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FlyingVizsla

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Everything posted by FlyingVizsla

  1. ATSB has investigated RAA accidents where there was a clear public benefit - eg the Ferris Wheel incident (no fatalities). RAA have approached ATSB for more investigations, however they have a budget, and until their political masters see the benefit in increasing their staff etc to cover RAA fatalities and accidents, it is not going to happen. I read a fair bit of RAA bashing over reporting accidents, and a fair bit of people not reading or understanding the present situation. When a fatality occurs, the Police are the lead agency to investigate and prepare a report for the Coroner who then releases his/her findings. As Turboplaner says, some Coroner's reports can be hard to find. While the investigation is on-going RAA & others, are restricted in what they can reveal. It is up to the Police to request RAA to help with the investigation. In times past they have refused, and that left RAA to stand in line with the rest of us waiting a year or two for the Coroner's report. To counter that, RAA sent their investigators to the ATSB course in accident investigation, so that their reports would carry more weight. Police now seem to be more willing to request RAA assistance. Some times RAA requests ATSB assistance with technical issues (eg retrieving data from flight instruments), and I suspect we pay for that. As for Sweeping it under the Carpet - ATSB sometimes declines to investigate - two GA friends of mine had wheels-up landings, one was the subject of an ATSB report and the other was not (but CASA had something to say to him). RAA has an occurrence log where you can list the details of accidents, incidents, near misses etc. If you see something wrong you can report it. You don't have to be the pilot. You can be anonymous, and our Club has had two of these from non-pilots, reporting suspect behaviour. A recent accident, the pilot tried to make out it wasn't his fault, but several pilot witnesses told RAA otherwise and he was suspended pending re-training. The system isn't perfect, never will be, but it is loads better than it was 10, 20 years ago.
  2. Survey Monkey - it is up to you to decide how to frame your questions, they don't do it for you. I have seen some terrible surveys, some along the lines of "Have you stopped beating your wife?" Yes / No It was a while since I did the RAA survey, but I don't think Sport Pilot was at the top of the list, so maybe random. You can't go past without filling in 1-8 so you do have to put some thought into it, even if that is 1 2 3 ... I suspect the donkey voters would give up. Then there are others who would want to be able to give more than one thing a 1, and similarly with an 8.
  3. I did the survey as soon as it came out, so I don't remember everything. It was open to Members, ex-Members and non-members. As I fitted most categories (PC, L1, owner, etc) I think I saw most questions. Ranking things 1-8 was similar to previous years, and will show priority changes over time. There were adequate opportunities to tick Other or fill in free-form boxes. Much better than surveys I have done for others eg Super, Insurance, Telcos etc. where you are forced to assess or choose with no opportunity to explain or tick Not Applicable or I Don't Know, so you go for a 5 or neutral and they say We were rated 8.3 by our customers and the opposition got rated 5 .... now that's skewed. The results come out some time after. If I remember I'll link to it here. It will probably be mentioned in the email to members.
  4. So the big ticket item is Hosting = $3,000. The difference between XF & IPS is small by comparison ($200). Firstly, I would suggest not changing the software again, as the chaos upsets the loyal, long term users who have forgotten how to stop email notifications, struggle with things not being in their usual place and acting as they did, and needing patience while things are migrated. Stick with what gives you the most functionality for the future. There's a good number of us who are not on Facebook - we need this site. There are a number of First Class Members and some of them may be happy to give more than $50 if they knew there was a short-fall. I like the Forum: - Accidents & Incidents, the builds, Laughter (NES!!), general discussions, guess the plane. Resources, Aircraft, Classifieds - waiting for the Book Review. Not so interested in Off-Topic. Thanks for the site - I love it.
  5. Pilot William Scott-Bloxam killed in Mareeba crash remembered as 'colourful character' https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-15/pilot-william-scott-bloxam-remembered-after-mareeba-plane-crash/11801342 Police said they would investigate reports from witnesses who heard a strange sound from the engine, described by one person as "backfiring". Mr Scott-Bloxam was still alive after the crash but he could not be saved by paramedics and died at the scene. He came to national attention in 2008 as the pilot of a flight to the Papuan town of Merauke in which he and four others were detained by Indonesian authorities for entering without a visa. They became known as the "Merauke Five" and were held for several months. They were eventually sentenced to between two and three years' jail each. Following intervention from the Australian Government, their convictions were dismissed by Indonesia's Supreme Court and they returned home in June 2009. More information in the article
  6. Qld Country Life update ... RFDS emergency evacuation of Isisford ultralight crash pilot Sally Cripps@sallyQCL3 Dec 2019, 5:30 p.m. News The Royal Flying Doctor Service plane on the strip at Wahroongah Station south of Isisford preparing to evacuate the injured patient. It's first time the medical service has used this airstrip. Picture supplied by the RFDS. Aa The young Longreach pilot injured in Monday morning's ultralight mustering accident south of Isisford has been flown to Brisbane in a critical condition. According to a Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland Section) spokesman, the RFDS Charleville crew was tasked by Retrieval Services Queensland at about 8.15am on Monday to the light aircraft crash at Pemberley Station, about 60km south of Isisford. Landing at the neighbouring Wahroongah Station airstrip about 10km from the crash site at 10.15am on Monday, two RFDS doctors and an RFDS flight nurse were met by Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics and Queensland Health medical staff from Isisford, who had transferred the patient by road to the airstrip. Together, the medical crews stabilised the patient, 25-year-old Robert Paterson, who was suffering from significant head, face and leg injuries, before flying him to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in a critical condition. Police and emergency services were called to the accident on the Yaraka River Road at around 8.10am on Monday. The acting CEO of Recreational Aviation Australia Maxine Milera said the accident involved an RAAus-registered Foxbat aircraft. "RAAus provides specialised subject matter expertise to assist the police with their investigation, which will include an assessment of a variety of possible factors including environmental, mechanical and human factors," she said.
