Mike Gearon

If I was building a strip, researching prevailing winds would be important. As well as determining the length required for the type of aircraft I wanted to land there.

 

It's no good building a "convenient" strip which is unusable.

 

I’m finding it tough. I google earth then check paddocks each day. There is drainage and changing slope along with trees. I’m 98% sure this is the solution. pic below. Green is where I remove a small amount of 15’/ 5m tall trees at fence lines. That’ll equal some 50m (roughly) extra runway on approach. I think the LSA category I’ve flown in all take off easily and the 400m each direction won’t be a problem for departure. Approach (for me at least) I’d probably want a wingspan height  over the 1m fence lines and allow a long float without undue concern. I was absolutely amazed when my A380 LAX  into Melbourne didn’t flare a few weeks back and we floated just like the little planes I’ve flown. We touched then popped up and floated. We did a touch and go in an A380. 2nd time was well flared.

I haven’t been able to take lessons at Tyabb due to wind. If by Tuesday I have the fence cut and cleared in each direction and can slash and level then drive without too much bounce I’ll see if instructor agrees to land the Foxbat. Might be able to sort GoPro footage.

Runway direction. 

 

Short and into the prevailing wind, or long and with a cross wind.

 

Is this what we are talking about?

 

I’m not sure. You can see the grass cross strip there. In this case we had 02 or 31 with 15 knots from 270. 31 made more sense. We were trying to sort my crappy short field hit the spot on 02 because that was likely runway for checkride. I couldn’t hit the spot. Same here I guess where you have to land within a 200ft nominated area? Touch down early and you’re failed because the early spot could have been a ditch before short field. Is that part of checkride here? 

First solo in Nebraska about 6 weeks ago. If you get that far I kept saying what a shitty landing. Pat told me the landing was fine. Just felt like I bounced high and in reality it was about 150mm. I have since sorted the flare.

 

 

I seem to have this sorted. Somehow it works now with same cut and paste as above .

Interesting thing is no radio contact. USA don’t seem to contact their student pilot. I guess it’s a controversial topic. If I’d had Pat on the radio it would have been as much distraction as help. I had to focus totally on getting it right without help or possibly distraction. 

I agree wind often changes in the last 50 feet or so. Many runways have a built-in downdraft on close final due to trees or water or such. I just keep practicing and occasionally get it right when no one is watching.

 

Here’s my one. I was thinking about this after posting. 15 knot from west mostly taken out by those buildings. I’m glad it happened. Only the once and very thankful I had Pat with me and hopefully ready for next time.

I have just sent a letter to my business partners as discussion on various business aspects and my stepping back.

A bit of it was flying. I’ll either be around flying or drop out. Happy to share my thinking on subject and I hope all things related to lift as in planes and wind turbines are the direction I should be heading. Note.... I’ve had invariably excellent contacts with people so far both inside and outside the forum. Seem to be my type of people. ? Well, one grumpy plane importer as exception. Can’t all be fun I guess.

I think my near runway crosswind disappears discussion is correct. Happy to be informed/ corrected if not. 

Always needs at the end of the day a strong lead who listens to input.

3. Other.... I’ll provide ideas without pressure as best I can manage. My own interests lean toward developing a wind turbine for the world. 3rd world country easily built or outback Australia built and maintained. This will keep my restless mind occupied along with flying if it stops terrifying me. Sometimes it feels like getting in a car and driving..... right up until landing and then its suitably stimulating. Apparently when that gets too relaxed you shouldn’t be flying. There are some 60 seconds from turn to final approach to a full stop where you need to have your shit together. It is done in my case and actually everyone else’s by being ahead of the plane. Turn from base to final you have mentally dealt with the radio call, the flap setting, altitude, speed, pitch, roll and yaw compensated for wind. Approaching the runway numbers you’re prepared for instance for the near ground wind to suddenly disappear. Your plane that was originally tilted to the wind and directed down the runway is suddenly crabbing sideways as the cross wind disappears near ground. You’re ready. You reduce rudder (yaw) you reduce aeliron (roll) and adjust elevator (pitch) and add or remove throttle as required.

Just showing you you need your shit together to land a plane. Day dreaming can’t happen. Dangerous. Worst case as above for instance you just add full throttle and go around and do it again. You almost can’t force a plane down to the runway with full throttle even 300mm off runway. It wants to climb out. Bad pilots try to land a badly lined up plane. Good pilots go around. 

4. Hong Kong. I’d like to have a discussion on this in Taiwan

First solo in Nebraska about 6 weeks ago. If you get that far I kept saying what a shitty landing. Pat told me the landing was fine. Just felt like I bounced high and in reality it was about 150mm. I have since sorted the flare.

