Head in the clouds

I can't say I really agree with that Turbs, I've done hundreds of ops out of Caloundra, mostly without any concerns but it does take some careful thought. Unfortunately the Council agree with you and it's probably only a matter of time before it'll be another airfield lost to history. I agree with you about 30, I never use it though perhaps I'm a little fortunate in that I mostly don't have a problem with cross-winds, so with any hint of a westerly I use 23 instead. 12 isn't really a problem, if you can't put down in the overrun you would usually have enough height to make it to one of the beaches, albeit ending up with a bent plane probably. 05 keeps you on your toes but the only time I really had to hold my breath was on a very hot day fully loaded in the old 172. Didn't enjoy that one, should have used 12 instead but other than that you've got Nicklin Way if you really had to ... then the golf course and then endless beaches. 23 really is the safest of all, if you can't get down on the overrun/approach, which is only small bushes, you should be able to clear the small patch of larger stuff and then there's miles of farmland with largely empty roads.

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[ATTACH]48419._xfImport[/ATTACH] I guess this is where she hangs out ...

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Yup!

Chad Morgan? Far too smart and caring a man to get involved in politics ... met him a few times around the campfire, nothing like the character he portrayed publicly.

I'm a great fan of the Hitchhiker's Guide and of Marvin the robot, of course ...

I read a fair bit about it when it first flew. It was/is the folly of a rather eccentric Italian man (IIRC). Whatever one thinks of the looks, fugly or funny, I have to admire the idea of building something quite out-of-the-ordinary. For that reason I give it a 9/10. Not sure whether others noticed but it has a 200W tannoy system as well, you can see the megaphone in the photo above, in the left gear leg apex, and he plays high decibel rooster crowing and other sounds during his dawn patrols ... By his account the handling is docile. But what must be its best feature would be the visibility - at least as good as any other aircraft I've seen, particularly forward and down, probably much like flying in the gondola of an airship.

These things just keep getting better - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YLxGFLpOl0 And it's only US$500 on pre-order ... The Lily Camera

Since a majority of us on this forum seem to be of a more 'senior' persuasion, I thought this might give us some encouragement. I've never been much of a fan of Hip Hop but it got me going -

People get beaten up by all colours of people, but it doesn't make everyone bad. There are good and bad people of all races but there's a far higher proportion of 'white' people, than of other races, who are sufficiently ignorant and phobic that they think that anyone who isn't white is dirty, dishonest or dangerous - or all three. In my experience I find a higher percentage of clean, honest and gentle people among the non-whites.

A friend sent me a link to this. I thought it was a very courageous social experiment and one of the more touching things I've come across on the net. I imagine that if there was a little more trust in the world there'd be a lot more friendship and happiness. I hope you like it too. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=938665246153916

In transit overseas next month with my wife, I've arranged a two day stopover in Sydney and two half days in Perth. Neither of us have spent any time in either of those Cities so we'd appreciate any suggestions about the best things to see and/or do in the short times we have available. Our interests are Aviation, Maritime, Marine, History, Science and Architecture primarily but we are open to all suggestions from those who know the local attractions. We have been offered the use of friends' cars while we're there but would prefer to use taxis and/or public transport to avoid parking and navigation hassles, so would also welcome any guidance about the best ways of getting around. Thanks in advance!

I got a good laugh out of SoO yesterday. On the phone to a friend I mentioned that Queensland was licking wounds today and my football-disinterested friend Stu in Vic didn't understand the comment. Once I'd explained he simply said "dogs chase balls, put your running shoes on and mention that to your footy mates, hehe"

I think you're living in the distant past Nev. In Australia restoration of the land post-mining is one of the major costs miners have to budget for. And as for local populations, the example below shows an area where the local population is wealthy and a small town has been booming for decades but would have little reason for existence if the mine had closed. Zoom in on your Google Earth and note that the denser and more lush parts of the forest within the mine extents is what has already been mined and restored, the striped parts have been costeened in preparation for excavation, the rest should be self-evident. It's the usual story, most mine knockers have never had anything to do with them ... [ATTACH]47428._xfImport[/ATTACH]

I've nothing against the bikies per se, they used to be relatively well behaved and ironically filled a need that, if not provided by someone would just result in problems arising from other directions. For example, as a very pro-active police detective once said to me, if you stop the marijuana trade you'll just end up with a bigger speed or heroin problem. And I have had a lot of co-incidental contact with many bikies/OMC group members because I live on the Gold Coast and I work in the Construction Industry, more specifically the Structural Steel industry and many bikies are very skilled boilermakers. As with any group sampling, the majority of the bikies I have known are as good as, or no worse than, a sampling of people from other walks of life. The OMC gangs however, do have a small but particularly undesirable content that the other samplings usually don't have. As I said, that's how they used to be, and for a very long time Queensland has had a probably too laid back and tolerant approach since Qld likes to be seen as a relaxed place to live and visit. Over time this has resulted in the harder core of the OMCs from other States and overseas moving in and that is what the present hard reaction is all about. I think you can be sure that there is a lot more known but not promulgated to the general public, about the presence of particularly undesirable elements in Qld in recent times. As far as I'm concerned the authorities have my blessing, when the bikies kept their 'business' among themselves I was quite happy to live and let live but when I take my family out and about to the shops, restaurants, concerts or shows I want to be sure we're not going to be caught up in a gang war. Exactly that happened to me while I was in Broome, of all places, and it has become a far too regular occurrence on the Gold Coast so it had to be stopped. There's no point in half stopping it or it'll be festering again in no time at all.

