Microair Avionics upgrade

I have been able to operate throughout Australia without a transponder but Singapore Airspace is a little different to our open spaces.

As a result, I'm in the midst of having a transponder fitted.

We chose Microair avionics, an Australian made product with a great reputation.

I'll give you some more details as we go but in short, I need a compact, light weight unit that I could rely on!

Check them out at:

http://www.microair.com.au/

Best of all - Microair has a 15% off sale running at the moment!!  Handy for Christmas presents ...

Magenta Shores Corporate Display

Our final official display for 2011 ...

This was a corporate display for Allianz at a very impressive facility!

This is our 3rd year of partnering with Allianz, always an impressive organisation to deal with!

I operated out of Warnervale, that is quite a skinny runway for a mid wing tail dragger ...

Singapore Airshow 2012

BIG NEWS!

WE ARE OFF TO SINGAPORE AIRSHOW IN FEBRUARY 2012.

http://www.singaporeairshow.com.sg/

Bright Rod Run

I'm a hot rod fan from way back so I always enjoy being part of the Bright Rod Run.

The scenery around Bright is spectacular - interesting for a display but still spectacular.

By Australian standards, it is quite mountainous.

The standard of cars that attend this event is amazing. Just Google it ...

The main web site is here:

http://www.northernsuburbsstreetrods.com.au/bright.html

I did 2 displays and I was happy with both but due to the location, proximity of the town etc I do wind it down a notch or three.  Despite this, I still got a noise complaint back through CASA from someone living in town.

Next time I will need to be even more careful to avoid the town area.  You'd think with a 1000 hot rods visiting town you wouldn't worry about 1 aircraft flying around for 5 minutes ...

Last year I had a disaster with fuel - the bowser at broken which made refuels tricky to say the least!

No such problem this year and I was well supported by the Wangaratta Aeroclub - thanks guys!

Oakey Wings, Wheels and Rotors 2011

The first weekend in October had me make the trip back to Oakey, the home of Army Aviation in Australia.

This is the 3rd year running that I've flown at the Museum Open Day.

Unfortunately, the weather was terrible on the Saturday morning and I couldn't get there.  Things were only slightly better the next morning but I managed to sneak past the hills and clouds and made it to Oakey.

It was a windy old day but I managed to get the show done in the end ...

I flew straight after the RAAF Roulettes, it was good to catch up with those guys.   An old mate of mine, Glenn Canfield is finishing up his tour as Roulette leader.

Check out the museum at:

http://www.161recceflt.org.au/MAAF/homepage.htm

Thunder West 2011 - Long Tan Service

Thunder West is an event run by the Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club (VVMC) at their Pearlbrook facility near Murrurundi, NSW.

The location is relatively remote but draws a good crowd.

I flew a display for the guys about lunch time.  It was a very interesting location to fly - quite a tight valley and the club house is down low in the terrain and trees.  With some turbulence and other weather I couldn't do my full display but the guys seemed happy enough.

As soon as I landed back at the airport, I jumped on my Wide Glide (yep, I'm a bike fan too) and headed back for the official service.

I've been in the military for about 23 years now and I've seen a service or two in that time.  I reckon the Long Tan service conducted by these guys was one of the most interesting and moving services I've ever attended.
Well done to the VVMC!

Jakes and Rhonda came down for the ride too, the smoke was part of the service.

Me in the foreground, Jakes with his new Victory behind.

Rhonda has better taste in bikes than her husband and posed for a pic on my bike!

Wings of Life Charity Display

The Wings of Life Charity is an organisation raising money for the Royal Flying Doctors Service.

http://wingsoflife.com.au/

Rod Tizzard, one of the pilots and organisers, and also an old F111 mate of mine, asked me to fly a display for their visit to Tamworth.

I was glad to help the guys raise some more money.

Grant Piper, the president of the Australian Aerobatic Club, also flew a display that day.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-18/air-show-boosts-flying-doctor-funds/2798320

Rod gave me a terrific poster which was a collage of various photos of the flying - thanks mate.

Many thanks to Lisa Maatsoo for the pics!!

World Time Attack - Eastern Creek Sydney

World Time Attack is coming again this August.

The event was fantastic in 2010, this year is looking even better - hope to see you there!

Check out the latest promo video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rpDx79UXAM&feature=player_embedded

More news is at:

http://www.worldtimeattack.com/

NATFLY 2011 Temora

This was my first time at NATFLY since 2005.  The event has really taken off, great attendance and trade displays, an airshow segment and run as professionally as any airshow.

 

Now that's a low pass!!  Accelerating in ground effect after takeoff ...

I flew down from Tamworth on Friday morning, the weather at Temora that day was not great.  A brisk wind towards the crowd line and a cloud base of 2000 feet with lower patches looked like making my display interesting.  Fortunately, by early afternoon the cloud base was up to over 2000' but the wind remained.  My display went exactly as planned and the feedback was terrific.  All that training on windy days was rewarded.

