SGM

I would agree generally, Telstra (and hence Boost) has more coverage by about 1m sq km than the others I didn't say Optus/Vodafone was better than Telstra, what I said was it's better than in the past, and there will be (probably a small number of) times when you can get Optus/Vodafone and not Telstra. Sometimes, this is due to localised congestion on the Telstra network, and sometimes it's just coverage/propagation issues because they will often have differently located base stations/antennas, esp in regional towns.

I am sure 99% of people realise this, but just in case, - The Optus/Vodafone coverage is now combined - so it's a lot better than in the past. There are times when my Avplan on Optus/Vodafone has got a connection, but another device using Telstra has not. - if you see SOS on your phone, it means your carrier (or reseller) has no official coverage, but one of the other carriers does, so a call to 000 will go through, but not a call/sms to your significant other.

Great minds think alike ; )

ABC news update: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-08/missing-plane-friends-alerted-lack-of-radio-call-bass-strait/105619942 Based on the track of the AMSA plane, it looks like the flight was filed to fly direct from Georgetown to Leongatha. I am genuinely curious as to why the pilot chose not to follow the ERSA Special Procedures for crossing Bass Strait (ie via either Flinders or King Islands). It would have only taken about 30 minutes (and 10 litres) more, and is still shorter than the planned second leg to Hillston.

A 28-registered Bristell? Maybe they meant 23 or 24 registered? Interesting it’s not on the approved Bass Straight crossing routes ie via Flinders or King Islands… and presumably no Scheds?

yes on the 918 form the LAME has written a few things it's subject to including "IAN logbook, schedule 5 and Rotax 912 m/m"

Got some additional info by phone. Part 43 is not active. For RAAus part 103 will (eventually) cover this smae space but who knows when that is coming. For LSA's MOSAIC will change some rules here, but probably not impact existing LSA's. So it seems zero tolerance.

Hey folks, An RAAus registered LSA has an annual due on 7 August. It has done less than 100 hours (so can already make use of the 2 month Rotax tolerance). A LAME does maintenance to CASA Schedule 5 My question relates to the attached Advisory Circular" ADVISORY CIRCULAR AC 43-02 v1.0 whcih states in part.. "The annual inspection will fall due by the end of the 12th month from when the previous inspection was completed. For example, an aircraft that had an annual inspection and was approved for return to service on 10 January 2020, will have the next inspection fall due on or before 31 January 2021. However, CASA has provided for a 10-day planning tolerance that may be utilised by the RO, in which case the previously described aircraft would be required to have the next annual inspection commenced by no later than 10 February 2021. The extra days, if used, do not need to be ’paid back’ from the following calendar period" Anyone have experience in this regard? This would suggest it would be flyable to 10 September. Is that right? Anyone have any insight on why is the downloaded document marked "Draft"? Draft AC 43-02 v1.0.pdf

Ian, will all the old forum content be moved to Aircraft pilots? I have noted with the current site that some embedded images from very old posts have been lost to time.

On the weekend, I noticed "satellite" appearing on my phone two different ways whilst flying and using Avplan (with SkyEcho + ADSB). I thought I would investigate and share the findings here. The first image at 2:57 pm is my Telstra iPhone indicating I can send SMS by Satellite, albeit with a reasonably weak signal. After some investigation, this will show when you can't get a connection to the normal Telstra network, but can connect to Starlink, so SMS will work not apps or voice calls The second image at 3:10pm is my (any-mobile-provider) iPhone indicating I can send Apple emergency 000 messages via their GlobalStar coverage. This means I was most likely in a gap between Starlink satellites, which is generally only a minute or so, but there was a Globalstar satellite visible to my phone. Since I also have a PLB in the aircraft, and a Zoleo (mostly used by my daughter for hiking), I thought I would put all four options in a table. 00AD270A-D18D-498B-8BD4-F65C4730A9F7.SNAG

I'm told it was a "Crane". These seem to be in the 4-8kg range. Looks like it's not the first time a bird has brought down Bell 206L Longranger. https://www.australianflying.com.au/helicopters/bird-strike-suspected-in-long-ranger-crash I was once told landing lights "on" help birds avoid you... seems plausible. Where I fly we have birds and roos. I sometimes wonder if $20 mini signal airhorn (the type used on boats) would be handy - but it would have to be mounted in a way that would be quick to activate perhaps with a pull cable for use on runway incursion or on final etc.

One passenger fatality. A telecommunications technician. Tragic. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-14/nt-police-investigating-fatal-helicopter-incident-in-gapuwiyak/105531216

Australia (per ChatGPT) - but AI can make mistakes

The rate would be 0.43 fatalities per 100k participants, which in the case of my XLS formatting, rounds down to zero.

I don't want to spoil everyone's fun, but here is what ChatGPT came up with. I have checked a few sources, and they all seem ok. I can supply them if people are really keen.