A few from the air today

[Steve H]

[Rodders]

Some great shots there Steve, number 2 gets a big tick.

[Colin Southern]

What were you flying in Steve?

[Steve H]

What were you flying in Steve?

Just a wee Robbie Colin - a Beta with a new engine 25 hours ago - goes well. With a sliding window in the pax door it would make a great (cheap) camera ship.

[Steve H]

Some great shots there Steve, number 2 gets a big tick.

Thanks Rod, here's another you may recognise...

[arith]

frightening; cor the pilot hasn't got the right shoes. Apart from that, one or two nice pics and I do like seeing instrument panels.

[Colin Southern]

Just a wee Robbie Colin - a Beta with a new engine 25 hours ago - goes well.

Thanks Steve,

I'm always puzzled as to why it was called a "Beta" - obviously from the computer world we learn to associate that term with something that's "not quite finished" yet ... not this sort of thing one would hope for in an aircraft!

[Steve H]

I'm always puzzled as to why it was called a "Beta"

Hehe, yeah and the latest one is a Beta II so they still haven't got it right! All jokes aside they are a pretty good little helicopter - very agile, but they can be pigs to work on at times.

[Colin Southern]

Hehe, yeah and the latest one is a Beta II so they still haven't got it right! All jokes aside they are a pretty good little helicopter - very agile, but they can be pigs to work on at times.

Doesn't "pigs to work on" describe most aircraft? I "fondly" remember having to impersonate a contortionist to work on the electronics of C130s - I think even the "hell hole" under the nose was 120 screws to remove with a brace and bit I must admit to being a bit weary of the R22 though - 8 times out of 10 whenever there's a helicopter fatality it seems to be an R22; mind you I have heard that approx 100% of them is pilot doing things with them that they just weren't designed for. Still think I prefer gas turbine aircraft though!

[Dave Humphries]

~ I must admit to being a bit weary of the R22 though - 8 times out of 10 whenever there's a helicopter fatality it seems to be an R22; mind you I have heard that approx 100% of them is pilot doing things with them that they just weren't designed for. Still think I prefer gas turbine aircraft though!

Indeed, my (non-flying but interested in engineering and aviation) view is that the R22 is about the price of a (very) fast car and it seem to attract people with more money than skill (but not enough money to learn properly it seems), a bit like a teenager in a sporty Subaru - it's likely to end in tears

This is where, I imagine, being taught by a nation's air force is the best you can get, they go to great lengths to ensure you don't bend their hardware or damage yourself. I expect, apart from war, their life spans are the highest of all pilots/aircrew.

[Colin Southern]

This is where, I imagine, being taught by a nation's air force is the best you can get, they go to great lengths to ensure you don't bend their hardware or damage yourself. I expect, apart from war, their life spans are the highest of all pilots/aircrew.

Hi Dave,

That certainly used to be the case here, but I'm not sure how much it holds true anymore ... on ANZAC day our Air Force lost a helicopter, along with 3 lives ... I was talking to a veteran helicopter pilot who tells me that with all the budget cutbacks and pilots moving into the commercial sector for more money, the skillset that remains in our armed forces is starting to get a bit patchy ... like pilots in command having only 500 hours instead of 2000 to 3000 hours experience. The flight in question looks like being controlled flight into terrain (ie banged into something whilst scud running, on a day they should have parked up).

Interestingly though, the biggest risks in aviation still come from the private / non-commercial sector where skill / judgement / training all falls well behind their commercial counterparts. Out of interest, I not long ago finished reading "Highest Duty" - the account of Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger (who landed an Airbus in the Hudson river after losing both engines in a multiple birdstrike) - it was quite reassuring to read of just how seriously pilots like that take aviation safety - I'd certainly fly with the chap anytime!

[Rodders]

Thanks Rod, here's another you may recognise...

If I'm correct, that will be the Blackmount - Redcliff road, just south of Weir road.
Ok, I did consult a map just to double check.