Could well be the best deterrent yet against home invasion - [ATTACH]47420._xfImport[/ATTACH]

I don't think anyone would have any argument with that at all FT. It's those posing as refugees but who are in fact just trying to bypass the proper process because they wouldn't qualify as suitable persons for migration to Australia, that are the problem. And, believe it or not, they are a significant proportion of the total who arrive by boat via Indonesia. We just don't need more drug peddlers, insurgents, dissidents and religious extremists. And we do need to take a stand against those who accept our hospitality but then refuse to honour their sworn agreement to integrate into our society and instead only seek to bring their problem-stricken one with them and openly declare their intention to enforce it upon us.

Matt, I completely agree with your position on this and I don't think everyone quite gets your point and probably because, as I mentioned when I joined the conversation, the majority of people just aren't exposed to the realities which are most marked in the greater areas of the large cities, and perhaps that's why they just don't see that there will never be a perfect world. Most especially not unless people actively do something to make it that way. Complacency is a killer. The more people continue to watch injustice and atrocity taking place on their doorstep but do nothing about it, not even speaking up against it, the more it becomes the norm, the more it becomes somehow acceptable and the more it infiltrates into our society. Additionally, the less people actively reject it, the more the perpetrators will receive that as a signal that they are on the right track. It becomes self-empowering. I just plain ol' don't understand FT, he says the oddest things at times and I suspect is often deliberately provocative. He hasn't hit my ignore list yet because in between the Trolling he comes out with a gem occasionally. From Winsor's previous comments, which I read avidly, I have found him to be a very genuine, caring soul, very much concerned about the direction the world is taking and in what condition it will be for the grandkids. Even so, I don't think the extremist religious leaders who migrate here, ignore their sworn allegiance to support, protect and nurture this land and its peoples - and instead preach hatred, dissent, racism, sexism and religious intolerance should be allowed to do so. From what I understand of them muslim people are as fearful of God's wrath as any sample of extremely devout people can be, and as a result they are far more afraid of disobeying the word of their God's representatives, the Imams, than they ever will be of disobeying the laws of this land. At present we, as a nation, are tolerating the screaming wrath being spewed out of the pulpit by some extremist leaders in some hotbed areas of this country. Quite simply, that needs to be stopped. The absolutely inevitable result of failing to do so should be easily understood by anyone even mildly interested in history. Virtually every extended war, and wars in which the most heinous atrocities have been committed by man against man has been fought in the names of, and to spread the doctrines of, the most Loving Gods. I did a double-take too, but GG wasn't insulting you, he was pointing out that you, being an 'infidel', are required to be regarded that way by people of the islam faith. I usually agree with you M61, and another couple of folk have said similar to you earlier in the thread but, like television, no-one is forced to watch it. I think it actually shows that a good proportion of people do have real concerns for the way the country is going and I don't think that's pointless at all. I could probably sift out a good proportion of other threads that are a lot more pointless than this. I also think it says a lot about the good nature of the forumites that such an emotive issue has been discussed without anyone losing their cool and turning into a keyboard warrior, that's a rare thing, gold stars to all!

