Take-off on RWY 01 at Yarrawonga

After fitting a GoPro camera to the wing of one of YFT’s new SST 912 Trikes it was time to take to the air and see how good this little camera realy is. The Answer “Great”!

After take-off Peter headed off over the Lake and then turned West towards the weir bridge.

The Ovens river is in flood and all this water is feeling into the Murray and filling Lake Mulwala to the brim.

Flying over the Weir Bridge

The weir gates were open and all this water is racing down the Murray. What a sight.

So its just another great day for flying at YFT.

The day had come and the weather was perfect, as the time approached 1000 hours, aircraft started to assemble at YFT Hangar 19 for the flight to Wangaratta.

"Is there room for my bag on the trike? Because if there isn't, it's not happening!"

Willem’s wife Erika was putting her life in his hands for the first time. After all she was flying to her home town, and if it didn’t work out she didn’t have to fly the return trip to Yarrawonga. (With these antics on the trike, no wonder she felt less than well by the end of the trip!) Seriously, it was a good effort Erika.

It was impressive seeing all the trikes lined up, waiting to depart. One by one the crews entered their aircraft and the engines spooled into life, and departed one by one for their flight across the Warby Ranges.

Steve and Andy after flying only four hours conversion to weightshift, flew with us to Wangaratta

After an enjoyable flight over early blooming canola crops and emerald green grain crops, our pilots and passengers were greeted with an appetising BBQ PLUS sweets at the Wangaratta club house. (Anne says, “Don’t expect that at Hangar 19 because she’s not a good cook!”) Friends had flown up from Barwon Heads and Donnybrook as well as the local region. The Wang Aero Club were pleased and surprised to see so many. They suggested that without our group there may have been about seven people. Andy and Steve had arrived on Friday night for conversion training to weight-shift. After flying all day Saturday, and again early on Sunday morning, they flew, under instruction, to Wangaratta in YFT’s SST 912’s, to socialise with the rest of the aircrews. Good effort guys!

Aeroshell Sport Plus 2

It’s here! The first oil specifically developed for Light Sport, Very Light and Ultralight 2-stroke aircraft engines.

Aeroshell Oil Sport Plus 2 at a glance.

• High filmand shear strength formulation specifically designed for strenuous operating conditions experienced by these types of aviation engines
• Promotes engine cleanliness – protects engine parts such as pistons, rings and exhaust ports from excessive or harmful deposits, such as coking.
• Outstanding perfomance in regard to ring ’sticking’
• Excellent ‘cleaner burn’ performance
• Helps protect engine parts from corrosion during engine shutdown and storage
• Helps engine achieve better Time Before Overhaul (TBO)
• Suitable for use in oil injected and pre-mixed oil/fuel systems
• Protects highly stressed engine parts against scuffing and wear
• Tested and designed to be used in any climate
• Superior performance compared to standard synthetic 2-stroke products when used in aviation application
• Advanced anti-rust and anti-wear package
• Dyed green for better monitoring of the oil and fuel blend
• Can be mixed with other mineral and synthetic 2-stroke oils previously used

And now available at YFT for $11.00 per litre

Willem on final for 01 at YYWG

If you would like to be on our Events List and receive an email notifying you when Yarrawonga Flight Training is going to an event or having one at Yarrawonga, Hangar 19, just email your email address to yft@yarrawongaflighttraining.com.au and you will be added to our list.

That means you can be part of the fun, and fly with our aircrews. We go to BBQ’s and other events in the surrounding region. We also will be doing a number of weekend fly-aways, and don’t forget the longer Megafauna and Nav-Ex fly-aways. Don’t worry about what type of aircraft you fly… We don’t! Just join in and have fun flying with other like minded aviation people.

Willem and David decided to go for a flight yesterday in their respective XT-912 trikes,  and Willem fitted his GoPro camera to the top of the control frame. What views!!

It was a good day for flying but we were all aware that a change was coming from the West. Willem and David departed YYWG and tracked to town of Rennie and turned to the East towards Goombargana Hill. They were going to fly further East, but the Cloud bank was moving in faster than expected.

The two pilots decided to head back to YYWG. It was interesting listening to the conversations on YFT company frequency. “Let’s trade this smooth air at 5,000 feet for some warmth? It’s minus two degrees Centigrade up here!”

