See you all at Port Macquarie….3rd to 5th April.

Welcome to 2020 everyone.
It is not long before we once again gather at Port Macquarie for our 2020 conference.

If you have not yet booked your accommodation, we have some rooms put aside at Rydges, where the conference is based. Please ring Jackie on +61 2 65892819 and mention LOBO Oz for bookings.

We are getting together another interesting conference, but if any of you have something to present, or a suggestion/query to investigate, we are always happy to hear about it. Send through details to: LOBO Oz Committee

 

Our first gathering of owners and enthusiasts

 

Look forward to catching up soon. Details of extra events (including LOLs activities) to follow soon.

LOBO Oz returns to Mudgee. 10th,11th and 12th May 2019

 

Mudgee was a popular spot in 2016, so we have secured the venue for May this year – 2019.

The Hangar House

We are working on the details and will let you know what is organised before long. Suggestions/requests welcome.

Yes, it is Mothers’ Day weekend, so why not bring Mum along to enjoy the weekend with us and our LOL’s (LOBO Oz Ladies)?

Lots of details to follow; the first job was getting a venue and dates out there.

 

Reconnaissance mission…less than two weeks away for me…Also Membership due.

I am heading away soon to look around Kununurra and other places on the way. I hope to catch up with a few of our LOBO Oz members during my travels.

I have had a few ask about membership payments. As we are into a new financial year membership is due. Please click on the Membership & payments tab. Put your name on the transfer.

Crossing Bass Strait

Getting our 3 girls ready to cross Bass Strait. We didnt even own a digital camera back then 20 years ago, however not a lot has changed as far as being prepared.

For any of you who are concerned about overwater flying, here is a link that provides good information from our locals in Tassy. Crossing Bass Strait

Important Announcement from the Evolution Aircraft Company

Evolution Customer Update October 5th, 2017
As you all can imagine from my first message, the past 48 hours have been pretty all-consuming. We have completed the first phase of our restructure and are now developing the specific needs and processes to move forward.
Company update:
Tuesday afternoon October 3, 2017, we had to lay-off 22 full-time employees out of 49 total.
At present, our focus is on fulfilling all current orders, primarily in the avionics portion of the business. We also have three complete Turbine Evolution kits on hand and they are certainly for sale! These kits will be sold to new customers only with their explicit understanding that as we work through our current situation to deliver all outstanding orders, we will be working just as hard to restructure successfully for the long term. The longer term plan, at this time, is just less certain.
Up until recently, I believed the improvements we have achieved in both the product and the marketing were enough to keep us going. However, several recent incidents out of our control created a bit of a crisis for our company. These include the market for aircraft insurance and delays in deliveries of some redesigned high value-added components. This caused me to question our ability to sustain the sales volume necessary to support us for the long-term with recent staff size.
In addition, we had two customers late in the kit manufacturing process withdraw from their purchase for personal reasons after their kits were almost complete. This put us in the unfortunate position that we had to change our short-term direction immediately to ensure we are able to fulfill all of our commitments to our valued customers whose airframe kits have been fully completed and delivered but whose avionics panels and engine firewall forward packages are still in production.
Rather than expend all our resources hoping sales will come in time, we decided the best course of action was to “right-size” our workforce to what is needed to complete the work we already have until I can secure adequate investment to move forward. As you might imagine, I have been and am continuing to work with a number of investors to re-capitalize the business. To that end, any of you that might know someone who is seriously interested in discussing this opportunity with me please let me know.
Our management team:
I have re-assumed the role of President/CEO, Randy Akacich will remain CFO through this transition, and Tom Pecharich has agreed to take over as General Manager of our retained staff since the work remaining is mostly in our avionics department. Kevin Eldredge has gracefully resigned as President but more importantly has agreed to help where he can to make sure our current customers get what they need to complete their projects and assist me in structuring a successful path forward.
Tasks ahead:
One of our biggest tasks will be supporting the current fleet with parts and technical support. The good news is that the business has no bank debt and all assets have been secured and are available as needed. However, the short term issue I see is responding timely to the needs of our existing customers currently flying. At this point, there will be no one to accept direct phone calls and any messages left will be logged and sorted to be returned as quickly as possible.
I ask that if you all email your questions and needs first to info@evolutionaircraft.com with as much description as possible, we will let you know the email was received and do our very best to support you and give you guidance.
In sum:
I sincerely apologize for the anxiety and inconvenience this may cause but rest assured I am doing all I can to figure out the best plan for the company going forward. The Evolution and the capabilities of the knowledge developed over the past 35 years continue to have great potential in the General Aviation market as well as other applications suitable for the Evolution platform.
I will keep all of you regularly updated as we transition through the company’s short-term difficulties and we strive for the ultimate goal of transitioning to a company adequately financed to achieve greater market applications (and profitability) than just general aviation.
Thank you for your patience and continuing to believe in the Evolution and our company,
Bob Wolstenholme
President/CEO
bobw@evolutionaircraft.com

 

Unfortunately many of our well know contacts from the original Lancair days are now without a job.

Great looking pressurised aeroplane.

We have an EVO that should have been on the way to Oz very soon, not sure on progess ATM.

Our Oz Evo flew first flight yesterday. All good so it should be on the way home soon.

See you all next weekend.

The McCraken Country Club has now pretty much locked in our catering requirements, we will be well fed and I look forward to a wonderful weekend. If you are planning to attend and have not yet registered please let me know ASAP.

We have organised some good weather, even though Goolwa is starting to get cooler you can see our arrival day is advertised as being “Mostly sunny and pleasant”.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1myJb4jlXNF5exMf8sC0mvqPMbWpuRPuwoCRJrMvkLYw/viewform?edit_requested=true

Transition Training. Member feedback.

Below is a letter from one of our LOBO Oz members.

