kaz3g

Please remember that it's not just you who can be held responsible for defamatory comments...the site owner is also vulnerable. Kaz

The value of a penalty unit is currently $180 http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ca191482/s4aa.html That makes it a $9000 fine. Kaz

That is a seriously nice aeroplane! Kaz

That's interesting Turbs....I always thought it was the PIC that was guilty, not the 10 yo child (The 10 and 11 yo are both doli incapax so there is a presumption they are unable to differentiate right from wrong in criminal matters. The 9 yo can't be convicted at all http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/cfi/101-120/cfi106.html) Sent from my iPad Kaz

Not one of those agencies has such an urgent or pressing need for access that they can't take the time and care to apply for a warrant. To obtain a warrant they have to convince a judge that they have reasonable grounds to believe an offence has been or is being committed and a warrant to breach privacy is justified in the circumstances. That's a reasonable protection of liberties balancing rights with obligations and a need to know. Kaz

I'm not aware that anyone has perfected it. Suggest it's a work in progress. Kaz

I don't recall anyone saying that it is always necessary to have and use a radio to fly in safety and I therefore think you are misstating the position. I do recall that I, and a number of others, made the point strongly that safety will be enhanced with a radio. Kaz

I have to say I think it is good enough reason to report these dangerous offenders to the Authority. It's one thing for someone to make a mistake; it's another to blatantly disregard the rules that have been put there to improve safety for all of us. I can't remember the rule but there is a statutory obligation to report incidents and I'd call that one. Kaz

How did you know? Kaz

One of the few worries I have with emergencies I n the Auster is an in-flight fire. The only metal skin is the bit the engine is wrapped in; the rest is fabric. The main tank is under the scuttle (ie over my legs and immediately aft of the engine) and I sit on top of the auxiliary (belly tank). I like Nev's solution of descending in a spin for the rapid rate of descent, but I'd be worried about spreading the fire to the outside wing and along the fuselage on the same side. I carry a BCF but not a slimpack so bailing out is not an option. I think if the fire was in the engine bay I'd stick to my planned big side slip to try to minimise the rate of spread rearward. Kaz

I knew there was something I'd forgotten to include in my run up checks...? Kaz

Unfortunately, it is an offence to fail to display it...they are doing random ramp checks so bewRe the strict liability offence. I was checked at Deniliquin by AFP. Kaz

Simple answer is for everyone to do their radio test when they do their training for the pilot certificate. Kaz

My concerns have nothing to do with good airmanship; they have everything to do with safety. Two small aircraft approaching one another at a closing speed of greater than 500kph are EXTREMELY difficult to see and avoid without some sort of warning. That's what is likely to happen when John does a left hand circuit and Jim, who has read the ERSA, does a right hand special procedure. It's not rocket science...that closing thing is happening at a rate of more than 4 NM per minute and if you are looking at the airfield and along the next leg of the circuit rather than recognising that the dot on the wi screen is getting bigger, grief might just come your way. Perhaps you have 20:20 and reflexes sharper than a Gillette Turbo, but you give yourself, your pax and the other turkey a better chance if you've had a heads-up through the headset. Of course radios shouldn't have to be mandated...they should just be a standard part of the resources available to a pilot. Riddle me this...why do you have to have an altimeter in a VFR aircraft when you can see the ground anyway...can't you? Kaz

My mate had a Luscombe with a Continental C65...no generator or alternator. He fitted a small gelpak battery to give him extended use of his small Icom handheld which also had an external aerial to improve the signal. It worked fine. Most trikes I have seen have a similar setup because of the minimal weight involved. Kaz

What if the display aircraft had decided radios were optional? Kaz

Having and using a radio may not keep you safe, but it will keep you safer. Like flashing beacons, strobes and paint schemes, radios help to make your presence more "visible" to others and, for the life of me, I can't understand pilots flying without one. If you spend $30, $50, $100k on an aircraft and probably $20k or more learning to fly it, the cost of a radio is a small investment in personal protection (ditto a PLB and decent safety harness). Ian will sell you one for less than $400 Icom IC-A15 AUS $374.95

Same at YMAY now. Kaz

Interesting comments in this http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/625511/ar2007043_1.pdf It refers to the report in Aircraft but I can't find a copy of it on the Internet. Kaz

Bendigo is another one with RH circuits on 35. I really have to brief myself to do this because the "autopilot" always wants to me join crosswind for a LH circuit as I approach from the east. When I'm flying to strange places I draw the mud map on my flight plan, but the temptation when going somewhere closer to home when I've been there before is to do it from memory and that's when the autopilot takes over (all LH circuits at home base). Kaz

There is a II that comes into Shepp sometimes but I don't know the rego. Glasair seem to have a much better record that the Lancair. I like the Sportsman. Jimmy Williams at Albury picked up one that got a bit wet in a deck-stowed container and was claimed on insurance. It came up really well. Kaz

I think the real problem is that not many pilots have experience in aircraft that pull 250 knots, stall at 65 KN+ dirty and have a best glide faster than my Auster's Vne. "Glassair" was all my iPad's work... What are you flying? Kaz

Both Lancair and Glassair have a number of different models and it is therefore difficult to ascribe issues pertaining to them generally. However, according to CASA data researched by Shine Lawyers..."statistics published by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) in 2006 confirmed there were 42.5 accidents per 100,000 hours flown in sport aircraft compared with 16.8 accidents per 100,000 hours flown in general aviation (light) aircraft." https://www.shine.com.au/service/aviation-law/atsb-releases-shepparton-lancair-legacy-crash-reports/ While the sport aircraft record has improved since 2006 that statistic still gives us a little food for thought, or ought to. I knew the pilot killed in the Legacy crash at Shepparton and did enough research following it to be convinced that some of the early types (at least) had a strikingly high fatal accident rate allegedly due to insufficient tail surface areas. They look, and are very quick machines and I've been around long enough to know they would be too much for my skills. Kaz

Jabba...one day you will arrive in that state of grace where 78 only seems old if you say it slowly. You will have had to work to 75 to earn your pension and you will be looking forward to doing all the things you put off because you had to earn a living. There are lots of pilots still flying at 78 and I'm sure you will be too. I know I intend to be. Kaz

Perhaps closer to a 70NM square? That's quite a big slice of country but it would probably stand out against the background ok. They might have to wait for things to dry out a bit before recovery can occur but they wouldn't want to leave it for two long. Kaz