery tour (the “Buck’s Party” was last weekend – paintball – I’ve still got bruises) when I spotted a sign saying that Lilydale Airport (YLIL) was having an airshow. Neat! As I was thinking I’d better lock the date in to be there, I realised that the damned thing was happening TODAY!

Our route from Melbourne to Yarra Glen took us right past the airport (the road goes just south of the threshold of RW36) and after some frantic looking between the road and the airport, I did confirm the presence of a good lineup of aircraft. After getting Kitt to the meeting point and seeing her off with the other ladies (note: Hen’s parties are SCARY!) I ran a quick errand and then high-tailed it back to the airport.

On arrival I noted that there was no one taking the entry fee so I figured it must be getting close to the end of the day (it was 3pm by the time I got there). I walked in and started checking out the aircraft on display. The announcer was talking about Dick Hourigan’s Mustang (a license built and slightly modified P-51 manufactured in Australia during WWII) which was in the process of taxiing out to take off. Last time I saw this Mustang was at the 2002 Albury Airshow (scroll down the linked page to see photos of it) and it sounded great just taxiing in the distance. I didn’t bother with photos as I figured I’d get them when he came back in so I just enjoyed the take off. He did a low downwind pass then came back around a bit faster (and was that a tad lower?) for the upwind pass. Damn I love the sound of a Merlin! After that pass he left the area (which seemed to surprise the announcer a little) and that was the official end of the show.

Just as I was wondering who I’d have to talk with to get onto the flight line for some good photos, I realised that they’d dropped the barriers and we were allowed out with the aircraft. Wow. You have to appreciate that.

There was a huge line up to check out the Soko G2A “Galeb”, a Yugoslavian jet trainer that’s designed to operate from grass runways. Still flying under its Yugoslavian registration, it certainly did draw a crowd. As the only jet aircraft there it was like being the prettiest girl at the dance. Most people wanted to get their photo in the rear cockpit (mostly kids) and the pilot was on the wing helping them out. I managed to get some shots in the front cockpit and had a quick chat with pilot while this was going on. He’s been invited to the Avalon Airshow which is great as he’ll probably be parked on the warbirds tarmac where I’ll be working. Excellent!

I’ve loaded the photos I took into my photo gallery for you to enjoy. There were a number of aircraft there, including at least 3 Yaks. I just wish I’d grabbed a couple of shots of the Mustang in flight – oh well, maybe it’ll be at Avalon along with a few others like the 2007 show.

Some of the aircraft on display included:

• American Champion Super Decathlon (VH-JIR)
• Auster J1N (VH-SAH)
• CA18 Mustang
• CA22 Winjeel (VH-EDA)
• Cassutt Racer (VH-MXA)
• Cessna 206P (VH-TCZ)
• Cessna 337A (VH-NFW)
• Extra 300S (VH-XTR)
• Pacific Aerospace CT4A (VH-CTV)
• Piper PA22 (VH-RDB)
• Stinson L5B (VH-CDF)
• Soko G2A “Galeb” (YU-YEA)
• Yak 50 (VH-BYJ)
• Yak 52 x 3 (VH-RED, VH-YKK & VH-YLG)

There were other aircraft there, of course, including a few helicopters and lighties in the static area. After chatting with some of the folks working airside I headed out through the flight school to find out what the reason was for the airshow (“Oh, we just do them now and then”). After a quick chat I returned to the car and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with a friend who flies for Global Ballooning. We sat on his veranda and chatted as the afternoon drew to a close and a light aircraft practised aerobatics overhead. Not a bad way to spend a few hours.