  7. From the Qld Country Life https://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/6521359/light-plane-accident-at-isisford/ Police were called to a light plane accident south of Isisford on Monday morning. According to a police media spokeswoman, the minor aviation incident occurred at around 8.10am at a location 60km south of Isisford, along the Yaraka River Road. The male pilot was flying a yellow mustering plane when the incident occurred. He is understood to have sustained injuries but was not trapped in the plane. Further details will be supplied as they come to hand.
  8. Back in 1993? (I'll have to check my magazines) CASA offered a weight increase to 750kg on a platter. The AUF people replied "We're too busy ...." and it went on the back burner. The offer now is 760kg which takes in the Cessna 150/152 range - old but cheap, it might get some back into recreational flying.
  9. The magazine went digital from June 2011 - you can find them on the RAA site and issuu.com. I have a complete set from late 1992, but patchy before that. I would be grateful for any early copies I can borrow. Be warned ... there will be floods, cyclones, magazine gobbling goannas, Marie Kondo moments of decluttering ahead for your AUF magazine owners. Karasport is a single seat in flying condition. It is a parasol, comes apart into a trailer. There's some pictures on this forum discussing trailer-able planes. The Scout isn't flying as it needs recovering, pixie motor, Mk I.
  10. Both. I was copying the AUF/RAA magazines as a project for RAA to put them up on their website. I have a complete collection of hard copies from 1992/3 up to when the magazine went digital (and available on the RAA website), but I am still looking for hard copies earlier. My digitising project goes in fits & starts and I have not touched it for about a year. Fully searchable and tagged, high resolution. RAA have offered to loan me their archived copies, but I am a bit reluctant to be entrusted with perhaps the only official copies in captivity. I'm jinxed - the pre 1992 copies I have been promised have all disappeared in (a) spouse clean up, (b) deceased and dumped x 2, © freak flood, (d) frenzied silverfish / cockie attack, (e) "I'm sure they're here somewhere ...." If anyone wants to risk it, I am still looking for AUF mags/newsletters from inception to 1992. The Pacific Ultralights and earlier magazines are all gathering dust in boxes under the house. I could read through, scan and send whatever you are interested in. If you could define that for me pls. We still have a Scout, but needs re-covering, Mr FV is too heavy to get it off the ground, but I still can, and a single seat Karasport. We've just got too much to do, so many projects - who said retirement was boring?
  11. You could start with this:- This is on this site under Resources - Tutorials. I have early copies of some Ultralight publications such as Pacific Ultralights and the AUF newsletter / RAA magazines. There's a lot out there, so it will depend on what specifically you want - aircraft design, people, governance, statistics? Sue
  12. G'day Hunsta, When you get up to the cross-country, call in to the Childers airstrip. Usually a morning tea on Wednesdays and people around most times. We have functions from time to time, like fly-in breakfast, just had the Oz-STOL competition. The Isis Flying Club is a happy group of active aviators with about 20 hangars and a good club house. Meetings 1st Sat of each month at 10am. Welcome to drive up to talk planes and flying. Sue
  13. It's part of a crack-down on Registered Training Organisations defrauding the Commonwealth https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-06/private-college-reaped-$2m-from-students-but-never-taught-class/11662164
  14. Some pics here https://www.facebook.com/2019ausfly/ Mostly presentations and sponsors. I would like some feedback too. How many, how did it go .. is it worth the interstate trip? Some plane porn pls.
  15. Yes, I know the feeling! I've been caught waiting on jobs where they have used my resume as "and this will be our Project Manager, Engineer ..." when they win the contract they employ someone far less experienced / qualified on less wages to cover two or three roles. Hope it turns around for you soon. In the meantime we REALLY APPRECIATE all the work you are doing for us here!
