Australia, The A380 and something smaller

[Prop Jockey]

Nice shots. Love that you've gotten a ride in a Chang. They're great airplanes (better than the Yaks - except the 18T IMHO, sorry Rich) and still get factory support (and new parts even!).

Unfortunately I've never seen one, never mind have the chance to fly in one. It seems there are only 2 registered in the UK and only evidence that one of those can actually fly :-(

Its nice to see all the instruments calibrated in bananas per litre squared like a Yak - but I can't figure out 2 of those in the rear cockpit. Kevin - any ideas if the large round dial on the left hand side is Manifold Pressure or Prop RPM ? A Yak has Prop RPM (as a %) and MP in the front, but only Prop RPM in the back. The other is the little round one which is mostly blue around the outside - pneumatic pressure perhaps (or Carb Air Temp ?).

Cheers

Rich

Edit - the left one is MP - its just the little one I can't figure

[Paul K]

Kevin, that beach doesn't happen to be Horseshoe Bay, does it ? Looks very familiar, though its been a long time.

[Kevin Farnell]

Thanks for the comments, everyone.

Nice piccies Kev....

Love the nightime shots....your camera have that facility...? What is it...?

Tony

Tony. The camera is a Nikon D200 with a Nikon 70-200 f2.8 lens. The shots were taken at night, on a guided tour of Granite Island. Flash was not allowed, due to effecting the penguins eyesight. The tour guide had a torch with an orange filter. I turned the ISO up to 3200 on my camera and set the apeture to f2.8, so as to get the best shutter speed under the conditions. I took the shots as the guide lit up the penguins with the torch.
At home, I reprocessed the pics using Nikons Editor software. Initially, I tried to get rid of the orange cast with white balance and the colour sliders with little effect.
I then used the dropdown menu to convert to black and white to give the pictures that you see.

Is it just me, or does Bill Odie get everywhere thesedays ?

Lovely pics - and nice to see a distant cousin (by which I mean the Nanchang - before the gags start rolling in)

Its nice to see all the instruments calibrated in bananas per litre squared like a Yak - but I can't figure out 2 of those in the rear cockpit. Kevin - any ideas if the large round dial on the left hand side is Manifold Pressure or Prop RPM ? A Yak has Prop RPM (as a %) and MP in the front, but only Prop RPM in the back. The other is the little round one which is mostly blue around the outside - pneumatic pressure perhaps (or Carb Air Temp ?).

Cheers

Rich

They were wild pelicans. Apparantly the chap feeds them each evening and tells you that he pays for all the fish himself. He then asks for As$3 donations from everyone watching and says (aussie accent) - "bloody insulting if y'don't". I hadn't realised his similarity to Bill Odie until you mentioned it.

Sorry I can't be of too much help with the instruments. I was discussing them with my boss (he flies PA-28's), but didn't really come to any conclusions.
Not too sure about the first dial you mention, but the mainly blue one has 'X1000' printed on it, so I'd hope its not Carb Air Temp.

Kevin, that beach doesn't happen to be Horseshoe Bay, does it ? Looks very familiar, though its been a long time.

10 out of 10, Paul.
Lovely little bay. I sat there watching a seal playing in the sea. Apparently there are about 5 shipwrecks there from around the 1850's, when the area was used heavily for whaling.

Cheers

Kevin

[forthbridge]

:flying:
Brilliant stuff Kev

[Paul K]

10 out of 10, Paul. Lovely little bay. I sat there watching a seal playing in the sea. Apparently there are about 5 shipwrecks there from around the 1850's, when the area was used heavily for whaling.

Cheers

Kevin

Good heavens, we spent two Christmas's there in a caravan, ( 1966 and 1967 ). I remember Granite Island too, especially that weird crevice that you peer down into and at the bottom there's a rock worn into a perfect circle by the sea. It looks like an eye staring up at you. Fantastic photos Kevin, and some fond memories rekindled. Thanks very much.

CHEERS

[Prop Jockey]

Sorry I can't be of too much help with the instruments. I was discussing them with my boss (he flies PA-28's), but didn't really come to any conclusions.
Not too sure about the first dial you mention, but the mainly blue one has 'X1000' printed on it, so I'd hope its not Carb Air Temp.

Cheers Kevin,

Yes the first is Manifold Pressure, calibrated in mm of mercury and the second is probably pneumatic pressure, especially if it has two needles (not sure if its a reflection or it has two, however it's using a different unit to the ones I'm used to if it is).

Looks like you had a blast

Cheers

Rich

[Kevin Farnell]

Here's another photo, Rich.



This shows the second 'needle' to be a shadow in the first photo. This shot was taken in the air, whilst the first was on the ground.
In both photos, the attitude indicator (artificial horizon) shows us to be inverted :o . This wasn't the case.
I'm not sure if it was broken, or caged as it didn't move throughout the flight.

Regards

Kevin

[Chris Trott]

Actually, that shows you in a slight dive and upright. Some Russian/Chinese instruments are odd in that way. Biggest clue is that the numbering is right-side up.

As for the blue instrument, it is indeed the pneumatic pressure gauge and it does indeed have a single pointer. I'm glad you clarified the location of the first picture because I would have been worried had you been flying with no pneumatic pressure as it means your U/C wouldn't come down and your brakes wouldn't work.

[Prop Jockey]

Hi Kevin,

Smashing - now it all makes sense - my money is on that little gauge being RPM based on the reading its showing there. If it was pneumatic it would be dual needle to indicate the health of the emergency system too. That also explains why its 0 in the first pic and reading 2000+ in this. As the pneumatic gauges read pressure, they don't need any electrics and hence always show pneumatic pressure. The AI is ok - its standard Russian fair in that it moves in the inverse sense to western AIs - you're in a slight climb. The oil pressure gauge and cylinder head gauges are knackered - but then so is the compass and AI in the back of mine

Cheers

Rich

[Seaking]

Wow, great shot of your seat on the 380, space looks huge, is that first class your in ? I was in Adelaide bout 5 years ago visiting
my family. Nice city, I was told they call it the 20 minute city, you can get anywhere you want in 20 mins.