cazza

I am not from CASA, but my information is that CASA is really only interested in administering commercial operations, rpt, qantas and so on. Private GA, like Gliding, Ultralights, Powered parachutes, etc they want to give to organisations like the HGA, HGFA, RA-Aus, or a GA consortium, or a recreational aviation group. The benefits for the members could be less red tape, less policing-like tactics, more say so in the administration. The risks could be less harmony in the industry, people taking advantage and doing the wrong thing, losing some of the priviliedges, or whatever. I am guessing that the group that front up to CASA and prove they can do the job will get the job. But should it be a group like RA-Aus that has runs on the Board, but has grown out of the ultralight movement, or a GA group that has no experience in self-administration. That is what CASA is faced with. Cazza

Hi all, Am searching for pics of any lightwings from the 1980s for articles in RA-Aus mag. Can anyone help? Have already rung Lightwing in Ballina, but their photos all need to be scanned. Thanks if you have one I can use. Cazza

Dear members of this forum. Some big political issues are coming up and you might wish to have your say. The first one is: CASA and Self-Administration of GA. It is no secret that CASA is considering divesting itself of the administration of private GA. This is a big step for the industry and your input to your organization (RA-Aus, AOPA, SAAA) is important. Please feel free to address any or all of these possibilities and make sure your Board member is made aware of your feelings. 1. Should there be self-administration of private GA, or should it stay with CASA? 2. What are the benefits of self-administration and what are the pitfalls? 3. What are the criteria for organizations wishing to put their hand up? 4. Should private GA be administered by GA organizations? 5. Should private GA be administered by RA-Aus? 6. Should GA organization/s and RA-Aus amalgamate to administer all recreational aircraft? Love to hear some ideas on this topic. CAZZA

Hello Everyone, I finally took delivery of my new J160 and have been flying for a couple of months. Now I am trying to sort through the engine and technical CD's to get a definite maintenance schedule. There seem to be several. Has any Jab owner out there put together a definitive maintenance schedule for the J160 with a four cylinder engine? If so, can I have a copy? Cheers, Cazza

Welcome Troy, Definitely fly first. There is a smorgasboard of recreational aircraft out there and they are all wonderful in their own way. You'll eventually settle on one. Then it's time to look for one to buy.

Welcome Blueshed Guy. Never been to Jamestown, but once I get mlhy J160 this week, I hope to be in the air a lot. Do you get over to NSW? Cazza

Hi Tony, OK, here goes MY PERSONAL VIEWS> Do you believe personally that we would engender a better ‘safety culture’ if we were all working more together at member level? That is a no-brainer for me. I believe absolutely that the more people who work on improving safety, the better chance we have of improving it, especially the 'non-fatal' type, because the 'fatal' type seem to fall into the 'attitude of the pilot' area which is more difficult. But I also think that if new pilots were 'reared' in a safety culture with everyone working together and modelling good safe practices and using peer pressure and education it would make a difference to the fatals as well. Do you accept that we already have a Pilot Examiner and L3 structure in place that is rendered toothless other than via direct charge via the Office to do something? I think that PE's and L3's and L2's could be utilised more, be given more responsibility and be given training and support. And I think these people do the jobs for love and for the organisation. (I think the skills the Board members have could also be ultilised more to support the organisation). Some of us want to help, but if one is not on the Executive, it can be difficult unless you are doggedly determined) What do you think about those appointed people getting together at Regional level (in their respective areas) and forming panels to work more face to face with the membership in example, support and local training? That's a great idea. What about the organisation financing their travel to a location for training and support and professional input identified by them? What do they feel they need to do the job? Do you believe that those (probably 50 guys) may be more effective and add practically to what the three guys in Canberra do? The more the merrier. If a program were designed in collaboration with those guys and supported by the managers in Canberra, it would be a wonderful service to the organisation. Do you believe that those people could elect one of their own, who would be an automatic Board representative, to feed the Board with actual real time perspective of what is going on at the workface? Do you believe that would be beneficial to flight safety and the good of the movement? The concept is good. The constitution is the problem. We would have to change the constitution to allow this, which would mean getting someone to give up a state position on the board. You've been there, you know what that would be like. In the short term, however, why can't the Board coopt that elected person by the group to feed the Board with the actual perspectives of what is going on? I think it would be beneficial. Why do you believe that has not happened when it has been demonstrated to clearly to work by so many other disciplines for decades? This is pure speculation because I have no data on which to base any opinion. So here it goes: Perhaps it is because: Many board members are L2,or 3 and PE and they feel they adequately bring the concerns of that group to the Board. Many members of the organisation do not bring their concerns to the Board. Like any institution, it gets stuck in its own inertia and changes and new ideas are often (not always) looked upon with some suspicion. We've never done it that way, or we tried it once and it didn't work, or we've always done it this way seem to prevail. Remember, these are my opinions. CAZZA

