Fly Me Friendly

On a cold & windy morning at at the end of May, we had cancelled the day’s scheduled balloon flight in the Yarra Valley so on the way home, I figured I’d drop by Moorabbin Airport to pick up a few items from the pilot shop. I arrived about 45 minutes before the shop opened but fortunately there was some activity over at the Australian National Aviation Museum (aka Moorabbin Air Museum) where I’m a member, so I drove back over to check it out.

It turned out to be the Volkswagon Car Club who had come to set up a concourse amongst the aircraft on static display outside the museum hangars. The museum staff had opened the fence to allow them to squeeze in and get positioned. Excellent!

There were VW beetles everywhere so I started grabbing some photos which have now been loaded into an album on my gallery. They were still bringing in vehicles as I was leaving to go back to the shop, including a great collection of Kombi vans and more modern vehicles as well.

Unfortunately I was pressed for time as I left so I wasn’t able to get photos of the rest of the cars that arrived. The main length of fence along Second Ave was packed with vehicles squeezed in around the aircraft. Most amusing to see :)

I got the word from John that the Victorian chapter of the Aviation Historical Society of Australia was having a Christmas BBQ at Moorabbin airport (YMMB) today. So, I went down to hang out, meet new people and spread the word about our podcast.

It was definitely worth while as I definitely got to meet some interesting people, including Keith Meggs (founding member of the AHSA & current president) and Dr Carlo Kopp, a defence analyst who’s work I’ve been reading for a very long time. Dr Kopp is one of the founders of Air Power Australia, an independent defence think tank.

After a few hours chatting with a number of the people there, I headed off to the Australian National Aviation Museum to catch up with what might be new and on display. I’ve been a member for a while although I’d lapsed and not renewed my fees for a few years – ooops. I renewed recently as part of my DC3 excursion to Albury (yes, I need to write that adventure up – sorry – been busy :) and sorted out the back fees so I’m definitely current now :)

Going through their book pile, I found a number that included biographies, novels and historical narratives. After buying a stack of them, I noticed more in a pile waiting to be put out on display. Guess I’ll be going back again after payday to buy some more :)

The other task I have after I get paid is to join the AHSA as it would seem I may be able to help them with getting their print, audio & video archives online. While I’m certainly no historian, I do enjoy reading biographies & historical narratives and am definitely a big fan of capturing & preserving history online for people to access.

I’ll keep you posted on how all this progresses :)

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? :)

