Melton "Houdini - Centenary Air Show"
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Melton "Houdini - Centenary Air Show"
Anyone going this weekend? Would it be worth the visit? Might pop down for a look. Is it going to be a sh%t fight with the one entry and exit into the place?
Anything further to the flying display (or cancelled) other than:
Moth Minor
Winjeel
Yak-52
DR107
DG505 Elan Orian Glider
Drifter ultralight
Victa Airtourer
GA 8 Airvan
Tiger Moth
DG505 Elan Orion Glider
Pitts Special
CJ6 Nanchang
Robinson R22
Yak 9
Hawker Sea Fury
P40 Kittyhawk
T28 Trojan
Vampire Jet
P51 Mustang
Anything further to the flying display (or cancelled) other than:
Moth Minor
Winjeel
Yak-52
DR107
DG505 Elan Orian Glider
Drifter ultralight
Victa Airtourer
GA 8 Airvan
Tiger Moth
DG505 Elan Orion Glider
Pitts Special
CJ6 Nanchang
Robinson R22
Yak 9
Hawker Sea Fury
P40 Kittyhawk
T28 Trojan
Vampire Jet
P51 Mustang
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Registration form here:
Flying In
I note that they are asking for the insurance provider and policy details of the aircraft that are flying in. Interesting, I've never seen that as a requirement before for this kind of thing.
Flying In
I note that they are asking for the insurance provider and policy details of the aircraft that are flying in. Interesting, I've never seen that as a requirement before for this kind of thing.
Harry Houdini interview
From the Weekly Times March 19 1910, Harry Houdini is quoted after his flight
"I am the first man to have flown in Australia and I have fulfilled my greatest ambition.
I shall never forget my sublime and enthralling sensations and I only hope that my success will encourage other aviators to perservere and conquer the air. They will find aviation a pastime providing new and wonderful sensations such as no other pastime can afford."
What were your feelings while floating between heaven and earth?
"They were absolutely novel and I can scarcely describe them. But I felt a sensation of wonderful lightness and being independent of space and time.
You know the untrammelled experience of flight in a dream? It was like that. There was no resistance against it. The morning air sweet and fresh, felt like some life giving elixir or cordial, as it whistled and shrieked in my ears.
Behind me the propeller churned away making a terrible din as if protesting against my temerity. I shouted with joy but the spectators away beneath couldn't hear me.
Then out of the corner of my eye I noticed my engineer capering about and dancing on his hat, while certain semaphore signals prearranged told me it was time to return to earth."
How did you make your descent?
"I simply depressed the plane, shut off the motor power and glided to the ground as smoothly as a water hen glides to a pool.
It was as if the machine desired to impress me that all was perfect ease.
I know of no locomotion in which master and machine appear to have (may I use the word?) affinity. There is the mind of the man, composed and serene after the first exhilarating effect of rising, directing the flight and the immediate response of the mecanical bird.
I could even go to the length of saying that it was like a thing of life entering into one's desire to ride the air."
I guess we all have felt Houdini's feelings but I doubt I was so eloquent after my first solo in the Winjeel at Point Cook!
"I am the first man to have flown in Australia and I have fulfilled my greatest ambition.
I shall never forget my sublime and enthralling sensations and I only hope that my success will encourage other aviators to perservere and conquer the air. They will find aviation a pastime providing new and wonderful sensations such as no other pastime can afford."
What were your feelings while floating between heaven and earth?
"They were absolutely novel and I can scarcely describe them. But I felt a sensation of wonderful lightness and being independent of space and time.
You know the untrammelled experience of flight in a dream? It was like that. There was no resistance against it. The morning air sweet and fresh, felt like some life giving elixir or cordial, as it whistled and shrieked in my ears.
Behind me the propeller churned away making a terrible din as if protesting against my temerity. I shouted with joy but the spectators away beneath couldn't hear me.
Then out of the corner of my eye I noticed my engineer capering about and dancing on his hat, while certain semaphore signals prearranged told me it was time to return to earth."
How did you make your descent?
"I simply depressed the plane, shut off the motor power and glided to the ground as smoothly as a water hen glides to a pool.
It was as if the machine desired to impress me that all was perfect ease.
I know of no locomotion in which master and machine appear to have (may I use the word?) affinity. There is the mind of the man, composed and serene after the first exhilarating effect of rising, directing the flight and the immediate response of the mecanical bird.
I could even go to the length of saying that it was like a thing of life entering into one's desire to ride the air."
I guess we all have felt Houdini's feelings but I doubt I was so eloquent after my first solo in the Winjeel at Point Cook!
I'm all in favour of bringing back the three Rs and the strap in English classes if it means people speak like that again. Such wonderful eloquence and beauty in speech. Sadly these days if you use a word over three syllables people like, look at you funny 
Laso - yes, come past and say hi.
Laso - yes, come past and say hi.
