FlyingVizsla

Ralph,

When the book comes out, I would like to buy one.  Sue

From the ABC

Patients being assessed after light plane crash at Ball Bay, north of Mackay - ABC News

Emergency services are at the scene of a light plane crash on a beach in North Queensland. 

The Queensland Ambulance Service says the incident happened at about eight o'clock this morning at Ball Bay, north of Mackay.  

Two patients were being assessed but information about their conditions is not yet available. 

 I hope I wasn't too much of an influence!  

There were 1,226 voters who cast 2,138 votes (you could vote for two candidates), which means 314 members voted for only one candidate.

Rod Birrell failed by only 15 votes (about 1.2%)

While I can't get into the mind of the voting members, it sometimes happens that the mediocre one gets up, simply because the other candidates elicit strong feelings eg "Wouldn't vote for him in a fit", and "He's my top pick" then people have to choose the other candidate(s) ... someone who doesn't rock the boat and isn't notorious one way or the other.  I have seen it time and again in Council elections where a guy who contributes nothing, says nothing in Council, somehow gets the most votes.  Not saying this is the case, but maybe The Devil You Don't Know may be at play, or Simon has garnered a larger support base this year.  Hopefully he will contribute.  The whole Board will be retiring over the next few years as the Constitution limits their Terms.  We need new people in earlier rather than later, for continuity.  It is a job, that done properly, will consume much of your time and energy.

Election results are out - Simon and Luke got up.  Rod Birrell fell short by a few votes to Luke.  Simon got the clear majority.  More voted in the new on-line system than the old Reply-Paid mail in.  There were no Informal votes - probably because you had to provide a valid membership and you were unable to vote after the closing date.  Look forward to seeing what Simon can contribute.  This is Luke's last term.

All candidates are required to disclose any financial interest in aviation on their election statement.  I would expect candidates to have some "skin in the game" and as RAA members they should have some aviation experience.  I would be suspicious of someone who does not fly wanting to be a Director, also someone who is, say, the Largest Importer of Ultralights might try to use his influence.  But at the end of the day they are one voice in 7.  The Board need to know a lot about running a business. setting policy and negotiating with Govts.

I did comment on a previous election, on the independent report on the Board, which showed 3 Directors were uncooperative or under performing.  I had hoped that they may have changed their attitudes.  Rod was one.  Back in the days when there were 13, several were passengers, only there for their own benefit.  I have been copying and digitising the early AUF magazines and it is appalling that meeting reports mentioned Board members who arrived with their meeting material, sent a month ahead to allow consultation with their State members, was still unopened when they arrived in Canberra and hours were wasted while they read it.  Most were CFIs of their own schools and were looking after their own interests.

RAAus Board Election 2019 - Page 3 - Governing Bodies - Recreational Flying

Part of the report said ...

.. struggle to engage several members as they do not respond to emails, return phone calls and so forth. Alan Middleton often criticises the engagement of board members but fails to return calls and takes an aggressive tone in email (on one occasion I called him 4 times in relation to some out of session matters with no reply). Rod Birrell and Eugene Reid are similar.

I wasn't greatly impressed with Simon.  He has had a year to get immersed in RAA, but seemed to not have much of a grasp of the issues.  Luke is good value.

RAA Board Election is open for voting.  A change from previous years - the Election Statements are on line (not in the magazine) and you will be voting on line too.  I watched the "meet the candidates" live stream, where only two participated.  Luke Bayly (a current Board Member) and Simon Ozanne (who unsuccessfully stood last time).  Rod Birrell "did not respond" whatever that meant.  There are two seats up for grabs.  You can watch it on YouTube or Facebook.

Members should have received an email from Verovoting.  Those without an email will get something in the mail.  The election opened 1st Sept and closes 28th Sept.

The Constitution limits terms to 3, so there will be a number of current Board Members who will not be able to stand again.  If elected, it will be Luke's last term.  Same with Eugene and other long term Board members.  

Consider carefully, and vote.

So sorry to hear this Doug.  I have followed your posts for years with wonder and interest. 

All the best for the future.  🙂  Sue

Isis Flying Club tried Chillie Spray on the grassed runway.  The idea is the roos don't like the taste and move elsewhere, and remember it as peppery and yucky.  Initially it has worked OK.  Has rained since, but still seems effective.  Will ask again in a month.