On Easter Monday this year, I was hanging out at home and looking at the beautiful blue skies when the phone rang. It was Nico asking if I wanted to go flying today. HAH! What a crazy question :) I grabbed my gear, picked him up and we headed off to the Royal Victorian Aero Club at Moorabbin Airport (YMMB). We had been contemplating flying their Seminole out over Phillip Island and back, just for some fun. Turns out that was booked out over the weekend for a run up to Queensland. Fortunately, the club’s Alpha was parked on the ramp and just itching to be taken out for some aerobatics. Woo hoo!
The Alpha is a two seat side-by-side fully aerobatic trainer from Alpha Aviation in New Zealand. The aircraft at RVAC (VH-VCF) is an R2160 model with a Lycoming O320D (160Hp) engine, bubble canopy and a sporty look to it. Originally made in France as the Robin 2160, the rights to the design and the construction jigs were purchased by Alpha Aviation when Robin went out of business. Sadly, Alpha went out of business in 2007, which is a shame as these are beautiful aircraft and a lot of fun to fly.
Nico is an aerobatics instructor and certified to fly the Alpha from the right seat, so I got to log the flight as an intro to aeros. W00t! Getting into the aircraft was easy with a step behind the wing then onto the wing itself. It’s then a simple matter to step in, sit down and start adjusting everything. I’m over 187cm tall and there was about 1cm between the top of my headset and the canopy when we closed it. I’d say it was a perfect fit but the stick kept hitting my right thigh on full deflection. With a bit of experimentation we found places I could arrange myself when not flying so Nico was comfortable with the controls. Still, even when I was on the controls I would whack my right thigh when rolling. Oh well…
	The cockpit is well laid out with the standard flight instruments on the left hand side, Garmin gear on the right (including a GPS) and engine temp/pressure gauges (and the G Meter :) along the bottom. The instructor has the joy of looking left to see all the instruments but hey, they’re used to that :)
After a quick preflight we fired up and taxied over to the run up bay to verify that everything was ready to go. There was a lot of movement on the ground and busy circuits aloft, as is typical at Moorabbin when the weather is beautiful and it’s a weekend or public holiday. We taxied out to the hold point for the runway and were cleared to go after a couple of landings and touch-n-go’s went before us. The aircraft was quickly off and into the air, heading out from Moorabbin over Frankston and then to the training area. The Alpha is quite responsive and the view is great everywhere except just below the wing. We reached 5,000′ about the time we arrived at the aerobatics part of the training area. It’s conveniently located above a line of high-tension power lines which help to mark the area AND give you something to align yourself with during manoeuvres.
After doing a few steep clearing turns and waiting for one aircraft to transit the area, we were ready to begin. We cinched down the harnesses, verified everything was stowed and started off with a simple barrel roll. Yeee haah! From there we did a loop and then another barrel roll. After that we progressed to a stall-turn at which point we confirmed that yes, I am much heavier than Nico as the aircraft wanted to break left instead of right as Nico wanted. A bit of effort on the rudder and it did as it was told. I’d been following through on the controls and so after another barrel roll we went through a loop and then it was my go to do it with Nico guiding and following me. Works well when the instructor is guiding you and nudging at the right time :)
We took it pretty easy through all this (+3G to -1G) but it’s been *ages* since I last had a hit of Vitamin G, so by now I had the fresh air vent blowing right on my face and was apparently going a little white. I was smiling and loving it but yeah, time to head for home. Oh well :) We headed back to the reporting point (over the GMH factory) and had just called in when another aircraft called that they too were at GMH and on the same altitude. Yikes! Visions of the recent mid-air collisions at Bankstown and here at Moorabbin flashed through my head as we both looked everywhere for the other aircraft (stupid, I know, but you can’t help it some days). We finally made out the other aircraft a very long way off from GMH so we relaxed a bit. It was annoying that they were calling in at the wrong spot but understandable as, thanks to an increase in houses and factories in the area, the GMH factory is no longer such an easy to spot landmark. After calling in and being acknowledged by the tower, we were cleared to make our way over Sandown race track where the Easter Nats car races were going on. From there, we were lined up on base for 17L and cleared in behind another aircraft that was already on final. The bubble canopy certainly made for a great view as we turned onto final and came in for a beautiful landing (yes, that was Nico – not me – there’s a reason I use the handle Falcon124 :) We taxied back to the RVAC ramp and shut down. A fun flight in a great little aircraft. Good for getting from A to B and also good for throwing around the sky. Ya gotta love that! I’ve loaded all the photos from the flight into a gallery on my site. Now to figure when I can next get chance to go fly with a friend once again as that seems to be the only way I’m getting off the ground lately…

Stephen Force over at the Airspeed Blog asked a bunch of us on Twitter for signs that might indicate you’re a pilot. Between our responses and the comments, it’s a pretty comprehensive list and well worth checking out for a bit of fun.

My comment about having a personalised license plate on your car that only another pilot would recognise was included (yay!). I wanted to get CAVOK but someone based at Moorabbin (YMMB) has that one. Next choice was LAHSO or SIMOPS but Kitt & Nykolai said it was too pilot geeky for the RX-7. Oh well – maybe I can get that on the next car…

Here in Melbourne we have at least one DC-3 based out at Essendon airport (YMEN) that’s operated by Short Stop Jet Charter. They have it available for winery tours, joy flights and dinner flights. It’s not uncommon to hear it out on a good night flying a group of people around the Port Phillip Bay area & over the city. It’s a beautiful sound and I’m very pleased that these guys are able to keep it in the air.

Actually, it’s in the air right now and I’m listening to it as it flies around the city, passing over us here and there. The house is quiet as everyone else is asleep, but I’m working and the drone is soothingly wonderful, triggering thoughts from my past.