The Super Legacy.

 

Lancair Super Legacy Training in Tasmania

Have just spent three days exploring the capabilities of the Lancair Super Legacy RG with Gary Weeks and two mates in Devonport.

VH-LNZ is a twin turbo charged Reno Racer version of the Legacy, owned by Terry Travers who imported it from California. We recently joined LOBO Oz and met Gary and his immaculate Legacy at the Mudgee fly-in.

I had only just started flying the Legacy and gained a huge amount of knowledge from the presentations at the fly-in and invaluable advice from Gary Weeks, Gary Burns and many of the other members. They were also extremely supportive and generous with their time in assisting us to prepare for our trip to Warbirds over Wanaka in LNZ.

During all of this communication, we started talking with Gary about the possibility of doing some “transition training” in the Legacy. I had not done any real training other than flying with Terry who had done some training in California before the plane was shipped here.

I had been flying the Legacy very conservatively and well within its limits and my own personal minima’s. So after several weeks of strong westerlies and rain in Tassie, the weather cleared for three beautiful days of clear calm weather for putting the Legacy through its paces.

It is an awesome machine, and Gary opened our eyes to what it is capable of, how it behaves in different scenarios and how to make sure that we stay safe. We are not intending to go anywhere near the limits, but it is important to know where they are, how to recognise them, and what happens if you approach them.

We went through slow speed handling characteristics, stall recognition and recovery, steep turns, glide approaches, emergency gear extensions, engine management, instrument approach configuration, flapless landings, cross wind considerations, go-arounds and so many other helpful tips and advice on all sorts of topics, including Legacy specific maintenance issues, ditching and off-field landings, weight and balance, weather and icing, unusual attitude recovery and performance limitations. All absolutely invaluable knowledge that could one day save your life.

So if you haven’t already done it and you want to extend your knowledge of any Lancair you fly, get in touch with Gary or one of the other committee members and organise some training, or just get actively involved in the group, attend the fly-ins and benefit from the vast amount of experience and knowledge that exists within LOBO.

As a bonus, you will meet some fantastic people that enjoy sharing a common passion.

Thanks Gary for a thoroughly enjoyable and extremely valuable few days sharing your knowledge with us. We are very fortunate to have someone with your passion and expertise in the Lancair community.

Leigh Bryan.

LNZ and ZYA on a crisp Tassie morning in Devonport

 

Gary Weeks and the Students – Ian Emmett, Leigh Bryan and Terry Travers

 

 

LOBO Oz Port Macquarie Fly-in program

See you all very soon.

LOBO Oz Port Macquarie Fly-in April 24^th-26^th 2015

Program:

Friday 24^th Arrivals at any time that suits.

1700: We are planning a quiet get-together/meet-an-greet at the hangar, and will either have a simple sausage sizzle or perhaps order in some pizza; yet to be decided. Please BYOG.

Saturday 25^th

0830-0845: Gather at the hangar. (highlighted area)

Hangar Location.0900. The President’s address

0930. Risk Radar introduction or other topics (to 10.30).

1045. Rod and the L39 depart for the Anzac Day flypast at Wauchope.

Coffee break.

1115. The L39 returns.

1130. Maybe an hour session on Wing Cuffs and then Insurance, a representative from Aviation Insurance Brokers of Australia will be in attendance.

1230. Lunch today is a sausage sizzle / steak sandwich simple tucker. The tong master will be in action.

1315. Program (subject to change), discussion items may include:

• LOP operations
• Wing Cuffs
• Explosive decompression
• Trans Tasman
• Accident prevention and ATSB statistics
• Lancair specific maintenance items. Are you getting good maintenance, is your maintainer up to speed with Lancair specific items?
• Insurance.

1530/1600 Show and tell

1715 to 1915. Twilight River cruise. $17.00 per head, there is a bar on board the vessel so just turn up.

1930. Dinner, $50.00 per head (3 course dinner with several options) plus drinks.

Port Macquarie Fly-In is shaping up…..Get on board now.

Our Port Macquarie Fly-In is shaping up to be a wonderful weekend, with many of our loyal LOBO Oz group keen to attend.

We will have an amazing collection of wonderful Lancair models in attendance.

So far, we have the following aircraft coming:

• 2 Lancair IVPT’s
• 1 Lancair IVP
• 3 Lancair IV twin turbo charged.
• 2 Lancair IV normally aspirated
• 1 Lancair Super ES
• 1 Lancair Columbia 300
• 1 Lancair 360
• 1 Lancair 320 – not yet confirmed
• 3 Lancair Legacy RG’s

The venue is ready to go with activities still being planned.

Friday evening is meet and greet with a snack and drink at the hangar. [Details to be finalised regarding a simple BBQ sausage sizzle, or order in pizza.]

Saturday morning will involve a President’s introduction, flying with others, and some LOBO Oz discussion on several subjects – detailed program to follow.

Stay in touch

It has been great to see interest building in our LOBO OZ group.

We are keen to be in touch with all Lancair builders and enthusiasts, so please pass details on to others you know at any stage of building or flying these magnificent machines.

Don’t forget to pass on your details to the group also, so that we can stay in touch, and plan for the needs and interests of all enthusiasts.

If you haven’t already done so:

• Join LOBO OZ (via the JoinLOBO OZ tab) – read the Invitation to Join
• ‘Follow’ this blog (so that you can receive immediate updates as they happen) – look for the link  to the right below (FOLLOW FOR IMMEDIATE UPDATES).
• Make a comment on any of the posts as they spark your interest
• Have a look at our Newsletters and Articles (though small in number, atm…)
• Let us know through the Feedback tab about any questions or ideas you may have for LOBO OZ
• Members are also welcome to email photos and details about their own projects – we would love to feature your plane /build process here.