rdarby

I found out. The Sydney/Brisbane VNC has it on it, so I can fly down using the one map only.

I'll be there in a SportStar Max. Still need to work out accomodation. Any tips? Ryan

I'm planning to go to Natfly, from Redcliffe. I've ordered the WAC's but can't make out if Temora is covered by a VNC or not. Maybe the Newcastle one? Does anyone know? Thanks Ryan

So a forward slip is the same as the cross controlled approach to landing in a cross wind?

Does anyone know if there is a SportStar for hire in the Adelaide area? I was talking to my boss in Adelaide about my upcoming trip to Comeroo, and he said if I can find one here he wants to go for a ride. I'd also love to fly in SA for a bit. I'm here once a week as it is so I might as well enjoy it! Cheers Ryan

They were very nice about it too! It was a murky day, I thought it was okay when I set out but I got into difficulties. I had a back door as I could see my way to the sea, but not North, and was wondering around looking for TV Towers and listening to them calling an aircraft in the wrong place, and then I went cold and realised it was me. They offered me navigational assistance and basically realised they had a lost idiot on their hands and were quite polite about it all! The moral is, if in doubt call up ATC or whatever centre you are near and ask for help. Very nice guys. I think we in RAA think that because we can't fly in their space, they think we are naughty children, but it isn't like that, they are happy to help, and someone to talk to can help calm you down! My bluetooth GPS arrives late in the week apparantly, so I am going to test it out on Sunday.

I've put OzRunways on my iPhone. I downloaded the whole country's WAC's onto it for a month trial. I've ordered a bluetooth GPS to go with it. I even did some planning on it. It's actually pretty good. I plan on using it as a backup only, and still using my paper maps, so I think it will be fine for that. And it's a lot cheaper than AirNav VFR. I did order a demo version of AirNav and will see what it's like. So farI have worked out that OzRunways is more for the maps (which are a much cheaper subscription) and for use on an iPhone to turn it into a GPS, and AirNav VFR is more for planning, but OzRunways let me, on the iPhone only, do a basic plan. I just can't print, add frequencies and notes etc. At least not that I could see, but I won't need to. I will get a cheap way to have a little plane moving along a line to show me if I'm lost, and to see if I'm about to get into Amberly Airspace again.

I still remember a story I read when I was starting out as a glider pilot. Guy went flying, and was really busting when he came to land the glider. He ended up messing up the landing and cartwheeling all the way down the runway. When they got him to hospital he wasn't in bad shape, but died anyway, due to complications from a full bladder bursting as part of the internal trauma. Don't know if it's only urban legend among glider pilots, but I'm never taking the chance. Just let it go if you have no other choice. A new seat cushion is nothing. Don't risk any landing unless you are comfortable. We were told by the CFI to always use an Energade bottle, but not to throw it out the window. The older pilots used to tell stories of them pouring it out into the slipsteam, and years later of needing to pay a lot to fix the corrosion problems where it run into the landing gear. I guess it's bad stuff!

I just realised I am out of date, so have ordered a bunch of new ones online. The last one I have expired 17 November. So does anyone know when the current ones expire? And is it before 11 June when I plan an XC trip? If so I need to budget to buy a lot more WAC's than I usually would. Thanks Ryan

Thanks Bruce. I must say that sucks, but I can understand the legal reasons for it. I think I may buy a bunch of WAC's in paper form and use them. BTW, I did some googling and apparantly someone described a patch to the software that lets it load but only use certain parts when it expires. They said contact Sentient about it, but this was a post from years ago. Ryan

Does anyone use this? I want to get all the charts, so that I can look at different parts of the country and plan out future trips. Since it can take a year to build up to a major trip to say Birdsville, I want to be able to plan on expired charts and then update the ones I need just before I go. That way I can subscribe to those for my local area only, and just get an upgrade to them all when needed. But their site isn't clear on this, and I have been told you can't use the VTC's and VNC's at all in the software if expired? Anyone know? Thanks Ryan

Get physical possesion of the book! I had the same problem, and when I got a month notice to move far away I didn't have time to go get the book, and ended up losing my first logbook. The first 3 years of my flying history are now just a memory, and I regret that. The school cleared the book out, you can't assume they actually archive anything.

