Our Stories
Taj Allen .... 15 years old and First Solo
Every pilot remembers their first solo.
That moment when the instructor steps out, closes the door, checks over the aeroplane and suddenly it is just you, the aircraft, and the sky.
For Taj Allen, that moment arrived after a journey that started with curiosity, family stories, a chocolate brownie, and the beginning of a dream.
“Next year, I will be in Year 11 and studying Physics and General Maths at Cardijn College, Noarlunga.
I had a lot of options when I was thinking about what I wanted to do, but everything kept coming back to aviation.
My Nan introduced me to aeroplanes when I was about 10 years old. Her Dad flew in a Tiger Moth at Caboolture in Queensland. She remembers him saying it was the best Father’s Day present ever!
Nan and Pop brought me down to Adelaide Biplanes for a chocolate brownie. Joss answered my questions and then took me for a tour of the hangars that day and I climbed into and sat in the Super Decathlon for a while.
After walking around with Joss, I decided to start saving money and I set that goal off by getting a job at McDonald’s.”
Joss remembers that day too.
He remembers Taj walking through the hangars with wide eyes, asking questions, fascinated by the possibility that perhaps one day he could learn to fly too.
Joss says that maybe the reason he encourages Taj is because he sees a little bit of himself in him.
Then came the moment when aviation became even more real.
“Gaylene asked me if I was brave enough to be an Elf last Christmas.
So, that's where my career in aviation started .... in a green outfit, 'Elfing' for Adelaide Biplanes.
While I was sitting in the vintage car with Joss, waiting for the 'Elfing' to start, in my green outfit, yes, I was nervous.
I hadn’t been an Elf before, but hey, I could see other Elves in vintage biplanes and cars.
Then all the biplanes started up in front of us.
Pilots in the back cockpit, Elves in the front cockpit.
That was the moment I decided I was going to fly one of those biplanes one day!
They were big
You could feel the rumbling sound of the radials
They were shiny .... red, yellow and indigo blue
And most of all, they were exciting!
I’ll be back Elfing this year!”
On 25 February, Taj had his first flying lesson, and Joss bought him his first logbook as a gift.
Flying tailwheel in the Champ, Taj has grown, learning in aircraft that demand respect and reward care.
“I don’t know any different.
Maybe they are ....
less forgiving
but when you land well
it is a little bit of magic.”
Then came first solo.
“Stewart got out.
I was comfortable about being able to fly my first solo, but I was still surprised!
I remembered my 'carby' heat!
When I took off, my feet were shaking. I knew I needed to relax.
Then I heard Stewart say on the radio ....
‘Good job mate.’ ”
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Invoice reconciliations and then on to baking cakes.
Time for the ginger cake .... 5 teaspoons ginger plus 1 cup diced naked ginger ....
Plus free range eggs from 'chooks' sat in armchairs, of course!!
#behindthescenesatABP
#AdelaideBiplanes
#TheKitchen
#biplanes
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An orange Dick Johnson flies in the big yellow Stearman
And he is 90 years old and sprightly!
Yes, 90! He is still out there doing it, doing it!
Now, you might have noticed the rather bright orange flight suit he is wearing.
The flight suit belonged to Dick’s brother-in-law, Brian Camp .... Inez’s brother.
Brian spent 43 years in the RAAF as a Warrant Officer and Electronics Engineer and worked on aircraft including the Mirage.
He always wanted to fly, but couldn’t fly in the Air Force.
So, he 'upped' and got his Commercial Pilot Licence himself!
I love that.
Unfortunately, Brian became a paraplegic after complications from what should have been a simple operation. He passed away on 1 July this year.
So Dick decided to wear Brian’s old orange flight suit for his Stearman flight.
Not because orange is particularly flattering, but because he wanted to honour Brian's memory.
Dick still flies with us in the Harmony. Our instructors know him really well and he is very much part of ABP.
In fact, sometimes I think Dick takes the instructors flying rather than the other way around!
He is now our oldest student because Uncle John finally had to give up flying at 93 because of his shoulder.
And Dick?
Well, he doesn't seem to have read the storybook about what you shouldn't do as you get older!
Too right, I am in that team!
At the end of his Stearman flight, he booked his next flight in the Harmony.
And this is the bit I really love…
It will be his 90th hour of flying.
For his 90th birthday.
A 90-year-old boy with 90 hours flying.
How good is that?!
So Dick… Take a bow,
Oh and a very happy birthday! And so say all of us!
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WooHoooo! Here she comes!
Our beautiful 1920s designed Great Lakes biplane has been waiting for her engine.
Aircraft engines have a calendar life.
So at 12 years or 2,000 hours they need a new or reconditioned engine if they are in charter, (ie taking passengers).
Ours had only done around 600 hours ....
The open cockpit biplanes didn’t really get to work during COVID
Although they were probably some of the most COVID-friendly aircraft around!
So, in May, we removed our good engine and sent it to Aviation Engines at Parafield for rebuilding and testing.
And now the engine is back.
Going on now.
Very soon she’ll be back in the sky, strutting her stuff and doing what she does best ....
Graceful, thrilling aerobatics.
You could put music to her routine as you watch.
Her personality?
Dolly Parton of course!
I can't wait to see those beautiful starbursts and her red, white and indigo colours against the sky.
We’ve missed this girl.
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First Flight, All Over Again .... VH-T58
Bit of a con really as the aeroplane has been flying since 1958 when she first emerged un-fledged into the world.
She has only been out of the air for a couple of years this time around, and has undergone a big old birthday to become airworthy again.
The engineering work complete and the paperwork arrived, so the list of excuses was rapidly diminishing!
