phlegm

I'm hopefully going to learn to fly one of these soon to do some hangglider towing. Can't wait, looks like an incredibly fun little aircraft. 

1 hour ago, kgwilson said:

A new student pilot will not get the PAX endorsement with the issue of the RPC. That usually requires 10 hours of solo after attaining the pilot certificate.

This isn't quite true. I got my initial RPC and pax endorsement at the same time. I don't recall the exact requirements, I think I delayed the RPC test while I did an extra 5 PIC hours or something similar. We were encouraged to do it this way to avoid doing an extra flight test. 

Others have outlined the the flight test items pretty well. 

If you're doing your passenger endorsement at the same time, make sure you give a good passenger brief that hits all the required items. Make sure they're strapped in and secure before take-off. You might have to manage them a bit in flight, you have to be acting like a PIC. 

Remember your after landing checklists! I remember landing after an otherwise good flight and couldn't get a word in edge-wise because the examiner was deep into some story he was telling me. It was all a test to see if I would tell him to shut up so I could do my checklists without getting distracted. 

Not the most helpful contribution to this thread, but I can't believe you've called this a Rotaxaru when the option of Jabirax was right there!

Try calling them. I waited months for my CTA/CTR endorsement to get added to my RPL, finally called them to ask about it and the guy goes "oh no worries, I'll do that right now" and it was on my license by the end of the call. 

Bit too fast I reckon. I target 60 on approach (depending on traffic: if there's someone behind me I'll fly it faster then slow down on short final), 50-55 over the fence. At 65 it will still want to float.

POH recommends 54 for a normal approach and 49 for a short field! Haven't been game to really test it's STOL capabilities just yet.

Those are Vixxens. One of the "mods" was to take off the wheel spats to make them more draggy, as a crude way to stop students from floating all the way down the runway! 

It can be pretty tricky to judge the undulations of the ground when you're trying to pick a spot to put it down. What looks flat from a thousand feet up can be a decent hill when you get lower. I was in a jab that had an engine failure three years ago and we thought we had a decent spot selected, but on short finally realised how hilly it really was. Stacked it into an uphill slope and snapped off the nosewheel, but kept it upright. 

This guy did look to be carrying a lot of excess speed, but like he says, that beats stalling low to the ground. Well done. 

Hi, wondering if anyone can help me locate the right form for my situation, I've tried asking CASA but they haven't got back to me after weeks. 

I hold an RPC and recently earned my taildragger and adjustable pitch prop endorsements (in a RAAus registered aircraft). I also hold a CASA RPL. What do I need to submit to get CASA to recognise my RA training and add these endorsements to my RPL so I can fly VH registered taildraggers? 

Cheers. 

Great post. Just regarding 000 (I used to work there), they always have to start by asking for an address. Second best is an intersection, and a distant third is an entire suburb/town. Their scripts are very inflexible and the call takers can't send the job to the dispatchers until they have a verified location and have assigned a job code (a triage sort of thing). They CAN get a lat/long from your phone but only later in the call, and it's not an automatic process. 

So if this ever happens again, the fastest thing would be to say "I'm in the town of [wherever], I don't have any other location details but I do have an epirb activated", that way they can send the job (ie get help coming) with partial location details then figure out the exact location later. They'll never see your epirb but they can send a link to your phone that enables location tracking when pressed. 

1 hour ago, Bosi72 said:

The current law says:

 

Part 61.

61.590  Aeronautical experience requirements for grant of commercial pilot licences—aeroplane category

             (1)  An applicant for a commercial pilot licence with the aeroplane category rating must have at least 150 hours of aeronautical experience that includes:

                     (a)  at least 140 hours of flight time as pilot of an aeroplane; and

                     (b)  at least 70 hours of flight time as pilot in command of an aeroplane; and

                     (c)  at least 20 hours of cross‑country flight time as pilot in command of an aeroplane; and

                     (d)  at least 10 hours of instrument time; and

                     (e)  at least 5 hours of instrument flight time in an aeroplane.

             (2)  Any of the required aeronautical experience that is not completed as flight time as a pilot must be completed as simulated flight time in an approved flight simulation training device for the purpose.

             (3)  The cross‑country flight time required by paragraph (1)(c) must include a flight of at least 300 nautical miles during which a full‑stop landing is made at each of 2 aerodromes not within the flight training area for the aerodrome from which the flight began.

             (4)  The flight time in an aeroplane required by subregulation (1) must be completed in a registered or recognised aeroplane.

 

 

 

61.010  Definitions for Part 61

 

recognised aeroplane means an aeroplane:

                     (a)  that is on the register of aircraft kept by a Contracting State; or

                     (b)  that is a State aircraft.

 

 

I don't know whether RAA numbers aircraft is a State aircraft..

Regardless, keep flying and build experience.

Start studying for all 7 CPL exams.