Cuppa’s in pre-warmed cups were much appreciated on landing,… even if it was just for thawing cold fingers!

Coastal from Bundaberg

Yes, that’s the question we ask all our new aircraft owners. Most say “Hell, yes”! But, the question has a real effect on the aircrew. Anne and I have flown all our new aircraft home from the factory. We have made the flight seven times, and wouldn’t do it any other way.

It doesn’t matter whether your new aircraft is a Jabiru from Bundaberg, a Foxbat from Moorabbin, or a Trike from Newcastle.

So why fly your aircraft home? My opinion, it’s giving you, the new owner, a great trial run in your aircraft and you get to know your aircraft better.

So what’s the down side? The down side comes in a number of forms. Firstly you have to get yourself and all your necessary gear to the factory. This can be expensive and difficult. Then you have the weather. It might look good when you leave home, but when you get to the factory aerodrome, it could all go pear-shaped.

OK, you have decided to fly your aircraft home, so what are the steps you need to take, to make the pickup and get home safely. Firstly, make up your flight plan from the factory aerodrome to your home airstrip. Most importantly, make sure it’s flexible. This is no time to rely on a GPS. You need to study the terrain you will be flying over. Factor in alternates, you just might need them!

Heading into the mountains

Make sure that your first leg is not too long. You don’t want to be planning to fly over large areas where you have no landing options if you have a leaky fuel tank. By keeping the first leg short you have a buffer for checking the aircraft for any problems. Even better, plan to fly around the local factory area for a day and this gives you a good chance to check your new aircraft out before heading home. Many new Jabiru owners who have called into Hangar 19 at Yarrawonga, show me imperfections and little problems with their new aircraft. I always ask them if they spent some time flying their new aircraft at Bundaberg before heading home. You can guess the answer to my question, “No, we only had a couple of days to get home”. So no wonder these little problems show up later, rather than sooner, thereby becoming the new owner’s problem, rather than something for the factory to rectify before final delivery.

Sting at Nhill

Next make sure that your new aircraft is going to be ready on time, and more importantly, that your aircraft is registered. Remember, having a registration number allocated to your aircraft doesn’t mean your aircraft is registered. You have to have that paperwork from the regulatory body stating that your aircraft is registered before you can fly it home. If you decided to fly to the factory, (in our case it is Airborne Windsports, in Newcastle), it would be worth having your CFI, or someone who knows the area, and who has done this flight before in the same type as your own new aircraft, fly with you on the return trip.

Getting there… So you could fly on a commercial carrier. We don’t, as we take all of our flying gear and our avionics for the new aircraft with us, and the airlines don’t like this equipment to be on board.

So how do we do it? This is the way we pick up a new aircraft from Airborne in Newcastle…

When we go to Newcastle we either fly into Maitland in a private aircraft, or we go by train from Albury. Flying to the factory has its advantages. We depart Yarrawonga just before sunrise and arrive at Maitland well within three hours. This means we get to the factory early and I can fit the avionics and we depart for home by lunch time. In most cases if we fly, we aim to get home on the same day. However, if we go by train, it is an adventure in itself. Going by train, we catch a bus from Yarrawonga to Albury at 6pm. This is about an hour’s drive. We then wait until 11pm at Albury station for the train to Sydney. That depends on whether the train is on time or delayed. We then try to sleep on the train. Ha Ha Ha… that sometimes works. We then have to hope that the train arrives on time into Sydney. You then run like crazy to get your tickets for the next train to Newcastle. If we are lucky we arrive at the factory around midday. So we know that we are going to only get to Mudgee, or if we are really lucky, we might get as far as Parkes. So it’s going to be a two day trip home. For us the cost is only a little more going by air. The time saved is much greater.

So let’s look at how we fly home. We start our flight from Wallsend aerodrome. We then fly to Maitland VOR and then on to Singleton NDB. This takes us around the Restricted Area. From there we fly to Denman, keeping near the farmland valleys and avoiding the Great Dividing Range’s beautiful but dangerous terrain, if you suddenly need to land your new baby, and on to Mudgee. We land at Mudgee and have a good look over the aircraft, double checking for any loosening of components, or things that don’t quite look right.  From Mudgee we fly to Parkes, where we refuel. From Parkes we track to Temora and then onto Yarrawonga.

