Melton "Houdini - Centenary Air Show"

[VH-XXX]

Did it land, on the gravel at Melton?

[Captain Dart]

Yes it did, after several violations of controlled airspace. A 'wheel' from the L39 Owners' Club...erm, I mean the standards-setting Australian Warbirds Association Limited, was on board.

[nitpicker330]

mmmmmm enough said about the L39 and their standards!!

[VH-XXX]

Yes it did, after several violations of controlled airspace.

That would have been a laugh to listen to on VHF at those kind of speeds. Being so close to airspace there in terms of the lower limit of the class-C I am not at all surprised! Even the best of operators would find that airspace "tight" in that kind of aircraft, particularly if they arrived from the north east.

There is a spot not far to the east of Melton in the 1,500ft step where you always hear people being questioned over them being there as the controller knows that it's impossible to be there and at > 500ft AGL.

[nitpicker330]

yeah maybe so but...They flew VFR and planned BOL direct Melton!!

Then they had to ask Mel Centre for a Radar vector to find Melton. They had overflown it.

So much for the nice Garmin GNS I saw in the front seat!!

I'm sorry but some people shouldn't fly fast jets...........

[VH-XXX]

Wow! That is quite an attempted feat in that machine and you'd think probably not very safe considering the height of some of the terrain around there in relation to the lower level of class C plus a bit rude for other Class G users having that thing zoom past at a great rate of knots. If I was driving, it would be straight up, flat out for an hour and straight down again, not stuffing around at 1,000ft AGL looking for a CTAF somewhere.

You'd think that had they been IFR they would have descended in from the west and kept clear of Tulla which would surely be much safer and easier for everyone.

But then again, perhaps it can loiter along slowly and mingle well with other aircraft like the Drifters at Sunbury whose wing skins melted as they zoomed past.

I assume this is the aircraft you speak of:

[Critical Reynolds No]

Found this.
YouTube - Albatross Melton Centenary of Houdini's Flight
Not sure if it took off though!!

[VH-XXX]

So it's still there then??

Would love to hear those stories some time Owen.

[nitpicker330]

Yes it departed after blowing half of the airfield away and nearly flipping a Birddog Cessna.