Ok because this happens to so many people, I did some more investigating. It turns out it is a problem with the distributer. So the office needs to know what post codes are not getting their mag. So please ring the office and give them your details and they will make sure you are still financial and then develop a list of post codes and send you out a copy. CAZZA

Steve Allen, Board member from Northern Territory attended meetings in Canberra on Friday with staff in the Australian Greenhouse Office and the Fuels and used Oils Division of the Department of the Environment and Heritage. He reports that the 2% mandate is simply a requirement on the producer or fuel distributor to have an overall 2% ethanol component. This does not mean that all fuel will have ethanol added. Some will be ethanol-free, some will have higher percentages, E5 or E10. We will still be able to choose ethanol-free fuel. Interesting that Rotax advised not more than 5% ethanol. Steve was informally advised by Department staff "Don't put ethanol fuel in your aeroplane". I asked him about the NSW mandate for ethanol in all petrol. He says. Carol, my understanding is that the mandate is for 2% overall, not a mandate for 2% in all fuel - that is a common misconception (if Dept of the Environment and Water Resources staff are correct). They advised to contact NRMA for the full story. I also asked Steve if it were true that ethanol holds water in suspension so it is impossible to see how much water is in the fuel when doing a fuel drain. Yes, ethanol is hygroscopic - absorbs water. Therefore fuel in tanks in high humidity areas (Darwin wet season) will absorb water from the air. This property is one way to test for ethanol in your fuel. Put (say) 50ml of water in a graduated flask. Add (say) 200ml from your fuel tank. You will have 50ml of water on the bottom with 200 ml of fuel on the top. The fuel/water interface will be clearly seen at the 50ml mark. Vigourously shake the container then let it settle. If the fuel is ethanol (alcohol) free then the interface will still be at the 50ml mark. If there is ehtanol in the fuel, it will have absorbed some of the water and so the interface will be lower, say at the 40ml mark because 10ml of the water was absorbed by the ethanol. This would be an unreliable test with only 2%, but works well with, say, E10 (10% ethanol). However, if the ethanol has already absorbed moisture from the air and is already saturated with water, then you would get a false reading. I doubt if 2% will be marketed. I think it will be 10% ethanol fuel sold alongside ethanol-free fuel. The Distributor simply has to ensure that 2% of the total volume sold is ethanol. CAZZA

Tony and others who have contributed to this thread. Firstly I am pleased that safety as an issue of concern to all pilots has had such a thorough discussion. I have noticed many good ideas for improving safety and I also have been given a background of the difficulty of actually effecting change in an organisation that fights daily for respect in the aviation industry and fights daily to keep its priviliedges . Tony's posting was very illuminating. You all know what the organisation (primarily Lee and Mick) are doing to improve safety. 1. Revised operations manual with more emphasis on learning skills through a performance based objective approach; 2. Inclusion of General Pilot Proficiency Program content into training of student pilots and instructors. This program seeks to improve safety by tackling the biggest reason pilots kill themselves and others….human error; 3. Provision of workshops training members in the GPPP; 4. Cyclical inspection of Flight training facilities to identify practices that need to be adopted or changed and in-house professional development of instructors as a result; 5. Instructor forums at Natfly; 6. Articles in the magazine targeting issues of safety; 7. Encouraging members to take responsibility for safety at their aerodromes and to use peer pressure to ensure safe practices by all; 8. Publication of ADs and other notifications of technical problems. 9. Reports of accidents in the magazine when permitted by the Coroner. But as Tony and others have pointed out, bad decision making, the unrealistic attitude that 'the bad things that happen to others won't happen to me' syndrome is the major cause for FATAL accidents. Lee and Mick are working on this through the GPPP program, but your discussion has made me realise that there are many more avenues to explore and try. So keep talking. I am a researcher by trade and the skills I bring to this organisation include identifying major ideas, collating ideas and synthesizing ideas from this forum for improving safety. I give you this guarantee that I will use this discussion and the information I get from ATSB and the available accident information sources to produce a set of recommendations to improve safety. I will post it on this forum so that you can see the results of your deliberations and I will keep you in the loop. CAZZA

Hi Geoff, I can only ask the question and will bring it up at the board meeting. Cazza

