Move to Tamworth

With an Air Force posting to the flying school at Tamworth, my family and I have now moved to the Country Music Capital. We are very fond of Tamworth. The Rebel has been welcomed to its new home at Sigma Aerospace. It is quite an impressive organisation, major servicing, an engine shop etc http://www.sigmaaerospace.com.au/

On my first couple of training flights, I found the local ATC to be very helpful and accomodating, looks like I'll be able to train over head the airfield, which is very handy.

My girls like Aerobatic planes too ...

My girls with an Edge 540 owned by Mark McNicol.

New engine cowl

It was time the old fashioned Pitts style engine cowl had to go ... Edge 540 style carbon fibre cowl has been fitted and is now off with the painter. This should be a good improvement!

Hunter Valley Display

Last week I went to the Hunter Valley, north of Sydney, to fly a display at the Kirkton Park Sebel. The event was an Allianz corporate function. It's always great to fly a display away from an airfield. This location had beautiful scenery with rolling hills and huge gum trees which made it a lot of fun.

The display was well received. On the flight home I ran into a large line of thunderstorms and decided the best option was to over night back in the Hunter - so I too ended up spending the night at the Sebel. It's a lovely place with plenty of old charm.

The weather had cleared by late morning the next day and the flight back to Sydney was pleasant!

Proud Partners with Quail TV!

I'm very pleased to announce our partnership with Quail Television. Quail TV is an exciting production company based in Sydney Australia. You've probably watched many of their productions without realising who they are ...

The "Real Top Guns" and the "Find my Family" series are a couple of examples.

Check our web page for more information!

www.BlairAerosport.com.au/index_files/QTV.htm

State (NSW) Aerobatic Championships

We are back from the NSW Aerobatic Championships. It was a fantastic event, the biggest comp for decades apparently. I competed in Advanced which had an excellent turn out of competitors. With not much Aresti flying lately I wasn't particularly confident prior to the weekend but things came together in the days running up to the comp.

(Waiting for the Starter to give me the go ahead ... )

I finished first in all three scored events, ie the Free, the First Unknown and the Second Unknown for an overall win.

A very pleasing result.

My wife had to eat her words, she thought I wouldn't be competitive ...

Results are at:
www.gspotaerobatics.com/results/2009/multi_Advanced.htm

Good mate, Richard Wiltshire cleaned up in the Unlimited category. We came home in formation together, both of us in good spirits! Not long after takeoff, Rich joked we should of called ourselves "Victory Formation", now that would have been rubbing it in to the other guys!

The officials did a great job, things ran very smoothly and we got through a huge amount of flying, over 120 flights I believe ...

Congratulations and thanks to all involved.

(Trying to critique ... )

Oakey - Army Museum Display

Getting the recent engine work done which included the new ECI Titan, Nickel Carbide Cylinders gave me a break for a while. Two weeks after we were flying again it was off to Oakey in QLD . The Museum at Oakey is a world class facility, if you get the chance for a visit I'd highly reccomend it.

I did 2 displays on the Saturday in very hot, windy and dusty conditions - far from the best conditions. 2 more displays on Sunday in much nicer weather finished off the trip.

The displays were well recieved - it was a nice touch to have the commentators greet me after each flight with a couple of children who had questions about flying. That sort of crowd participation is a nice addition to an event like this.

On the way home I stopped at Tamworth for the night. I'll always visit my freinds in Tamworth if I get the opportunity. Flying to Sydney the next day was interesting and challenging - plenty of weather in the Sydney basin for my arrival ...

The spark plugs were as dry as a bone after the trip, so we decided the engine was now run in. We dumped the run-in oil and replaced it with our favourite oil, Exxon Elite multi-weight oil.

It's been a while since I did any competition style aerobatics but it's time to concentrate on the State Aerobatic Champs in a couple of weeks ...

Cowra visit SAAA Annual Convention

My brother-in-law, Les Day, and I did a quick day trip to Cowra for the SAAA convention. It was a good day out, here are a couple of pictures ...

