Welcome to Thruster OZ. The plan is to share the fun and freedom of flying an ultralight in Australia.
Thruster TST 25-0168 was rescued from storage and is now back in the air after a 9 year break.
I have been flying General Aviation aircraft for over 30 years and fell in love with the first Thruster that I got to fly. After converting my CPL to a Recreational licence I purchased '168' and went about making it good as new.
Thruster 168 is a 1988 model built in Australia with a Rotax 503 engine. It weighs 150kgs (without fuel and passengers) and cruises at around 45kts.
In 2023 we added a Skyreach Bushcat to the fleet - 340kgs empty and 100hp! Cruises at around 80kts and can carry 2 people, fuel and a handbag.
Both aircraft are amazing to fly and offer affordable options against more conventional (GA) aircraft.
For anyone with a passion for hands on flying - it doesn't get any better then this.
I look forward to sharing more adventures with you in the future.
Hello there....Is the UV damaged caused by the aircraft not hangared and being parked outdoors ? or was it caused by exposure to the weather during normal flight operations (progressive wear & tear during flight)?
Compared to the last time I stripped & reskinned a Taylorcraft, that's a cakewalk! Plus, you have far less chance of poisoning yourself with all the chemicals: strippers, cleaners, dope. When I was young, Dad and I stripped a Cub. We spent 2 hours sitting under a tree one night sharing a cigar, waiting for the dope fumes to wear off. I was 10.
Mate that was awesome! Wish I could have seen Tazzie from the Air like that when I was there in 2018. Such a Glorious place, a week was no where near enough time to explore it. Cheers, enjoyed that.
Great reminder that Tassie is up there with the best in the world for scenery! Well done capturing beautiful Cradle Mountain. Love the Bushcats out landing capability. Even larger tyres would be great but they are expensive and you trade off performance in cruise speed. The tyres you are running seem to be a good compromise. You are to be commended for not pushing on in poor weather on the way home. I know of a couple people locally who made poor decisions in less than ideal weather and paid heavily for it. Looking forward to more videos!
If you wouldn’t mind, can you tell me what sort of strobes you’re running?? The ones we have produce an RF that interferes with the comms. They’re basically useless.
Nice work with the Insta360 X2. These cams are great for aerial shots from aircraft. I've been doing the same on and off for a couple of years now. I'm thinking about upgrading to the X4 with the 8k resolution but haven't pulled the trigger yet. Keep up the great videos!
Ground effect cheaters! (I'm kidding! Don't hurt me! 😆) I think it's awesome we have these here - so often you only see them in the US, especially among the Alaskan bush pilots. I take it your plane is NOT IFR rated?
Sadly RA aircraft in Australia are not permitted for night or IFR although some are equipped. Always loads of fun flying them :) the interest is growing here in oz.
@@thrusteroz I am in Aus ;) But didn't know that model is RA category. Yeah, there's a Topaz dealer nearby, who sells IFR equipped models. Not sure why.
Thank you for that video I really enjoyed all of your video ..I used to fly a single seat thruster at dunalley so your thruster OZ title got me interested Thanks cobber
Great video mate , explained it very well. Slow flight is something that we all should practice more often , too many pilots become blasé and complacent especially in the turning base to final. I’m very aware of what I can and can’t do in my Jab and am looking forward to when I get my T500 up and going 😊🙏
