FlyingVizsla

Pete,

 

Truely a very sad and tragic end. We understand what you are going through as Alf lost his first wife through cancer. It just does no seem fair that someone so good should be taken from us like this, but in the end the sun shines again and we find hope and a reason to go on. Alf firmly believes that his Shirley organised for me to come into his life to do for him the things she could no longer do, and that, even though she was gone, she was still looking after him. I'm sure it will be the same for you.

 

Regards

 

Sue & Alf

 

 

G'day Shane,

 

Welcome aboard! Sunny - I envy you! It has done nothing but rain and blow here in Qld and I have not been out except for a sortie last weekend marred by wasps in the ASI. There's nothing like being able to go out and "throw it around" to release the stresses of work & life. Good on ya for returning to it.

 

 

Sue

 

 

Welcome Mick,

 

There are lots of Drifter pilots here, as you have probably already found out, and the odd chopper pilot. Several of us are also builders - so don't be shy - tell us how it is going together.

 

 

Sue

 

 

Your quite right Andrew...ATO's (Approved Testing Officers) do the tests....it just happens that many (not all) CFI's are ATO's as well!!

This one always amused me - that the CFI could test their own students, and some of these were CFI's of very small schools, and they could only test their school's students. No independance and surely a conflict of interest. Outback our CFI was in the Capital 1,200km away and we had to fly up an interstate Independant ATO (a very rare breed indeed) as the CFI never visited and couldn't test - until CASA caught up with it and insisted on a CFI presence rather than a Gr.1 getting instruction by phone. We could not use a CFI/ATO of a closer school because the approval was only for his own students.

 

This was a few years back when there were some strange things going on with CASA - different States interpreted the rules differently so anomalies like our school being required to have a fully equiped office at every airstrip we instructed from, and being under cut by a satellite school operating from anywhere because NSW deemed a fully equiped office "somewhere in NSW" was good enough to cover anywhere a school wanted to instruct at, whereas we had to be inspected and have phone, fax, desk, full set of docs etc at each location. Certainly killed off any training at country locations.

 

Sue

 

 

Welcome Robert!

 

Homebuilt - the most fun you can have in your own shed. Beaut part about it, is the fun doesn't stop there - great sense of achievement when you get it up in the air. We finished our Rans about 3 years ago and now have the plans for an Asso Aeri Whisky IV. The RANS still gets tweeked and flown regularly.

 

Lots of people here would be keen to hear how you're going.

 

Regards

 

Sue

 

 

The 'circles' are man made as part of a water ponding system to rehabilitate scalded land. Here's one short description of the process. http://www.austrangesoc.com.au/userfiles/file/2010_ARS_conf/Ray%20Thompson%20new.pdf

 

A much longer explanation is found at:

 

http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/imported_assets/content/_archive/tr051.pdf

 

In short - they are low walls pushed up to capture water so that it ponds against the wall so that soil and seeds are not washed away. It improves the land and guards against salinity. One of the many wonders of The Outback really only appreciated by light aircraft.

 

So who won the bet?

 

Sue

 

 

I am looking at interiors for my C152 - try the Aviation Trader for Australian suppliers. I looked at one supplier in Australia - Aeroplastics Aerospace Plastic Components

 

The alternative to plastic is fibreglass - much easier to repair - and there are manufacturers out there who do it. The plastics for my C152 came in beige or black, but they can also be painted.

 

Plane Plastics - Airplane and Helicopter Interior Plastic PartsThis site is very easy to search - go to Express Look Up - make, model, serial and you get the full list of interiors available. Even the amount of beading you need is calculated. You then have a list of the part numbers and pieces you need to start getting quotes. They also have full sheets of decals & placards.

 

Our LAME suggested we go for a "kit" - that is a full refurbishment - as he thought we may find that cheaper than buying individual pieces for only what we needed (which is nearly everything). The plan is to repaint the aircraft and the option of being able to paint the plastic with FAA approved paint is worth considering to get a coordinated look. My plane was owned by a LAME who painted the interior so our newer (10yr old) bits look out of place being a different shade of beige.

 

CASA allow pilots to remove and install interiors.

 

Let us know how you get on.

 

Sue

 

 

Out here, Council minutes are circulated by email to Councillors who have a week to request changes, then they are posted on the website. Journalists who sit in on the meetings have often written up and published the meatier bits before the minutes were released so they were old news even a week after.

