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Foto_Flyer

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Everything posted by Foto_Flyer

  1. Ahh, very good! Now, where did I leave my Jabiru?! That's a whole different picture again!
  2. LAMS stands for Learner Approved Motorcycle Scheme and (in QLD at least) is based on the power to weight ratio rather than the old 250cc engine capacity. It means that there are even some 650cc motorcycles that you can learn on and ride with your "P"'s. If you do the QRide thing you first have to get a learners. Once you pass, and if you have held your open licence for at least five years, then you only need to have a restricted motorcycle (RE class) for 12 months before you can do another QRide course to get your open (R class) licence. (a pilot certificate is less complicated!) Great looking machines everyone, I'm a Triumph man myself! Just one little statistic that's interesting... You are just as likely to be killed in a motorcycle accident as you are in a light plane accident...I reckon the two cancel each other out, so that makes me invincible!!! (Famous last words!)
  3. Not that it really matters, but just wondering if it was confirmed to be VH registration or could it still be RA? Either way, very tragic!
  4. I have a mate who has finally embarked on the journey after 20 years of trying. As a result he wanted to do everything right and has spared no expense. He bought the latest Bose A20 headset and couldn't be happier. However, he also intended to audio record all the cockpit conversations and radio comms and so purchased a ready-made lead with the integrated filter etc. While it appears to work fine with other standard headsets, when he plugs the Bose in the audio cuts out for the headset. Has anyone else out there had this experience? Is there a particular lead that works with the Bose. I did suggest the lapel mic in the ear cup idea (that's what I use, works great), but he would rather use the patch lead.
  5. Lightwing 5040. Not good. Mayday call at 10:12 am local.
  6. Went to a CASA safety seminar 2 weeks ago at Archerfield and was told by the facilitator from CASA that for private pilot operations, including RA, the use of an iPad as an electronic flight bag is approved so long as all the data you need such as charts, flight plan and weather (NAIPS), ERSA, etc. are saved on the iPad (i.e. not reliant on an internet conection). OzRunways was mentioned as a particularly good app for this (he did caution that the GPS/moving map was not to be used as a PFD for in flight navigation). He suggested this was especially good news for pilots of small sports aircraft due to limited space. So going down this route may save a bit of space in the flight bag for a few more Mars bars!
  7. Hey, Red, how'd you go this last weekend? Feel it improving? One thing I found really helped me was to do all the talking. We get so used to the instructor talking us through the circuit that, when they go quiet letting us try and get it on our own, all we hear is wind noise...and still don't get it. Start talking yourself all the way though the circuit, and I mean out loud. Pretend you are explaining every step to your instructor who has suddenly forgotten everything and needs reminding. As you hear yourself say the step, you instinctively do the action. This helps you develop the art of staying ahead of the plane instead behind. Oh, and as you improve, make sure you are still aware of what's going on inside the cockpit too, park brake locks have been known to mysteriously engage in flight! (some instructors are just sadistic!)
  8. It must also be noted that rwy 24 at YCAB is not supposed to be used for take off's. However, unlike some heavier GA types, most of us flying RA aircraft can be at 500 ft before the end of the rwy, little lone the built up area and the hospital on the other side of the highway (the reason why ERSA says, "no takeoffs rwy 24 except in emergencies or inclement weather") We can also argue that inclement weather includes cross winds that are beyond our or our aircraft's ability. Hence, when the "westerlies" are blowing at YCAB, you're going to have people using both 30 and 24, depending on what they are flying. Just part of the fun at Caboolture and good as a training environment, it gets you thinking and looking more than at other places and sharpens your skills. If you can fly there, you can fly anywhere!
  9. Yes, I looked at this too, sounds really good, but you'd have to be doing a lot of flying. Even at 25 hours a year (the most I could expect to fit in at the moment, unfortunately!) it is still cheaper to hire from my flying school. And I agree with "metalman", most of us only get the time on the weekend so that means high demand and potentially missing out. Although, this is the case with your local school as well. Ultimately, if you're thinking of buying a new Tecnam but don't want the overheads and plan on doing a fair bit of flying, this could be a more economical solution. That plus they update their aircraft regularly, so the fleet is always reasonably young!
  10. Not sure about the hours but it would be in the upper thousands as they have covered around 6 million klm's each! I was fortunate to be part of the media contingent to photograph the final flight from Amberley and at least one wouldn't start so they had to use a spare. In the end they managed to get 6 in the air, 5 doing the flypasts and the sixth doing probably one of the most impressive handling display's I've seen from an F111. The pilot was later telling me that they were pulling out all the stops as there was no need to worry about over stressing the airframe as it was the last flight anyway. Apparently 4 will be going on static display (2 at Amberley, 1 at Edinburgh, and the 4th is at Pt. Cook already). The rest will be stored at Amberley awaiting disposal along with the "G's" that have been in "storage" since 2007. It was confirmed in no uncertain terms that there will be no private acquisitions of any of these flyable aircraft, they are to be scrapped! That's a shame, it would of been nice for at least one to be kept in flying order, although the cost of running it would of been astronomical! Private buyers can put their hand up for a non flying one but they will also have to cover the cost of "demilitarising" the aircraft as well.
