FlyingVizsla

Here is the research on the truth of the story by Snopes - a site dedicated to proving/disproving email stories. Their investigations on this one - a mixture of truth & fiction:

snopes.com: The Tale of the Arab Flight Crew

Sue

RFDS airstrip requirements

Requirements for RFDS Qld - as per CASA standard CAAP 92(1)(1) (in GreameK's post above) and you can test the strip using these methods

Airstrip Construction-Queensland Section | Royal Flying Doctor Service

More info on the standard, in plain english from the RFDS: Airstrip Information | Royal Flying Doctor Service

Sue

I would appreciate a column for my time flying (not as PIC or under instruction) to keep track of the hours in the air.

How about distance, litres = fuel efficiency (realise this will change with weather but good for planning for the unexpected). And hours / litres for same reason.

And fuel type (mogas, avgas, MXo+, diesel, Jet A-1)

Sue

How about:

Co-pilot / passenger

No. of landings

Waypoints

fuel/oil

Comments

Separate columns for Hours as student, hours PIC

For example

4/1/10 95-1234 Rans S7 Springsure-Childers 5.5hrs (PIC) via Moura Co-pilot Sue 70.5 litres 1 litre oil, 2 landings, strong winds and rain.

Alerts for BFR coming due & other important dates.

Sue

Hi Basscheffers,

It is not one Council, but 3 different recently amalgamated Qld councils. Once they get big it seems covering their backsides against even the most unlikely mishap becomes the high priority and serving the community (especially the smaller towns) drops off the radar. The difference, I think, is that elected Councillors on small councils were aware of issues and were proactive in raising them at meetings, they looked at things almost on a case by case basis. The larger Councils have these things decided by the bureaucracy and Councillors many never know a request & response has been made.

One example - the small Shire covered about 23,000km2 of mainly farming land, a popular National Park, with 2 small towns, one doctor & a small medical facility meaning nearly everything, from a broken bone upwards was evacuated to a larger facility. Realising the community benefit and cost to owners the small Council directed that when a Council grader was in the area that they grade the RFDS designated private strips. Owners were already contributing flares and their time and SES, volunteer ambulance bearers etc etc to see an injured tourist or resident to safety. Then comes the big Council. "Liability, cost, core function, etc" and the bureaucracy decides to stop the practice. Because that decision is within established policy the issue never gets to a meeting.

The attitude now - if we were all good citizens we would operate from the major airstrip with our ASIC cards, paying aircraft parking, car parking, landing fees and refuelling from the airside bowser. That airport made a profit of over $1Mil and then they bought in car parking fees and raised others. Same Council was making noises about unprofitable small strips.

Unfortunately there are not enough of us to make a dent in the behemoth.

Sue

I used to run my C152 on Mogas (when Avgas was dearer) but had too many problems with vapour lock in the hotter months - I was in outback Qld with days in the 40's and tarmac hotter than that. Husband does not like Mogas in his engines. We are limited by the types of fuel available in town and now cannot refill drums with anything - The Council stopped that practice under the Trade Waste banner because they maintained that any fuel that got spilt from drum refills could run away to end up in the creek 1km away and get washed down when it next ran.

We could get Avgas at an airport bowser, but neither of us have an ASIC and the nearest airport to where we had the plane is listed as a secured airport even though it does not have a RPT anymore. An ASIC is required to land, refuel and depart. Only the plane can be refuelled, no containers, drums etc. Bundaberg was the nearest we could get a drum of Avgas and we needed a statutory declaration to say we were pilots and the fuel would be used exclusively in aircraft. Fuel merchants must be licenced to sell Avgas, we thought this was all to stop the terrorists but it is actually to stop the hoons putting Avgas in their drag racers. Avgas is planned to be removed as a fuel because of its lead content, inefficiency and polluting byproducts.