Back to the articles. I think that if the airstrip owner doesn't thumb his nose at council, and regardless of what the local laws may be, goes and gets every type of permit, and takes the council guys for a spin, he will be better off. Those articles are mainly about permits and paperwork, and that is an easy issue to fix. Get all the potential paperwork and a happy council on your side, and the immediate neighbours, and there will be no problem. It's not just tall poppy syndrome, on the other side the articles seem to show an attitude of "to hell with rules". Easily avoided. Mainly take locals for a ride, I have never met anyone who didn't want a ride.

I don't think they would be salvaged. It would be damaged when it hits, and then the waves would break it up by the time a salvage boat was arranged. There would be a cost to a salvage boat, and when added to the damage from ditching, would possibly exceed the value of something like a Cessna. Used aircraft arn't that expensive. And it would sink anyway, one wave through a door would flip it and under it goes.

I fly from there. It's a nice very flat tar strip. There are two RA Aus training schools and the flying club for GA. Quite a few aircraft repair and helicopter businesses there. Not very busy though, so it's a good place to learn. You can hire a Sportstar from Freeflying Australia which is what I do, and I know the flying school has a GA Tecnam. You can get to Moreton and Stradbroke Islands, and up north is all VFR. To go South you go via TV Towers, which is a non controlled strip under 1500 between Archerfield and Amberly. Circuits out over the sea, and you have Caboolture and Caloundra right near you. Pretty good spot. Can have a cross wind, being by the sea. Ryan

Wasn't there a movie made about a trike being used to teach a bid to fly again and then migrate somewhere?

We get trained in managing fuel. It is common sense. CASA and others give away pads of paper with place to work out your fuel on. I think everything possible is done to help pilots, but some people just seem to have an attitude that suggests "she'll be right" and it can't happen to them. It's like they don't think of actual examples of what could go wrong, and if they do experience something going wrong, they blame someone else. There is no helping some people.

So he can fly drunk, not well but still fly, and as students it took us forever to learn sober! Still, I'd rather be sober and live. I guess it shows that you can get so comfortable with the plane, or be so drunk, that you don't think of the danger. You get devices fitted on cars to stop you driving if drunk. I wonder if they should put them on planes, at least airliners?

I'll be arriving about 8am in a Sportstar. Come say hello. Ryan

Pud, there is a sequel to it, The Road Back. Also Three Comrades. Obviously different characters, but they intertwine and tell the story of after the war.

So it seems that you won't loose the hig tank corss feeding into the lower one and on to the ground. But like anything, the lower tank can drain out if it's on a slope. Air comes in the fuel cap, and fuel flows out the overflow. I suppose that flying wing low would cause the same problem. So maybe refuel in the morning. Ryan

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/FREE-PRIVATE-PILOTS-LICENSE-PURCHASE-CESSNA-172-LOW-TIME-/280793088043?pt=Motors_Aircraft&hash=item416092802b Quite a deal. Generally aircraft seem very cheap in the states, I guess it's what you get when there are 400 million of them and only 20 million of us!

http://www.smh.com.au/world/plane-crashes-on-busy-new-jersey-highway-20111221-1p4m3.html The whole story is just sad. And reading about the dog made it worse.

Point out that without the local strips, we loose a training ground for local pilots, we stop local kids dreaming of becoming pilots, and end up with non local pilots flying us around in airliners. Basically make it about the future of his kids and he will be on your side.

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/model-and-exgossip-girl-stylist-loses-hand-in-freak-accident-20111206-1oh0d.html Although this happened overseas it is relevant to all of us who take pax. Look after them. I lay down some rules: Engine is off if we are outside They wait until I come round to open the door for them They are not allowed in front of the wings I give them a talk about the danger of props and that they are invisible, and that they must not walk on taxiways This was a really preventable accident. I'm not saying it's anyones fault but as pilots we need to realise that non pilots just seem to be out of their depth around airplanes and do all sorts of things. Ryan