Yep the first one may be looking for something soon, the second one who showed that he can actually hold a hover in a stationary position for a fleeting second, is now working for someone else.
He did of course have a salutory experience last year or so when he decided to stuff up a dramatic quick stop "or something" on a maintenance test flight and rolled about 150 yards across the flat.
Pretty much rooted the flying machine they reckon, along with his ego.
Re the TV program, a mate of mine (not a mustering driver) reckons that on that discovery channel if you miss the program first time, just grit your teeth and it will roll around again in four months or so for everyone to see what dills they are in the Australian mustering game.
Heard on Radio National today how a mustering operator in Queensland had already put off three drivers. It will be tough for sure. Hopefully we will get a full weaning round in, but that will be it for sure.
There's ten thousand cattle (a boatload) that is sitting in depots around Darwin, was to load tomorrow. Ol' mate says that the price offered to unload them somewhere on the mainland has already dipped from what he paid, $2 /kg to $0.80. Av weight at 320 kg work it out, its quite a chunk out of the hip pocket for a days work.
Actually its 25,000 between Darwin and WA, all cattle crimped and ready to go. that is they can't be let out at the moment from the quarantine. Their market value at the moment is virtually zero. Plus feed everyday, demurrage (spelling?) for ships coming in etc We can't believe the incompetance of the organisers of this event. You can keep current on this thread www.breakfastpolitics.com
I now think that musterers will fare a lot worse than I thought yesterday, certainly only a lunatic would buy a new machine at the moment. Maybe the musterers come Canadanian drifters will be back to Canada shovelling snow soon.
Funny you should mention those cowboys going around that waterhole, been around it myself a few times without any need of a second machine. There's a fence just over a hundred yards or so that they walk along quite contentedly without having to swim or stress out at all. Usually I sit and have a cup of coffee while they waddle on past me, and, the waterhole with their calves. It was a different station owner then so please don't tell him about my little coffee break interludes.
Plenty of people are going to be absolutely terrified at the moment as there's mostly nowhere else to go with the cattle or the flying machines for that matter.
But the message remains, the hairy armpitters certainly did pay for quite some footage, as we can see through it or remember it from some of their other escapades like Egypt, but the few grabs of real footage show situations which have to be fixed up for sure. Why we were never told about the real problems I have no idea and many producers are proper cranky about.
No stun , no deal, is the message.