  16. From time to time RAA ask for volunteers to put into a skills register. I don't know what sort of response they get. I have done some volunteer work for them, however, I am doing it at my own pace. They may not have the luxury of waiting for ages, or waiting for someone to visit Canberra. I am sure there are Board members who consult people they know have better knowledge of things. This might be happening behind the scenes without us knowing. It's a hard question to answer - if RAA get outside help (from members or professionals etc) and they don't pay, or pay less than market value (eg free labour "parts" only) are these provided by "volunteers"? If so, then Yes, they are using Volunteers. But remember - you get what you pay for. Often Volunteers are not required to stand by their product, there's no compulsion to complete.
  17. I think Turbo is referring to Forum Posts - lost in the myriad of spurious content from - tutorials, map pins, vids etc... He's a candidate for Option 2, but more likely wants What's New - Forum Posts only. I understand where he is coming from.
  18. I did the survey too. I thought the idea was either 1.keep the magazine but subscribers have to pay the true cost, or 2. stop printing & posting the magazine and put the money into other ways of keeping us informed and amused. The RAA have listened to people complaining their fees are going up and this is one way of remedying it. At least they are asking before calling tenders for someone to produce a glossy magazine for a year or two. If the cost does go up to the true production cost then I predict a number of the 15% of members who subscribe will reneg leaving the few to pay a higher subscription. As for sending it to doctors' surgeries - it was in newsagents for sale, and that didn't give any stellar increase in membership, only cost more than it was worth, and was scrapped. The arrangement (which was commercial-in-confidence) was, AFAIK, the Editor chased advertising and kept the proceeds to offset his price to produce, print & post a magazine. With only 1,500 readers, advertising revenue wouldn't be too flash. It might be hard to find someone willing to take it on at a reasonable cost. When the same guy did both AOPA & RAA there may have been savings. But AOPA has ditched it's print magazine and gone to an on-line hodge-podge of unrelated articles that you have to click through to.
  19. Spacie - it is a very useful number. For the book that Ian and I both have "Fire in the Sky : The Australian Flying Corps in the First World War" by Michael Molkentin the ISBN is 978 1 74237 072 9 This tells you it is that book and it is a paperback (the hardback has a slightly different number). I am helping out on a charity Book Fest. Things are so much easier now we just scan the ISBN, all the details are added to the database and we can chuck it into the right box to make spreading them out for sale on the day way easier than previous years. All the gardening books in one place, the non-fiction, fiction, biographies etc. It is also useful for those looking for specific books - just ask, we look it up and can tell if we had it and if it is still for sale and where you can find it on the tables. Another good read in the same vein - "The High Life of Oswald Watt: Australia's First Military Pilot" by Chris Clark, Big Sky Publishing, Newport NSW Australia 2016 ISBN 9781925275797. He learned to fly in 1911, when WWI broke out, he went to France and flew with the French (thus being the first Australian to fly in a military role) and 18 months later got a transfer to the Australian Flying Corp. I've got another one and a half chapters to go.
  20. Can we include e-books, on-line videos; a rating system (5 stars? planes?) a category (or two, three ...) eg WWI / WWI planes / Australian Pilots / Egypt / England. Fiction / non-fiction. A picture of the cover if possible.
  21. Yes! A good read with plenty of research, and pictures. I have passed it around and it has just come past me again. I have friends who raid my shelves for good reads. I'm organised now, I have a pile of books for each with "this might interest .. Bill, Pete etc" to avoid dragging everything out or offering things they've already read. I must say we got a lot of good books from Ian's shop Clear Prop (Pilot Shop on the side menu)
  22. .. be ultra cute and endearing, so as to end up in countless YouToob Vids. Gold, absolute Gold for the CASA Misdemeanour Investigators. For there, in the background was evidence of multiple breaches of ...
  23. .. been fitted with Chinese built Jabiloo engines. A deep rumble pervades the air, a slow, deep reverberation of a sleeping bear, slowly awakening. "Spratly .. Australian soil! .. Jabiloo!!!" yelled the CASA bureaucracy, clearly conflicted by the thought of an Australian engine being allowed to fly unrestricted in Orstralia. "Didn't we ban ....
  24. While RAA are not exactly Microsoft ... they do award tenders for services such as auditing, the magazine, fly-in venue etc. The magazine is worth >$100k's + advertising - possibly a quarter of a million. I think you are referring to Kirk Sutton, who was asked to change one word in his election statement. Only Kirk can tell you what that word was and why he agreed. Because they are published in a magazine, the editor and organisation must be careful with what they allow. Kirk has, in the past, been pedantic about the letter of the law, which has put him at odds with the Board, the RAA legal advice and Spencer Ferrier who assisted with the wording of the Constitution. Lawyers disagree about the intent of legislation, that is why we have the courts; to rule on the interpretation and set a precedent, on which further interpretation relies. My concern with this election, as with others in the past, is that too few members even bother. "I just want to fly ..." We need to engage these members to get them to take an interest in their organisation.
  25. I Like it; a good balance of words and pics. Are the entries chosen, or are they random? Just concerned that some trolling might unfortunately end up featured on the home page.
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