Qantas again..

Qantas has stood down two pilots who failed activate the landing gear on a Boeing 767 on approach Sydney's Kingsford Smith international airport from Melbourne on Monday. The plane was less than 300 meters above the ground when the onboard computer system warned the pilots with the words "too low - gear, too low - gear".
The pilots then regained altitude and circled the airport before landing shortly after, This particular warning is designed to go off when the aircraft is too close to the ground.

The president of the Australian and International Pilots Association said it is "very serious" if the enhanced warning system is activated, and the incident is being investigated, In the meantime, The pilots have been stood down.

During take off and landing, You're dealing with air traffic, slowing the aircraft down, configuration changes and changing radio frequencies, So something as simple as landing gear can get overlooked.

The safety bureau is expected to deliver a preliminary factual report in about a month.
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All Blacks beat Australia in Japan.

The New Zealand All Blacks have beaten the Australian Wallabies 32-19 at the Japan Olympic Stadium on Saturday night in front of over 45,000 fans .

Matt Giteau scored for the Australians first, with a long-range penalty early in the first half.

Matt Giteau then added another three point penalty in the 12th minute. A few minutes later All blacks number 10 Dan Carter replied with a successful penalty kick, to get the All Blacks off the mark.

All Black Sitiveni Sivivatu got the first try of the game after 20 minutes, touching down to put the All blacks ahead.

Matt Giteau then got the Australians back to within one point with a penalty 10 minutes out from halftime after

Dan Carter put the All Blacks' lead back out to four points with a penalty just before the half time break.

A few moments later All Black Sivivatu was shown a yellow card in the 33rd minute for tackling Australian second-five Adam Ashley-Cooper which the Australians took advantage of and five minutes from halftime the Australian winger Peter Hinds scored in the corner, and after some confusion with the Japanese video official, The South African referee Mark Lawrence awarded the try and the Australians led 16-13 at halftime.

The second half started with both sides improving there game but it was Conrad Smith who took the All Blacks out to a 20-16 lead with a try in the 46th minute of the game.

The All Blacks number 10 DanCarter kicked penalties in the 62nd, 68th and 73rd minutes to extend the lead the All Blacks lead to 29-19 and Australian Matt Giteau could only answer with a penalty in the 71st minute.

The Australians then began to lose disipline as the penalties started to go against them, Dan Carter then added a further three points to push the score out to 32-19. Read More......

The best gift ever.

Yesterday was my birthday, My lovely wife did something for me that Ive only ever dreamed about doing, She got me flying lessons, Flying has been a passion of mine for many years, I never really gave much thought about flying a plane because of the costs involved, Now i only wish i had done it years earlier. The plane was a Grumman AA-1C trainer and although we had 24-28 knot crosswind gusts it was extremely stable.

So where to from here? I may consider taking this passion further, I definitely intend to find out more about whats involved and if i can afford to do it then why not give it a go.

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Boys day out.

Last weekend was the annual speedshow exhibition, A great day out for the boys in Auckland. This year had a line-up of cars and motorcycles - new, performance, classic and customs.

This year's event saw Speedshow fill to capacity with three main halls of the showgrounds, and an extensive outdoor display and activities to add to the attractions for the speed lovers. And the new children's area called Speedshow 4 Kids proved very popular with Roary the Racing Car shows at 10am and 12pm each day.

Some of New Zealand’s best drift cars were alongside historic racing cars and bikes and New Zealand’s best race car simulators.There were new cars and motorcycles from some of the world’s leading manufacturers and exhibitors with a wide range of motoring and motorsport-related products and services, but honestly there’s too much to mention so if you like cars and motorbikes, Speedshow was the place to be.

This year's key draw-cards included the world's fastest NASCAR and the original movie Batmobile from the original Batman movies courtesy of Warner Brothers Movie World on the Gold Coast, The motorbike from the movie "The worlds fastest Indian" as well as the world famous Britten motorbike.

The oldest exhibit was a 1903 Ford that cost 180 pounds when brand-new while nearby was a DTM-spec Mercedes Benz AMG supercar, one of only 100 in the world that cost well over $500,000 new.

This event has only been running 3 years in New Zealand and has already moved venue because of space, It doubles in size every year so next years event should be better again.

Top photo is my 5 year old son with former superbike rider, Aaron Slight.
2nd Photo is the bike from the movie "Worlds fastest Indian"




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