kgwilson

If you don't have Ozrunways or Avplan, Enroute Flight Navigation is a free navigation App that runs on anything Android and has the Skyecho as a traffic receiver interface which works really well. I use it on my phone and my Teclast tablet. Wifi connects automatically & yes you do not want other apps trying to use WiFi at the same time. Any app that allows GDL90 as an interface protocol will work with the SE2.

The Bonza CEO says that using the 737 Max will keep prices low. Given there are plenty of new Max 8s sitting around unsold maybe Bonza got them for a bargain basement price. Their first 3 aircraft have been named Shazza, Bazza & Sheila.

Agreeing sequence numbers among pilots in a circuit is common courtesy and common sense so you all know the order of landing. This is also why ATC does it. Someone coming straight in when the circuit is already established is obnoxious and being lazy when they should have joined the established circuit. The straight in pilot knows the RIU from radio calls of those already in the circuit. Nobody likes queue jumpers. CASA has produced a simple guide for radio calls in uncontrolled airspace entitled "Be seen, be heard, be safe". It is free on line and they will send hard copies free as well.

It is always the pilots responsibility for his/her own safety even if that means breaking rules. If the situation requires it I'll break away. Pilots who insist on coming straight in when there is already an established circuit happening are irresponsible. In those situations joining overhead , descending on the dead side and then slotting in to the circuit is the correct and safest thing to do.

Just to be clear, there are no mandatory calls in CTAF other than to avoid a collision. I have been flying in to events for many years and they range from full ATC to nothing. At warbirds over Wanaka in 2000, 600 light aircraft flew in on the Saturday morning. Even with temporary ATC it was bedlam. At the reporting point I has told I was No15 & saw nothing in front till we started to bunch up & then drama as the twin comanche in front of me forgot to put his gear down. he did at the last minute. It is recommended that you make a 10 mile call with your callsign, location, height inbound intentions and ETA at the circuit. Then you listen as you should have been doing all along. Depending on traffic chatter you can make a 3 mile call and continue. If there is traffic you should now know the runway in use and determine whereabouts to join the circuit (crosswind, downwind, base or straight in) and make that announcement. If there are aircraft in front say No 2 (or whatever position you are) to the Cessna on downwind. You then make a call on every leg, (turning base, turning final & even short final depending on traffic). This will also inform those following. There is always contention of what the right thing to do is when there is an event on an the main one is aircraft calling straight in when the circuit is already established. Straight in is fine so long as there is no conflict. Straight in is just joining the circuit on final. The problem arises when you are already in the circuit and No 2 to an aircraft that has just turned base & you are downwind & then someone announces they are on 3 mile final straight in. You have right of way as No 2 in the circuit & this upstart is pushing in & you can't see him. This has happened to me several times. The last 2 times were at the last Evans Head Great Eastern Flyin & Airventure at Parkes in 2019. My response has been to immediately announce turning base & tell the straight in aircraft he is No3. If he doesn't acknowledge, tell him to acknowledge. When things get busy stress levels go through the roof especially of you are not used to lots of traffic.

Whatever the cause, the end result was an aerodynamic stall with no room to recover.

The attitude was way more than a stall for an ATR. The warnings must have been screaming at them.

After hearing the transcripts the evidence is pretty clear. The airboss made the bad calls & the pilots complied.

Bruce, in their installation Microair recommend a power filter be fitted to eliminate EMI noise & one is suggested called a NF-5 with a picture of it. I could not find these anywhere & Microair were no help at all (they did answer the phone back in 2014). I put in a Mar-Ace marine radio noise filter I got from a local boat shop but it was completely useless so threw it out. I eventually found an in line power filter I think on Ebay from China. It was physically quite big (about 100mm x 50mm cylinder shape) compared to the Microair recommended one that I couldn't get but I managed to find a space on the back of the panel next to the radio. It weighs bugger all. Before the filter I was getting engine induced noise & the filter got rid of this. Other than that I replaced all the radio wiring with single core coax & ferrite chokes for eliminating RFI noise on the cables at the DB15 connector to the radio, the headset jacks & terminated all the earths back at the radio. I didn't have antenna issues as my aircraft is full metal jacket.

I assume all the aircraft are leased so if the S hits the F they will just be repossessed.

It is amazing that they still have the pulleys and cables all the way from the vertical stabiliser & rudder to the cockpit and there are 2 drums which can be turned by hand. The problem is they are very stiff & have to be turned multiple revolutions to move the stabiliser trim even a little bit. There is no time at all to move them up if there has been runaway trim to full down

If its just the spinner you got away with it vey lightly.

Aircraft Spruce still advertises M760s and they are in stock according to the website. They also say the MGL V6 is in stock but it's called a SW avionics V6. From comments here that all sounds very strange.

I accept that from a electronics expert. However mine still works well, receives quite far transmissions & people respond when I make calls, has a built in intercom that works fine, 99 alpha numeric memories, monitors 2 frequencies etc so until it dies or goes haywire I'll just keep using it. I did need to instal a power filter & my initial wiring was crap. Replaced all that with single core shielded cable, put ferrite chokes at all junctions & made sure there was no earthing anywhere & terminated all the earth shield back at the radio. That fixed it and that is how it is now.

The V6 had a poor reputation, worse than the M760 in the US. A head on the panel and separate control unit seems to be the best option. This is the same as the Trig. My 10 year old M760 still works well though. It did have a fault with noise in cold weather and then it stopped transmitting. RFguy couldn't find the fault as it was working when he received it but installed a diode & removed some balls of solder that were rolling around inside & it has been perfect ever since.

