After flaring too high the student pilot continued with the landing attempt but the aircraft struck the runway heavily then bounced several times. The nose gear assembly was distorted and the engine support frame was bent.

The pilot did not observe any obstructions, on the flight strip, when he overflew the strip and joined downwind for a normal circuit. During the final approach the pilot observed that there was a donkey feeding, in the trees, approximately 40 metres off to the right of the edge of the flight strip. Shortly after landing the donkey ran in front of the aircraft and the pilot was unable to avoid a collision. The donkey was killed. There was no animal proof fence around the flight strip. This accident was not the subject of a formal on scene investigation.

The aircraft was parked about 40 metres from its hangar. After carrying out a normal daily inspection the pilot boarded the aircraft with the intention of conducting some practice circuits and landings. As soon as the engine was started it developed full power, the aircraft accelerated rapidly and collided with a truck which was parked in the hangar. The pilot had not flown for four months and most of her experience was on a more basic aircraft type. The pre-flight and engine start sequences were attempted without using the checklist. After the engine had started the pilot tried to reduce power but did not depress the throttle-lock of the vernier control. It is possible that the cabin heat control, which was selected on, could have been mistaken for the park brake, which was not set, as they are both situated in the same panel.

Spray runs were being carried out under a power line when the aircraft cable deflector struck the line. The cable rode up the cable deflector and severed the top of the rudder from the aircraft. The aircraft was landed in a paddock without further damage.

While flying at a slow forward speed approximately 15 feet above the trees, the helicopter suddenly yawed to the right. As the pilot was unable to correct the yaw he attempted to manoeuvre the helicopter to a clear area. The helicopter impacted the ground in a level attitude, heading rearward and rotating. Investigation revealed that all the teeth were missing from the forward short shaft rear coupling, which had failed due to lack of lubrication, and resulted in a loss of tail rotor propulsion. The coupling, which was covered by a rubber dust boot, had not received adequate daily inspections to ensure that it contained sufficient grease and was free of excessive play.

The landing gear had been selected down during descent to the destination. On arrival overhead the strip the pilot noticed some cattle on the strip. He became concerned with the onset of darkness and selected the gear up to make a quick pass to clear the cattle from the strip. The gear was selected down on downwind and the selection was again checked on final approach, but the aircraft landed without the gear being down and locked. Inspection of the aircraft revealed that the landing gear actuator motor drew excessive current due to the armature windings being badly burnt. This resulted in the landing gear circuit breaker being tripped during the retraction sequence and the gear stopping just before the fully retracted position. When the pilot selected the gear down before landing, the gear remained in its previous position. With the gear in this position, neither gear position indicator lights was illuminated.

The pilot's first attempted departure from his property strip was abandoned when he encountered strong downdrafts at about 150 feet above the ground. Sufficient strip length remained to permit a safe landing straight ahead. The pilot then attempted a second take-off, but again encountered severe downdrafts. On this occasion a landing back on the strip was not possible. The pilot decided the aircraft could not outclimb the terrain ahead, and selected an open area just to the right of his track in which to land. The nosegear and the right maingear were torn out when the aircraft touched down on the soft surface and groundlooped to a halt. No evidence was found to indicate that the engine was not capable of delivering full power during the take-off attempts. The wind at the time was strong and gusty, and conditions were conducive to downdrafts and wind shear. The pilot had not waited for the conditions to abate before commencing the second take-off.

Circumstances:

The pilot, who had limited gliding experience, was taking part in an away from home gliding excursion in the Flinders Ranges. She had made only six flights from the airfield, and these had all been in one direction of landing. However, the strip was subsequently changed to a direction previously not used by the pilot. She had been authorised for a further solo flight by her instructor on his understanding that she would be landing in a familiar direction. The accident flight was only the pilot's second flight in the aircraft type. After an uneventful launch, the pilot was watched on her return to the circuit by her instructor. From his observations, the pilot appeared to be flying too low on the downwind leg and did not compensate on her base leg. Initially, the pilot's final approach appeared to be normal but then it was noticed that the airbrakes were extended. The aircraft was seen to dive more steeply, level off for landing and collide with a fence short of the strip. The pilot later admitted that she was not confident of being able to land within the strip length and was preoccupied with some trees at the end of the runway. This accident was not the subject of an on-scene investigation.

Circumstances:

The pilot reported that he had refuelled at Dubbo enroute from Albury and departed Dubbo for Redcliffe with full tanks. Flight planned endurance was 300 minutes, the planned flight time was 210 minutes, and the flight was to be conducted below 5000 feet. The pilot stated that during the flight he had encountered light to moderate turbulence and that frequent increases to the power setting had been made, to compensate for the effect of turbulence on aircraft performance. Passing Warwick, 160 kilometres from Redcliffe, the fuel gauges were reading one quarter and below one quarter, which was assessed by the pilot to be adequate to continue the flight. As the aircraft crossed the ranges to the west of Redcliffe, the turbulence became more severe, and the pilot noticed the fuel gauge needles on or close to the empty stops but expected that there would still be sufficient fuel remaining. Shortly after this, at 2000 feet, the fuel pressure dropped to zero and the engine failed. The pilot turned on the auxiliary fuel pump, selected a field and was about to land, when the engine restarted at about 100 feet above ground level. The pilot stated that he commenced a climb towards Redcliffe but passing 1500 feet the engine failed again. A forced landing was carried out onto a 500 metre long disused strip which was overgrown by tall grass. The pilot was forced to land downwind and was unable to use the full length of the strip due to high trees on the approach end. During the landing roll, the aircraft ran off the end of the strip and down an embankment, before colliding with a dead tree and a fence corner post. Higher than normal power settings, stronger headwinds than planned for and turbulence contributed to fuel exhaustion after 260 minutes of flight. This accident was not the subject of an on-scene investigation.

On return from his third solo flight, the pilot was attempting to complete a 180 degree turn in a confined area between two hangars. He positioned the aircraft on the left extremity of the concrete apron prior to starting the right turn. The left outer wing section struck a vertical support for the hangar located adjacent to the apron.