Arthur
Withy's 1500R
Updated
4/27/06
March
6, 2006
Hi
guys ,
Last Sunday I committed another 3 hours of aviation in my newly
aquired 1500R...........Great FUN.
I'm learning the thrill of taildragging, the excitement of a good
landing and the greater excitement of a poor landing.
I took off at first light with almost calm air from the SE at
ground level.
I was carrying full wing and fuselage tanks, with my GPS and digital
camera.I took off and climbed to 2000 agl, veiwing the mighty
River Murray over the nose.The air was cool, but not cold-no gloves
required today. As the nerves settled and the purring Rotax 447
,I climbed above the airfeild to 5000 feet...the air still smooth,
but a few bumps as I passed through an inversion at 2500 feet.
I did a large orbit to the left and did a few stalls. At 42mph
(mtow-full fuel) indicated, theres a shudder to let me know the
stall is coming. A gentle drop and I'm off again, thinking how
privaliged we are to know these sensations, gotta love this flying
stuff..!
I then relised the GPS was telling me I was travelling about 20
knots faster, in really smooth air, so I tracked 290 degrees and
headed for Pauls Eddowes.
Arriving at Pauls Farm, I circled at 500 feet until I saw signs
of life. I saw Paul heading for the car, so I did an overfly of
his 500 yard farm strip and on my second approach to RNY 18 ,
I greased the Minimax onto the dirt strip.
It was probably my best landing---and no one to see it. ( Of coarse..!)
After an hour of chatting , I checked over my Minimax and before
departure , checked fuel remaining...Crikey...doesnt this aircraft
use any fuel?
The take off was done up hill and into a slight wind from the
east...no worries...wer'e off and climbing in about 100 yards.
I gave Paul a wing 'waggle' and the the Thumbs up from the open
cockpit of "Maggie Mae".
I returned via Mick Henders and the Canberra Bomber strip.( Vintage
ex military jet)
I used 39 litres of fuel in 3 hours.The aircraft still had 19
litres on board when I landed.
A great day out.
Regards Arthur
Field
of Emu.
Stonefield
Gliding Club
Kangaroos.
...photos
of my Home airfeild "Truro Flats"
Winery.
Rowland
Flat Airfeild, Barossa Valley
Avenue
of Honour, Ballarat
-------------
Updated
11/30/04
Hi
Guys ,
I have recently purchased a 1500R from Leo Powning (kit #601)
and have therefore been monitoring the ETLB web site.
I'd like to Thank Mark Ray for his informative post on
the NEW JDT Minimax site. Keep them coming...!
Love my new Aeroplane and the enthusiasm of the Minimax owners/builders
have for the design.
History: Leo built his 1500R approx 10 years ago in Melbourne,
Australia.It gave him many hours of enjoyable flying.I recent
purchased the aircraft and attempted to have the aircraft flown
back to my home strip approx 500 miles away, but after 6 days
and poor weather we decided to trailer the aircraft home on a
second attempt.
The aircraft is now in my hanger awaiting for re-assembly of the
wings to the fuselage after a successful road trip of 500 miles.(took
10 hours).I live in Adelaide, South Australia.
Enjoy the Photos
regards Arthur Withy