Hi Octane Performance Coatings

Ceramic coatings have become mainstream in the performance engine world. I wanted to use the technology on the Rebel - the advantages are well documented. After looking around, I decided to use Hi Octane Performance Coatings at Rydalmere in Sydney. They have a brand new facility with the latest gear and a refreshingly enthusiastic approach to their work. Before I got to know the guys there, they said to me, don't worry about your pipes, if they don't come out perfect, we will remove the coating and do it again!

I can't speak highly enough about the quality of their work.

The photos here are the exhaust pipes off the Rebel, they are perfect!

There is more information on our web page under the "Hi Octane" link and you will find more at www.HiOctanePerformanceCoatings.com.au

Tell Ian and his guys that I promised a perfect result at a competitive price!

Rebel 300 exhaust after ceramic coating!

Twitter now on our Web Page.

We have been doing some upgrades to the web site recently. Part of that was adding a Twitter feed. I'll aim to use the Twitter function for small news/intersest items and will Blog the more significant items!

www.BlairAerosport.com.au

A different kind of ride ...

I had the opportunity to do some travelling with the family recently.  We used a Cirrus SR22 from the Richmond Flying Club.  I hadn't flown a Cirrus until just recently but it's a comfortable and safe way to travel!  It was the first time I took my daughters flying.  They didn't like it much at first but they soon relaxed and fell asleep.  By the end of the holiday they seemed to be loving it.

Our trip to the Gold Coast was a bit longer than planned - no one had forecast the Category 2 cyclone type weather that kept us there for a few extra days!  While we had the chance, I took my brothers for a fly around the Gold Coast.  I had forgotten how nice it is up there.

The Rebel has been getting a few minor upgrades while I've had a break from the aerobatics but it's time to get back into it now!

My brother Ashley, always happy to go for a fly.

My 3 girls in the back of the Cirrus.

Harmon Rocket

The last couple of weeks I've been helping the current owner of my old Harmon Rocket.  I built the plane a few years back but it's undergone some fairly significant modifications and needed test flying and fine tuning.  It was great to get back in this plane, they are fantastic sports aircraft.  It looks like there will be more test flying coming up, including the first Lancair Legacy in Australia! 

Australian Aerobatic Champs - 2009

I've been working hard the last few months to prepare for the "unlimited" level at the Australian Aerobatic Championships which are held at Easter.  I had a few minor issues with the plane in the weeks leading upto the comp.  Unfortunately, on the day I was planning to leave, things got slightly worse and that left me with an unserviceable aircraft.  I couldn't believe my luck.  This plane has not missed a beat or had a single problem since I got it out from the States.  Not to worry, it is nothing serious and we will be back flying soon!

As things turn out, the competition was virtually washed out, the unlimited guys only got to fly their "Free" and missed both the "Unknowns"...

Avalon Update

I managed to have 2 fantastic days down at the Avalon Airshow.  Thursday (when the above photo was taken) had me busy with Air Force commitments but on the Friday I was able to get more of a look around.  

The photo shows the Allianz Aviation Team.  They are 4 of the friendliest and most professional people I've ever met.  I'm proud to be associated with Allianz!  Pictured from left to right are Linda, Chris, myself, Mike and Tarin.

Friday night was fantastic, low cloud, loud jets, F111 "dump and burns" through the cloud, old and new friends and great hospitality from Raytheon!  What more could you ask for!

Avalon 2009

Avalon is on this week.  I'll be attending with the Air Force and also spending time with my sponsors Allianz and Exxon Mobil.  Hope to see you at the Allianz stand!

Wings Over Illawarra - Wollongong

This past weekend saw us attend Wings Over Illawarra at Wollongong Airport.  The event has grown over the years and this years crowd was estimated at 30,000!  I was planning on flying a display at the event but things got a little complicated and the display didn't eventuate.  My thanks go to organizer, Arthur Webster, for his efforts in trying to get our display included.  We have things well organised now, and I'm confident we can make it work next year.

I took the somewhat unusual step of parking the Rebel out in the public access area.  This meant that everyone who entered the event walked past the aircraft and could actually get up close and touch it.  When you around a plane like this all the time you take it for granted but the fascination it generated with visitors was incredible!