  11. Sorry to throw some extra choices into the mix, but as far as a kit plane is concerned, a solid little low wing with removable wings would be the Vans RV 12. Another that comes to mind is the Rans s-19 (although wings are fixed). Neither Australian I know, but both designed for Rotax engine and with the Aussie dollar what it is at the moment, hard to go past.
  12. Headsets tend to be a personal thing so it is always best to try on and listen to the differences between models to see what works best for you and what is best suited for the type of aircraft you fly. Having said that, there are a few of things to consider when deciding between these two headsets. If you can afford it, the Bose will give you much better sound quality and it is in stereo so music will sound better too (if you have that ability in your aircraft). The Bose also have automatic noise reduction (ANR) which is one of the best around and are very light and comfortable over extended periods of time. Of course the downside is that, if the batteries go flat (although there is a panel power option) things get very noisy very quickly. This is because the passive attenuation is not very high due to the design of the ear cups (they are basically meant to be used with the ANR on all the time!) Also, the lining on the ear seals tends to wear off over time and there are no generic retrofits (that I know of) - gota get Bose originals $$$! You also have to look after the Bose, don't just throw them over the back of the seat at the end of the flight, as they are not very robust. The DC's don't have the same sound quality, but don't need batteries as they don't have ANR. As a result they have a significiently better passive attenuation. Overall, they aren't as quiet as the Bose with ANR active, but they do a reasonable job in most circumstances. They are a more traditional style headset and tend to be much more robust, a consideration if you are going to be moving them around between different aircraft. They are heavier though, almost 200gm's heavier, which is quite a bit and can make a difference during those long navs! At the end of the day it comes down to this - what can you afford and how much will you use them. I love the Bose and, while the batteries are good, you can't beat the quietness and quality of sound. However, I don't do enough flying to justify the expense at the moment. I'd look at the DC's now, and think about the Bose later. Something else to consider, would be retro-fitting an ANR kit (available through the Clearprop Shop at: Headsets :: Headset Accessories :: Headset ANR Kit - Aviation Pilot Supplies Shop | Flight Gear | Aircraft Instruments) into the DC's which will give you very good ANR and passive reduction as well. Sort of like the best of both worlds!
  13. Overheard recently between the tower and a single engined GA training aircraft: (call signs changed) Tower: Alpha Bravo Charlie, cleared to land one zero left ABC: Cleared to land one zero left, request asymmetric approach Tower: Ah, Alpha Bravo Charlie, confirm you would like an asymmetric approach? ABC: Affirm Tower: Are you sure you would like an asymmetric approach? ABC: Yes, that is correct! Tower: Um, OK, Alpha Bravo Charlie, asymmetrics approved, cleared to land one zero left, this should be interesting! It was about now that our hapless instructor realised that he wasn't in a twin! Very embarrassed he was!
  14. Unfortunately none of the above, still trying to work out how to get the "Connie" under 544 Kgs MTOW. Maybe I could start by replacing the Wrights with 4 Rotax 914's!
  15. Welcome to the dark side, glad it all works! (Who needs a PC)!
  16. You will want a camera that has a mic input at least. Some don't or have a propriety connection so that you can only use their dedicated mic's. The down side is that, with most cameras that have the mic input, it cuts out all the other sounds (engine etc!) What I use is a digital voice recorder connected to the intercom and then sync it all up on the computer later. (sounds more complicated than it is). However, regardless of how you go about it, you will also need an adapter or lead that has a 1/4" (6.5mm) plug on one end and a 1/8" (3.5mm) plug on the other. (The 1/4" to the comms, the 1/8" to the camera/recorder) This video may give you an idea of what I'm talking about. (BTW, It's not me)
  17. If you have a Intel based Mac and running OS X 10.5 or later, you could set it up with a small Boot Camp partition (under utilities) and then install a copy of Windows on that (XP/Vista/7 etc.) Then install AirNav as you would on any windows machine and you're away! Just boot into that each time you need to use AirNav. If you don't want to have to boot back and forwards each time, you could purchase a copy of Parallels Desktop which will run Window as a virtual machine from within OS X. Parallels also has the option of running from your Boot Camp install of Windows or solely as a virtual machine install. If your Mac Book is non-Intel and/or you're not running 10.5 or above, then Parallels is your only choice. I wouldn't use Parallels to run anything too complex but it should handle AirNav just fine.