 

The Agenda used to be available too - this included all the background information, reports, recommendations, costings, correspondance which gave you a better understanding of the final result. However this was later restricted to Councillors and senior staff (when the Council amalgamated), but the minutes had good information. Now the minutes are a sanitised version and it is hard to get much information out of them. The budget meeting minutes did not once mention a $ amount. The whole thing was a heading (Sewerage) a note that all Councillors owned land and had a vested interest but because they all did they could deal with it .... etc and The budget for (sewerage) was passed. Only the (bit in brackets) changed in each paragraph - pages and pages of them. The smaller the organisation the more info.

 

I would imagine our board meetings have been going the same way - the larger the organisation the more acutely aware they are of upsetting or giving competitive advantage or causing controversy with the members. Governments often let it leak so they can run it up the flagpole and gauge public opinion and flush out the dissenters. So maybe there is either a better mechanism for approving and releasing minutes, or a Board Reporter (journalist) to float the pithier issues in a timely manner.

 

Sue

 

 

Who pays maintenance? Here are some figures from a very profitable airport - Emerald in Qld where they made a profit of $1.15million before they bought in a raft of new charges (parking for cars & planes, rental parking spot fees). They charge for each car parking spot, hangars, kiosks, parking, landing, vending machines, baggage facilities, businesses etc. Charges for this year:-

 

Every passenger on RPT, communter or charter getting on or off - adults $18.00, half price or less (eg children) $9.00. For example a RPT disembarks 40 pax and departs with 30 + 10 kids = 70 x $18 + 10x$9 = $1,350. Passenger screening, contract +10%

 

Landing fee per tonne - RPT $11.50, GA $9 (my C152 = $6.75), ultralights $5.75 each. Annual fees GA $239, flying school $415, Ultralights $160. Fees are collected by the Council rather than through AvData. Employees record the call sign and post a bill to the operator. I assume they catch Ultralights as they land.

 

Aircraft Parking >4hrs $9/day

 

The same Council closed the Blackwater airstrip to RPTs (it is still open to charter and private ops - it is owned by the mine) as they estimated the charge per passenger would be $120/person - so Qantas Link passengers have to travel to Emerald to catch a flight.

 

These airstrips attact Govt grants and funding for expansion and services. You can look up your local council's fees on their websites.

 

Sue

 

 

Yeah, had some problems too. Ours had problems at the connection due to such a small current. Try not to have any kinking or movement - ours are wound rather than bent now and fares much better. The 912 can be a bit rough on these delicate joints. If you could send us a picture the boss says he could tell you what the problem is.

 

Sue

 

 

One's for talking on (Coms - Communication) the VHF radio

 

The other's for radio assisted navigating (Nav Coms)

 

- the NDB - Non Directional Beacon where you dial in the frequency and the needle moves to point to it (yeah, there's a bit more to it ...)

 

- the DME - Distance Measuring Equipment - ditto but digital read out

 

- the VOR -

 

etc.

 

Sue

 

 

Gosh! What happened? Anyway - welcome back - again.

 

Sue

 

 

Its here RA-Aus aircraft register (xhtml w3c 12/09)

 

There are some interesting statistics and a choice of format (by date, by number). If you are after a particular rego number, try Edit, Find - note that one number can be used more than once in different classes eg 10-0186 and 25-0186. There are no address details - RAA & privacy issues. But some airports still charge landing fees for ultralights. I vaugely remember being told RAA pass them on rather than releasing their register - but I could be terribly wrong.

 

Sue

 

 

Power line markers

 

I went through this exercise at a rural airstrip in Qld - getting red ball markers placed on overhead powerlines.

 

They have to be approved and placed by the electricity authority, which took months, but the sticking point is that the landholders, over whose property they run, must sign an undertaking to relieve the authority of all liaibility and take that liability themselves. By placing markers on power lines the Authority is admitting there is a risk, and if there was a known risk, why didn't they do more to mitigate it (so runs the legal argument). So they try the argument - you want power, you take the risk. In rural areas power lines run as the crow flies, not along road reserve, and so this particular power line crossed two properties, one signed the other did not, so only one section of line is marked and it cost about $7,000.

 

At another airstrip the power authority erected a power line across the end of the strip (in the landing & take off slope) and would not do it underground as requested. They put 3 balls on it but it is still a significant hazard for landing or go-arounds.