The Avgas drums cannot be reused and once opened the rest of the fuel cannot be used. Hence fuel merchants have to charge for the full 200 litres plus the drum and suspect a mark up to cover the licencing and compliance issues. A few years ago cockies used to pull up alongside the fence and get the refueller to poke the hose through the fence and refilled their drums (can't take a vehicle airside) - then the Council decided it was a security breach and stopped the practice. So you can only get it in drums from a fuel depot.

The drums are beautiful; new, lined, non returnable and take up lots of space. If you collect 4 they make good legs for a workbench to build another plane. And you can keep pointing out how you need more workshop.....

Sue

Airfields search

Ian,

The Airfields list needs a search for the name. It has a filter, but before I add my airstrip I want to be sure it isn't already there.

Sue

Hi all,

The Weather Bureau has been trying to recruit Storm Spotter volunteers. Duties involve reporting, on line, email or by phone of any severe weather witnessed - hail >2cm, damaging winds >90km/hr, tornadoes, water spouts, rainfall >70mm/hr. They send you booklets on weather so you can recognise possible severe storms before they hit and data forms. You can report from where ever you are, not limited to your home location. They are also chasing reports of severe weather that might not get to the mainstream media - local newspaper clippings, photos & eyewitness reports. It's all voluntary, no money changes hands. As pilots who have an interest in the weather this is one way we can give back to the community.

Australian Bureau of Meteorology: Storm Spotters There is an application form which has to be filled out - BOM then decide if they can use you.

Sue

Storm Spotter Volunteer

I used to look after Springsure and Rolleston ALAs (unlicenced airstrips). Airservices dropped the unlicenced strips from the ERSA and I continually got compaints that we weren't there anymore. I called them and they said we couldn't be listed.

Then a couple of years ago I started getting compaints that our listing in the ERSA was wrong. No one actually asked us if we wanted to be listed again. We had since sealed and lengthened and lit one strip and sealed and reopened a strip at the other (and it was upside down & back to front in the new ERSA). By then the Council had amalgamaged (and I was reassigned to Water & Sewerage) and my pleas to have it fixed went to someone with no aviation knowledge who kept telling Airservices that the ERSA was right. Well, I see the diagram is right now, but the phone No's, email and www are still wrong.

Don't know what the policy is regarding private strips wishing to be in the ERSA. Last consultant's report rattled on about how dangerous it was to publish our ALA in AOPA, ERSA, etc giving pilots the impression that our airstrip was usable and thereby increasing the risk that someone might USE IT. Wanted the listing to state all conceivable risks, even those that were not risks - eg flooding (its on the top of a hill). Urged us to require written permission for landing with lengthy legal disclaimers to be signed by pilot and owner before landing. Also condemned the strip for not complying with RPT/frequent charter standard (none of which happen there). With help like that from "experts" no wonder its confusing.

Sue

CASA has not approved diesel fuel for use in aviation AFAIK, so the alternative is Jet A1. This engine is to replace our AVGas engine.

It is getting harder to get Avgas - our last flying holiday was cut short when we could not source a drum - no one in town or surrounding towns could sell us one as they had to be licenced. We thought this was to stop terrorists buying fuel and pinching a plane - No - it is to stop hoons using it in drag racing (so the fuel merchant said). Anyway, faced with a 400km round trip and stat dec to get another drum we went home. Greenies regard AvGas as worse than other fuels for pollution and it is hard to source overseas - see some of the London - Aust air race/safaris blogs, web sites. India is particularly a problem.

At our airstrips without a fuel bowser the fuel depot brings out a drum and once opened the remaining fuel can't be used for another aircraft and the drum cannot be returned. It is getting very impractical, not to mention expensive where you have to buy 200 litres to get the 50 for the plane and leave 150 behind that no one can (legally) use. Old drums cannot be refilled, so we have a collection of them.

Power Plant Developments say the Gemini will be capable of using biofuels. Would also be handy way outback where there is always diesel, but not always petrol or aviation fuels. We have a lot of experience with diesel engines in other applications so we decided to pursue one as a means of future proofing at least one of our aircraft.

Sue

Hi Craig,

My step son (in his late 30's) has a half built Sonerai and his father (my better half - and what a catch!) is a plane builder too. We trailer the Karasport, but the downside is the single seat - only one of us can fly. Step son is into designing his own craft so the build is a bit on hold.

