A very wet July combined with COVID lockdowns across much of the country have conspired to stymie most efforts to commit aviation recently.
Therefore, there is not a lot to report this month. The club fly away to outback Queensland did take place with 4 aircraft, albeit with weather delays and rerouting to avoid NSW. I expect we will get a full report from the participants next month.
You may not know that the annual EAA event at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, concluded last Sunday. There must have been a lot of pent up demand having been cancelled in 2020. A reported 7920 aircraft had arrived at Wittman airfield by the time the event got underway.
Some news announced during Oshkosh was the inaugural approval of a new unleaded AVGAS called G100. The lead is replaced with another chemical to get the octane rating up to the required 100. Initially the Supplementary Type Certificate has only been issued to Lycoming powered Cessna Types as used in many American flying schools, but more engines and aircraft will follow soon. It is expected to cost about 60 to 90 cents more per gallon in USA. No word on when it will be available in Australia or what the cost will be.
An unexpected announcement from Vans Aircraft is for a new model, an RV15. They are being a bit coy about details at the moment, but have said it will be an all metal high wing bush plane with a good baggage capacity. There is good chance that a prototype will be on display at Oshkosh 2022.
Who knows when we will be able to return to overseas events such as this, but I for one am looking forward to overseas travel again.
The relaxation of the COVID restrictions means that we can hold our normal monthly meeting at the West Beach Football Club next Wednesday. The room capacity is 50 so please continue to book online in the normal way so we can monitor numbers.
You will need to wear a mask at the venue while you are standing or moving around the venue but it can be removed while seated for eating and drinking.
Our guest speaker for August is Brendan Rogers, recently retired from the RAAF, and was the senior officer at RAAF Edinburgh. He is now a military advisor for the defence industry in South Australia. Brendan has compiled a very nice presentation on his experience flying the MB 326H Macchi jet trainer before it was retired a few years ago. Part technical and part personal observations, it promises to be an interesting talk for us non jet jockeys.
Blue Skies,
Steve
Learn from the mistakes of others. You won’t live long enough to make them all yourself.
