Last Friday in the morning Belinda and I took off with Russell Duncan and Scott Barrett from a grass strip in the Hexham swamp just west of Newcastle (see it on Google Earth or Maps at the link above) for a two hour flight aboard two Airborne trikes (http://www.airborne.com.au/pages/ml_microlights.html) around Newcastle and Lake Macquarie.

Click for higher resolution version. Photo by Belinda Boulter.

This is the XT trike powered by Rotax 912. We are flying over the ocean with a residential area in the background.

I hadn't flown a trike in a while and it was great to have Russell's guidance in the back seat (and on the hand throttle). I found this trike to be light to the touch and easy to fly. Turning was basically a little roll action and push out. Of course, the four stroke engine had plenty of power.

The area around Newcastle is quite scenic, so it makes for a great sales tool for prospective trike purchasers. They get a great view and it goes by slowly enough to be actually seen. What better way for a retired guy who always wanted to fly and now has the money to make that dream come true.

Airborne is a hang gliding company that is really a trike manufacturer that builds hang gliders on the side to make its owners and some of its core employees happy to work there.

I asked Russell what the market for trikes was. The retired guys who always wanted to fly and are looking for scenic flights were a major part of the market. Another section was folks making money selling joy flights.

Commercial interest in trikes has picked up (and the factory is very very busy these days, which is unusual before Christmas). Trikes are used for inspecting pipe lines in China (to make sure that the poor aren't stealing oil), herding cattle, checking for illegal logging in forests in Indonesia, among other uses. They are much cheaper to run and purchase than helicopters and can land in quite small areas (as well as circle slowly when spotting something).

Their use stopping illegal logging in Indonesia should qualify Airborne as an offset for their carbon footprint. There is a growing interest in trikes that use very fuel efficient engines.

As a hang glider pilot (I have also trained in sailplanes and in trikes and in paragliders), I am most interested in their towing ability (more on this later). I found the trike towing at Gulgong to be most pleasant. It's great to be behind a well trained tug pilot whether flying a trike or a Dragonfly.

There was a sea breeze convergence line as we left the green airstrip which brought a little bit of turbulence (thermals). By the time we got back there was plenty of cross wind and turbulence. I found 1000 fpm just before the air strip. Russell brought the trike in fast at the last second. No flaring just before touch down.

The airstrip is in the Hexham swamp, which is currently drier than is historically the case, because there is a one way valve at the outflow end keeping the tide out of the swamp and reducing its ability to be a nursery for fish stocks in the bay. The plan apparently is to do away with this valve and let the waters flow back in. The airstrip may be raised at that time.

The airstrip exists because you can't build on the area to begin with. The club house is on stilts ten feet above the ground. No commercials businesses can be located at the airstrip.

It was fun for Belinda and I to fly around in this area and we really appreciate Russell and Scott giving us a great tour.