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sfGnome

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Everything posted by sfGnome

  1. sfGnome
    Here's lookin' at you, lookin' at me, lookin' at you... I think that I was the only person there who wasn't paying attention to the activity being filmed, but anything airborne is sooo much more interesting than what was behind me
  2. sfGnome
    Is it just me, or are Darky's Avatars getting scarier and scarier... p.s. Good on you Mick. We told you you'd be ok! :thumb_up:
  3. sfGnome
    Very cool :thumb_up:
  4. sfGnome
    Your basic pilot certificate only permits you to fly within 25nm of the point of departure, and only by yourself (or with an instructor). To take someone else you need the passenger endorsement, and to travel further than the 25nm radius you need your cross country endorsement. For what I think you want to do, you'll need both. The RA-Aus "Learn to Fly Guide" has lots of good info - well worth a read. p.s. I'm talking about a Recreational Pilot's Certificate here, not a Private Pilot's Licence. It's generally more expensive to obtain but allows you to do more. However, the 'more' than you can do (aerobatics, night flying, etc) may not be on your wish list. :)
  5. sfGnome
    Yeah, but that's because we think to much! (and which is also how we managed to get as old as we are )
  6. sfGnome
    Hi Latestarter! Better late than never. Everyone's different, so I can only tell you a few things as I found them. I had lessons most weeks (weather permitting), and it took me about a year from dreaming to having my cross-country and passenger endorsements. Total cost, approx $8000. If you can budget something in that order, you won't run out half way through. :) I reckon if I'd had lessons more than once a week, my brain would have exploded, particularly in the first few months. Then again, if I'd had longer gaps between lessons then it would have just taken too long (we haven't got that much time to play with any more... ). On the odd occasions when I did have a few weeks between lessons, I didn't notice my skills being any the worse for the wait, so I wouldn't be too worried on that front. Like I said though, everyone's different so just get out there and suck it and see! :thumb_up:
  7. sfGnome
    Fantastic stuff! Wish I'd managed it 36 years ago :) Given how much better the little planes go with only one POB, how do you think they'd go with no one in 'em??
  8. sfGnome
    Just tell her that she'll be riding pillion! (Either that, or tell her it's for all those times when she wanted to see the back of you... )
  9. sfGnome
    Hey, just down the road from me (and exactly the same story - I think you'll find it repeated here one or two thousand times... ). As I said to my brother the other day - "All the sweeter for the time I had to wait!"
  10. sfGnome
    Cruel but fair, Graeme, cruel but fair.
  11. sfGnome
    Most kind! Well, by the time I'm back on line again, I'll know whether I needed it or not. I'm a lot more settled and confident than I was earlier in the week - maybe it's got to the point where there's nothing more I can do now to make it better, so I might as well relax...
  12. sfGnome
    Yep. The RAA one. Ok, I'll assume that if you're asked to do a 'latest departure time' calc then you'll be supplied with the EOD graphs and LMT tables. I'd ask the assessor, except that the next time I see him will be exam day! :)
  13. sfGnome
    I was working through some practice exams for my rapidly approaching cross-country exam tonight, and I noticed that it said "Reference Material - None" on the front, and then proceeded to ask questions that couldn't be answered without extra material. For example, how are you going to work out EOD & LMT questions without the AIP tables, and planning questions without maps? What reference material are you allowed to use, or is everything necessary provided? p.s. are there any other sources of practice exams apart from those that come with text books?
  14. sfGnome
    I'm not at a stage of using it (yet! ), but it is a really good read - clear and very useful. Well done. :thumb_up:
  15. sfGnome
    Howwwwwwwwwwlll !!!
  16. sfGnome
    Thanks. I knew it'd be something simple. Much appreciated!
  17. sfGnome
    Hi. Here's a simple question that should be answered easily (but not by me ). I heard an Air Services safety bloke say "A lot of pilots say 'Cancel SARWATCH' when they mean 'Cancel SARTIME', and they are completely different things". Unfortunately, I didn't ask him at the time what the difference was. I've looked though AIP and ERSA, both of which describe HOW to ask for the two different things, but neither of which say what the different effects are. Can anyone enlighten me? Thanks.
  18. sfGnome
    One other thing that worked for me is to make sure that, whenever presented with an acronym or code word, I pronounced the word/phrase in full in my mind. Hence, AoA is never read as Ay-Oh-Ay, but as Angle of Attack. There's sooooo many buzz words that I found it really easy to get lost unless I worked that way. That may help. p.s. Even the best text book writers forget that us newbies are, umm, new, occasionally. I found this little beauty in my cross country text last night. After explaining the first part of a SIGMET in detail, he concludes with "From there, the message is straightforward." The 'straightforward' part of the message was: HVY DS OBS AND FCST WI YBHI-TOOM-YLEC BLW A050 MOV SE 20KT NC I'd hate to see an obfuscated version...
  19. sfGnome
    I reckon that Corrine deserves Dinner out for doing all the cutting! :polite:
  20. sfGnome
    Yep, I ordered a bunch last night too. Looking forward to 'em
  21. sfGnome
    What a day! I think I'm grinning more than when I got my cert. Nothing big really, just an exercise Nav I planned inside my 25nm radius, but so much fun! Warnervale, up to my sisters house in Newcastle, Catherine Hill Bay, Barrenjoey, over a mate's place at Bar Point and back home. When I was planning, I used Google Earth to find the Lat and Lon of her & my mate's houses and used that to work out the headings. No GPS, just good old map and compass the whole way. I couldn't recognise her suburb so I just turned when my watch said I should be over her place. Looked at the GPS trace on Google Earth tonight and I turned 800m from her place. Barrenjoey and Broken Bay looked fantastic. Talk about stoked!
  22. sfGnome
    They're great, thanks!
  23. sfGnome
    Hmmm..... Darky. Somehow, I don't think that's just limited to YLIL
  24. sfGnome
    Ah, but the trick is to find such a kind individual, isn't it? :) I guess that's the nub of the problem. Is there a directory somewhere (sorted by location) of a/c that may be accessible for periods longer than a day, or is it just a case of who you know? (I will be discussing this with my CFI, but as the school is a single a/c operation, I'm sure that it's not an option).
  25. sfGnome
    Apologies if this is a dumb question or if it's been discussed before, but is it possible to hire for the purposes of touring, or is touring limited to those who own their own plane? I mean, I can understand that the schools need to keep their plans available for lessons, but are there any less utilised planes that can be hired?
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