and reporting from "Down Under"
and reporting from "Down Under"
... well actually I'm home now for a little bit - to wrap up 2016 farm business - but just had a month in OZ sorting out Mum's effects, salvaging family historical artifacts & doing estate business - but took every chance to get in some time with the Ozzie gyronuts!
My trip began with several days spent with the delightful Polyak family , - gleaning a couple of hours flying with senior ASRA CFI Sam Polyak ... checking out how my gyro flight skills had progressed since my first trial flight with him in the blue TE prototype ... way back in Feb 2014 ( then just a 122 hr student pilot)!
On both days the wind was very unfriendly ( full cross & erratic) ... but I somehow aced both take-off rolls with max PR on a lumpy short strip with trees & a large hill dead ahead & kept him happy that I was worthy to fly his "baby" -the limegreen/yellow 914 TE. After so much flying over flat terrain of Texas & Kansas ... flying around the hills & valleys of the Yass area was quite disturbing ...especially when we came down below the ridges & all I could think was being ready to find rough rotor winds in the lee of the hills ...as Sam's place is in a narrow valley - to land - you are just going to get bumped around as you fly the approach .... the downwind,base/final which is quite hair-raising having to clear the powerline over the longer rougher strip( in the hayfield) then follow the creekline avoiding the trees - knowing you have to stick it ... no go-arounds ( due to powerlines& trees at the S end of the 900ft strip!)
last pic = Google earth screen shot with powerlines in red line!
the Aussie countryside is riddled with powerlines ... going off in all & any direction ... usually crossing that nice, open, somewhat flatter area -one has spotted for an ELZ !!
The camera always flattens the terrain ... trust me that bump in the distance is a serious hill - when looking down the runway! (Pic #2) .... due to the location of a horse farm in that area we always make a left turn to climb out over the more gently rising terrain!
The last 3 pics are of one of the first- production run blue TE's with the proud new owner getting flight training @ Caboolture ... where I got to visit with Waddles & co. for a couple of hours on Saturday during my week @ the Mooloolaba holiday pad!