 

So there's the dilema. If only the electricity authorities would make a policy that any line within cooee of the ends of an airstrip will be automatically marked, or the courts decided they were liable for accidents at UNmarked powerlines (so they rush out and mark), life would be a lot safer.

 

Sue

 

 

Is there anything to stop an ordinary member going to the meeting, making notes, and publishing same on the forum?

 

What we got out of the meeting through RAA channels seems rather thin pickings. If we could put out more then perhaps we could engage the members better.

 

WE got our mag on Friday and I found the CEO's column a bit hard to understand in places. I understand there are some issues that all they can say is that it is progressing, but I would like to hear more of what the Board actually decided.

 

Sue

 

 

Friend of mine, with newly minted licence, bought one and had to fly it back to Qld. He had terrible experiences with it and at one stage thought about leaving it where he landed and never flying it again. We nicknamed it "Lyle's Death Trap" but he determined that he would get back on the horse and tame it. He did that by entering the Outback Air Race (not a race at all) retracing the old aerial mail route from Charleville, Longreach, Cloncurry, across to the east coast then back through Emerald and finishing in Roma. The participants always held their breath when he came in to land. He mastered it and moved on to other aircraft. QWERTY knows the original owner and he and Lyle were mates in their younger years.

 

My better half is not convinced the rudder is big enough. They are slippery, but it depends what you compare it with and what your experience is. Our lightwing is a dog, but once you understand it you can handle it. The danger is coming from a very docile aircraft and expecting the same good behaviour from the next one.

 

Sue

 

 

I don't mind the price increase. The increases in the last 10 years

 

Non Flying member:

 

2001 $82.50

 

2002 $88.00

 

2007 $90.00

 

$2 increase in 5 years and no increase in 3 years.

 

They could save a little by asking non flying members (often spouses) if they want a magazine - Husband & I are both members and we get two magazines posted separately.

 

I also agree that revisiting the whole fee structure (rather than just an across the board increase) would be a better strategy. Maybe lower student fees to encourage them into the fold, lower non flying to encourage spouse / friends of flying to add their support. Clobbering a one man school with a school fee, CFI fee, etc might be too much especially off the beaten track where there are few students, and be counter productive, where, by comparison the larger schools find this a small amount.

 

Sue

 

 

The quality looks good and they are talking about $32 for the 4km2 (but the licence costs $100,000 for access to a monthly update and licence to use organisation wide). The Council wanting to work out where high/low tide is in 2010 (and going to repeat it next year) might get out of it with a few guys with GPS to wander up the beach.

 

The mob that flew the hi-res imagery did it from a C172 (I think) in one afternoon and files available shortly after that (except ours needed photoshopping). The downside of high resolution was that our plotter didn't have the memory, even spooling, to handle the image.

 

I am feeling generous - here's a low res example - it looks even worse in high resolution. The lines are the cadastral overlay.

 

Sue

 

 

 

Could you do high definition aerial photos? My Council paid about $54,000 for about 4km2 high definition with elevation data which was converted to a mosaic, georeferenced so it was suitable to convert to GIS or mapping sofware and delivered as a digital file.

 

Unfortunately they flew it in cloudy weather and there were cloud shadows all over the place - they tried photoshopping them out, got part way through and gave up. What they delivered was terrible, patches of shadow with random squares of 'cleaned up' artificial looking colour. They offered a discount which was then negated by extra charges for the clean up work. If you can do better than that there are plenty of Councils out there who are after this kind of thing. They use it for mapping, susing out unapproved pools, printing on glossy photo paper and framing for the boardroom, planning, locating services etc.

 

There's a Council in Qld who were looking for someone to fly along the coast at high tide and video and repeat at low tide so they could take stills and note the location, then do it again next year to see if things are changing. Bloke who told me about it was going to decline the job because he couldn't work out how to keep the camera still enough.

 

There's lots of opportunities out there.

 

Sue

 

 

a) A rocket

 

b) A Lockheed

 

c) A jet engine

 

d) A planet

 

e) All of the above

 

 

 

Welcome James,

 

Flying and airports need all the promotion they can get - I have just finished watching the DVD "Runway One Six Right" (available through the Pilot Shop on this site) which is about an airstrip (sounds boring but it really gets you in).

