Markon Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 A couple of months ago I purchased Ant’s Aircraft’s Drifter A-582 and while looking through the documentation, was stunned to see my old Drifter 25-413. I took delivery of 25-413 from Ausflight on the 5th December 1990. I had actually had the pleasure of ordering 413 and seeing it under construction at Boonah while I was doing my conversion onto ultralites. My understanding is that it was the third Ausflight Drifter constructed with the Rotax 582 engine and the first to use the Brolga 4 blade prop. I really enjoyed flying 413 and before selling it, amassed over 300 hours in it. The fantastic visibility and manoeuvrability and the Drifter’s almost STOL ability made it an excellent farmer’s tool and a joy to fly. It was sold in June 1998. The reason for the reluctant sale was that I was doing a lot of corporate training in the IT industry and not really flying it. The insurance at the time was prohibitive as well adding to ownership costs. Painting by a local artist, Madeline Cobb showing me flying 413. As you can see, the wheel spats have been removed as I was generally operating off rough farm strips. I downloaded the paint kit and modified the DDS files to match the actual colour scheme when I operated it. I chose the colour scheme because I was primarily using it for stock and paddock inspection and mustering. As most of the flying was below 500 feet AGL and one of our properties that I was operating it over was in prime broadacre and cotton country, there were many agricultural aircraft operating at the same level, I wished to be as visible as possible.  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingleaf Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 How very interesting. What a nice discovery and a beautiful painting. Awesome memory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifejogger Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 That is quite a story enjoyed reading it and those are very nice screen shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuisong Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 That is really interesting Markon. How amazing to have owned a Drifter. I'm going quite green after reading your post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushflyn Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 Good read Markon. I very much flying the drifter over ORBX scenery. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Emms Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 Very nice indeed. cheers Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markon Posted May 26, 2012 Author Share Posted May 26, 2012 Thanks everyone for the kind comments. I must admit I realy miss flying 413. One of my great pleasures was when I took many of my friends up in 413 and shared the experience and thrills of open cockpit flying. One of my Dutch friends after a flight in 413, christened it “Mooi Wespeâ€, which I understand roughly translates as Beautiful Wasp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taph Posted May 26, 2012 Share Posted May 26, 2012 Nice painting, and great to share your memories Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markon Posted May 26, 2012 Author Share Posted May 26, 2012 Nice painting, and great to share your memories Thanks for the kind comment,Taph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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