Passenger distractions is something that every pilot and especially commercial Joy rider jockeys should be acutely aware of and be able to ignore or shut them out.

My personal take for this unfortunate incident is something that affects everyone at some point in their flying career, Complacency. The pilots in this situation were doing 5 & 10 minute flights continuously with a line up of paying punters waiting. I'd find that quite boring. We don't know if any radio calls were made. Possibly they weren't. Blind spots need to be dealt with as a standard procedure. The holes in the SC were all aligned.

The most popular and numerous recreational aircraft by far in Australia are Jabirus. There are 7 at our airfield with 9 aircraft sporting Jabiru engines, there are 3 Mooneys, 3 RVs, 2 Piper PA 28s and only 1 Cessna & several other 1 offs, 3 gyros & 2 trikes. I don't care if you don't like Jabirus, that is your choice but if you are too frightened to fly in a Jabiru engined aircraft you have chosen the wrong sport. The flying school here has a 170 & it is on its second engine after making 2000 hours TBO. It was more economical to put a new engine in than overhaul the old one. Treat them as you should and maintain them by the book and you will have many years of happy flying. In saying that every engine no matter what type or cost can and will fail. Proper treatment and maintenance will reduce the risk of failure dramatically. I have a Gen 3 3300 with 400 hours since new. I maintain it meticulously, run it on 98 Petrol & it has never missed a beat. I change the oil every 25 hours & never have to top up between changes & the oil stays relatively clean throughout. I like the engines simplicity & direct drive and it sounds like a real aero engine. I can pull it apart to every last nut & bolt if I want to. Rotax 912s are very reliable & good engines but complicated, with lots of plumbing and expensive and they fail like everything else. I'd never attempt any serious maintenance though.

There are plenty of things that could have gone wrong if this aircraft had only been flown twice in the last 12 months. Even water in the fuel could have been an issue. Electrical issues sometimes only manifest themselves after the engine has been run for a while. Initially everything works fine and then corrosion on contacts may initially not have any effect but after a while the resistance builds especially if there is minor arcing leading to the connection failing. Insulation breaks down with age and/or becomes brittle especially near joins. Given the age and lack of use of this aircraft this is a distinct possibility. Crud in the fuel, varnish in the carb from dried fuel loosening and clogging jets etc. A different scenario but an example of what can happen is after the flood a Mooney had water right over the wing roots and the cabin floor was awash. Everything under water was removed and replaced with new or refurbished or meticulously dismantled, cleaned and replaced. After the test flight went well, it ran like a bucket of bolts next start. There was still water in the fuel after the tanks had been completely drained. It was found some of the drain straws between ribs were clogged with the last sloshing compound allowing water build up behind the rib. Then the timing went awry. Both mags were sent away for overhaul as there was some internal corrosion. Then the engine would not idle. The fuel control unit was corroded, the battery failed, new ones installed and the starter motor crapped out so a new one has just been installed. Most of the instruments required repair. Luckily the aircraft is owned by an instrument LAME. None of these things were under water but were a consequence of the flood. There were a number of other things as well.

I am too old to get stuck in to Pollies and bureaucrats. I just provide passive resistance. I don't have an ASIC, won't get one and will fly and land where ever I need to & if challenged will provide the appropriated resistance response.

So what additional information is required for an ASIC card that isn't required for a drivers licence? A drivers licence is used as ID for multiple government, banking and other organisations systems plus a few other things to make up 100 points. They want to know your addresses for the last 10 years & you have to provide other IDs and proof like medicare card, photo id like drivers licence/passport, rates or utilities account etc. So your drivers licence and CASA licences or RAA membership card covers all that and you already have it so an ASIC is no better form of ID that what you already have. It is just a stupid, expensive bit of red plastic with your mug shot on it that you hang round your neck that some think makes you look important.

Huntsman Araldite K-134 high strength is what you need. It is distributed in Australia by Selleys as Araldite Super Strength Epoxy & is available at Bunnings. Huntsman market araldite to the Aerospace industries in the US. I used this extensively in my aircraft build. It has never failed.

So what are the security issues at these small regional airports? They probably don't want people wandering around the runways or tinkering with aircraft so put up a fence and have some video surveillance. It is not as if someone is going to hijack a local RPT. Where are they going to go to? No the system was a kneejerk reaction to the twin towers attack in 2001 and strict security was enacted in the US & once the whole thing was over security was relaxed again back to normal & thousands of local airports that have local RPT operate without any special ID system for pilots. Same in most other countries. Not here though. The original ASIC was issued by CASA & RA-Aus but now is issued by approved profit making businesses & no longer by CASA or RA-Aus. An ASIC is no use at a major or international airport anyway. There you need an AVID and completely understandable. There isn't an international airport in the world that does not have a security system for aircrew.

There is a KR2 at our airfield with a Corvair flat 6 in it. It looks a nice engine though with only 1 head for 3 cyls & the carbs on top in the heat. Unfortunately the owner crashed it in a gusty wind takeoff & it hasn't flown for some years but he is finally getting a round tuit so I may see it some time soon. He got the engine running just recently. It will be good to see how it performs.

ASICS were, are and always will be a crock. I have refused to ever get one. I have only ever been challenged once & then I just ignored the security bloke as I was already inside the security area anyway. They can't check you on the way in if you are flying. The system is a joke making money for a few outfits who are p!ssing in pollies pockets.