Guest Maj Millard Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 News article in todays local paper...Should be entitled ...'How to become a real cowboy !!!" I qoute: 'Cowboy' pilot flies unlicensed. A "COWBOY" unlicensed pilot who flew his unregistered ultralight to a busy airport without landing clearance to catch a commercial flight has been fine $17,750. (The gentleman) 52, pleaded guilty in Cairns Magistrates Court to multiple counts of flying unlicensed, and unregistered, over a three month period in 2007. The court heard on July 3,2007 (the gentleman) from Charters Towers, landed at Cairns airport without approval, delaying one aircraft about to take off, and one preparing to land. "You are nothing short of a cowboy," the Magistrate said. Can you believe this ? I'm dumbfounded........................................................Maj Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddogmorgan Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Beat me to it Maj Millard....Just picked up the Cairns post 10 minutes ago...for the full story Sky high fine for 'cowboy' Cairns pilot- Local Cairns News | cairns.com.au Guys like this just keep on doing wonders for our reputations don't they...mmmm wonder why CASA is not keen on CTA endorsement... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farri Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Maj,I first heard it on the radio news today,but they never said anything about not being licenced or registered,not saying it makes it any better if he was, also that he was using a public road as a runway,just asking how accurate it is,I`m interested to know what type of AC he was flying. If it`s correct, it`s an insult to real horse and bull riding cowboys, to call him a cowboy. Cheers, Frank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Yeah and what about all the road landings?! Quite Hilarious thinking about it...!!! But what a good way to wreck the RAA reputation:faint: Some people....:no no: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 I`m interested to know what type of AC he was flying. I read somewhere it was a Gazelle! not sure if that's correct though. I'm with you on the cowboy reputation as well Farri, some of us aren't that bad:thumb_up: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spin Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Guys like this just keep on doing wonders for our reputations don't they...mmmm wonder why CASA is not keen on CTA endorsement... Hit the nail on the head there Maddog, why would the Commisioner stick his neck out with goons like this being associated with recreational aircraft (Gazelle I believe) As with so many things in Australia, I don't think that people realise just how good they have it here - on the flip side though we need to guard our privileges jealously and that includes shutting down idiots like this who tarnish RA as a whole. :hittinghead: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddogmorgan Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 The photo on the front page of the paper was of a Gazelle, but they could have just decided that was what he was flying...who knows for sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mad Dave Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Why would it reflect badly on RAA? The story says he was unlicensed, so if he had been flying a C172 would it reflect badly on GA / CASA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spin Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Maddog, the online version of the report (attached to the newsreader on this site) reports it as being a "Skyfox Gazelle" and speaks about the fine being about half the value of the plane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spin Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 A "COWBOY" ultralight pilot has been fined $17,750 for illegally using public roads, paddocks and even Cairns international airport to take off and land as he felt like it. Quote from the Cairns Post:- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddogmorgan Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Why would it reflect badly on RAA? The story says he was unlicensed, so if he had been flying a C172 would it reflect badly on GA / CASA? I see what you mean there, to the public he's just an unlicensed pilot...but to CASA he's a student RAA pilot (In the print version here thats how he was described)...and I am sure lots of folks will be pointing that out in any future debates on extending current priveleges for RAA pilots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maj Millard Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Farri, I'm with you mate, there are many fine cowboy pilots out there who really know what they are doing. There are two meanings now for 'cowboy', and this guy was obviosly the lesser of the two!... What might have given him the remotest idea he would actually pull this off, landing at one of Australias busiest International airports, without a license, rego, or clearance ?. Was he going to plead a poor lost student ? Deserves to remain groundbound for the rest of his natural life !! IMOP.......................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazza 38 Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Farri, I'm with you mate, there are many fine cowboy pilots out there who really know what they are doing. There are two meanings now for 'cowboy', and this guy was obviosly the lesser of the two!... What might have given him the remotest idea he would actually pull this off, landing at one of Australias busiest International airports, without a license, rego, or clearance ?. Was he going to plead a poor lost student ?Deserves to remain groundbound for the rest of his natural life !! IMOP.......................... Hi maj,i would say there is a pretty good chance, he will be grounded for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, he couldnt be bothered getting his certificate before this happened, so maybe he might continure to fly anyway. All though i guess he will be a marked man, im sure pilots local to where he lives might keep an eye on him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farri Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 The RAA is made up of individual members and pilots and does not promote or condone illegal operations. I think most intelligent and fair minded people would accept that an individuals behaviour is simply the responsibility of that individual and that he or she be held accountable for their own actions not and the whole organisation. I don`t think we can change the mindset of anyone who can`t or wont see and accept this. Frank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farri Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 What might have given him the remotest idea he would actually pull this off, landing at one of Australias busiest International airports, without a license, rego, or clearance ?. !! IMOP.......................... Maj,That was the very first thing I thought about,I can`t believe it either. On another issue,what then does it say for airport security,all the BS in the world and anyone can simply fly in and cause a disaster. Frank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bones Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 He He hey i think i might know who this was, did it say any name?? Just a classic, perfect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bones Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Yep thats the guy i thought it would have been, from what i hear the fine wont even touch his tea and coffee money, just means he needs to do a bit more gardening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thx1137 Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Thats the problem with fines. Many people just seem happy to pay them. I met an electrician once who said he got something like 12k in fines per year but he didn't care because he just upped his hourly rate to cover it. The me, me, me and I don't care if I stuf everyone else around attitudes really bug me. Confiscate the car, or in this case, aircraft. It has more impact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ozzie Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 True about how fines affect some people. just reading on another forum were a pair of tandem skydive operators in Cairns had been fined only 7 and 10,000 dollars each for cooking the aircrafts logbooks to save on maintanence costs. bit of a joke they make this amount in an afternoon. to top it off it is repeat offences for them. Ozzie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinfrost Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 I'm with Mad Dave, the bloke had no Current RAA or GA endorsments and flys an unregistered sports A/C. A lot of GA aviators fly sports A/C so why should RAA Aus or GA get paranoid about some dxxk flouting the law. If CASA were to penalize either camp for the actions of this chap their credability would be questionable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yenn Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Our legal system is worse than a joke. If you have the money you can get away with just about anything. It is time it was overhauled so that the offenders pay and the innocent are protected. At he moment you either need money or to be aboriginal to get legally looked after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vorticity Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 I thought flying an unregistered aircraft had mandatory gaol time against it??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bones Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Aparently he was only fined $750 for landing at airport the rest was for the flying part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 The only thing I liked about the story was the reference to what a Gazelle was...A Sophisticated Machine He said the ultralight was a sophisticated machine, "not a backyard home-built job slung together with a soldering iron, some string and an old Victa two-stroke". See, it does make sense to perform maintenance on your Gazelle :big_grin: Seriously though I think the damage that is done to us as an organisation is the use of the word Ultralight...it would have been far better if the media just used the word "Pilot" and not "Ultralight Pilot" as this is what makes the direct connection to us irrespective of whether he was licensed or not or whether the aircraft was registered or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 The only thing I liked about the story was the reference to what a Gazelle was...A Sophisticated Machine That's the trouble with the Press - always getting it wrong........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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