I researched this after I flew with my CFI from Nebraska to Madison South Dakota. He did tail wheel while I built cross country hours. He’d come in drenched in sweat and tell me he now understands how I feel and had a bit of empathy again for my ordeal/ fun learning experience. Madison flight school. Australians go there to learn at spraying to do inbetween firebombing gigs apparently. http://www.rigginflightservice.com/

Anyway, I researched tail wheels and found an article on this problem.  Can’t find it again now. My scratchings will have to do....

Both Tyabb and Tooradin have great instructors, so you should be in good hands 

 

My point was, once you’ve decided what category you’re going to fly in, that will decide the Instructor and the syllabus (RA or GA), and the instructor is the one to guide you on what to study for the pathway you choose in Australia.

 

That will take a load off your mind now, and make it a lot easier to study as you go forward.  Learning something from a textbook written for another country and then having to forget it and learn something for Australia is more like 4 times harder than 2 times harder. Focusing on what the Instructor wants also gets the combined theory/practical into your subconscious faster and takes the thinking load off.

 

Yes, flown with both. Just location and proximity. Sorted with David Bell instructor just now and purchased VFRG. $34.95 I thought it was 120 for some reason. 34.95 is fine.

You'll make it extremely difficult for yourself if you try to teach yourself by picking up scraps of information.

 

Every Country has its quirks and if you want to qualify for something in Australia, best to select an Flying School/Club which trains the category you want to fly in, and discuss this with your instructor, who will tell you which reference material to study. If the flying school offers night classes, they are by far the best and fastest way to learn.  I've seen many people totally confused by "advice" they get on this site; often someone's favourite author from the FAA system, which as you've already found doesn't apply here. A good instructor will produce a good pilot.

 

Thanks very much for advice. I’m heading to Tyabb as easiest to get to. Tooradin is really good. Tyabb just easier on ferry. Flying in would be 5 minutes, that’ll have to wait..... I’ll see them today or tomorrow and what I really want is reference material. Surprised CASA doesn’t have the equivalent of FAA free downloadable material/ books. Well, they or RAA May have. I’ve been searching which is one of the reasons I landed on this topic. Maybe you can advise if downloadable reference material that’d cover everything. USA as mentioned has the wonderful Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge and Airplane Flying Handbook. You just go on website and open then save to books or kindle.

https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/phak/media/pilot_handbook.pdf

https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/phak/

Hi MIKE, my name is Ian Lawrence and i live on Phillip island and have a Thruster TST ultralight ,will the strip be open to visits by aircraft and if so what do i have to do ?........i would like to catch the ferry over and have a look if thats ok .....is there some way we could catch up ?...my mob. 040906856  hope all is good many thanks Ian 

 

Great to make contact Ian. I’m still working on runways. They shift all the time.... todays pic/ plan below. (Not sure how to get bigger images up. I’ve seen the thumbnails are clickable. Maybe there’s a way to get them a little bigger.  Last time I was posting on forums I could see the HTML and work out how others do it. Can’t seem to do that here.... I’ll keep clicking stuff...

Im looking at setting this up over next month or two. Fencing and moving material at minimal cost (I do most of it) I have a gravel pit in bottom corner of property that’s really just a recent dam that happens to also now be a gravel pit and that’ll keep cost down for east west as I’ll need some gravel (French island gravel is just what we pull out so it has clay in it) to go over the sandy bits. Need to work out liability issues. I’d like in medium term to have fly ins and accomodation. Mobile (by message to provide) or message here for permission to just land and visit if probably going to work. Same as any private strip you’d want to know there weren’t wires strung across or new earth works (ditches). East west will always be dry. It’s sitting on sand and protected by being low. I suspect approach with cross wind would see the wind suddenly drop at about 20 ft. I’ve experienced this while in USA learning. A lined up approach with wing dropped into the cross wind suddenly became a side slip at round out. My CFI was always cool. He just quietly suggested we should get the rudder and aileron sorted or go around. Not sure if this is what would happen. I’ll depend on people with a lot more than my 80 Cessna hours and a few LSA to advise. ?

Even OCTA acronym is annoying. I just looked it up. Outside Controlled Airspace. Never came across this in FAA.

 

   The AIR Legislation will vary from region to region, but it should not be by a lot as the world is truly a pilot's oyster  and there are International Standards  (ICAO) but how to fly is not unique to anyplace until you go to the poles or such where a little extra specialised  knowledge is needed. A plane is a plane is a plane. Nev

 

I think the different measurement system and rules are going to be a problem. The Feet and Metric mix is is particularly curious in Australia. 