Dear Sam and everyone who didn't get a May Mag. Contact Terry Randall at Zebra publishing with your name and address and he will send you one. [email protected] Terry Randall (02) 6280 1107 Cheers, Cazza

Board Elections are now on. So those of you who would like to make a contribution, and have the time, please consider nominating for the Board. The term of office is only two years and new blood is welcome. CAzza

Hi Paul, the B&B is well and truly full for this weekend, but would love to see any RA-Aus aviators on any of the others. The next one is on June 30th. Cazza PS, you could fly over and tent it this weekend and join the RV's for a BBQ Sat night and a talk on aerobatic flight on Sat arvo. I'll be on the airfield, so look for me. I'll have my mobile. 0407 574 467

Why thank you Paul for your kind words. Come and visit sometime at Temora and I'll give you a cuppa. cazza

Hi Lamiunto, I don't have (to my knowledge) type 1 diabetes. I have old age and unfortunately, that's only going to get worse. However, I want to welcome you. I learned to fly on a Gazelle (GAZ) and she was a beautiful aircraft and I really loved flying her. So I bought my own bright yellow GAzelle (CAZZA) and I flew her for over a year. Then I decided I wanted an aircraft that was a little faster and that would hold some luggage and enough fuel for me to get a bit of range in my cross country flying. So I have ordered a J160, but gee I miss flying the Gazelle (CAZZa). So

Hi b1rd, Welcome to the forum and more importantly WELCOME BACK TO FLYING. I am one of the few people on this forum who do NOT fly at the Oakes, although I have put it on my 'must fly in one weekend when I get my new J160' list. I started flying late in life but am hooked, so I know how you feel when you get your feet off the ground. Cazza

Hi JGuscott and welcome to a great forum. I have a GA husband and I am a Ra_Aus girl waiting on my J160 to be complete. What are you flying? Cazza

Hello everyone. Sorry I have been out of town, so I haven't contributed for a while. I just wanted to remind people, that the magazine is the 'official instrument of communication' from the board to the membership. So Nick and I can fill you in on issues that have been decided, but often there are hoops to be jumped through before things become operational. For example, the ops manual re-write. Even if Lee has is finished in a couple of months, CASA has to then approve it and apparently they take their time and there is a lot of 'change this word to that word', 'move this sentence from here to there' that goes on for some months. Yikes, I didn't know that would happen. At the moment, the BOARD is totally immersed in sorting out the duties for the new ED to improve the services we provide to members. More on that when we have come to a consensus. Meanwhile, the Aviation Museum at Temora has a big flying weekend this weekend, F111's coming and all the other aircraft that the museum has will fly, weather permitting. We expect an influx of approxd 7,000 people over the two days. 20- RV's (the flying kind) are also flying in, so I will be busy. Temora is a great place to have a flyin. Maybe we can have a recreational aviation get together sometime. Cazza

Hi Tony, After seeing your training manuals and the work you have done to assist learning to fly (a subject dear to my heart) I feel a bit overawed that you would take the time to sign on in this forum. Thank you for your encouragement and for a bit of the history. I think Nick and I would be pleased to put Board reports into the magazine and also keep this forum informed as far as possible. It's been done before by you and Pat, so there is no reason why we can't do it again. Cheers, Cazza

Hi Ross, Thanks for sharing your saga with me. It reminds me how important it is to make it simple for people to respond otherwise, they will get frustrated and give up if the process is too tiresome. Thanks for sticking with it. I think the answer is a "how to respond" bit and give the members the url and info on Acrobat etc, to make it as foolproof and easy as possible. Thanks for the good hint. Cazza

Thanks Nick. I tend to think the new ops manual is closer than 6 months, which would be great for people like Andy. Cazza

Hi Jeff and welcome. I've heard a lot of war stories about flying in and out of the rylstone strip, but they are from fixed wing people. I guess your gyro doesn't worry too much about rotor from the hills? I'll soon have a jabiru and I was thinking I'd give the rylstone strip a miss. What's your advice? Cazza

Hi Mac24, Welcome. You certainly will get lots of ideas about aircraft from this forum. If you are thinking ultralight (recreational aviation now), then you probably have joined Recreational Aviation Australia. You'll get a dandy magazine each month and there is lots of info in it about aircraft and who you can email or ring to talk more in depth to. I have ordered a J160 and am waiting on delivery which might be in the next month, fingers crossed. Cazza

Mike, tell Thomas and other Wnrvle flyers that Temora is generally booked out on flying weekends. The weekend of 19/20 is also an RV flyin, so we are booked out. Check Temora accommodation, but then you can always sleep under your wing. Cazza