Sydney Heli-Meet

[Glen]

Thaddeus, thanks for a great day, really enjoyed it. As Leek said the very thorough descriptions of the pre flight checks and workings was really interesting. Had a few family commitments when I got home so haven't even looked at the shots, so hopefully there were some reasonable ones (I took a lot!). Would highly recommend flying with Thaddeus

[MHD]

As I said before... During winter once there is some snow on the ground there should be a flyover of the mountains!

What is the range on the bird?

[thaddeus]

Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself Glen, I look forward to your shots!

MHD, I've flown it up to the Gulf of Carpenteria and over Kosciuszko quite happily. There are various shots here. The range of each leg depends on how many people you are carrying. With two people and a small amount of luggage it has a range of approx 550-600km.

[Glen]

A few shots with more to come


The intrepid crew




Luckily Thaddeus brought along his own super glue!




Look how tired the rotors look after flying the three of us around




A couple of other pilots arguing over who's turn it is to open the hangar doors







My icon obsession














And a helicopter not yet out of the box




More to come

[birddog114]

I want the blue one.

[Glen]

Birddy, it was like a choclate shop, able to pick any colour you liked

[stormygirl]

WOW Glen these are spectacular! I am totally envious...you guys in Sydney have ALL the fun! Helicopter rides, night shoots, min-meets @ Birddogs, and the luxury of having the Anniversary Meet in your home town. I'm terribly jealous .

These pics are simply wonderful, and it's wonderful to see a 'different perspective' of the Harbour. Looking forward to seeing more, and making me more green-eyed!

[Glen]

More coming Stormygirl, just realised in my monday morning fog I just wiped a card!! Will have to recover it. I think the momentum will pick up in other states with outings, etc. This sure was fun

[gstark]

I want the blue one.

The red ones go faster.

[MHD]

Awesome!

So, we can not commercial use images taken along the harbour foreshore... what about above it

[MHD]

Glad to hear you enjoyed yourself Glen, I look forward to your shots!

MHD, I've flown it up to the Gulf of Carpenteria and over Kosciuszko quite happily. There are various shots here. The range of each leg depends on how many people you are carrying. With two people and a small amount of luggage it has a range of approx 550-600km.

Can you refuel?
Might have to chat closer to the time but you should be able to get awesome shots of the western faces of KNP from the air....

Wonder how much it would cost...

hmmm....

[birddog114]

Awesome!

So, we can not commercial use images taken along the harbour foreshore... what about above it

Same thing, unless you go to MARS or the Moon then maybe:will be free.

[thaddeus]

Glen, great shots! It's tricky to take shots from the chopper, isn't it? I like the shot of Fort Denison. Did any of the air to air ones come out?

MHD, I will probably pop down to the snowy this winter. I would probably refuel at Cooma and then buzz the skiers. Total distance is 210nm, ie 2 hours each way. Allow an hour of buzzing the skiers, that's 5 hours, about $3k for the trip.

Leek, have you got some shots from my camera that you can post?

[Geoff]

Awesome shots Glen! Can't wait to get up in the sky!

[sirhc55]

Nice ones Glen

[Glen]

Thaddeus, a few air to air tonight or tomorrow morning. The seaplane and other choppers all came out well. Yes it is hard to shoot from the chopper, maybe next time no doors and two camera bodies on leg ropes. I have a lot more respect for your shot in the last challenge and you were flying at the time!

Geoff, you will love it. MHD, enjoy your Snowy run, a bit rich for my taste.

[leek]

Here are a few of my helicopter photos that weren't ruined... As usual - click for more pixels...
<table width=600><tr><td></td><td>Our trusty carriage for the morning</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>The all-important bit... </td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Thaddeus making sure that the bolts are tight</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>The Olympic Stadium</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>The Hall of Agriculture</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Fort Denison</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>A maxi-yacht heading out to sea</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>A seaplane coming into land in Rose Bay</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Long Reef</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Shelly and Manly Beach</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>The surf of the Northern Beaches</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Coming back down the Harbour near Balmain (and yes, I know that the horizon isn't straight)</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Final Approach at Bankstown Airport</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Approaching the hangar 20ft off the ground.</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Back on solid ground</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>A student getting ready for take-off</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Take-off</td></tr>
</table>

[MHD]

Thaddeus, a few air to air tonight or tomorrow morning. The seaplane and other choppers all came out well. Yes it is hard to shoot from the chopper, maybe next time no doors and two camera bodies on leg ropes. I have a lot more respect for your shot in the last challenge and you were flying at the time!

Geoff, you will love it. MHD, enjoy your Snowy run, a bit rich for my taste.

Yes... might save that one for after the PhD

[johndec]

Judging by the pics so far, it appears Thaddeus made sure the chopper didn't have any screws loose, shame he didn't do a preflight on "Manual" Leek and "Delete It" Glen

[Matt. K]

Looks like you guys had a lot of fun. Didn't get a bit excited there did we? Wrong settings and deleted files? A couple of shots of vodka might be a good pre-flight adjustment next time.

[Glen]

Matt, you are right. Maybe two black coffees before downloading instead of one Or maybe two shots of vodka! Johndec, feel free to call me "skinny".

[Matt. K]

Glen
I am jealous. You both got some wild pics. The best part of a heli flight is getting out after you have landed. I don't believe those things can fly!

[Glen]

Matt, you are right it was great. Must say I agree that is a wonder it all works

[leek]

After much sulking and frustration on Sunday, I took another look at my "ruined" photos today and spent a while cleaning them up with Photoshop & Noiseware...

They are still quite grainy at full size and are not suitable for printing, but look almost reasonable on screen at this resolution / size...

THESE are the sort of views that you can expect while flying aboard Air-Thaddeus...

<<<SCROLL DOWN PAST THE BLANK LINES>>>
<table>
<tr><td></td><td>Olympic Park</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>The Importance of Being Waterfront</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Central Business District - Old & New</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>The Coat Hanger</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>The Sails</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Farm Cove / Botanical Gardens</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>A US Army Troop Carrier at Garden Island</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Confusing Yacht Race Action</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Shark Island</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>A Rather Exclusive Beach</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Bondi</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>North Head</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>Sydney Cityscape</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td>How the other 10% lives at Hunter's Hill</td></tr>
</table>

[Frankenstein]

Great shots guys - looks like you had lots of fun. But I think you're crazy getting into that thing - it looks like a soap bubble on steroids!

Frank

[bender]

when is the next one...