sseeker

Hi, I've been in contact with Mick Pool and he's told me that it's a very grey area for the RA-Aus towing endorsement. Yes the endorsement is used by Dragonfly pilots towing hang gliders but it's also required to tow GFA registered gliders. Mick has told me that the best way to do the training is to do the GA towing endorsement in a VH registered aircraft and then send through the proof of endorsement and RA-Aus will issue my towing endorsement on my certificate. I don't know what the conditions of training in VH aircraft are, I'll have a GFPT soon so that should be sufficient to do the dual training although I don't think you can do solo glider towing on a GFPT since the GFA aerotow manual says you need a PPL for the issue. I'm sure they will still sign me off for the endorsement saying I've done the training even though I don't hold a PPL given my circumstances conerting it to RA-Aus. -Andrew

Hi Mike, Sorry haven't been to Bindoon for a while, I've sent an email to a person at my club who will probably know the seller so I'll get the contact details for you. Should be able to get some pictures ASAP. Regards, Andrew

My Dad bought the magazine today and I read your story. Your instructor sure surprised you with the solo. -Andrew

Hi, The conversion for the full certificate is 5 hours from a CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) PPL(A). It may be different because of your international qualifications. The school may however do a 1-2hour checkride and send you on supervised solo (without PAX). -Andrew

Impressive but surely his engine would get extremely hot? Sounds like he has full power while spinning. -Andrew

Congrats! Now you can really share your passion with others. Just remember it's all you while you're up there and fly safe. Congratulations again :) -Andrew

I decided that I'm most likely not going to fly the Decathlon because doing briefings as well it adds another $100/hr. I'm still going to do an RA-Aus taildragger endorsement in my schools Skyfox, I'm kicking myself for not learning on that aeroplane, apparently it develops some real good pilots. I'm never going to own an aerobatic aircraft or any aircraft at all. It's too expensive! No one is 'raining on my parade' I never said I was deffinetly going to fly the Decathlon! I appreciate all information. The reason I opened this thread was to discuss the Rinh DR-107, I was interested to see how popular it was. I don't want to purchase one or even fly one. -Andrew

Hey RD, Thanks for your reply, I thought that's how it worked as well. It kinda defeats the purpose of RA-Aus aircraft towing if you have to have a PPL as well. I've sent an email to a guy at the GFA so I'll see. Also blueadventures thanks for updating your post, very useful! I've attained solo standard in gliders which is suffecient enough to cover the "glider familiarisation part" and I've practiced 500' cable breaks, wave offs (wing waggle) and tail waggle (tail shakes) so I think that's all the GFA wants. -Andrew

Hey Thanks for the reply, I understand what steps to take to obtain the endorsement however I just wanna know whether or not I'm eligible since the aerotow manual doesn't say anything about an RA-Aus certificate. -Andrew

Hi, I've been informed by Narrogin Gliding Club that the J230 that was previously owned by Hilmer has been sold to a man named Humphrey. Humphrey has told me that in order to fly an RA-Aus registered glider tug you must also hold a PPL. While in the GFA Aerotow Ops manual it says nothing about RA-Aus aicraft towing gliders it just refers to you having to hold a PPL to be issued with the endorsement. Does anyone know what the requirements for RA-Aus pilots are? I would've thought it'd be a matter of just getting the endorsement, not having to hold a PPL as well. The RA-Aus ops manual says nothing about that being a requirement. Regards, Andrew

Hi, It's a shame, I send my condolences to Hilmer's family and friends. Exadios those two people are only qualified to sign off GA licences? Regards, Andrew

AV8, I'm not sure whether it's legal to use an out of date VFRG, you should be able to take these to a printing shop and they'll print it for you. Regards, Andrew

Riley, I take it Helmut is a user on the forum, is he based in Western Australia? When I search I only find people in SA. -Andrew

DJ, I understand the tailwheel endorsement won't convert directly however it will most likely work out to be cheaper if I do the endorsement RA-Aus then convert. The hourly rate for the Decathlon is $357.50 excluding landing fees, I can't afford to do it all in the Decathlon. Even if that means not flying the Decathlon at all and sticking to the 152, all depends on how much it's gonna cost me. -Andrew

