On my return from Mentone .. this had arrived in the mail!



Now I just need to get through my test with Ron M. & get a real flightsuit ( my "reward"!) ... to stick it on!

Thanks a mill Darren ... very cool find!

My gyro-brothers keep coming up with sweet treasures ... to mark my "milestones" ... Glenn gave me a neat "butterfly" brooch - when I solo'd!

That is way cool!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love it

I don't get it.

Does "Drop Bear" mean something besides your avatar name?

Just answered my own question, it is akin to a Jackalope or Snipe Hunting.

This must obviously be the patch from an Australian EOD unit in country.

I worked with them once, for what ever reason they believed that because we were Americans we would be easy to get one over on us in trading comshaw. They quickly learned the folly in their ways. He He, Bet they don' try that again!

Are you tying to say that jackalopes aren't real ?????

.

There is a bar up here with a Jackalope head mounted on the wall .... that is all the proof I need .... they are real !!!!

HEY DARREN .... just letting you know .....

At long bloody last ..I earned your gift of the "Dropbear" patch ... yesterday! .... must have brought some Good MOJO ...did my XC ... (& then some !! ) ... thanks to the back-up / encouragement with my flying- mate/ gyro big-brother Kent keeping me from freaking out & scrambling back to the safety of the home area ... when I imagined bad smells sounds & vibes from my gyro!!! ..... .... but I HAVE got reason to be neurotic !

Damn that was FUNNNN!!!

Another fantastic afternoon flight with gyro-brutha Kent ... my "good-luck" wingman!!

...another Go-pro fail ... so all you get is an IFly screen shot of the sqiggly-tracks! Kent's go-pro probably got some good footage - but he's yet to learn how to do his editing / posting!

Just from 1.75 hours of rotor-rapturing yesterday afternoon ... alongside Kent in his MTO 914!!

After 2 years of planning all sorts of local XC excursions around our home airport & just Google-earth / Foreflight - flying ... while I dealt with issue after issue ... FINALLY ... getting out to see what's out there ... in REAL-time view!! :cool: :whoo:
...............Simply magic ... the birds-eye views ... the ever different play of light upon the everchanging land below- with the change of seasons!

We flew over our hangar neighbors grass strip ... for the first time in my fly-overs his place... the wind was suitable for me to set-up a landing .... which I turned into a fly-by ............ next headed to the big recreation lake to the north.... en-route was another small town paved airstrip ..... another opportunity for me to practice my new-field approach & set-up for a landing .... morph into a low-fly-by when I had the landing all but made!
Just cruise around the lake enjoying the views & seeing who was out - fishing / boating ... Kent enjoyed doing more advanced flying maneuvers ... playing with his new smoke-system & giving the boaters , passing cars, busy farmer's harvesting ... a little private airshow ! :wave::party:

Reviewing - reliving our flight over dinner it was good to hear Kent thought my flying had improved much since our first outing together back in May .... my gyro has finally found some speed ( 'cause the pilot was flying better / more efficiently ;) :lol:)& he was having to hustle with the turbo to catch-up again - after his "sideshows"! :peace:

To exercise my approach & landing skills ... every airport we fly-by ... I do a landing approach - go- around ... to hone my sight-picture skills!

Kent's observations were very helpful to me - to improve my skills - flying the gyro - "like a gyro" .... rather than a FW!

I had another Gopro-fail .. so no vid/pics ... but took this screen shot of our tracks from the IFly!

The south-east point of the track was a couple of circuits @ the farm & low-flys along our grass-strip-to-be ... a couple of squiggles ... checking out friends/ relatives places ... who'd requested a fly-by ... also a circuit of the Rec-lake E of the airport ... returned on a south track & right pattern for 17 to avoid the active aerobatics box E of KEWK

gyro XC with a wingman flying buddy is a BLAST!!! :whoo:

Last Sunday we flew to Fredonia KS ... 1.5hrs ... just to say hi to Bob Osborne ...the scenic view of the Flint Hills ranchland from 500ft was outstanding .... SO much to look at!

