dodo

GOPros are excellent and do everything they claim to. I have used them in a number of weird situations, and they work very well. As to the alternatives, I suspect you lose something if you are saving much money, so you need to understand what you don't get for that saving. I don't think I would buy one unless I had seen it in real use. The only drawback with all of these is I call them "dickhead cams". When you start hooking it it up, just stop for a minute, and think "is this really sensible?" dodo

I find it difficult to have any confidence in that. RA appears to be operating as an pure subcontractor of CASA, (except CASA does allow for consultation - note recent delays to allow for consultation!) On substantive matters, RA simply does not communicate or consult. Let alone have the membership have any real say. Shut up and pay... And yes, I do vote, go to AGMs and EGMs, send considered letters on issues, volunteer in the office when useful - but it is clearly a total waste of time. I doubt I will in future. dodo

Andy, on the issue of the Ops manual you wrote: "There will be no ramming it through with the new CEO established procedure." I can't understand that at all. No draft has been released, and as it stands,all negotiation with CASA will be complete before the membership ever see a draft - at which point we are hardly likely to be able to get any changes made. The board has consistently stonewalled all requests for information. My letter regarding one notified change (type certification) to all three of my NSW board reps did not result in any reply, or even an acknowledgement from any of them. I know other members have asked for drafts or information and been flatly refused. The Ops and Technical manuals are the most important parts of RAs role. How can we pretend to be a membership based organisation when the membership has NO INPUT whatsoever in their content? So how will it not be rammed through? dodo

I am looking at the Funkewerke, which looks like a good replacement. Anyone know of any Australian distributors? dodo

I have a MicroAir 760 radio, and an accompanying Microair Intercom. I can't get both the radio and the intercom to work satisfactorily at the same time (either good raio, barely usable Intercom, or vice versa). After much stuffing around, the best solution appears to be to replace it with a single radio/intercom.r Cost isn't the highest priority - the priorities are: 1 Quality - reliable and effective radio and intercom 2 Reliability and maintainability; 3 After those two, something that fits the existing Microair panel mount would be nice but not essential 4 Cost comes along way fourth. Does anyone have any recommendations as to brands or models? dodo PS Aircraft is 24-registered, but I will get the necessary approvals for whatever I acquire.

So if there are true dual controls, and legislation limiting who can occupy those seats, is it mandatory to fly from the left seat? Can a pilot choose to use the right seat in a fully dual-control aircraft?

Thanks for the advice, and it has given me a lot of options. The hardest thing was to know where to start reading. Dodo

Type Certificated - and I am assuming that the factory provided exactly one radio type/model, and no STC... ...but your reply implies an engineering change or factory approval would be required for the simplest change, even if it is just unbolt/bolt in a different make of radio? dodo

If I have an RA 24- registered aircraft, and I want to replace the radio, does it have to be with the same make and model as the manufacturer supplies, or is it OK as long as it is basically the same functional item the same (a radio), and doesn't require changes elsewhere to the aircraft (i.e. same antenna, same location on dash)? dodo

Or send you a renewal notice earlier, so they can take 5 weeks to process registration?

Why taser them? Just tip 'em out - people are the only thing you can legally drop from an aircraft...heh.heh.heh

My aircraft now also unregistered, despite prompt renewal information provided by me. No communication at all from RA. dodo

Well... as membership based organisation, RA won't provide drafts of the Ops manual to members, and won't provide a reason why. Any comment or submission is ignored (I sent a letter to all three of my board members, none responded or acknowledged receipt). As a regulator or administrator, I returned my aircraft registration information within a few days of receiving the renewal letter. My aircraft is now out of registration. At no stage was I informed that two years after the registration debacle commenced, that we STILL cannot register an aircraft reliably and in a timely manner. pretty much all fail, despite pretty promises of an open and accountable board. The one bright light is that the Treasurer knows his stuff and is doing a good job. dodo

I don't see how CASA can be blamed for any of this. dodo

I would be happier about problems...if the board were more open with communication. Why is everything to be kept secret from the members? dodo BTW, my rego expires next Thursday. I got my renewal in to RA within a couple of days as I had heard (from this website) that there were problems...STILL - since Nov 2012. And the board's communication hasn't changed much, either.

The CASA audit of RA had the following to say re Jabiru:

I am not against extra rights, so long as we don't end up with extra responsibilities. If CTA endorsement requires a class 2 medical, fine. If all certificates then also require a class 2, not so fine. In short, we don't want or need to be a mirror of GA - that already exists as a good option. If we can get CTA transit (or full CTA) without putting undue extra responsibilities on those that don't need it, great. dodo

What if the airstrip nominates a frequency, for example in the country airstrip guide? For example, a field not on the maps specifies 126.7 - do you then use 126.7 or use the area frequency? I assume the NOTAM overrides local preferences, but the locals may not take that view at their own strip. dodo

If you can't be trusted with the dangerous toy, you shouldn’t be allowed near it. That applies both to the captain of the Vincennes and whoever fired the Buk. And someone out spotlighting with a rifle. In both cases, a false assumption seems to have been made - the ame false assumption: - Vincennes: it isn't relying on military radio frequencies, therefore it must be an enemy. - Buk: it didn't return a friendly military IFF, therefore it must be an enemy. - Spotlighter: it looked like a fox. Sorry about your cat. More similarities: - The Vincennes captain got a medal, and the president of the time showed his priorities by stating "I refuse to apologise for the United States!" - both shooters did not know that normal civil aviation was occurring in the area, and was quite normal - they both saw the entire area as a war zone (rightly or wrongly). I put in the example of the spotlighting shooter to show just how irresponsible it is to give dangerous toys to idiots. You wouldn't do, but nations do, occasionally. And the shooter would probably not deny responsibility. dodo

Not very accurate. You can access almost all resources without registering.... But if you wish to contribute to the resource, you must register. dodo PS I don't have a problem with providing the information, but I was pretty unimpressed with trying to log in and getting personal questions stuffed in my face. I got over it, but it isn't a great way to do things.

Andy is right. All those who think he is imagining problems have not worked on anything like this. If you want an example of how "mostly right" works should look at Pulse - the staff don't trust it's data - a paper file must be consulted because the database cannot be trusted. That makes the pulse database less than useful. You either get it right - really right - or don't bother starting. I would start with a good data model. And that is not a trivial task. dodo

>>> on the design manoeuvring speed in my tutorials at http://www.recreationalflying.com/tutorials/umodule2.html#vspeed_codes link not working, dodo

Ex-RSPCA and ex-Tax Office. Quite a combination! dodo

It sort of tells you which bit of legislation the aircraft is registered under. However, it only sort of tells you... for instance, 24 prefix is factory built, but could be either LSA or type-certified. dodo

You shoud read the NOTAMS and plan accordingly - if the wind is wrong for the available runway, don't go to that airport if it is beyond your cross-wind capability. Plenty of airports have preferred runways or circuit direction based on keeping the noise down over houses, and you plan with those in mind. However, it is usual and helpful in a NOTAM to put in "unless operationally required" for requirements where the issue is convenience to the airport, rather than a safety issue (Wollongong, for example, has some sensible restrictions in the ERSA, as does Mittagong). Goulburn haven't done that, which is a bit annoying. dodo