Zak's take on real flight

[Tumble]

It's ok.... what I do isn't what's described as "landing" in the handbook...

[Nick]

It'd be a total boon for someone like me tho... If I was comin down to see you guys for instance... take off from IOM.. £10 runway tax... maybe a tank of fuel... £80?? couple of hours in the air put down at a local airfield (gotta be one closer than Luton) and I get to drive myself I'd rather do that than pay the same money for someone else to muck me about, break my bags and generally annoy me...

There's a grass strip about 200 yards from me.... and three or four around Aylesbury.

These are all unlicensed though, which means if you stack it on take off or landing, the insurance that you get when you hire a plane won't pay out. Most people have their own insurance anyway, saves worrying baout all the exclusion clauses in hire insurances.

[Sair33]

In all honesty the only flying I'd be interested in would be a microlight.

Something you can pack into your trailer, cheap to run and maintain, only needs a small field for takeoff and landing,

Definately the best flying experience I've ever had and one that I'd be the most keen to repeat.

Yeah.... that looks ace. I'd love to try that
The parachute jumps I did were FANTASTIC, but microlighting sounds like the it could be the next challenge.....mmmmmm....
.....Probably lasts a bit longer than the 1 minute it takes to jump from a plane to the ground!

[Skii]

Well the experience I had was fantastic. It was above Harlech Castle in Wales, down on the beach an RAF pilot was earning a bit on the side taking peeps up in a 2 seater Gemini (pictured above) - £5 pound for a 15 minute flight.

If you ever get the chance - go for it. Its hard to describe the feeling of lifting into the air in little more than a seat with a motorbike engine strapped to the back

[Nick]

Its hard to describe the feeling of lifting into the air in little more than a seat with a motorbike engine strapped to the back

lol, that's pretty much what flying an R-22 is!

Just a petrol engine slapped on the back of a cabin and a big nut to hold the rotors on... least you can engine off glide in a micro-light... R22's are so close to their all-up weight with just two people and some fuel on-board that an auto-rotation is always gonna be a case of controlling how badly you crash and write off the heli, not about safely landing and walking away!

[TiG]

Heh, so its dull and boring - you say so little about mentioning the computer yet i'm sure inside you are screaming to say all the comments we've got about things going on in here.

So even through a turn does it not feel exciting?, putting your wing over to vertical and dropping through the air as you are turning?, or did you not do that?.

As for lack of joystick no fair. /me mentions to rias the option of jet fighter full combat in the states for a few thousand

Lets see if you say that is dull and boring heh.

TiG

[Moby-Dick]

I'm flying over to france in a couple of weeks time with my old lodger who holds a full CPL, but hasn't had much luck with the airlines. i think its only gonna cost me 60 quid which isnt too bad - I'm sure pete will let me do a little of the flying too , which is good fun ( as he is also an instructor ! )

#The most fun I had in a 150 was my 1st flight - he took it up to about 4500 feet ( which took a long time as we were both hefty guys and the climb rate in a 150 was abysmall ! )

the we did some spins.





dropping a thousand feet in a couple secords was far from dull - it was like a rollercoaster ride with no rails !

Matt, if you pay the fuel , I'm sure Pete would be able to take you up in somethign a little beefier and scare the bejeezus outta ya

[Nick]

Want a plane with a control column? Slingsby... fully aerobatic too... and here's the real kicker... its the same plane as that dappy cow pretends to fly on the kids programme "Come Outside", you know, the one with the dog that looks like Freeway from Hart to Hart.

[dkmech]

And before Rias gets sad......I had a lovely time missus....and I;m eternally greatfull to you for sorting and booking it for me. I had to do it. You know that

Thanks honey

Rofl Do you send emails if you want to ask her if she wants a cup of tea? The folk these days

I am surprised you were surprised by the yoke thingies.

But yeah, while i enjoy occasional flight sim and i did enjoy the one time i was given a chance to fly a 4 seater for a bit (was to scared to do much part from keeping it straight, was only 14 at the time) it does seem like a dull thing to do if you do it often.

[MA_Moby]

Want a plane with a control column? Slingsby... fully aerobatic too... and here's the real kicker... its the same plane as that dappy cow pretends to fly on the kids programme "Come Outside", you know, the one with the dog that looks like Freeway from Hart to Hart.

The Slingsby looks like an awesome bit of kit! I'd love to have a go on one of those. Doesn't the RAF use them for ab initio training these days?

I clearly don't watch enough kids telly as I have no idea what this programme is! Freeway from Hart to Hart - now that brings back memories. As a 7 year old I think I was in love with Stephanie Powers and Linda Carter (wonder woman) in equal measure

[Nick]

Dunno about the RAF, but I know that the BBC Flying Club, which afaik, still flys out of Denham had one... I say had as they tanked it in spectacular fashion about 6 months after I started working there.

I've had a look at the AAIB site, but it looks like their online records only back as far as '96 and this would've been around '90-'91.

Basically, there was two fat blokes, loaded up with luggage and full fuel and they 'forgot' to do the AUW calcs... they were both experienced pilots with something like 4000 hours or so between them... they reckoned that the colder air, being more dense, would give them more lift. Which is right, but you can only push the envelope so far...

Anyways, after an immense t/o run, the start to climb very slowly, then a wing stalls and in they go, cartwheeling a fully fuelled plane along a tarmac strip, so of course it sheds its wings, ruptures its tanks and gives it flame on big stylee.

We leg it over in the fire truck, spray foam all over the place and the other guy on fire duty(I was thanking God I had pulled pump duty and wasn't on the hose) battles his way through the flames to the cockpit to smash his way in, put out the fire in there and expect to see to medium to well done pilots.

Theres nothing in the cockpit though... these two arses had managed to crawl out through the bulkhead when the engine was torn off and they then went for a drink to calm themselves in Biggles, the bar over the road... which is where they were FOUND about an hour later!

If we'd known they were out we wouldve just contained the fire, cracked open the tinnies and got the marshmallows out, instead we risked our necks for their bloody luggage...

iirc, the BBC banned them, the CCA banned them and they both ended up having to have compulsory re-training before being allowed back in the P1 seat of even a Cessna.

[Nick]

lol... this EXACT same aircraft did EXACTLY the same thing to me.... except I was worried we wouldn't make the runway as we were on base leg when it happened....

G-PENN... and its dodgy bleedin engine!

[lynni]

lol... this EXACT same aircraft did EXACTLY the same thing to me.... except I was worried we wouldn't make the runway as we were on base leg when it happened....

G-PENN... and its dodgy bleedin engine!

[lynni]

lol... this EXACT same aircraft did EXACTLY the same thing to me.... except I was worried we wouldn't make the runway as we were on base leg when it happened....

G-PENN... and its dodgy bleedin engine!

this is has nothing to do with the topic, but deckard did u get your pm from me?

[TiG]

Time and place WOMAN time and place heh

[lynni]

Time and place WOMAN time and place heh

It was important and thinking about it, it was also on topic we was chatting about stuff to do with planes!!