A couple of higher speed taxi runs revealed an engine that was not very happy at higher power setting, so off with the cowls again and the fault traced and fixed.
Checked by one of our supporting Engineers and we really were out of excuses!!
Lined up and ready to roll on RWY21 at YADG, the power this time delivered without hiccup, and before you knew it she was airborne and climbing strongly.
My mind racing through ....
How does it feel?
Will it keep going?
Where would I go .... if there was a problem now?
An initial gentle turn to allow more options to land, put me downwind and through 1500 feet, by now feeling reassured, as it felt exactly like an aeroplane!
Once overhead at 2000 plus feet, a few bank reversals and a check of pitch response revealed no problems at all.
In spite of the re-weigh showing the aeroplane close to forward C of G limits, she flew hands off albeit at fairly low power.
I investigated the stall stick position to reveal light control forces and a reasonably brisk aerodynamic 'break', as always easily controlled by moving the elevator away from SSP.
No tendency to drop a wing if the feet were active enough to control balance.
Engine parameters all good if a little cool!
Maybe that’s because it was bloody freezing!
High downwind for the first landing, she reminded me that she is a light, low inertia machine with the speed washing off quickly in the flare and hold off.
A rather inelegant, if safe arrival from a foot or so higher than I thought, I brought the first flight to an end, but not of course the slow down and directional control battle!
The engine was idling 100 rpm high, which produced enough residual thrust to keep her rolling longer than you would think.
Taxiing in feeling relief and a quiet pleasure that the old girl lives and flies again.
Another flight and 3 or 4 circuits later in the day confirmed the Turb is back !!!!
PS and the landings improved 😊
Martyn ....
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Some sounds don’t just take you back .... they take you somewhere.
The whistle.
The shunting.
The rock and rolling of the carriages.
The hiss and billowing clouds of steam drifting back across the countryside.
And suddenly, on a very rare Sunday off, we weren't thinking about work.
We were simply there.
Together.
A whole bunch of us .... and Harvey, our much-revered Aircraft Engineer, who had travelled with his family and friends all the way from Nelson in Victoria, about 500 kilometres away, to join the journey.
We met at Mount Barker Railway Station and boarded the Highlander Steam Train for the journey to Strathalbyn. This girl was first commissioned in 1915, returning to work in 2021 after restoration and a period of 31 years sitting idle!
Harv is a seriously enthusiastic steam train buff. He has encouraged us to watch the reality TV series about the North Yorkshire Moors Railway on YouTube.
Although calling it a 'show' doesn't really seem right.
It is a genuine glimpse into the life of a working heritage railway .... the people, the personalities, the machinery, the problems, the pride and the sheer dedication that keeps these extraordinary machines alive.
And when you look around our group, we all seem to have the same problem.
We gather heritage experiences.
We rescue and restore old machinery.
Cars.
Aircraft.
Steam engines .... we wish!
Carts for Clydesdales.
Things with stories.
Things that probably should have been left alone according to sensible people...
But somehow they end up in our lives.
It really is a problem.
But a very good one!
And on this Sunday, we were simply enjoying somebody else's heritage for a change.
I just loved it.
The sounds.
The banging and clanking.
The rock and rolling.
The rhythm of the train working its way through the hills.
Looking out through the windows, there were the cuttings through the hills, the slanting rock faces and those beautiful yellow fields of canola stretching across the countryside. Big, big majestic gums.
The smoke and steam drifting along behind us made it feel almost like a Sunday afternoon cream tea train .... although I'm not sure it actually was one!
And I found myself wondering what it must have been like to travel this way two or three generations before me.
I don't actually have a childhood memory of travelling on a steam train.
But sitting there brought back other memories.
I grew up on a sheep farm, so trains were a real novelty.
I remember being at my Nan and Pop's in Mount Gambier and running outside to stand on their newly built limestone wall so I could see over the lower houses when the freight train came through, blowing its whistle.
That was my train memory.
And isn't it funny what we notice when we look back?
As a child, I never really appreciated the beautiful, old Mount Gambier Railway Station.
I love it now.
Ahhh... the wisdom of looking back.
What we would notice now.
What we would appreciate now.
What we simply didn't have .... to be able to see then.
And then there was the old bakery van.
It would stop outside Nan and Pop's house and Nan would get us one of those wonderful old-fashioned Kitchener buns .... icing sugar on top that puffed up your nose with the first bite, and jam and cream in the middle that squished out the sides.
Checking the sheep in Pop's Jag ....Bouncing over the wombat holes around the paddocks sat up on the arm rest in the back.
Biting into a tired curd tart that was twisted into greaseproof paper. His lunch was always in an old wooden cheese box, Nan put extra in for us grandkiddiwinks, even crispy, curly vegemite sandwiches tasted amazing out of that box!
Those are the memories the steam train stirred up in me.
Not memories of actually travelling on a steam train, but memories of the world around trains.
Country towns.
Sundays.
Nan and Pop.
Limestone walls and freight train whistles.
Bakery vans and Kitchener buns.
And perhaps that is part of what makes the Fleurieu so special.
It really is unusual to have so many genuine, working heritage experiences in one region .... The Cockle Train, The SteamRanger Heritage Railway, PaddleSteamer PS Oscar W, Victor Harbor Horse Drawn Tram with the Clydesdales and Adelaide Biplanes.
www.fleurieupeninsula.com.au/things-to-do/heritage
Different journeys.
Different stories.
Different sounds.
But all still living and working heritage.
And on this particular Sunday, we were simply the passengers.
A group of people who spend an awful lot of time keeping old things 'rock and rolling', finally sitting back together and simply enjoying the story, the sounds and the journey.
And what a lovely problem to have.
I LOVED IT!
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