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Compressor stall, I know you meant well, but I saw a stuttering class mate caned on both hands until they bled one day. He was screaming and stuttering after each stroke and yelled at to hold his hand steady for the next. He was flogged paralytic for being a disruption in class because he couldn't speak proper. You cannot flog learning into kids. But apparently you can make them whimper and shake. It was the cruelest thing I have ever seen done, I hated my english teacher for that. And he disappeared a few weeks later, without explanation. But no doubt dismissed or transferred since the kid was so badly hurt he walked his bike home unable to use the handle bars and his parents would have 'freaked' to borrow the language of my children.
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I am the first man to have flown in Australia and I have fulfilled my greatest ambition
Apparently the debate continues with the museum folks.
FRQ CB
When you live....
Thoughts?
Well, I'll go first.
Thought it was a disappointing turn-out - both in GA flights in (low cloud in the morning but not low enough to cause real issues except for the 337 stuck above it looking for holes) and families driving in - the number of food vans vs the business they were doing seemed to indicate that a lot more were expected.
Big gaps in the flying display.
But still, always worth going to see the Vampire, DC3 and the P51.
I hope, for their sakes, that the organisers made enough to have made it worth their while -it takes guts and a lot of hard work to take on something like that.
UTR
Thought it was a disappointing turn-out - both in GA flights in (low cloud in the morning but not low enough to cause real issues except for the 337 stuck above it looking for holes) and families driving in - the number of food vans vs the business they were doing seemed to indicate that a lot more were expected.
Big gaps in the flying display.
But still, always worth going to see the Vampire, DC3 and the P51.
I hope, for their sakes, that the organisers made enough to have made it worth their while -it takes guts and a lot of hard work to take on something like that.
UTR
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Agree with you UTR. I arrived from the Diggers REst side and was ushered past the aerodrome to a car park 2 kms away. Shuttle bus worked well and I thought there would be a huge crowd as well. Was it a lack of advertising? Was it a lack of interest? Did they need a V8 supercar to race down the dirt strip?
The gaps were annoying. Felt sorry for the bloke with the remote controlled Voison(sp) scale replica. Keep veering to the right. Did he get it up in the end?
I left after the Nanchang. What did I miss?
Was good to be very close to the active runway.
The gaps were annoying. Felt sorry for the bloke with the remote controlled Voison(sp) scale replica. Keep veering to the right. Did he get it up in the end?
I left after the Nanchang. What did I miss?
Was good to be very close to the active runway.
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It was a strange show. There was plenty of room for the crowd and I think that was part of the problem; everyone was so spread out and subsequently so was the crowd energy.
Early in the day the firebombers were there, but were ordered back to Ballarat before the show got started. That was a bit of a blow.
And there was no P-51 in attendance. There was, however, a P-40F.
The gaps in the program looked to me to be caused by not overlapping the take-offs and the displays. Normally you launch an act before it is due for display, so you always have one waiting in the sky at all times. That removes the holes in the program because there is always one waiting to come in when the other recovers.
However, air shows are very difficult things to organize as no aircraft is ever a monty to be in the show until it is actually in the air. Anyone who sticks their hand up to ringmaster an airshow is a legend in my books.
The Voisin model never got airborne.
Walrus
Early in the day the firebombers were there, but were ordered back to Ballarat before the show got started. That was a bit of a blow.
And there was no P-51 in attendance. There was, however, a P-40F.
The gaps in the program looked to me to be caused by not overlapping the take-offs and the displays. Normally you launch an act before it is due for display, so you always have one waiting in the sky at all times. That removes the holes in the program because there is always one waiting to come in when the other recovers.
However, air shows are very difficult things to organize as no aircraft is ever a monty to be in the show until it is actually in the air. Anyone who sticks their hand up to ringmaster an airshow is a legend in my books.
The Voisin model never got airborne.
Walrus
The "gap" in the show was caused by the RAAF aircraft both suffering radio failures after getting airborne from Point Cook requiring the Ring master to re-shuffle things around at the last minute.
There was no P51 because all the owners wanted payment to attend a show which was running for charity, it wasn't possible to pay them more than fuel.
( the RAAF Museum P51 was out for maintenance otherwise it would have come )
Overall the Boss did a bloody good job running his first airshow.
There was no P51 because all the owners wanted payment to attend a show which was running for charity, it wasn't possible to pay them more than fuel.
( the RAAF Museum P51 was out for maintenance otherwise it would have come )
Overall the Boss did a bloody good job running his first airshow.
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Thought the RAAFies were late as they were due to arrive between 11 & 12. I think the Pup arrived overhead about 1.30 or so?
Did the L-39 fly in? Or was it trucked? Impressive if it did fly in on a dirt strip.
Did the L-39 fly in? Or was it trucked? Impressive if it did fly in on a dirt strip.
Last edited by Critical Reynolds No; 22nd Mar 2010 at 21:14. Reason: correct spelling