I have been around and in Sonerais and they are slippery. Not something to jump into with low hours - so take it steady. The first one I was involved with was bought by a newly licenced pilot who was genuinely frightened by it, but had to fly it interstate as he had already shelled out the money and needed to get it home. Locally it was known as "Lyall's Death Trap" but, pleased to say, after a few heart in the throat incidents and many flying hours he mastered the beast and is still flying (something else now).

Best wishes - post if you need some help/hints, and welcome.

Sue

Zenith Air (May 1999 bulletin) recommend a propeller sock be used if the prop is exposed to the elements - moisture proof but breathable. Prop should be stored horizontal, rotated periodically and waxed.

Sensenich airworthiness (cf-69EK7 Rev.F) says - horizontal position - "This will keep the moisture in both blades evenly distributed."

A very interesting research article on moisture in wooden propellers can be found here http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplrn/fpl_rn309.pdf

If I have time I will look through my engineering books to see if there is any mention of sap migration. The boss (plane builder and owner of several wooden props) is out pushing muck up hill in the pouring rain, but I am sure he will have something to add when he returns. If only to point out that wood is far superior to the metal I have on the nose of my plane.

Sue

When I started out there were about 30 CPLs for every full time position, choppers being the hardest industry to get a toehold in due to the number of Korean and Vietnam vets (with lots of hours flying in demanding situations). RAAF pilots were deserting the service and taking the plumb airline and ATC jobs despite a $70,000 incentive to stay.

Then a couple of years ago there was this looming crisis. The vets were retiring and young people, who were looking at shelling out a fortune (perhaps on top of a HECS debt) to get a low paid flying job, were taking the easier option and going off for more highly paid jobs. The future airline salary was no longer the big incentive.

I had a friend, CPL instructor, who was living on $6,000 pa scrounging whatever flying he could get, running from Sydney to Mt.Isa on the off chance of a few hours flying, hoping to get into an airline for the $250,000 (plus bids) international captain's life. At his 30th birthday he was a lather of tears because he was "now too old for the airlines". Eventually after begging, borrowing and living off friends he gave up flying and pursued other careers, teaching English overseas, serving coffee, child care assistant & cleaner. Now the crisis has struck he is flying for a respected airline in his mid 40's. How the world turns!

By the way - there is a young bloke - Daniel Lake - in the Just Landed forum who is looking at getting into the airlines - cadetship? Might be an idea for you guys to welcome him aboard and share your experience.

Sue

Getting an airline job

Daniel,

If your heart is set on being an airline pilot there are some things you must do right now. The cheapest way is to secure a cadetship with an airline - I assume they fully pay for your training but do some checking. The airlines all have minimum entry requirements.

Things to do NOW - get an ARN, a passport, full birth certificate, a Class 1 medical, make sure you have enrolled in the higher level mathematics (Maths in Society, Maths A don't qualify), make sure you have good marks in English or an equivalent humanities subject. Practice speaking clearly and bone up on Australia (history, politics, tourism) because international airlines like their pilots to be good ambassadors for their company and country (it sells more seats). Application is usually months ahead of the intake date and can be competitive. They will want school results, reports etc and it can be a little disheartening as they assess you against your grade and not your love of flying. For some the training for the Commercial licence is in conjunction with a degree at their favoured Uni where you also do the theory for the ATPL (Airline Transport Pilots Licence). QANTAS has cadets who train through QantasLink.

Be aware that some employers (QANTAS in particular) charge YOU at every step of their process (for sitting the apptitude test they invited you to take etc). They will also require you to move to the city they decide and for you to cover your own moving and living costs - but you should be able to get a Living Away From Home student allowance from CentreLink (I hope). Also pulling out before graduation may involve a financial penalty.

You could aim for a regional airline which might not be as rigorous but you may not make it to the highest paid glamour jobs on the international routes.

