Anzac Day 2015 - Australia & New Zealand

[K4KittyCrew]

Coming!

I'm at work at the moment but earlier today I put a post together with a few photos from Anzac Day in Sydney on my blog. Have a look here: http://www.somethingverybig.com

Biggest Anzac Day in terms of crowd numbers in a while I reckon, and the 463-467 Squadrons Association actually had more veterans marching this year than in 2014.

Adam

Great work, Adam ................. many thanks for sharing the photos.
Regards,
John

[R5868]

Max, are you going to work your way through the full list - Tigermoth, Anson, ................, Lancaster. You'll have to skip the usual transition through Wimpy and Hallibag or Stirling but I'm sure you can become licensed for the rest, in time.
Kerry

[ME453]

Well right now I'm finding the Tiger Moth enough of a handful Kerry, even taxying her requires a lot of concentration especially since she's got a tail skid instead of a wheel, tail skids don't like tarmac, it's like driving on ice! So once I've achieved some degree of competency on the Moth, I'll retire gracefully.
Max

[kookabat]

Does your version have brakes or are you doing it old style, and, most important of all, have you been taught to hand-swing the prop??

[ME453]

Brakes!!!?? What are those then? I'm in charge of the mag. switches, I let the erks swing the prop for me!
Max

[kookabat]

Tsk, tsk, Max. Then I won't be able to award you one of these stamps:



One of the reasons (apart from, 'because I could'!) that I did some hours in the Tiger Moth was to experience 'something' of what life might have been like for my great uncle. That stamp is from his logbook, when he was at an AFU shortly after arrival in the UK. It goes a long way towards explaining where my aviation interest comes from. I'll never fly a Lancaster, but the Tiger was very accessible.

And part of the experience of flying a Tiger Moth is to puff and pant as you pull the prop through, trying to get it started on a cold Camden morning! Hence, I made sure I got some instruction in the art of propeller swinging. Gives you a good understanding of how hard the 'erks' worked!!

I'll admit the aircraft I flew had brakes though (and a radio, powered from a battery that had to be plugged in to a trickle charger overnight!!). The mod-cons!!

Adam

[ME453]

Exactly the same reason for me Adam, I wanted to know at first hand what Dad, Max and thousands of others went through in their ambitions to be pilots, including those who were scrubbed. Although I've done a fair bit of small aircraft flying, I didn't appreciate the complexity of keeping a Tiger Moth "straight and level" even, factoring in rudder, ailerons, trim, balance and attitude, power/speed/revs, direction, altitude, glancing port and starboard to keep things level using your cross wires datums, down at the instruments watching for side slip etc not to mention the effects of weather....it was very bumpy last week! The analogy of learning to drive a car starts to describe it but is nowhere near adequate. We do have a radio intercom thank goodness, not a Gosport tube, but in every other respect the aircraft are in WW2 condition. Great fun though.....climbs and descents next Wednesday!
Max

[kookabat]

Yep, just like learning to fly all over again. When I was flying the Tiger I had just under 200 hours total time in various little aeroplanes, including 50 hours tailwheel time. Consequently it took some time to beat the modern 'spam can' habits out of me. I remember Jim (my highly seasoned instructor) saying that it's easy to fly a Tiger Moth... but hard to fly it well.

My favourite bit? Pulling the throttle back as you turn base in the circuit... and regulating your airspeed, as you sideslip down final, by the pitch of the wind through the wires!!

[R5868]

Will you two cut out this description of flying a moth. You're making me jealous. I want to do it.

My fantasy is to have and fly a Nieuport 17 replica. They come in kit form for about $40000 (8 years ago) and have a proper rotary engine.

[ME453]

Just do it Kerry, life's too short! I'm sure Shell won't mind you splurging the retirement funds! As a friend said to me, life's about experiences, not stuff!
Max