RV Australia Fly-in Goolwa

This morning I drove down to Goolwa (about an hour south of Adelaide) for the RV Australia Fly-in.  

These planes are sold in kit form and shipped to and assembled by the customer.  The company was started by Richard VanGrunsven in a shed in Oregon as a "one-man band" in 1972.  The RV- type numbers refer to his initials. Over 10,000 RV-
aircraft have been assembled all over the world, and the company is now wholly owned by it's 70+ employees. There were examples of many of the aircraft in the range on the ground at Goolwa.

The earliest models were the RV-3 (19-8732) and RV-4 VH-DAX

Some types are available in both tail-dragger and tricycle variants like these RV-6 (VH-YUY) and RV-6A (VH-RHV), and RV-7 (VH-VSR) and RV-7A (VH-XJL)

Later models are the RV-8 (VH-VRV), RV-10 (VH-XIO), RV-12 (19-8207) and RV-14A (VH-VFB)

Aldinga and Adelaide Biplanes

 My last trip down to Aldinga was a bit of a wash out as the airfield and Café was closed

Today it was nice and sunny, so off I went.  The airfield was quite busy with plenty of planes coming and going.  Amongst the planes were a couple of Evektor Harmony light sport planes,  a Vans RV-8 and an Aeronca Champion

Adelaide Biplanes rums the airfield and the café here.  They have a number of vintage aircraft which they use for joy flights.  All of their planes were operating today. They are a Waco Great Lakes, a Waco Classic, a DH-82 Tiger Moth and a Boeing Stearman

Laratinga Wetlands

 The other morning I took a quick trip down the South-Eastern Freeway to Mount Barker and Laratinga Wetlands.  The water levels were still very high and the sun was very bright which reduced the opportunity for photos because of the glare.

I spotted these Pacific Black Ducks resting with one showing off it beautiful blue/green speculum

A little further on i watched an Australian Grebe feeding.  Each time it surfaced the water droplets rolled off it's back.  I couldn't decide between these two photos so you get 2 for the price of 1!

I was hoping to get some photos of the secretive Spotted Crake, but the water was so high it remained hidden behind the grass - seen but not photographed.  There were a couple of Grey Teal resting in the sun. Their speculum is a white and black bar

I haven't been here for a few years, but there was always a Superb Fairy-wren territory by the path, and the bird wasn't scared by people walking past.  Sure enough, there was a male happily feeding by the path, maybe the son or grandson of the bird I saw years ago.

Another regular spot was a partly submerged tree trunk that always had turtles loafing on it. Only one this time, a Maquarie Turtle

I won't leave it so long before my next visit