In parallel get as many as possible ratings such as: tailwheel, formation, aerobatics, retractable, mppc, night, instrument, in a VH aircraft and the numbers will get you there. 

Cheers

Thanks! I double checked this, these regulations are only for integrated courses. The 61.010 clause about recognised aeroplanes is entirely absent from the equivalent experience requirement section for those doing non-integrated courses (61.610), which would indicate that RA hours are fine for those students. 
 

Hey mate, great looking aircraft. 

Do you think a larger pilot can fit (I'm 105kg) or is it pretty cramped in the cockpit? What's MTOW and empty weight? Do you have a ballpark sale price in mind? What are the hours on the engine and prop? 

Cheers. 

Do you have a reference for that? I have never heard of such a regulation and I've read all the ones that pertain to flight crew licensing. 

RA hours definitely count. 

As for what employers want, I think most would prefer GA because that's what most of them operate. I spoke to one potential employer and asked if he had any issue with most of my time being RA, he said he was fine with it but wanted me to get some time in the aircraft his operation uses as well, which makes sense. 

Not quite recreational flying, but I did my first flight in controlled airspace this week! I've been putting this off for a long time, but need to get it out of the way for my CPL.

Hopped in a Piper Warrior that I barely remembered how to fly (I'm an RA guy usually), route was YLIL - YMEN - YMMB - YLIL. Coming into Essendon was easier than I was worrying, but then they threw a curve ball at me on take-off and vectored me out into the ether to avoid an incoming medivac flight. Got to buzz past the CBD over to Bolte Bridge then get my head into gear for Moorabin, which I'd also never been to. Moorabin tower warned me I'd be landing with a slight tailwind, which was fine, then when I reported downwind they changed runways on me and got me to do a 180 degree turn and land on the opposite runway. Brain fried somewhat. Flight home was easy after that. 

Very cool experience! Does feel nice landing on enormous runways and watching the big jet traffic overhead. Landing fees are painful though!

I think YLIL is about $500 a month and YCEM is around $250. No idea about availability at either though. 

3 hours ago, farri said:

Hi phlegm, This is Ron Biondi! he`s probably a bit bigger than you and his aircraft was the 95-10 registered version of the Drifter... Ron began flying his Drifter around 1982 right up until retiring from flying a couple of years ago at 90 years of age.

 

Keep in mind that when thinking about the Drifter, there are several different versions.

 

Franco,

Ps, I took the photo! Ron would come to see me, land on the strip then Taxi up to the house.

Thanks Franco! Interesting about the different Drifter versions, I didn't know that. Is there a particular one I should be looking out for? 

Another question for anybody here, in the context of finding my first flying job post CPL, do you think potential employers will be unimpressed by ultralight time and want to see more GA stuff, or is this a "time is time" situation? 

On 11/02/2022 at 7:49 PM, Lucky01 said:

Sorry mate, I didn't see this question was posed in a sub forum

What did you say originally? I don't mind recommendations/comments about LSAs, I'm not 100% on going the ultralight route yet. 

4 hours ago, Old Koreelah said:

One of our club members has several aircraft, but prefers to use his X-air. My only experience of them was needing to be a contortionist to get in and out. Has that problem been addressed in later models?.

The one I'm looking at comes with the wide entry kit, but it's not installed. No idea how much of a palaver it is to switch over. 

3 hours ago, FlyBoy1960 said:

What about an X-Air or X-Air Hanuman ?   More modern than the Drifter and Thruster. 

 

Also maybe the Ninja as well ?

I don't know much about the X-Air, but after doing a bit of digging it sounds like it ticks quite a few boxes. There's one for sale at the moment that I've got my eye on. Have you flown them? What do you think of them?

You're not wrong. I was worried we'd go through the windscreen in our crash but the jab held up surprisingly well. Snapped the nosewheel clean off though. 

I'd love to get a Brumby but out of my price range unfortunately. 

Yeah, I did my initial training in a Jab, plenty of room. I like flying them, but after an engine failure I've never really trusted them, so not too keen on buying one. 

Thanks for all the responses so far! Confirms what I suspected about the Sapphire, I think I'll cross it off the list. 

Hi all,

Thinking about taking the plunge into aircraft ownership, but not sure how practical it would be given my size. I'm about 6'2" and 105kg, but could probably lose a bit of weight if I need to for the right aircraft.

Which ultralights could I realistically squeeze into? I've found an ad for Sapphire that looks great, but I worry I'll be too big. For reference, I went up in a Skyfox Gazelle the other day and my knees were jammed up against the panel, could still fly it but far too uncomfortable to actually do regularly. 

Would I fit in a Drifter or Thruster? 

Open to any and all suggestions for ultralights or RA aircraft generally that would be potential options. Flight mission is: cheap hour builder for CPL, doesn't have to be fast or fancy, just a decent useful load preferably. 

Cheers.