I have very fond memories of being in the right place at the right time while hanging out at Bankstown airport (YSBK) in Sydney and helping with the DC-3s that were parked there. Working with Captain Jack Curtis to taxi one that needed to be moved due to some works being done. This involved pumping the hell out of the wobble-pump to get the engines primed & started then sitting in the copilot’s seat and watching out the window to ensure we didn’t chew up any cones. Another time I went along as we taxied from one side of the airport to the other, wound up sitting inside and chatting while the aircraft was used as a backdrop for a photoshoot, then taxied it all the way back. During an airshow at Bankstown in the 90′s I was cleaning the DC-3 between rides and helping to guide people to & from the aircraft plus wheeling the steps in & out. Later I helped walk the wing when we had to bring one out from the static park to replace the one giving rides after it’d gone U/S. When the airshow itself started, I got to sit on top and watch the show – best seats in the house.

Many years and a few countries later, I was at Moorabbin (YMMB) in the dark at 5am on the Royal Victorian Aero Club’s flight line preparing our assigned aircraft to go on RVAC’s Dawn Patrol when I heard that beautiful drone once again. I called it and we all stopped to listen for it. Sure enough, a set of lights could be seen flying a distant downwind, rolling onto base and then coming in to land in the dark. As it came over the threshold we could confirm it as the old Ansett DC-3 and didn’t it look beautiful. I caught up with the crew just before the pilot briefing for a quick chat about people, places and so on. Magic moments.

I would really love to learn to fly the DC-3 at some point as it’s a beautiful aircraft and we need new pilots to help keep the old birds flying. Maybe I’ll head over to the USA to get a type rating via Dan Gryder and the HERPA DC-3. I didn’t realise this option existed until I heard about it on Aero News and listened to Stephen Force doing his SIC rating.

For now, I’ll just looked forward to the day when I’ll be able to spare some $$$ to go on one of Short Stop’s dinner flights. Of course, I’ll be wanting to spend the flight on the jumpseat in the cockpit instead of in the passenger chairs (who needs food – just let me do the flight up front).

We’re having a break in Tweed Heads to visit family and are staying in a house not far from Coolangatta / Gold Coast Airport (YBCG). Sitting on the balcony with a beer, I can watch the commercial jets heading out (mostly Virgin Blue and JetStar), the occasional corporate jet, helicopters and a few lighties. There’s a couple of flight schools at this airport so there are a few lighties doing circuits in the gaps around the jets. This house would be perfect if it were only a little higher up the hill behind us, then I could see the tarmac as well.

As usual, we flew Virgin Blue out of Melbourne. We could fly JetStar but we’re not too impressed with them and only use them when there’s no alternative. While waiting for our flight at a cafe in Melbourne airport, we got our first “in the flesh” look at QANTAS’ new A380. It’s not yet in commercial service but is flying around Australia doing familiarisation and shake down flights. Damn that thing is huge – at first glance it was just another aircraft until you realise it’s got two levels of windows and/or it goes past another aircraft. They parked over on the freight ramp with a terminal building between us. We could only see the tails of the other aircraft there (including a B747) but the whole upper deck of the A380 could be seen. Amazing.

As we taxied out to the runway we passed one of Virgin Blue’s new Embraer E-jets. At first glance they look like a 737 until you get a better look at it. When seen against a 737, it looks like someone’s shrunk it down. I’d love to see one next to the A380.

After holding short for a Tiger Airways A321 to land we moved out onto the runway and sat there for ages. I have no idea why we waited so long on the runway but finally the engines were powered up and away we went. Otherwise, the flight was uneventful – some light chop in the early cruise and some sharp jolts as we descended into cloud on approach. Coolangatta terminal is undergoing some massive rebuilding so getting in involved long detours, queuing when the path narrowed and filing through a single door into a complete disaster inside – I imagine it’ll be great when it’s all finished, but for now it’s a place to avoid. Not looking forward to flying out on Monday, that’s for sure.

Meanwhile, for now it’s time to relax, unwind and watch the aircraft while drinking some beers on the balcony.

We’ve just started Spring Carnival here in Melbourne – about 1.5 months of horse racing on tracks around Melbourne and through out the state of Victoria.

So, what does this have to do with helicopters?

Plenty!

Due to the popularity of the races, driving to the track can be a real joke. Long queues of cars often start before the off ramp on the highway let alone within a few blocks of the track. So, a number of people will arrange to get a helicopter ride into the track rather than go through the hell of driving or public transport. People typically get picked up in the city but some will go from Moorabbin (YMMB), Essendon (YMEN) or Melbourne International (YMML) airports.