The traditional route for getting someone else to pay for your training was joining the RAAF - very competitive though and you have to sign on for a period of time before you can ping off to the airlines.

You have come along at a fantastic time for young pilots. When I was involved with a flying school 15 years ago there were so many young pilots hocking their granny to get the $60,000 for the commercial licence, travelling all over Aus for the odd job that paid nothing and had a few flying hours, but usually ending up working to pay off that massive debt (you could buy a modest house for that back then). Some companies even offered work (usually instructing) where the employee paid the employer for every hour they flew in order to get enough hours to be attractive to a real employer (ie who paid their employee). A couple of years ago the industry started screaming about a pilot shortage, and these cadetships are the result.

The other way is to do your own training and work your way through the commercial charter companies, to small airlines (RPT services), and then knock on the door of the big boys with an impressive track record and all quals in hand.

Things to do:

• Check out the CASA website for pilot requirements Civil Aviation Safety Authority - Home
   
   
  
• ARN (Aviation Reference Number) apply for one with CASA - its free and you don't need to fly first - see CASA site. You need this for the medical.
   
   
   
  
• Medical - Must be Class 1 - if you fail that you can't fly commercially. Contact a DAME (Designated Aviation Medical Examiner) - the list is on the CASA site. You can't claim this one on Medicare and it could cost a bit. It is a full medical, eyesight, hearing, lung function, balance, heart, colour blindness, etc and it will take some hours. Ask the Doc if you can also qualify for other things at the same time eg Coal Board Medical - could be handy if looking for work to pay for training.
   
   
   
  
• Go for a TIF (Trial Introductory Flight) to find out if you really can stomach flying - the instructor should be able to assess your hand/eye co-ordination which is important for future training and talk to you about ways to get your licence. You can do your training in an ultralight (which is cheaper) and then have the equivalent competencies ticked off for the PPL.
   
   
   
  
• Get an Australian Private Pilot Licence theory text book (see shop on this site or any other aviation outlet) or borrow one and study. You need this to pass the exams for the pilot licence. The Commercial licence is more hours and competency in flying and more attention to weight & balance - so most of the theory is covered in the PPL texts. ATPL is usually done through a TAFE or UNI and from what I hear, a pretty hard slog. Get a Pilots Log book too.
   
   
   
  
• Start a thread under Training (on this site) and title it something like getting an airline job and post what you have found - eg who offers cadetships, what the medical cost, training opportunities etc. You will find there is a wealth of experience out there just waiting to help out, and you will be helping others too.
   
   
  

Well that's enough from me - its now up to you. :thumb_up: Go for it! :thumb_up:

Sue

Hi Brian,

Welcome aboard! I am new too and giving the site a caning during the hols. There's a bloke up here building a sonex, my step son & husband are into a half built Soneroi and a good mate of mine bought one just after he got his licence and asked me to co-pilot in an air race (only because I was tiny and travelled light). Slippery little beasts! I never got up the pointy end and I'm not sure I want to! But they do go like the clappers. We took a lot of photos of the one at Natfly outside the Bolly tent. One day ours might look that good.

I have some distant rellies in Georgetown - the ancestors arrived in Tassie 1805 as farmers and infested Aus & NZ from there. I am the only one in my family who hasn't been o/seas to the Apple Is.

There's heaps of stuff on this site - only wish I had more flying friends to recommend it to.

Sue

I agree with you. Most of the guys who think human factors is a load of old cobblers are the ones who would most benefit from it. For many it is simply ignorance of what HF is. I spent a lot of time trying to convince my husband to do it - too many of his friends had convinced him it was nothing but bureaucratic nonsence forced on us by RAA kowtowing to CASA. It was either do it or give up flying from Sept 2010.

These old RAA pilots are a self reliant lot who fly visual in aircraft they built or self maintained. I don't blame them for getting resistant, especially if they have been flying incident free for years. The idea of an exam frightens them too. Perhaps an open book style would be better or discussion during the exam (I did help him with the meaning of words - couldn't help with heuristic tho).