 

I am not sure what CASA's view of filming from aircraft is now-a-days but back about 10-15 years ago a friend of mine did some charter work for the SBS crew doing a doco on a pilot. Any filming had to be flown by a commercial pilot. When it came to onboard shots of the lady flying over and landing the aircraft, the male commercial pilot had to be dressed to pass for her and they later voiced over her radio calls. She couldn't do any flying with a camera man on board but could do it with a lipstick camera on the wing. Consequently most footage was flown by a man.

 

I don't know what restrictions RAA have on commercial filiming in flight - might be worth asking Teckair (a member on this site) as he does docos and travel logs in a Skyfox. He has a web site. Might be best to send him a Private Message - look him up under Members.

 

Might also be worth asking the RAA head office if a home built aircraft would be allowable for commercial filming. The light aircraft are a bit bumpy so you would need to overcome that somehow.

 

Great to have you on board!

 

Sue

 

 

Hi P4D,

 

I had a look at WIDOLA and you can only order LAST years edition. KEY are based in the UK but it is 5 pounds to buy and 5 pounds to post. I was hoping we could buy it in Australia somewhere. Our local newsagents are limited to their francisee's list and can't order anything else in. I was hoping an aviation shop or book seller might have them in stock. If not we will have to spend our money overseas.

 

Sue

 

 

The World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2010/11 was published in July 2010 but I can't find a supplier. We used to pick up our copy from the local newsagent, but it does not appear on his francise list. We tried other booksellers and newsagents in our rural areas.

 

I searched the web but only came up with a UK and USA supplier where postage is about the same cost as the magazine. Bloggers etc are venting their frustration about finding a copy and the publisher's website takes you to an order for last year's edition. It's out there as we have seen pictures of it - anyone know where we can buy one?

 

For those who have not seen it, Leisure Aviation covers nearly every recreational aircraft with a description, pricing, contacts, specs etc. It is a 2 vol set this year covering gliding, foot launch, para, gyro, LSA etc. Produced in English, French & German. This is where we first saw the Asso Aeri Whisky IV that is our next project. It retails for about $20. If you can find it.

 

Sue

 

 

Emerald Qld - $80/week (have not checked the new fees out earlier this month) does not include landing fees

 

Childers Qld - $200 per year, but you own the hangar on Club land leased from Council ($200 is to help cover Public Liability). Membership fees $50 additional and no landing fees.

 

Check the Council's website for rental rates for Council owned hangars - some Councils will not allow private hangars, some do but ownership reverts to Council at the end of the lease. You can check the rates or lease charges for private hangars too. Look for Rates or Fees & Charges. Some have airports listed under Commercial, some under Community and some under Corporate - depends how they view it (a profit centre or service).

 

Sue

 

 

Another ancestor, Thomas Mudge invented the escapement mechanism in clocks.

The Board of Longitude offered a prize for a chronometer which would keep accurate time. Thomas submitted his timepiece with the escapement mechanism, but the Board awarded the prize to someone else and his chronometer was used by Captain Cook

I have just finished reading the biography of John Harrison (who predated Thomas Mudge) and the issues he had with the Board - he actually qualified for the full 20,000 pound prize but the Board was stacked with astronomers who hoped the answer to the Longitude problem would be found in the heavens and were furiously compiling tables of lunar, star and sun movements - even trying to use the moons of Jupiter - so the last they wanted was an uneducated, low born man to prove the clock more reliable.

 

The conduct of the Board was very nasty. After he had proved it according to the Act (twice), they then insisted he hand it over, they then made sure it didn't work but sold his plans to the French and got another clockmaker, Kendall, to make a copy which Captain Cook used, and praised. He built clocks for the Board prize from 1730 to 1768 and with his son William continued to produce more accurate and smaller timepieces for this purpose. This was just a little of what he had to go through, even had King George and parliament on side and round his death the Act was changed, but not the Board and the corruption continued.

 

Family history can really get you in. Despite my father saying we were too tight to pay our way (we must have been convicts) it turns out most of my mob got here in the early to mid 1800's paying their way. Husband always thought he was directly related to Charles Harrod (who founded Harrods of London), but it turns out his comes from Samuel Harrod, farmer of Goose Green and from Jane Ison convict who married 3 times whose children became the pioneers around Richmond NSW and Maryborough Qld. My mother warned me to only marry a man who had his family history done because she didn't think she had it in her to do another one.

 

And flying is in the blood on both sides (maybe it is hereditary?).

 

Sue