I was amazed by the fact that something made out of wood/fabric and some metal is so aerobatic! I'm going down to the Royal Aero Club this Friday to be assessed on how long it's gonna take me to do my GFPT, I have ~70hrs so they said not long. Should just be a matter of getting the GA exams and some instrument time out of the road then a flight test. I'm going to get my aerobatics endorsement in the C152A, get my T/W endo in my RAA schools Skyfox CA25 then hopefully convert to the Decathlon (that's also a wood/fabric design?). I love aerobatics and it's gonna be pretty awesome to have that endorsement! -Andrew

Does anyone know any instructors that do gliding towing endorsements in WA? I've heard of one guy that has a J230 that is glider towing approved and sometimes tows at Narrogin although I'm unsure if he's an instructor and I don't know his contact information. -Andrew

After browsing Youtube I came across two interesting kit built aeroplanes, the One Design DR1-07 and DR-109. These two aeroplanes are capable of +/-10G and you build them entriely out of metal tubing, wood and fabric. The DR-107 has a cruise of approx 139kts, climbs at 2100fpm, has 160hp, stalls at 55kts and has a MTOW of 522kg while the DR-109 cruises at 155kts, climbs at 2800fpm, has 260hp, stalls at 50kts and has a MTOW of ~1000kg. The aeroplanes are incredibly aerobatic and the DR-107 comes with a half decent price tag of $40,000 (second hand) with an AEIO-360 (aerobatic fuel injected) engine. Not bad considering an extra 300 will set you back $180,000USD + second hand. Neither of these aircraft should or can be RA-Aus registered, but they'd sure make an excellent aerobatic aircraft in GA. See here for pics: http://www.dr107.info/ForSale/N105DR/N105DR_For_Sale.html -Andrew

Hi Mike, Next time I'm at Bindoon I'll ask for you. Should be next weekend. -Andrew

Pud, Yeah it does however when I push it, it just turns off then back on and doesn't change any settings. -Andrew

Sorry to hear about your GPS pud, I thought it'd be cool to set a password on mine through Windows CE. I rebooted the device and found the keyboard wouldn't open when I tapped the password input box, now I'm locked out! Have to wait till the battery dies and the settings reset now. -Andrew

Like Nev and David said, GA isn't bad, it's the percentage of individuals in GA that have there heads you know where... I've had a commercial pilot tell me that I was 'breaking the rules' because I was flying without an OAT Gauge when infact you only need them for charter/air work (other than RA-Aus flight training). It makes you wonder why people knock the RA-Aus syllabus for being under developed when a CPL holder doesn't know basic air law... And just FYI the RA-Aus syllabus is basically the PPL syllabus modified for ultralights. Sorry for wondering a bit off topic but in the end, don't avoid GA because there's a few tossers around, RA-Aus has some as well! I would seriously recommend the GA BAK as it's more complex with the weight/performance section. Regards, Andrew

Hi, That's not right, the GA BAK is accepted through RA-Aus and you should probably speak to the Operations Manager and get him to write a letter/email to your CFI so he will accept it in the future. -Andrew

Note that it's a Rotax requirement to run the 912S at 4000rpm on the run ups unless your brakes won't hold. -Andrew

I don't wanna sound like a broken record, I'm sorry if you've already been asked, but have you checked your spark plugs for oil coating, carbon fouling etc...? Regards, Andrew

Thanks for all the replies, I personally use BUMFHI. Brake pressure sufficient & park brake off, Undercarriage is down, Mixture is full rich (irrelevant to most raa planes), fuel is sufficient + pump on, hatches & harness' secure & ignitions set both. On my first flight in the sporty I turned the pump on as apart of my checks (as I usually do) although the instructor said it wasn't necessary, it wasn't a bad habit either. I've flown in other low wings and it's always required that the pump is turned on during downwind, changing tanks, takeoff etc... The SportStar Plus POH doesn't state that the pump should be on. -Andrew