Our Punkin Head cover taken Feb 2008.  The covers on the wings were made by an upholsterer.  2021 and they are brown with all the dust & muck in the hangar, but the Punkin Head cover is still looking good and clean.  Highly recommended.  This was the honeymoon - we spent it in the hangar.

My old password didn't work, I had to do my proof of identity all over again.  Nothing went automatically, so sent scans as requested, then get a message saying there was a problem with my POI.  It took ages for me to realise that meant Proof Of Identity.  Doing it all again over a slow satellite connection......  Darn.

Any one else get one of these?   It does not say GA or RAA.  I already have an ARN, but I ended up having to go through the whole "Prove who you are" process with birth, marriage certificates, none of which processed automatically.  Then the process was finished and I have to wait for the Aircraft Registration bit to go live.

I know the plane and pilot.  He's out of hospital.  Very experienced, always practicing forced landings and circuits etc. I'll let him tell the story.

I know of plenty of unfinished aircraft builds for sale - if anyone would take them.  A lot are going to be more trouble to get flying than if you got something new.  Then there are the post accident rebuilds - know a few of them.  Getting them back on the Register GA or RAA is going to be a bridge too far for most people, unless you have lots of time & money.  Engines are going to be a problem - out of time, rusted up, no parts.

First thing - see your local Council.  Find out what is allowed under the Town Plan (airstrip, minimum subdivision, number of sheds etc).  Then decide what you want to do.  To ask for something more than allowed, you will have to mount a case which will include Planners, application fees, studies etc = money!

Assuming you already have an approved airstrip on freehold land - you can go two ways.  1. subdivide airside land into house / hangar lots and sell the freehold.  2. Lease areas of land - you could build hangars and lease these or lease the land and let someone build (but you may have to carry the Council Building Approval process).  My experience is that if the land is large enough to have an airstrip it is probably zoned Rural and not able to be subdivided below a certain size (200ha in our shire).  

It might be worth sending Blackhawk a PM as he was involved in a Development Application to a Qld Council for an Airpark.  One lesson from that was to do your homework, because even when it was approved, there were no buyers, so the owner didn't proceed with the works and the DA lapsed.

Probably simpler to apply to Council (if you have to) to build a few hangars and rent to users.  You retain ownership of the land, can remove trouble makers, can adjust rent to suit etc.  Make sure the airstrip and hangars comply with CAAP 92(1)(1) - that is width, distance from centreline etc.  This is your insurance - if there is an accident on your private strip and someone wants to sue, the best defence is that it complies with the CASA safety standard.  You will also need Public Liability Insurance and should insist that occupiers carry their own insurance (yours won't cover gear owned by them).  You may be in the gun for any complaints about flying by them, people ringing the Airservices complaints line or Council, and that may end in restrictions on movements or changed circuit procedures.  We've got a bloke with a noisy aircraft practicing for STOL competitions who has been moved on from 3 other airstrips and has now chosen to annoy our neighbours with very early morning low level constant movements.  Think about how you will manage that.

Our Flying Club is on leased land, but there are restrictive conditions due to the ownership of the land (State Reserve - no residing, no commercial use etc).  All buildings have to be approved by the Council, hangar owners pay a one-off fee to the Club for clearing & forming the Taxiway (Council only allow "as required" clearing) and pay an annual fee to cover Public Liability Insurance, maintenance.  Owners don't have any rights to an area of land, but agree to keep the area around their hangar tidy.  The agreement was tightened due to a couple of members not playing the game - so there is now a clause that if an owner breaches the lease conditions (after warnings etc) that the Club can take ownership of the hangar.  In hindsight, the Club should have put these conditions in from the beginning, it would have saved 10 years of on-going grief. The Council's lease runs for 20 years and can be terminated by the giving of notice by either party, with 28 days to remove all improvements. 

That's a start.  If you can be more specific, we can give better experience.

1 hour ago, jackc said:

Why was it changed?  Were there any  benefits in changing RAAus structure.  Must be something there as I guess members would have voted on the day, for the change?

It was voted on by the members and changed.  This is not the first time the AUF has been a limited company.  They were decades ago, but decided to change back.  I would have to trawl though my magazines to find the saga, but I don't think they bothered involving membership back then.  As an Incorporated Association (what it has been for most of it's history) it has to be Incorporated in a particular State and subject to that State's rules.  I vaguely remember them being incorporated in Vic or NSW, but as a general rule of thumb, National organisations were Incorporated in the ACT, where they have been for years.