  18. Hey Bass, you're going to have to change your blog to just CTAF now we're past June 3!
  19. This is disappointing to hear as the two guys conducting the seminar I went to were very supportive of recreational aviation. Oh well, I guess there will always be a diverse range of attitudes within the industry. The main thing to remember is that CASA acknowledges/recognizes recreational/sport aviation in the legislation and policies!
  20. I attended one of CASA's information seminars the other day regarding the changes to non towered airfields and class D as of today! Great information was given along with additional explanations of things not necessarily found in the CAR 166 documentation. There were also some interesting comments made that showed CASA (well their trainers anyway) have no bias against RA. One of the illustrations they used (purley hypothetical) was of a fast IFR regional turbo prop arriving at a non towered CTAF with an "ultralight" in the circuit (I've head that somewhere before I think....). They made it clear that the fast regional still has the responsibility to report on the CTAF frequency and look for traffic and that they shouldn't expect special consideration just because they are RPT traffic. The best comment they made was that the ultralight had just as much right to be there as the fast regional, much to the horror of the young CPL students in the mix. After the seminar I asked one of the trainers about the possibility of RA pilots getting a rating or exemption that allowed even a limited entry to controlled airspace, maybe a limited allowence to visit Class D aerodromes (formerly GAAP's) for instance. While sympathetic for the reasoning, he said it was not likely to ever happen, and definitely not in the next couple of years. The only option, he explained, was to get a PPL. He then went onto explain what we all know, that we can do a conversion from a RA pilot certificate to a PPL without much drama (apart from cost). It was while explaining this that he made the comment that the PPL curriculum was pretty much the same as the RA-Aus Pilot Certificate (with X-county) but to a higher standard. WHAT THE...!!! Well, when pressed for more information about what he meant by that, he clarified by saying the two were very similar but for the PPL the "higher standard" called for a class 2 medical, instrument time etc, whereas the Pilot Certificate did not require these. OK then, I'll let you off (I think)! But you can imagine the attitude of some if they were told that and didn't seek clarification. It's not just what you say but how you say it that's important.
  21. Steph, I've approached training both ways. A few years ago, while in GA going for my GFPT, I would only fly every 1 to 2 weeks, sometimes more due to weather! However, I found that my progress was slow and very much like the "saw tooth" that rocketdriver mentioned. As a result, my funds dried up before I could finish. When I returned to flying training, this time in RA after a very L-O-N-G break, I made the decision that I was going to go full time. All I can say is that, for me this was a good decision as my progress was quicker and the "saw teeth" were much smaller. In the long run, it turned out to be a better decision financially too! Either way, it is a good idea to keep up the theory, even after you have passed all the exams, and for much the same reasons as the practical flying. If distance from the field is an issue, talk to your instructor about what accomodation is around nearby. Most schools will have a list or may even have something like a bunk-house or cabin on-site for that purpose. Either way, don't forget to have fun and enjoy the experience!
  22. Yep, it's an Eagle 150 alright. They have (had) 2 of them. Glad to hear no one was killed!
  23. As Mazda stated, Doug Nancarrow has been around for a long time in aviation journalism, and is generally well respected. While not being very impressed by the way this article was worded, i can't believe that someone who is usually quite supportive of all sectors of aviation in Australia would be purposely trying to cause offense or denigrate a sizable part of it. I hope that it is all just a case of one big misunderstanding that will be corrected and clarified in the next issue. To answer your question, shags, according to a friend of mine who runs a GA school, an average student should be able to achieve a PPL in around 55 hrs, if done full time. For RA it is around 40 to 45 hours under the some circumstances. So if you take out the Sim/Instrument component in GA, it's similar! (Of course this is an average for a full time student, some may do it quicker and some will take a lot longer!)
  24. You may have already figured this out but, you'll notice the runway preferences come under the "noise abatement" heading. Therefore, they are only preferred but not mandatory. A little like taking off from 24 at YCAB, it is preferred that you turn left onto crosswind at the highway but that only applies if you have already reached 500ft. If not, you keep flying out till you do, regardless of whether that takes you over residential/hospital etc. So, at YCDR, if you were departing, it would be "preferred" that you took off from 23, but if the RWY in use or the conditions dictated a RWY 12 departure then that is what you'd use, while doing your best to comply with the "noise abatement" procedures. The same applies for arrival. Listen and observe what RWY in operation and what does the weather dictate. Then decide from there. The key is in the wording of point 1: "Subject to weather or other operational constraints,...."
  25. I think the most important thing is not to rush. I have a mate at Archerfield who always wanted to fly choppers, but did something totally removed from aviation for a number of years first. Now in his fifties, having made enough money, he gained his helicopter CPL, now owns two choppers and has started his own opperation out there. He tells me because he's his own boss, he enjoys every day! (BTW Congrats on getting hitched, shags!)
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