I’m trying to stay quiet on the forum as one of the new guys. However! I’m well positioned in this particular case/ if this question comes up again for anyone.

I used the King school course for PPL in USA. He and his wife do a great job of videos and the course. It is however USA specific and designed to get you over the line for written then practical FAA PPL. 

I’ve found it difficult to locate resources here other than Bob Tait and www.pilotpracticeexams.com    On that note. It’s different. Quite different in areas. For USA I finished up reading FAA free publications...Airplane flying Handbook and Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge. I bit these off over a 1 week emergency trip back to Australia for a family member. When I returned to USA the CFI said you’ve never flown better. Definitely a huge help.

Even with this I’m struggling with www.pilotpracticeexams.com questions that were never covered in FAA or very Australian specific regulations. About 20% is new stuff which is annoying after studying hard for 3-4 months.

mike.

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A cattle station i deliver fuel to has a person who lived on french island. big change from there to here.

 

There are only around 100 people on French island. Amazing you’d know someone who lived here.

No night flying in RAA. Day vfr only, 2 pob max. 600kg mtow for RAA rego aircraft. If you have ppl/rpl with controlled endorsement (it seems you have), you can fly RAA Factory built (24/23 rego) in controlled airspace.

 

Day is going to be fine. My CFI said we will do the first 3 night landings and it’ll be interesting then it’ll get boring for the 7 more required. When we did the first take off into black and started pattern I wanted to tell him I just couldn’t do it. Landed and was so amazed by the third that it was just like he said. It became normal. I did start to spot farm house lights and established something of a horizon. That made the difference.

I have a bit of learning to do. Just went and found the RAA information you mentioned. Good to be able to go into controlled airspace as an option in the right plane. PPL USA had to fly 3 landings into a towered airport. I used the magic words “student pilot" and the tower couldn’t have been more helpful. Had to do a sudden right turn on final  at one point when an unscheduled Citation started in. I could hear the CT telling the guy off for being unscheduled and he got back to helping me on next approach. 

Convert to Raaus  at tooradin flying school

 

That’s possible as well. ? 

Airstrip and AirBNB fly in possibilities. Note the house features on Grand Designs Australia. Episode 12 of season 7.

options to view

1. Free.... low quality YouTube version...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6nVVT6mVn8

2. iTunes Store 4 dollars 

Grand Designs Australia, Series 7 by Grand Designs Australia

https://itunes.apple.com/au/tv-season/grand-designs-australia-series-7/id1304136406

3. Wait for it to spin around again on Foxtel. I’ve only seen it once. Can’t stand seeing myself on tv. It does however introduce French island fairly well.

Airstrip ruminations...........

Looks like 17-35 can be 500m long. This is uphill on say 3 degrees (guessing).

. I’m 90 hours into flying and can’t judge if this will work well based on USA experience. Started at towered airport Lincoln Nebraska with one of America’s longest widest runways built for nuclear bombers. 200ft wide x 11,000 ft. Moved to Wahoo which was paved and grass with nice CTAF radio replacing the 4 frequencies required at Lincoln. Clearance, ground, Lincoln tower then Omaha departure. 

Looking at the BNB accomodation I was thinking on plane during LAX to MEL we could combine fly in with Air BNB. 

I’ll ask some of the experienced Tyabb pilots/ instructors as I do PPL to Raaus conversion. Any comments here welcome. Questions I’m asking myself are flying in and flying out mostly downhill into the predominant winds. Would the 41 m width and say crowned grass runway of 15m width be okay? I could take the fence out to 50m for instance and center a gently crowned 20m airstrip. Location is based on dryness and generally flat although sloping nature of site.

Welcome home Mike, did you receive my last PM?

 

I hope to be down that way late Jan or Early Feb next year.

 

Yes. Sorry I’ve been travelling Nebraska back to the island. Just arrived and responded.

Hi Mike, you appear to be near a mate of mine ,Paul Madigan. We have flown in to one of his paddocks years ago. Also landed at a strip near the North coast & the prison airstrip when it was operational.

 

Yes. Paul is an interesting character ? 

I’m just back from Nebraska. 3 months fairly constant effort and finally have PPL. Includes night flying which doesn’t seem to be an option here on RaaAus conversion. Night flying in the remote mid west wasn’t much fun anyway with few lights after take off.

Looking at at possibilities of planes for the Island. See pic with north south runway possibility.