Flying along the coast from Bundaberg

I have a number of people ask me, ”Why we don’t fly down Victor One, or over the Mountains to Orange?”  I could easily do this, and yes, sometimes I feel tempted. But I then have a reality check. This is a new aircraft, and anything could happen to it. Believe me it would be very hard to swim with an aircraft attached to you. Victor One is the low flying lane along the coast near Sydney. If you have any problem at all, you will not make the beach, or even the cliff tops. So why put yourself in this position? To me safety comes first, and although I have total faith in the Airborne factory crew, and have never had an aircraft problem on a shake-down trip home, I still play it as safely as possible and don’t take any chance that I can foresee.

So if you get the chance to buy a new aircraft, and you have the option to fly it home from the factory, do it… it’s a great experience, but be sure to plan the whole exercise well in advance.

IFR in VH-QBU approach to YTOC

The day at Yarrawonga began well enough. Down South the weather was already turning ugly, however at 0900 at YFT it was still looking good. The phone calls started to come in around 0830 with people pulling out due to the weather. Fifteen aircraft trying to fly in from the various southern aerodromes had chosen to cancel, for fear that if they did manage to fly to Tocumwal, they may not get back. Aircraft from the North were unable to get here either. By 1000 hours the weather at YFT was also threatening, and  the decision was made to drive, by people who had already gathered at Hangar 19.

Some of the Crew in Lee's Hangar

And that’s just what 25 people did. In the extended flying fraternity it is always nice to catch up with acquaintances and friends, and there is always someone new to meet as well. An organised but casual get-to-gether is an excellent reason to get out of the house, postpone the lawn-mowing,  pull the aircraft out of the hangar, and in some cases dust it off… a great reason to take to the skies again! Everyone is welcome at YFT’s events, military, GA and recreational, low time or experienced, fixed wing or rotary wing pilots and families or friends, who all share the special third dimension of the sky. We just ask that you indicate your intention to come as early as possible, and also notify a cancellation, too, (for catering reasons), wherever a YFT event is held. Lee’s hangar was the perfect venue for the IFR day it turned out to be.

Snags and burgers, hot drinks and slices, chatter and laughter reigned supreme, and what a great social atmosphere it was. Thanks again everyone, and a special thanks to Lee for providing the hangar.

Faye and her new aircraft

I received a phone call from Faye last week letting me know that she had decided to buy an aircraft. This was great news. Faye was looking at an XT-912 that belonged to a friend of ours in Shepparton.

Faye asked me if I could do a condition report and pre-purchase check for her. This was no problem, so off we went on Friday, to Shepparton. We arrived and all went well, and then Faye said, “I’ll buy it.”  I was then asked to fly her aircraft home to Yarrawonga. No problem, but I will have to go… like NOW! It was only an hour from sunset. I made it back just before last light.

Faye flying near Benalla

This week Faye has been airborne almost as much as she has been on the ground. She has flown all around the local area and was one of the aircraft that flew to Winton Raceway on Sunday. Today Faye was seen practising her cross wind approaches on runway 05. Well done Faye. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

Winton Race way

The next day I mentioned  the Winton races to a few pilots at YFT and they all decided it was a flight that had to be done.

Five aircraft, enthusiastic pilots and a good flying day to be had on the Sunday! We all assembled at the front of YFT’s hangar and as we were spooling up the engines, more pilots arrived and decided to join in. The flight to Winton was enjoyable. Over flying Winton we could see the cars going round the track at break neck speed.

It was quite different to see them from above. Heading back I saw clouds reflected in the still water of Lake Mokoan. You don’t see that very often. On our way back we met up with the other aircraft, and we had a great airborne armada.  Just another great day’s flying at YFT.

Next Sunday, 15th August 2010, weather permitting, we are all flying to Tocumwal for a BBQ. Speed and distance really are concepts, it’s the company that’s so great when you share the air with friends.

Pilot Ellie

Maybe there’s a new pilot in town… She a little short at the moment, but it won’t take long before this little lady is behind the controls.

Mother and daughter get some flying time. Dianne started by doing a high speed taxi to see if Ellie was OK in the back seat. All was good so off they went into the sky around Yarrawonga. Ellie had quite a bit to say about her flight after I bribed her with a lolly pop.