One of the few responsibilities that are attached to my membership of the South Australian Aviation Museum (SAAM) is an “obligation” to help out on the front desk about once a quarter. Behind the scenes I say “obligation” in quotes because it is hardly a chore. Desk duty involves setting up, greeting visitors and processing their payments, then closing up afterwards. There are generally three … Continue reading On the front line
Orion rising The first thing you notice is its size. In fact, the most common reaction is ‘Oh. Wow!’ Although it’s hardly enormous by modern standards, the Lockheed Orion’s ancestry in the Electra turboprop is a vivid reminder that even small airliners are not small aeroplanes. To walk from SAAM’s darkened restoration workshop into a display hangar that is dominated by a retired RAAF AP-3C … Continue reading Home for a hunter
Duty Cycle I spent the other Sunday fulfilling my quarterly obligation to perform a day’s desk duty at the South Australian Aviation Museum. Actually, ‘obligation’ is hardly fair. As the only thing expected of SAAM volunteers apart from a modest annual membership fee, I see my quarterly desk duty as excellent value for money. A Sunday spent greeting visitors and chatting with a couple of … Continue reading Aviation Museum
Next step “Look at that!” ‘That’ was a Diamond DA-40 making a sharpish climbing turn about 50 metres in front of our windshield. It’s as close as I want to be to an oncoming aircraft in mid-air. I know the local Diamond fleet has TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) installed and we had our transponder on, so I imagine one future ATPL just got an … Continue reading Back in the saddle
3, 2, 1, Breathe How long can you hold your breath? For 30 seconds…? A minute…? Actually, it’s longer than you think. For me, it was a little over 12 years. To be precise, it’s been 13 years since I flew anything with a throttle, and about 11-½ years since I flew a glider. After a while, the numbers don’t matter. Twelve years seems about … Continue reading Tell the sky to rejoice
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