The plane was parked in the middle of the trade display area, outside the Museum.  

Plenty of curious people took the opportunity to have a good look at the plane.

Paul Goard of Brumby Aircraft looked after the plane that night with hangarage in the Temora Museum - thanks to all!

  Hover!

Friday night seemed to have parties, BBQs and functions all over the place - it was a great atmosphere.

With more flying the next day, it was a quiet and early night for me.

Saturday provided near perfect conditions, clear skies and less wind.  Hard not to enjoy flying a display on a day like that!

It was fantastic to catch up with so many friends, people from all over the east coast of Australia.

Sorry I didn't get as much time with you all as I would have liked ...

 

I had great ground crew, thanks to brother-in-law, Les and local web site guru, 

Kaos (of Upside Down Web Sites).   

Stu Hutchison always manages to get me some great pics, he has posted them at:

 https://picasaweb.google.com/RocketVHFLY/NATLFYTemora23April2011#

I also like the photos from Michael Wignal and wife Renae  - great to meet you both:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/naemick/sets/72157626430444687/

  Michael in the foreground ...

One of the great things about this event was the CASA attendance.  While some people might be put off by this, I suggest it can only be good for Recreational Flying.  The CASA guys are enthusiasts too and they too want NATFLY to be a success.  With their guidance we can continue to grow this event for the benefit of all.

All the display pilots found CASA a pleasure to deal with.

I also spent some time with the guys from Plane Crazy, check their web site for a NATFLY podcast including an interview with yours truly!

http://www.planecrazydownunder.com/

These guys work closely with Aviation Advertiser, I actually hadn't heard of this web site before but it looks like one to bookmark for any aviation minded person.

http://www.aviationadvertiser.com.au 

So, overall, a great event, my congratulations to all involved but especially Mick Poole.  

Thanks for having me at NATFLY, I had a blast!   

PROMO VIDEO 2011

Our 2011 Promo Video has been released, you can see it here or on You Tube ...

Tamworth Country Music Festival

My family and I now call Tamworth home, and we've really fallen for the place.
The Tamworth Country Music Festival is a major event by any standard and I was delighted to provide a display at the opening concert.

The concert kicked off in town at 6:30 pm and I provided the entertainment just before the Mayor opened proceedings.  It was a perfect but warm night.

I often travel to events for displays but it was nice to fly in front of neighbours and friends!

"A few aerial acrobatics by Tony Blair got the crowd excited." (Jennifer Ingall - ABC NEWS)

NBN News Story - Tamworth Country Music Festival

I'm pleased to announce that I'll be flying at the Opening Concert of the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

The TCMF brings 50,000 people to Tamworth in January each year.

This is a link to a recent news story:

http://www.nbntv.com.au/index.php/2010/12/01/blair-weaves-his-way-onto-festival-scene/

And this one is for the TCMF itself:

http://www.tamworthcountrymusic.com.au/

Newspaper Article December 2010

http://www.northerndailyleader.com.au/news/local/news/general/control-tower-you-have-a-visitor/2011480.aspx?src=rss

Australian Flying Article - World Air Games

Nice photo   :-)

http://www.australianflying.com.au/news/bidding-opens-for-world-air-games-2013

Champion SlickSTART

A couple of months back an engineering friend of mine, Garry Darnell,  recommended I put a SlickSTART on the Rebel to help with hot starts.  Fuel injected Lycomings are notoriously hard to start when they are hot.  The engine on the Rebel is well above 10:1 compression ratio and with display and airshow flying, I often need hot starts.  
On many occasions, I was only just able to get it going and I never felt confident.


My initial reaction was "simple is best" and I'd rather not have another electrical box on the aircraft. 
I was very wrong.


The SlickSTART was simple to install and it has transformed the aircraft.  


Cold starts were always pretty easy but now they are ridiculously easy and most importantly, now the hot starts are easy too.
I never feel nervous starting it with the SlickSTART.
Last week I had multiple displays on the one day with a long cross country to get there with a re-fuel each way.
I did 7 starts that day, 6 of them hot - it started easy every time.
I just can't say enough about the SlickSTART - they are worth their weight in gold!


Here are some official words from Champion Aerospace:

SlickSTART™ is a starting booster that delivers up to 340% more spark energy than conventional mags. SlickSTART produces easier and more reliable starts every time, even when dealing with fouled spark plugs, poor priming, hot engine restarts, and extreme cold weather conditions. 

Available for Slick magnetos (and most TCM-Bendix magnetos), SlickSTART is a magneto start booster that delivers easy engine starts every time. Requiring no maintenance, SlickSTART overcomes poor engine priming, and reduces costly electrical stress to your battery and starter. SlickSTART can replace TCM-Bendix's starting vibrators, used with retard breaker magnetos, or it can be used to boost impulse-coupled magnetos. 

