DarkSarcasm

I like the new format and name far better, it makes the organisation seem a lot more vibrant and interesting and the simple large name is easier to see and remember. Overall the cover at least is a LOT less daggy than the old version, it's something that might make other people on the train think 'that looks like an interesting magazine'. The articles were a lot more interesting than usual too in my opinion, I haven't read the mag for the past few months because I was getting tired of endless stories of 'we went here, we went there' etc which can get a bit repetitive, I liked the inclusion of articles such as how to photograph your aircraft.

If you read my first post properly, you will see that I did not ask advice about whether to report someone or not, I asked how to report someone. There is a world of difference. Please read the posts properly before commenting on my lack of logic or similar.

This has nothing to do with my qualification as a lawyer. It has everything to do with my qualification as a licenced pilot. I am interested to see how far this thread had grown, when I started it I did not imagine it would spark such discussion. I have purposely not given the details of the event and will not do so, all I ask is please do not cast aspersions on my character and assume that I am a slave to the law, a jumped up PPL, full of my own importance or just trying to make trouble for a poor innocent RA driver. I am just trying to do what I feel is right and will accept the consequences if I did not do the right thing.

I read some of the replies to this thread as stating that only illegal ops should be reported. That, to me, implied that some people would not report something that they felt was unsafe unless it was also an illegal operation. Apologies if I misconstrued the posts, sometimes things come out in text differently to how they were intended.

I have not posted details to preserve anonimity of the parties involved. If possible, I would have spoken to the pilot on the ground, but it's a bit difficult to do so when he's flying. I would have preferred this approach and would have done so if it were possible. Perhaps the response isn't proportional, but I do not see why it has incited this much discussion. If it is truly not worth looking into then the authorities will not do so, that is up to them. I do NOT understand why people appear to be so reluctant to actually stand up and say 'I felt that what that pilot did was unsafe'. I described it as bad airmanship yes, because I believe that is part of it and did not want to get into discussion as to what the situation actually was. In short, the other pilot's radio calls were unprofessional and, by extension, unsafe and would be used by those 'holier than thou' GA pilots (I do not include all GA pilots in this, obviously) as an excellent example of how RA pilots are supposedly not trained to the same standards as GA (I am not a member of this camp, holding both kinds of licences). I will not apologise for doing something I felt was right and taking a stand against something that I felt was unprofessional and, by extension, unsafe. I do not want to be the person who thinks 'oh well, it'll be right' only to find out later that that pilot was involved in a prang.

While I agree that not every minor thing should be reported, I do not believe that bad airmanship should be allowed to continue just because nobody could be ars*d to do anything about it. I think it's better to email the appropriate authorities and let them decide whether it is worth pursuing than just washing your hands of it. It's entirely possible that CASA/RA-Aus will take one look at my email and decide it's not worth looking into, but I'm glad I put it out there. And I bet there's some people reading this who probably think I'm just a fairly newly minted PPL drunk with power, but I'm not, I'm just trying to be a safe pilot and do my bit to keep other aviators, and pax, safe as well.

All jokes aside, I wouldn't report someone unless I felt I had a good reason. I am not becoming a 'holier than thou' GA pilot. If a GA pilot had done the same thing I would've taken the same action. I have emailed a report to CASA and RA-Aus and they can deal with it as they see fit. They may decide not to pursue it, however I felt that it needed reporting.

Can I offer you a cough lolly motz?

Thanks for your replies, I'll email Mick today.

Hi all, Is there anywhere I can report an RA-Aus pilot for bad airmanship? I had a look at the RA-Aus website and can't find anything, is there anywhere online to do it? Or should I email someone at RA-Aus? Cheers

I fly out of Lilydale, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask me :)

Headset, maps, clipboard, blank flight plan forms, blank SARTIME forms, ERSA, pencils/pen/whiteboard marker, ASIC, ruler, plotter, flight computer, torch, licence, spare batteries for headset, sick bags, fuel tester, Warrior checklist, water bottle, stale packet of tiny teddies, sunglasses, camera, phone and sometimes my iPod and the cord to connect it to my headset, depending on what I'm doing

I'm not too keen on Bacchus Marsh at the moment! I don't want to tempt fate by going back there, I don't think they'll let me hire again if I bend another one...