I would like to see the questions more general:

eg There are restrictions on flying after:

a) Diving

b) Drinking alcohol

c) Taking some drugs

d) All of the above

That at least gets people thinking - gosh! you can't fly after diving? - I better have a look at that. Rather than coming up with the depth vs the hours restriction - especially as I don't go diving and never intend to - if I ever did I know there's a restricton and I'll look for it then.

The confusing nature of the exam has engendered a lot of discussion but a lot of it negative. The way questions were read (or remembered) often missed the point of the qn. Eg from the Emergency section of the ERSA - staying with the plane. The point was What the Section Said, not what you thought best given your circumstances. Yes, there was a lot of discussion about staying / not staying with / in the plane (and I thought that a lot of it was good decision making practice) but most just saw it as an example of a wrong answer and a reason to resist HF. The Emergency section of the ERSA is there when you need it, but Pilot judgement will be needed - eg if no one will be looking for you for hours and you saw a house a km away, then you wouldn't stay with your low wing (collapsed u/c) bubble canopy with temp set to soar to 45 deg. A different approach to the question would help.

After I did the exam I was determined to volunteer to re-write the exam and the material. I frighten my husband with the volunteering I do, so I have left it hoping that RAA might get around to it using someone smarter than me.

I wasn't offended - why was it a FEMALE pilot who got into so much strife of a HF nature. Why not just call him/her Chris (or other unisex name). Better still - use some real life examples - ATSB has plenty of these, meticulously researched. Or use some published examples from books like "They Called It Pilot Error" and the like (I'm too slack to go out to the shelves... it must be Christmas).

My 2 bob's worth.

Sue

Raa hf

Husband & I did the RAA HF exam some months ago. We live a long way from an RAA school so I was waiting, and waiting, for the on line version. An instructor sold us a photocopy of the RAA book for $70 and we later found it at Natfly RAA stall for about $16. Husband read it (he left school at 13) and found it repiticious and confusing in parts and some words needed explanation. He gets the safety message drummed into him at work so found some of this boring.

I relied on my extensive reading in HF (6 texts from the 1980/90s sit on my shelves), ppl, voracious appetite for the crash comic analysis, flying teaching and my exam experience from 3 degrees, 2 diplomas and many other courses. He beat me! He says by a few lucky guesses- but I think he's just being modest to keep the hot dinners coming ......

The exam is more about the book than HF and I would agree with previous posts that it is poorly written, does not sing the same song as our Govt health messages and it has missed an opportunity to reinforce the HF message in a practical way.

For those who have not done it - get the RAA book. Some questions can only be answered from there. Heuristic decision making is not mentioned in any of my books because it was not coined until the 1990's. A brace of questions on the exam I did are taken directly from the book and have the correct answers there (not having read it in context I didn't give the right answer). I read the book after the exam.

Passing the exam is not the issue, if you can, attend a course, read other books, read the analysis of past accidents/near misses. You also need to be au fait with CASA rules & regs, as they stand now (don't assume they are still the same as the book - things can change after publication). CASA regs apply to RAA pilots (despite what I hear from some of them). Learn where to find them and keep up to date.

For RAA - selling the HF idea could have been better - particularly having everything ready to go on day one - on line, info on texts, exams etc. Some of my RAA friends regard HF as an unnecessary load of ### and intend to continue flying without it or intend to give up rather than do it. Does not help when the instructor is also confused about HF, CASA regs and interpretation of the questions. There needs to be some (more) work with instructors convincing them that HF is a worthwhile exercise. A good PR exercise would help.

Sue

Taildragger - restricted visability

I have trouble seeing out the windscreen in tailwheel aircraft - see below I guess he has earned the PIC seat - he spent more years building it than I did and he's more passionate about tailwheels - and (don't tell him) a better pilot than I am.

Sue

Short pilots

Hi Darky,

I got the ppl about 15-20yrs ago back when you had to do a set number of hours for a licence (circuits 5hrs dual, 5 solo). My instructor had been taught to teach by visual cues and it had worked for him so far.