Until I saw Phil's 'apology thread' for mentioning illegal immigrants I haven't read any of this one except the first post with its bit of humour. I didn't really want to get embroiled in a heated discussion led by bleeding hearts who often know little about the realities of the situation. Gladly though it seems there are several gutsy citizens out there willing to make a verbal stand against the wrongs of certain types flooding to our shores, avoiding proper processes, establishing enclaves and then trying to force their violence, racism, sexism, religion, drugs and dictatorships on us, all the while preaching against us as if we have been in the wrong all the while. Whilst there may well be a fair or even large proportion of muslims who are fine people and excellent citizens, they don't display the fortitude to stand up against the bully Imams, or speak up against those of their own kind who are plainly not doing what they swore to do when they were granted asylum and/or citizenship. If they did I think they would get a lot more support from the rest of us. Kaz 3G you are rather mistaken when you suggest that the muslims aren't involved in drug peddling, and blaming it on the OMCs instead. Are you not aware of some of the predominantly muslim OMCs? From what I've heard it would seem that the majority of the meth trafficking to and in Australia is conducted by muslims, all the way from manufacture to distribution ... I get snippets of information about the 'boat people' fairly regularly since we won the contract to fabricate the new jetty for the Christmas Island patrol boats, and it's not always quite what you hear or see in the news as even the press has to be PC. Here is a re-post of a circular email I received a few months ago. I don't know the original source so you'll have to make up your own minds but whoever started it has obviously had enough and it must have hit some sympathetic raw nerves because I received it from three different sources over a couple of weeks, so whilst a lot of people might not want to visibly stand up and speak out, they're thinking it nonetheless. ANOTHER BOATLOAD OF POOR VULNERABLE AND STARVING REFFOS ARRIVE ON CHRISTMAS ISLAND [ATTACH]47410._xfImport[/ATTACH] Do these muscular guys in singlets look like they are persecuted and starving refugees? We don’t think so. [ATTACH]47411._xfImport[/ATTACH] Those females dressed in designer clothes - they must have been persecuted into buying at Gucci and Dolce and Gabbana. [ATTACH]47412._xfImport[/ATTACH] Nice refugees, dressed in the latest faded jeans fashion and board shorts [ATTACH]47413._xfImport[/ATTACH] Does this refugee look like he has spent years starving in a refugee camp somewhere, just to develop that gut? [ATTACH]47414._xfImport[/ATTACH] Check the muscles on that refugee in the singlet. They must have fantastic gyms in those refugee camps. [ATTACH]47415._xfImport[/ATTACH] Do any of these refugees look as if they have been persecuted, starved, hounded and threatened? We don’t think so. [ATTACH]47416._xfImport[/ATTACH] Check this tattooed guy. He’s a prime candidate for the Hell’s Angels or Comancheros Muslim bikie gangs. [ATTACH]47417._xfImport[/ATTACH] This poor starving fellow is another Muslim bikie gang candidate with those muscles. [ATTACH]47418._xfImport[/ATTACH] Yet another Muslim bikie gang candidate. They must have great bodybuilding facilities in those refugee camps. [ATTACH]47419._xfImport[/ATTACH] A couple of starving refugee girls, complete with designer clothes, painted false nails and designer glasses. How nice. HERE IS THE TRUTH - THE REAL TRUTH THESE ARE THE SO-CALLED ASYLUM SEEKERS THAT OUR IDIOTIC GOVERNMENT IS LETTING INTO AUSTRALIA. THEY ARE NOT ASYLUM SEEKERS OR REFUGEES. THEY ARE ILLEGAL ECONOMIC IMMIGRANTS. THEY ARE BEING SENT HERE BY INDONESIA, WHO ALLOWS THEM TO ENTER, GIVES THEM VISAS AND DOES NOTHING TO STOP THEM. INDONESIA IS NOT AUSTRALIA’S FRIEND OR ALLY - INDONESIA HAS BEEN SCAMMING AUSTRALIA FOR YEARS. THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT DOES NOT HAVE THE GUTS TO CONFRONT INDONESIA TO DEMAND THAT THEY STOP THIS PRACTICE. THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT DOES NOT HAVE THE GUTS TO SEND THESE BASTARDS BACK TO INDONESIA. THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT SQUANDERS BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON THESE BASTARDS BECAUSE THEY DON’T HAVE THE GUTS TO STOP THEM. WE NEED TO DO WHAT JAPAN DOES. JAPAN DOES NOT HAVE EXPENSIVE DETENTION CENTRES BECAUSE IT REFUSES TO HAVE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT DETAINEES. JAPAN IS NOT A SIGNATORY TO THE UN CONVENTION ON REFUGEES, SO IT IS NOT OBLIGED TO PROCESS ANY OF THEM. JAPAN UPHOLDS ITS BORDER PROTECTION BY REPELLING THESE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AT GUNPOINT. DOES ANYBODY CRITICISE JAPAN FOR THIS? THE ANSWER - NO! DOES ANYBODY IMPOSE SANCTIONS ON JAPAN FOR THIS? THE ANSWER - NO! DOES ANYBODY ACCUSE JAPAN FOR NOT BEING HUMANITARIAN? THE ANSWER - NO! JAPAN DOES NOT SQUANDER TAXPAYER MONEY DEALING WITH ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TRYING TO SCAM THEIR SYSTEM. JAPAN DOES NOT SUFFER PROBLEMS WITH MUSLIM IMMIGRATION, MUSLIM TERRORISM OR MUSLIM CRIME. AUSTRALIA NEEDS TO DO EXACTLY WHAT JAPAN DOES. WE HAVE TO STOP THIS CRAP. WE HAVE TO STOP INDONESIA DOING THIS TO US. SEND THIS TO EVERYBODY YOU KNOW - THEY NEED TO LEARN THE TRUTH

Micro Air Vehicles will be a reality in the not too distant future but this one's a hoax that has been doing the rounds for a while - just google 'mosquito drone hoax'.

It only shows the North Island, maybe their block wasn't large enough to include the South Island?

I meant to check this earlier and drum up more votes before it finished but gladly Catherine won the grant for Trevor. I bet it'll make a wonderful difference for him. Well done Catherine Baker, and all the Recflying folks who took the time to give Trev a vote![ATTACH]47382._xfImport[/ATTACH]

Very nice job! Is Ma Emu's pillion seat some form of revenge? BTW the Blue Book disc you sent is very handy thanks. Everyone who builds or maintains or is even thinking about a plane should have one!