Planning to use my new piece of paper to take some people out for lunch :big_grin: Victoria area is also an option, was only thinking Melbourne because planning to do a couple of flights around the bay. Definitely going to do some flights around parts of Vic though, so thanks

Hi all, Are there any airfields with restaurants/cafes in the Melbourne area? I know Tooradin used to have a restaurant but it closed for a while and I don't know if it's reopened or not - has it? Are there any other fields with restaurants/cafes? Cheers

When we had the birdstrike we ended up at Moorabbin (which I realise is a far smaller scale than YMMB or YSSY) and called up and requested priority and the controller rearranged things so we were #1 to land. I assume they'd do the same thing just on a far bigger scale at one of the big airports. I can't see anyone going 'Nah mate, go and crash on a house, I've got all my RPTs lined up already, tough luck'

I only did because everyone else did

I suggest putting your fuel calcs on the back so you can do them properly. And perhaps them using the space on the front you have used for fuel for a table of frequencies or something similar. There isn't enough space there for proper fuel calcs (unless you're only going to one destination - which makes that large table of planning boxes fairly superfluous) My log (just in case anyone's interested - looks slightly odd after the conversion from Doc to PDF but the main idea is there) - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FKVLJC4K

Isn't half the point of the 1 in 60 that ya don't need the wheel?

I'll send it to you when I get home. It's double sided but if you don't have a printer that prints double sided (I don't) then just print one side and whack the same piece of paper in the other way to print the other side. This may be a silly question, but presumably you're only using your E6B maybe once or twice a nav for diversions aren't you? Wouldn't it be easier to practice the few calculations you're going to need to do on the run rather than have to pull your phone out and open the app and type in each box etc?

It was EXACTLY the same for me. I felt hopeless during all my navs, and felt like I should give up lots of times and resign myself to the circuit, then got sent off on my solo nav and had an amazing flight that I look back on with a lot more fondness than any other, even my first solo. I did that too and it's very useful. I scribble all over my maps - times, 1 in 60s, most of the time I end up writing any diversion calculations on a corner of my map rather than on my log. If nothing else, FIs like to see you writing on your maps.

What sort of nav log sheet are you using? The standard airservices one? I found nav logging became 100 times easier when I designed my own sheet that had specific areas for a tank log, a table of frequencies etc. It was a lot easier to remember to change tanks etc when I had a specific table to fill in. I can send it to you if you like (it is designed for GA - I'm guessing you probably won't need a tank log or anything - but you can adapt it if you like). What checks are you using? Do they include a log check? I'm guessing you're using your E6B for calculations during diversions? The way I got better at that was to get the instructions for my flight computer and sat at home doing the practice calculations in the manual, just over and over. My main problem at the start was remembering which number in the calculation went on which part of the wheel. I still have to remind myself while flying, so tell myself Speed = Distance/Time - speed is the number next to the arrow, then distance is on the top of the wheel and time below that. It works all ways - so if you want to calculate speed etc, just put your distance over your time and the number next to the arrow will be speed etc. One thing to make logging times easier is to wear a digital watch. I started with a watch that only had 5 minute markers so had to slightly guess what number it was pointing at which clearly didn't help my navving. My FI suggested wearing a digital watch during navs to make it really simple to check what time it is for logging time. It definitely helped. Final piece of advice is that you're going to stress during training navs. Definitely. I spent most of my navs constantly feeling like I was less than 1 minute away from a nervous breakdown. I only got horrendously lost once, but still landed at the end of each nav feeling like I was never going to get the hang of the navving thing and was a hopeless pilot who should just circuit bash for the rest of their life. But my FIs kept saying I was progressing fine, so how you think you're going may not always be right, you may well be doing a LOT better than you think :)

My first solo nav. The feeling of knowing that I was out there doing it by myself, getting around with my map and my compass. Just me and CWW and the big wide sky.

Haven't got a mother in law (yet). I am taking my boss up in the Warrior though, wonder if I'll still be employed afterwards... :big_grin:

Yeh, I'm referring to going from a Warrior to a J160. So, I wouldn't need to go do 3 circuits in the J160 to carry pax, since I've done 3 takeoffs/landings in the Warrior in the last 90 days?