Gyro-brutha Kent & I like to explore ... finish up the flight doings laps around the same locality ... the hayfield playground ... just a few minutes of fun ... with a little extra fuel to burn & home-base a few minutes away !

Now we just need to get Jim a proper reliable gyro that can FLY him & join in the fun! :party:

I am so happy for you Chris. I truly am. At the same time I do envy you. Jumping through the hurdles you had earned the satisfaction of flying. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
As for FJ. Fick you big guy!
HUGZ

FINALLY got the video ( pt1) of the Sunday XC flight out to Fredonia ... to drop in on Bob O. ...DONE !!!

…. … AND the internet speed stay good long enough to upload with-out dropping out! (tried umpteen times to upload in the last week .... service is crap despite paying for premium speed! )

Pt 2 Fredonia will wait … I've got my teeth into editing some gorgeous vid of the amazing Brunch run in clearing misty-fog to Beaumont hotel that we did on last Saturday where we met up with Bob & Laura … who flew in to meet us … Beaumont a nice 1/2 way for us all … a hotel with it's own grass strip & taxi-way up to main street … & an airplane parking lot! :cool:

Celebrating my first Beaumont flight solo in OZ'rora … after looking forward to it SOOO long … a whole year since I got to do my XC training circuits out there in Desmon's MTO.

We had a GREAT time & the food was good! Some folk who came out from Wichita … just to eat @ the little Flint Hills town with the historic wooden water tower told us we just MADE their day showing up with 3 unique aircraft … flying in! … it only gets better when best-mate can be part of the fun also!

Very good!!!! Awesome flying. Kent is really nice tagging along. I can see you guys having a blast. You have earned it.

Glad to see you having fun

Sometimes synchronicity just works out that way Chris,

I figure with you having all the trials and tribulations with your butterfly it would represent your tenacity.

Drop Bear nickname and the bomb disposal would relate to your curing all the bombs (Bomb Disposal)
you had on your Gyro and well it just seemed like it was meant to be yours all along...I was just saving - holding it for ya and i had no idea!!!

You earned it Christine.....may you have many hours of being the bird.

I am really pleased I had it to give to you. U Go Girl!!!!!

Today … I screwed up my courage & after Sunday's investigation into rotor-hang anomalies … service the teeter bearings … etc & FINALLY went - did the post-maintenance … check-fly … a balance -on-mains … feel out the rotor … did I get the teeter bolt tightened - just right??? OK i was going to do some emergency landings … but a King-air was on long final & when i got up in pattern after a hop or two I couldn't see him … real hazy day … dirty air! … I headed away from airport until he was on short final & visible … then I decided to keep going with the plan to go fly out & around Jim's cousins place ( where we are going on Sunday for a family gathering!) …out west of Hesston … this was the last unexplored direction that Kent & I were going to fly on Sunday when we lost the urge to fly when I was unhappy about the hang of my rotor in the towers!

The wind was great, - steady around 9kts & pretty straight S … found some shaken & rock'n turbulence @ 2000-21000 … so dropped to 1800-1900 & mostly smooth … before the flying with Kent … I would have chickened out & run right back home … after the first big bobble!

I got to the Martens farm … had emailed Shelly to lookup when she heard a noisy aircraft this arvo … I saw her wave from the backyard … by time I came down & around again … she was in the middle of the drive & looked pretty excited … the siblings from CA had not yet arrived … so I timed it a bit too early! I wandered off south east towards a private grass field near Halstead & dropped low to check it out … then followed KS 50 back to Newton … flew over Walmart… an hour later I was in there getting a few groceries ! … Sometimes .. it all seems SO surreal!!!

The world from above is … SO FREAKING AWESOME!!!!

Chris- It really makes me smile seeing you living your dream....finally! I love to fly 12 months out of the year.....but my favorite time to fly is during harvest. Lots of nice huge areas cleared, get to harass the local farmers as one of their former farms
ers "come from sky". Ha


My Turbinator is anxious to go flying today and tomorrow. His master has been too busy to fly during the week.

Stan