NSW Aerobatic Champs

Well I'm afraid this turned out to be an anticlimax for me ...

I'd spent the past year working on my Air show type freestyle flying but decided to have a real go at this competition.

The flying is quite different and I knew I'd have to work hard - and I did!

As soon as I got back from the Oakey event (below) I got stuck into the "Aresti" or competition training.
I trained most days.  In the 2 weeks leading up to the comp I flew 25 training flights.
On top of that, I went to the location of the comp, Temora, 4 days early to train in the actual box.

Much to my surprise, I was the only person flying Unlimited - that was disappointing.
The other classes weren't too bad for numbers but overall it was a smaller comp than we normally see.
I flew the Q (qualifying flight) on Friday afternoon, and it went quite well.
The next night I was up most of the night feeling ill and the next morning decided it was best not to fly aerobatics.
The rain was literally rolling into the airfield and the forecast looked like we might not get to fly for the rest of the weekend.
All things considered, I decided to knock it off and head back home ... apparently I was lucky to get out when I did as the weather closed in.

There were still good things to come from my time at Temora.  Matt Hall spent the week in Temora too, testing and fine tuning his Redbull Air Race aircraft.  I've known Matt for nearly 20 years but hadn't seen much of him since he became involved with the Air Race.  It was great to catch up again and learn all his news.  Matt also gave me some excellent coaching - what he learnt through his Aresti training in Europe is truly amazing.  Seeing the fine tuning that Matt was making to his plane has inspired me to play around with the set up of my plane - already I have made it much better.  Thanks Matt.  We also had a little fun, on one occasion we joined up in formation for a low pass and outwards pitch in front of the other pilots at Temora.  I'm afraid my Rebel isn't as quick as the Race aircraft but she can hold her own.

Thanks to the organizers of the competition.  Kay coordinated much of the event with Glen the chief judge and Greg the contest director.  Sorry to have bailed on you guys but I appreciate the effort you put in - thanks guys!  Also a big thanks to Kaos and Kelly at Temora for giving me a bed and feeding me for the week!!

Oakey Museum Display

The weekend of October 2nd and 3rd I made the trip up to Oakey near Toowoomba to provide aerobatic displays at the Museum Open Day.

The weather flying up and back was not great ...

The Oakey Museum is a world class facility run by a dedicated team of volunteer enthusiasts.
The aviation history and quality of displays is exceptional.

Unfortunately, the weather in the area kept some visitors away but there was still about 5000 attendees.

Here is a link to the latest newsletter:
http://www.161recceflt.org.au/MAAF/Newsletters/MUSEUM%20HAPPENINGS%20October%202010.pdf

And another lint to the actual web site:
http://www.161recceflt.org.au/MAAF/Homepage.htm

If you ever get the chance, this Museum is definitely worth a visit!

Tamworth Aero Club - Open Day

My local Aero Club held their Open Day this past weekend.  The event was well supported by local media with my participation covered several times in local newspaper and on TV a couple of nights.  The weather on the day turned out nice and I flew my display with family, friends and work colleagues all looking on ...
It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed helping out the Aero Club.

http://tamworth.iprime.com.au/index.php/news/prime-news/topguntraining-video

Much to my surprise, after the display, the President, Eric Munro, presented me with an honorary members badge.  I was quite chuffed ...  This club has an amazing history in its membership and association with World War veterans.

My units display pilot, Jakes, did his first public display in this role.  His flight in a CT4 was very well received and the club was very happy to have the support - thanks mate!

Jakes!!

Media Release: 17^th September 2010 

TamworthAero Club

Since 1930

Tamworth Aero Club - FlyingAgain!

After an absence of some years, the Aero Club is reintroducing flying. The club is seeking expressions of interest from anyone interested in learning to fly. Recreational flying is open to all; young or old, fit or not so, it is the most accessible way to realize that dream of learning to fly.

Aerobatic Display and Open Day

 From 12.00 on September 25^th   the club will be holding an open day to give all those interested a chance to gain more information and register their interest. The highlight will be an aerobatic display by RAAF Squadron Leader Tony Blair, currently the NSW Advanced Aerobatic Champion. Tony has over 1000 hrs clocked up in F111’s and will be flying his Rebel 300. This thrilling display will commence at about 1.45 p.m.

The club already has people from far away as Sydney indicating interest in getting their wings here.

President Eric Munro said it was very satisfying that flying was returning to the club. “The club has a rich aviation heritage. We owe it to those aviators who started the club to support the love of flying. One of the foundation members of the current club (opened in 1957) flew the Lancaster bomber ‘G for George’ over Berlin in W W 2. Those blokes were amazing pilots. Their photos are on the walls here. I’d like to think they’ll be smiling on 25^th. I know we will be.”

For more information;

Eric Munro (President) 0428 604123

Adele Mazoudier (Hon. Sec. Manager) 0419978011

 

Tamworth Aero Club