Trip Reports.

Planned Trip - Apollo Bay / 12 Apostles

Date: 16/3/2008

Posted By: Chris

Well, due to a CASA muck around, the flyin plans were changed, and we remained in Barwon Heads. OzChris and Skybird flew in from Ballarat in a super sleek Jabiru J230, which has a cruise of about 130kts.
OzChris took Terry and myself up for a few laps of the area to show off this impressive bird (and his flying skills no doubt! ).

First impressions of the J230 is that it is MUCH bigger than the Jabi he arrived in last time. It looks very sleek, and certainly sounds the goods when the engine is running.

The interior was neat and tidy, and well set out, with ample space behind for luggage and all the other crap us pilots need to take with us.

The first to sample the Jabi was Terry, and he was all smiles when he returned. It's such a huge jump up from the old Cessna's he's used to.

Smiles were hard to wipe from my face too after disembarking. Oz was good enough to allow me to sample the controls for a short period, and the first thing I noticed, was the extra pressure required to operate the rudder. This was due to the faster air needing to be overcome as it acted on the rudder. Once you got over the initial sensation, it was no longer an issue.
General control inputs were smooth and precise, and the a/c did not seem twitchy at all. In fact, I noticed no real effort was required to adjust my usual control inputs in the Gazelle, to get the same result in the Jabi.

As I was in the right hand seat, it felt a little strange for a few moments to control the a/c, however, as the throttle and stick set-up is opposite to the Gazelle, me being on the wrong side made the controls exactly where I was used to them being. The Gazelle has the stick operated with the left hand, and the throttle operated with the right hand. The Jabi, has the stick in the centre of the a/c, requiring the pilots right hand, and the throttle is to the left of the panel, requiring left hand, and the opposite for the passenger side.

Forward vision is fairly poor compared to other a/c I've been in, but once you get used to it, it's ok. It was a little weird not being able to look out and see the landing gear, as there are no clear windows in the bottoms of the doors, but you'd soon know if they had fallen off.

After the joy flights, Terry drove us into Barwon Heads, and we had ice coffees at the cafe on the pier, over some good conversation, and plenty of warm sunshine. The area was packed for the Festival of the Sea, and we were treated to live music. All in all a great day, even though we didn't leave the area.

I took some video of Oz's landing, both from outside, and also from inside the cockpit. I'll run them through my editor, and add some appropriate music, then post a link to download them. Below are some shots of us with the machine.

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