Our apartment building is under the flight path most of the helicopters take between Moorabbin airport and the city and/or Flemington race track. So we’ll see a stream of various helicopters flying in to the city to track runs. Then, as they need to refuel, they’ll head back to YMMB before coming back again. Once the days racing is underway things settle down until later in the afternoon when the whole lot starts up all over again.

Sure makes for a great time if you like watching them pass overhead.

This morning was the day of the Royal Victorian Aero Club’s “Dawn Patrol” and, once again, I was watching it from the ground. As a tribute to those who flew in the Battle of Britain during World War II, every year around this time a large number of light aircraft take part in the “Dawn Patrol” flight.

Taking off at streamed intervals from Moorabbin (YMMB) at first light, the route takes the aircraft first to Albert Park lake (about where I live) then over the Shrine of Rememberance. After the Shrine they turn towards Point Cook (YMPC) (birthplace of the RAAF) then overfly Avalon Arport (YMAV) and out around the rest of Port Phillip Bay before landing back at Moorabbin. After the flight there’s a cooked breakfast and ex-military pilots tell a few stories.

It takes a fair bit of planning to get this right and pilots attend a briefing about 4:45am, meet any passengers they may have around 5am then head out to their aircraft. Aircraft are assigned numbers and graded based on their typical cruise speed with the fastest ones going first. Ground control will call out aircraft in blocks to taxi out and get ready to go. It’s up to pilots to sort out their start times if they need longer to warm up, etc. Typically the first aircraft are taking off about 6am and, given they’re the fastest, they’re sometimes coming back to land before the last of the slowest aircraft have even taken off.

I’ve flown in two Dawn Patrols, both times with a friend in a Piper Warrior. The first time I was co-pilot and the other time I was sitting in the back with my son Nykolai. A couple of years back I was on the ground at the Docklands (back when there was still some empty grass land there) preparing to launch some hot air balloons when the Dawn Patrol aircraft went overhead. At least for that event I was doing something aviation related, even if I wasn’t involved in the Patrol itself.

Otherwise, like today, I’ve been on the ground. We were supposed to have gone out last night so I didn’t think of trying to arrange a ride. As it turned out, we had to cancel so I could have gone after all. So at about 6am today I was woken up by the sound of the first aircraft tracking past our place on their way to the Shrine. Judging by the sound, I’d say it was probably Judy Pay in her T-28 Trojan as she’s usually flying the fastest aircraft most years. I quickly threw on some clothes and went up to our roof to watch. In the dim light of pre-dawn I could see the outlines of the aircraft and their strobes. Everyone was flying with their landing lights on to help them stand out against the dark grey low overcast. There were showers in the area but the cloud was lifting out over the bay as the first highspeed singles and a few twins went over. After this batch of aircraft went over one after the other there was a lull and with no others in sight. According to the weather report from Moorabbin there were some strong & gusty winds so that may have forced them to hold off on departures until it could be confirmed that the weather was improving.

Sure enough, against the grey south I could see landing lights coming up as another batch of aircraft streamed past. Primarily some of the faster singles, there were a few light twins as well. Not long after this group came the RVAC Formation Flight in their Piper Warriors. Three aircraft were in tight formation (lead plus two wingmen) with another two flying loose second wing positions. These five aircraft were accompanied by two more that were flying quite some distance from the main formation, one on each side (perhaps taking photos?).

Just before this group came over it had started to rain lightly – annoying but not enough to send me back inside. Given there were more landing lights in the distance, I decided to stay and, sure enough, the rain passed about the same time the other aircraft arrived. This time it was more of the slower aircraft although a fast twin came powering through, passing the others and heading off around the bay.

Eventually there were no more lights to be seen so I headed back inside. I think another couple of aircraft went over after I came in but that was about it.

So that was it, another Dawn Patrol has been & gone and I wasn’t involved. Next year if I am in Melbourne I will ensure that I am, even if I have to go as a passenger.

One of the benefits of working with Balloon Sunrise is that occasionally you get a chance to go up and fly over Melbourne in a balloon. If there’s a spare place on board, we try to get a crew member that’s not working to have a go. In addition to being a bonus for the crew, it’s also good for them to see what it’s like up there.

My turn came around again today – what a hoot! We flew from a set of ovals in Kensington to Moorabbin airport (YMMB). A great flight and lots of fun.

I managed to get a few photos and will load them on the site soon(ish).