When I bought my first plane I tried to get the seat track extended to come further forward but CASA wouldn't have any of this "departure from the approved configuration" as if this would make the plane dangerous. I tried for rudder extensions and my LAME designed some that I could clip on but CASA would only approve permanently bolted on, fit & remove by LAME only. I looked into a blackwood pole (hand operation of the rudders for disabled people) but the Cessna version was poor. By that time my plane was being used by the flying school and private hire and any permanent alteration to suit me was impractical.

I still fly with 5 cushions, 2 under and 3 behind. The first lot were what could be found at short notice around the flying school, a combination of hard rounded (that I rolled off), to ultra spongy that were no use when pushing against them for rudders.

Then I tried a conversion to RAA. The ultralight aero club had a kids car seat for short people in the lightwing (the seats are fixed) but that didn't help me - I sat on the last 2" of the seat and flew from the RH seat as the rudders were marginally closer and used the edge strips on the rudders. On landing I gripped the frame overhead, pulled myself forward and hung on to get full rudder authority. That was better than ending up on the floor which I did on the first landing.

If only I had eaten my weetbix when I was a kid!

Sue

Gemini Engine on order

We placed an order for the Gemini diesel engine with PowerPlant Developments in the UK. Last we heard the proptotype was undergoing endurance testing. Once proven it will go into production and be shipped (optomistically - early 2010). Will keep you posted on progress.

Sue

Have finished building a RANS S7 (a 6 year project) and have flown it for about a year. Did some modifications. Have a Rotax but intend to change to a Gemini diesel engine (presently under development in UK)

Willing to discuss with anyone building or contempating.

Karasport early model

Husband owns one & loves it!

His advice is - if you are building one the elevator horns need to be at right angles to the elevator control wires not the elevator itself. The turnbuckle in between the two wing halves in the aileron control circuit need to be guarded against snagging on the ribs etc.

If you need clarification or expansion of his advice post me a message and he can contact you direct.

Sue

Short pilots

A little something for instructors - I had flying experience before my ppl but had never actually landed the plane (did take-off, navs etc with father). I am 141cm (4'7") so when I came to land my instructor told me to "put the nose on the horizon" and I did a bad landing every time. I suppose he thought if I had been flying I would ace this and didn't bother showng me.

Eventually he got frustrated, grabbed the yoke and said "HERE!!" I looked at him and said "that's not the horizon, that's half way up the sky." Then he realised our eye levels were quite disparate. He jacked me up on 2 cushions and we tried again. By that time I was well versed in doing it wrong, feeling wobbly on the cushions and had lost confidence. Even now I approach landing with apprehension.

Try sitting far forward (on the edge of the seat) and low to see a different perspective. Keep this in mind when teaching juniors and shorties.

Sue

I came from a flying family, but my father didn't approve of girls getting licences, so I waited until after he died to get my ppl. My present plane INC, I have owned for 15 years and flown mostly around outback Qld.

After 50 years of just me, the plane & dog, I took a job closer to the coast and met my recently widdowed neighbour. Within a few minutes we discovered we were both plane owners and pilots (proving the addage - how do you know there's a pilot in the room - he'll tell you!). And the pick up line? "I'm building a plane; would you like to come over and look?" All I can say is that a half built Rans is a definite chick magnet. 13 months later I married him.

He maintains that real pilots fly UL taildraggers with joy sticks, whereas I insist that a GA nosewheel with yoke is far superior. It keeps us laughing! I am very short and found the Lightwing difficult to control on the ground as I could not get enough rudder or see out so I have not finished my conversion to UL. Hubby has altered the rudders & stick so I can be a back seat driver in the Rans - one of the big advantages of UL builds - I tried to get a rudder extension approved for my GA aircraft and it was a nightmare.

We have my C152, his recently completed Rans Courier S7, the Karasport and the Lightwing. We spent the honeymoon in the hangar working on the Rans and don't seem to fit in much flying.

We are happy to answer any questions on builds & engines. Any one who wants to take my side (tricyle better than tail dragger) will instantly be my friend.

Sue