On the way home, I went in formation with Stu Hutchison who was flying a Cirrus from the Richmond Flying Club.  We stopped on the way to visit Richard Wiltshire at Wedderburn, who was test flying his latest ride, a Sabre unlimited aerobatic aircraft.

It was a good day out but it is time to get back into the training for the upcoming competitions!

There are some more pictures in our album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/blairclan/WingsOverIllawarra2009#

Lubes Direct now supporting Blair Aerosport

For some time now, my oil of choice has been Exxon Elite 20W-50, so I'm very happy to announce that Mobil (Exxon) Oils Distributor, LUBES DIRECT, has partnered up with Blair Aerosport! Lubes Direct is located in Penrith, and is the NSW distributor for Mobil oils. Visit www.lubesdirect.com.au for more information.  With a customer base as big as theirs, they must be doing something right!  I'll provide more details in the coming weeks.  Thanks for your support guys and I look forward to working together.

 

Allianz Display

I just got back from a quick trip down to the Yarra Valley in Victoria. The aim was an aerobatic display for Allianz Insurance. The Allianz national team were having a function and yours truly provided some aerial entertainment! The trip down from Sydney required me to refuel at Wagga and then on to the destination, Lilydale Airport. Thanks to Jonathon at the Lilydale Club for looking after me on the day. The facilities there are first class and they have a lovely little grass air strip in one of the nicest locations of Australia.

The Allianz Aviation team of Mike Dalton and Chris Rose met me at the airport and took me to have a look at the display site from the ground. I had forgotten how nice (and big) the Yering Winery Complex is! I also had the honour of meeting the Allianz GM.

Unfortunately, the weather turned for the worse...the cloud base remained high enough at over 2500 feet but there was drizzle and waves of showers passing through the area. For the display itself I was lucky to be between the heavier showers but the dull and dreary conditions would have taken away from the display - even a large smoke trail can fade into the background in those conditions. However, the feedback was good and having done a few displays now, I'm getting a better feel for what people like to see. I must say it was a real blast to fly a display at such a venue.

I had decided to do a quick turn around and head back to Sydney after the display. The weather was lousy, in fact, it was probably the roughest weather I've flown in for many years. I sure was glad to be in a strong plus or minus 10 G aeroplane flying back over the hills! In hind sight it was a good idea to head home, the weather was worse over the next few days and I may have spent a few nights down there....

It was a long day but Allianz is working hard to be a major player in the Aviation Insurance Market and I'm glad to help out!

I've just taken a few weeks holidays from the Air Force. The family and I are heading up to the Gold Coast for 2 weeks on the beach and some time with my parents and brothers....I'm really looking forward to the break. After Christmas I'll need to get stuck into the training for the 2009 competition season!

New Decals

We are continuing our development of decals on the aircraft. You can see below, it is looking better. Many thanks to "Peninsula Sky Services" down in Victoria. David Schwarze, 0400 777 192, has been very helpful. David can send decals anywhere by express courier - it's a speedy service! Thanks David.

Richmond Open Day

The Richmond Open Day was held on Saturday. Unfortunately, the weather was fairly poor early in the morning which prevented about 35 planned aircraft from making it over. However, many still made it and even more decided to drive over. The weather came good about 9 am - a bit cloudy and warm but otherwise good! In fact, it was the smoothest air I've flown in for a long time.

With the kids Christmas treat also being held, there was a Herc handling display and a solo PC9 display and of course, I did 2 aeros displays. It was most enjoyable and the crowd seemed appreciative when I taxied back in.

The club did a great job running the event, there were people everywhere at times which made the RAAF security guys a little upset. ATC was also working hard, they managed to keep it together but I think they may have been glad with the lower than planned aircraft numbers.

My congratulations to everyone - it was a great day - lets do it again soon!

There are photos by Stu Hutchison at : http://picasaweb.google.com/RocketVHFLY/RRFCFIOD29Nov08

and photos by Darin Mclean at:

http://picasaweb.google.com.au/pilot.daz/RRFCFlyIn2008

and if that's not enough, a short YouTube video is at:

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=YlFfWEs04xw

My next event is a display for Allianz at their Christmas function in the Yarra Valley. I'm looking forward to paying back their support to me.

Safe flying,

Cheers,

Tony