There was a lot of discussion on the pros & cons on this forum when it was happening.  There were rules about where the Secretary could live (had to be in the ACT) and reporting - audits etc.  So some positions were designated to be held by employees rather than Board members to comply.  The reporting was a bit of a joke.  The Company structure is National, so you don't have to be based in any particular State.

For members, little has changed.  We still have Board members - although fewer and with more legislated responsibility - we are still members, but limited by guarantee (I think that's $1 each), we are still flying, the failed audits and forced groundings are behind us, for those who "just want to fly" the weather is more of an issue than RAA being a not-for-profit company.

I'm still waiting for my Sport Pilot.  Mr FV got his and he's still monopolising it, but from the "language" emanating from behind the glossy pages, I would say its a bit contentious.  I emailed our Club's contact details etc twice and we are still not in there.  Asked about advertising our 30th anniversary celebrations, and that is still hanging in the air.  Pace are essentially a travel magazine publisher.

I just heard this morning, on the ABC Wide Bay News Radio that a helicopter pilot has been fined $500 for landing without permission.  The story said that no aircraft is allowed to land on Fraser Island, that the beach landing area is for the commercial operator who has permission.  The helicopter landed there and it sounded like he compromised the ALA for the commercial flight that was due in shortly.  I was in the car at the time, so I only got the gist of the story, so don't know if this was today or earlier.  The emphasis was that private aircraft cannot land on Fraser.  I have been looking for the Digital version on the ABC but couldn't find it, yet.  From FlightRadar24 Fraser Island is popular, a lot just fly around the shoreline.  I know people who fly there.

Any one else heard this one?

We already have lots of pads of A3 graph paper.  What he wants to do is convert the data (x,y co-ordinates) into a life-size drawing on graph paper.  He wants to take data like this Data file, and plot it like the Graph file.

He is not trying to make a tracing of an existing aircraft.  I have explained how much work (plotting x,y & joining the dots) this will be, but he is adamant that this is what he wants to do, he only needs a long roll of pre-printed graph paper .... then a huge table to work on .... Fortunately he has a lovely wife who puts up with him 

I tried the drafting suppliers.  Found a 20 yard roll of Fade Out Graph Paper (the blue lines don't show up on a photocopy and can be eliminated from scans) but at over $10/metre I am reluctant to get the amount he wants.  Tried Officeworks, the dressmaking stores, etc.  I have an A3 light table, and could use tracing rolls with an A3 graph sheet between.  Cumbersome, but I doubt he will accept that. 

Just thought someone out there might have a supplier of pre-printed graph paper in rolls.

Data.PDF Graph.PDF

Mr FV wants to graph an aerofoil, life-size, so he is after some graph paper that will stretch that far, so he can plot the x,y co-ordinates and lay it out for wing construction, design etc.  I tried a quick search for Graph Paper Rolls and came up with little in Australia.  Thinking like a Plotter roll (or smaller), but with pre-printed grid.  Any ideas on where we can get some?  I see that Birch makes a dressmaker's graph paper in rolls.  Anyone used that or any other suggestions?

Mr FV is not computer savvy and has resisted my suggestions of an Excel chart (I did one for him previously) printed on A3 and pasted.  He is using x,y plots published in various Aircraft design and Aerofoil design books.  He doesn't want to paste A3 graph sheets together either.

TIA.

More on this accident including pictures & video

Koo Wee Rup airfield: man dead in aircraft crash (news.com.au)

The presenter said it may have been caused when his helmet came loose.

RIP

ABC news reporting a fatality at 7am

Man dies after aircraft crash in Koo Wee Rup, south-east of Melbourne - ABC News

At least this guy has an aviation background and won't need to spend a year learning about ultralights, CASA regs, etc.  Hopefully he is a good manager.  Remember our last CEO came from the RSPCA.  A previous CEO was ex-military.  We have come a long way from when it was run by volunteers in their spare time.

And check Spam.  My ISP has started sending bulk mail out emails to the Spam folder on their servers.  Means I have to log into my email through the web to access that Spam folder, which is different to the spam folder on my Email client which tosses things to Spam too.  Really annoying at the ISP level, because they are Spamming things I regularly read and sending junk like Fishpond and Phishing scams through.  I am slowly re-educating it.

Last 2 months, our little club has fielded 4 requests for hangars and more requests for people wanting to fly (we don't have a school, just 18 hangars and 35 members).  That's more than we got all last year.