Thread: Who has a pilot's licence??

Originally Posted by C00P

If it had an engine and the engine was serviceable, yes, you should have!
Suspect that may have just been the airframe?
C00P

You are dead right. I should have grabbed it. It certainly did have an engine with hours to run and was given a fresh maintenance release. I missed a great opportunity although I was anxious about getting frustrated with the lack of speed available with the Auster. I do regret not buying it though.

..
- It's British, leaks oil, slower than a what? unreliable, an icon.... what's not to love ?

You own a Landrover, - and you're worried about a 'slower' aeroplane ?

Originally Posted by superquag

..
- It's British, leaks oil, slower than a what? unreliable, an icon.... what's not to love ?

You own a Landrover, - and you're worried about a 'slower' aeroplane ?

All very good points well taken.

The last Auster I flew in was owned/restored/repaired (many times...) by a farmer, who got his PPL at 60-ish years old. He was a passionate exponent of the steep approach and shrt field landing technique. - From necessity...

Dropped valves were a repeat problem, and the final straw was a con-rod that had ambitions of being a propeller... bashed out two holes in the block that you could put a fist through.

It never flew again, despite a good 'Un-scheduled Landing'. Was sold into the Eastern States somewhere, QLD I think.
Good thing he didn't put the spare engine in, turned out the main spar had been damaged (by mice?) and was 'doubtful'.

One day I'll find the photo of the view through it's engine.

For the time being I am enjoying not having so much of a drain on the wallet as any aeroplane represents. I sold my forklift yesterday and my truck today. There is such a feeling of relief in not having to worry about which one is going to cost me money next. However, I have found a series 1, series 2a SWB ute, and a series 3 tray back ute all sitting in the same shed near home. I am thinking of making an offer on all three. There goes that care free feeling!

... go and buy a 'plane.... will be much cheaper !

Originally Posted by tailslide

Just went for my Class 2 medical after being sidelined for 9 months post shoulder surgery. My DAME is happy, but it needs CASA sign off... Then I need to do an AFR (Aeroplane Flight Review) and get my license converted to Part 61.

My Class 2 turned up in the post today. But as I'm now on the wrong side of 50 I now have a condition requiring reading glasses to be carried. I'm not sure where I will be keeping these while I'm pulling -3.5G while inverted... Not to worry it will be awhile before I get back into aerobatics. The WA Aerobatics Champs are on 9th Oct so I will probably drop in to watch the proceedings.

Cheers
Ron

Originally Posted by superquag

Dropped valves were a repeat problem, and the final straw was a con-rod that had ambitions of being a propeller... bashed out two holes in the block that you could put a fist through.

The early valves were a problem and were replaced with stellited valves which work very wel and rarely faill. However, these have now become rare (I have a spare set which cost $1400 for 4) and some people are resorting to using the older valves which are really limited to about 250 hours.

Originally Posted by superquag

One day I'll find the photo of the view through it's engine.

Would like to see that. If it dropped valves then damage to a conrod is possible, and subsequent failure unsurprising (although I bet it was surprising at the time!)

Coop