Ben Longden

Bureacracy gone mad. Letters sent... also to a couple of others as well... such as local member (who relies on a charter flight in and out of Canberra).. as well as the vic senators. I bet Kaz-n-Matt are glad they don't live in Cant-berra any more.;) Ben

Thanks - both of you... that was brilliant stuff. Ben

That places you in Instrument Meteorological Conditions. RAA aircraft can't fly IMC. GA can, but you need to be flying an AC certified and equipped for IFR, and you need a current IFR ticket. Ben

Yep... First the silver and black Milennium, then a silver and black Mustang. Sigh.... Ben

178 seconds is also the title of a CASA vid, and is based on the research of a large number of incidents where a VMC flight became IMC with catastrophic results. Talking to an instructor after watching the Vid - as a safety seminar at Shepp, I was told the vision of flight through cloud was brilliant and as real as it gets. Ben

The repayments on the 4x4 are probably more than the Benz... I was at work this arvo filluming the footy when I heard the unmistakable sound of a Rotax 100Hp.. I looked up and saw a tecnam having some fun... End result was at leat ten mins of unusable footy vision... Man, I need to get back into the sky... Ben

CASA Safety Advisor Tim covered this beautifully at the recent safety night at Shepp. Situational Awareness is the key. Ben

Mostly its a desire to remain ignorant due to preassure of deadlines. But... it is a bloody good idea to have a media awareness campaign. perhaps a joint RAA / CASA one? Ben

Some good advice here, in this thread... It would appear the problems have been ongoing for some time, and not simply an isolated incident. I would be approaching the RAA to give them the heads-up and give them the opportunity to sort things out ASAP - before the crash happens. Ben

Its the one used by "Mini-Me".... Ben

Couple of quick points (as I don the Nomex...) AC in the circuit have the right of way over any AC making a straight in approach. Now for the flames... I'm with Bigpete, but I believe every CTAF should be a CTAF® and that the use of radio by all AC should be mandatory. While I appreciate that Tiger Moths, such as those at Shepp do not have radios fitted as original equipment, this is the 21st century, and there is no excuse to adapt a portable to the pilots headset. No radio; no fly. Ben

Best joke of the day! Ben

OK. lets fix that. Every accident I have filmed in the last five years for Nine news I have had no problem with the local plods. In fact, they have actually come to me and advised where the danger areas are, such as power lines down and where the bodies are - so I can make sure they dont get in the viewfinder. (The kids watch the news, remember - and I dont want them to see that stuff) Yep. the bad experiences far outweigh the good ones. Ben

I know you boys and girls in blue do an awful lot of good things for us folks, and I am not being sarcastic. However, I just have lots of memories of a psychotic neghbour who tried to burn our house down, with us inside - and the cops were so disinterested they yelled us out of the station the next morning. That and how we would have to spend the night in a motel every Friday and Saturday night because the psycho fuelled the local teens and hoons with booze, and we would have our house trashed because 'we spoilt their fun by calling the cops'. (remember, we were in a motel 35km away) And how anyone caught in the street would get death threats yelled at them - and he was there with knife in hand... and the police would simply ignore things and ask him to just quieten down.. We solved it by selling and moving. It was only when the psycho took his problems with him to a new town that the police woke up to things; their good friend was indeed the cause of the trouble in the area. Did we get an apology? No. Sorry... too many bad experiences with lazy cops. Ben

Seeing as you have already let the club know of your concerns, I'd be letting the CASA safety Advisor know, so he can give the club the 'heads-up' with respect to the common sense behind the legislation BEFORE 1) they get a fine and 2) the accident waiting to happen.. happens. Ben

The nurses in Theatre refer to things like vasectomies as "neurosurgery"... Ben

There is an awful lotta truth in that.... Ben

Hold on.... is that a Worksafe inspector I see in the car park? Ben

Sort of like the Darwin Awards, really. The only downside is the loss of fine aircraft.... you could say... I guess... then, okay, maybe not.. I don't think you missed much in the report. With the propstrike, my unqualified feeling is that the wood prop would reduce the engine damage, but I would be getting the engine fully checked, especially the crank, along with all engine mounts and brackets. Ben

Candice must be maaaa third cuzz'n, twice removed.... Billy Joe Hornblower

Me too!! Ben

True story; It was a fairly tense day in theatre, when a young student doctor (a resident) was not getting his way while getting ready for surgery. He was just not winning any discussion with the scrub nurse - THE nurse who assists the surgeon. Now this young man had us on the floor laughing when he just turned to the anaesthetic end of the theatre and asked; Whats the difference between Al Queda and a Scrub Nurse? You can negotiate with Al Quaeda. Ben

And a special letter for Planedriver as well.. A Ben

*ROFL* Ben

If you got the job, then we would have a field day with "turn to the dark side" jokes... My old CFI, Matt Ford at Air Shepparton is now with CASA... and he certainly cops it! from his old crew! Bit of a bugger though, geez, talk about bloody brilliant instructor. Ben