After becoming low during a cross country flight, the pilot selected a paddock in which to carry out an outlanding. During the approach the pilot became aware of a powerline in the vicinity of the paddock and elected to land in an adjoining paddock. As the glider was flared for landing it struck a small mound concealed in the knee high stubble. The impact resulted in the aircraft being substantially damaged. This accident was not the subject of an on-site investigation.

The pilot was mustering a herd of cattle across a tree lined dry creek bed, when the mob scattered. He positioned the helicopter at tree top height to block the escape of the cattle from the creek. The rotor RPM rapidly decayed and the pilot was unable to prevent the aircraft sinking and landing heavily on the bank of the creek. The pilot attempted to bring the helicopter to a hover in a 15 knot downwind. At the time the helicopter was being operated near to the maximum all up weight in ambient temperatures of about 45 degrees celcius. Insufficient power was available to maintain flight in these conditions.

Upon arrival at Penneshaw the pilot did not obtain a gear down and locked indication for the right main gear. Several alternative methods were tried but a safe indication could not be obtained. During a flypast, another pilot on the ground observed the aircraft with the aid of binoculars and reported that the gear appeared to be down. During the landing roll the pilot felt the right gear start to collapse. He decided to go-around and fly back to Adelaide where better facilities were available. Several more attempts were made to lock the gear in the down position, but to no avail. During the subsequent landing the right gear collapsed at about 30 knots and the aircraft slid a further 212 metres before coming to rest on a taxiway off the right side of the runway. Examination revealed that the lower and centre drag link brace joints had been excessively tightened. This was probably done in an attempt to eliminate excessive side movement in the joint, caused by wear. It was also revealed that the centre brass bushings were found to be shorter than the steel outer bushings, which allowed the lugs to squeeze in onto the brace when the overtorqueing took place. The resultant abnormally high friction caused the push-pull rod to bend thus preventing the gear from extending to the fully locked down position.

Approaching the destination, the engine began to run roughly. As the aircraft was losing altitude the pilot selected a track running through the scrub as the only suitable landing area. During the landing roll both wings struck trees and the aircraft ran off the track. Rough running was caused by a worn carburettor float valve assembly, which in turn stuck closed and then too far open. Consequently the engine first ran too lean, and then too rich. Once rough running began the pilot selected the mixture to full rich. This did not resolve the problem, but the pilot left the control in full rich instead of attempting to adjust the mixture through the full range available.

The pilot reported that shortly after take-off he positioned the fuel selector to feed fuel to the right engine from the right auxiliary fuel tank. After levelling the aircraft at the cruising altitude of 1500 feet, he noticed the right engine falter, and immediately positioned the fuel selector for that engine to `crossfeed'. The right engine then stopped. The right engine fuel selector was then positioned to draw fuel from the right main fuel tank, however the engine did not restart. The left engine then stopped, attempts to restart it were unsuccessful. The pilot transmitted a 'Mayday' call and ditched the aircraft. Only the engines of the aircraft were recovered, however, no fault was found with them that could have contributed to the accident. It is probable that the disruption of power from the right engine was due to the depletion of fuel in the right auxiliary fuel tank. The reason the left engine failed could not be determined, however, it is likely that air entered the fuel system when the pilot selected the right fuel selector to 'crossfeed'. It is probable that the left engine could not be restarted because there was insufficient time to purge the fuel system of air before the aircraft ditched. The manufacturer's operating manual for the aircraft limits the use of 'crossfeed' to operations where fuel is used to operate only one engine. It also requires the auxiliary pump be selected on, to stabilise the fuel flow, prior to crossfeed selection.

On arrival at the destination, the pilot discovered that the wind direction indicator was missing. He assumed the wind would be the same as at the DEPARTURE strip, only 17 kilometres away. Because of concern about turbulence and windshear, the pilot elected to fly a faster than normal approach. The aircraft touched down about 150 metres into the 510 metre strip. The grass surface was wet, and the pilot was unable to stop the aircraft running off the end of the strip, where it collided with bushes. The pilot was probably fatigued after a 5 1/2 hour hike earlier in the day. His judgement of distance to run, during the landing roll, was impaired by rain on the windshield. Also, with the imminent approach of poor weather, the pilot elected not to go around when he realized that he might run off the strip. It is likely that the landing attempt was made in light downwind conditions. The strip was not approved for use by the aircraft operator, and the pilot had not requested approval to use it. This accident was not the subject of an on-site investigation.

The pilot landed the helicopter to allow his passenger to alight. The engine was left running, the cyclic frictioned and collective held fully down. The pilot then felt a low frequency vibration begin and almost immediately the left side of the helicopter lifted and the tail swung to the right. Control imputs by the pilot had no effect and the helicopter rolled onto its side. One of the four belts providing drive to the transmission had jumped off the sheave, for reasons which could not be established. The belt had become wrapped around the clutch shaft and had caused a sudden braking action to the main rotor blades. This braking force was of such a magnitude that the fuselage yawed in an inertia reaction. The right skid dug into the soft ground and a dynamic roll-over resulted.

Circumstances:

After a local flight, the pilot made an approach to land in light and variable wind conditions with full flap set. The aircraft touched down lightly about halfway along the runway and became airborne again. It then contacted the runway heavily nose wheel first and bounced again. The pilot applied full power and made a go around followed by a circuit and landing. After shutdown in the parking area, it was noticed that the aircraft was damaged.

The pilot was carrying out a cattle-spotting operation prior to the commencement of the muster. He descended the aircraft to 500 feet above the ground to get a better view of some animals amongst the trees. The pilot reported that as the aircraft was being returned to level flight it was affected by severe turbulence and the pilot's door became unlatched. While attempting to close the door he noticed that the indicated airspeed had reduced and that the aircraft was continuing to sink. A turn to the right, to clear the area of turbulence, was commenced but during the turn the aircraft stalled and entered a spin. Attempts to recover from the spin were unsuccessful and the aircraft struck the ground in a nose down attitude while turning to the right.

The pilot decided to land at the strip to check on the welfare of two mining company employees working in the area. During the latter stages of the landing roll the nosewheel entered a soft area and dug in, causing the aircraft to overturn. As the mining company's base radio was unserviceable and the ground personnel were not expecting the aircraft, the pilot was not able to establish the condition of the strip. Although it appeared serviceable from the air, the strip contained a section where water from recent rain had accumulated and resulted in the surface in that area being soft and wet.