Bandit12

Bandit, I got a feeling this test was in fact seeking out opinion of FAA and ATC, any thoughts on that?(I know disregarding rules and not accepting ATC authority will lead to more accidents, but just a few too many references for my thinking)

My thoughts exactly Tubs - a lot less to do with pilot attitudes than it maintains I think.....

 

 

At best, there is a tenuous link between survey behaviour and real world behaviour. That said, a properly designed survey can tell you a lot, and I wasn't impressed. Response bias, social desirability bias etc can all be measured and adjusted for, but there isn't anything here for that. There was a variable on attitudes towards the FAA, which tried to pass itself off as a measure of "anti-authority". I picked a mid score on everything there and funnily enough, received a score of 15 (average). That was a pointless variable. Resignation was poorly named and seemed actually a better measure of perceived control. 5 point Likert scales are really quite limited, in that many people will load on the "neither agree nor diagree" option when that is not true.

 

I have another scale which is a measure of decision making style - well validated and properly designed. It would be interesting to combine the two and see what comes out of it.

 

 

Plus why do I score so high on Macho? Poorly named if I suspect it is because I agreed strongly on most of the items that were related to aerobatics.

 

 

Survey design is something that I am particularly keen on - and I find myself qustioning the second survey. Here is what I scored:

 

Macho

 

25

 

Resignation

 

6

 

Anti-Authority

 

15

 

Worry

 

10

 

Impulsivity

 

13

 

Self-Confidence

 

16

 

Pulling six variables out of only 30 questions seems a little like guesswork rather than a sound psychometric test. I will investigate this further, but was wondering whether we could get maybe 100 members (the more the better) to do the survey, and I will run a factor analysis and a rasch analysis to see if we can improve on it a bit? Collect some demographic details, write it up and publish in the International Journal of Aviation Psychology? What do you think Ian?

 

 

The sort of photo that Jabiru needs on their site

 

 

Is that why you have an enormous phallic symbol as your avatar Nev?

 

He who bears much fruit is a virile man?

 

 

Found this on Ebay

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Ultralight-Aircraft-2-RARE-SKYCRAFT-FACTORY-/300637594878?pt=AU_Aircraft&hash=item45ff65a4fe

 

Looks like quite a bit of work, but at a good enough price to make it worthwhile.....

 

 

A speedbump road sign up near Cape Tribulation, that had been painted to reflect a snail. Represents me well - sloooowwww....!!!

 

 

Especially when he bought his own aircraft. No flying school or club would ever sign out an aircraft under those circumstances - just not being night, nav or instrument rated would have stopped them from hiring out. But if you own your aircraft, there was nothing to stop him.

 

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the liability insurance for RAA doesn't cover any more than 2 occupants, plus anyone else unfortunate enough to get in the way on the outside of the aircraft. Don't know about policies about it, but I wouldn't like to bet on any insurance cover at least.

 

 

My GA costs:

 

Level 2 medical - $135 (4 years)

 

CASA medical processing fee - $75 (4 years)

 

ASIC - $185 (2 years)

 

Aeroclub membership - $175 (yearly)

 

Average yearly cost - $320 without flying once. And I am sure to have forgotten something. If you take off the aeroclub fees, the aircraft hire rates are more expensive. I don't think that the RAA costs are unrealistically high, but it does sound like they could do it better for the money.

 

 

My GA costs:

 

Level 2 medical - $135 (4 years)

 

CASA medical processing fee - $75 (4 years)

 

ASIC - $185 (2 years)

 

Aeroclub membership - $175 (yearly)

 

Average yearly cost - $320 without flying once. And I am sure to have forgotten something. If you take off the aeroclub fees, the aircraft hire rates are more expensive. I don't think that the RAA costs are unrealistically high, but it does sound like they could do it better for the money.

 

 

I am impressed!

 

 

Quite a few instructors give an aileron roll endorsement rather than slow roll which is quite fair in my opinion especially if learning in a Cessna Aerobat. I find that those pilots work their way around to doing passable slow rolls with a bit of practice (if they wish to develop the technique so) with no danger to themselves.

I love practising my slow rolls - I find it a very pleasant manoeuvre. Generally you just fall out of a stuffed one, and I don't think that it is needed as a basic manoeuver. Learning to do one well though needs instruction.

 

There are some who believe that snap (or flick) roll should be included as a basic manoeuvre. If mandated that would rule out an endorsement in some aeroplane types.

Perhaps not needed as a basic, but without instruction, a person could do some serious damage. Maybe that belongs in an advanced rating with accelerated/inverted spins?

 

Regardless of whether an instructor conforms exactly to CASA's aerobatic endoesement or not, most instructors will include recoveries from extreme unusual attitudes or failed aerobatic manoeuvres. In my opinion that is the most important element of an aerobatic course yet is not specified in the CAO and gets limited acknowledgement in the CAAP.

Agreed - that is the one that should be done BEFORE starting aeros.....

 

 

From memory there were a couple of pubs that served reasonable food within a short taxi of Toowoomba airport.....just make the calls and book early if you want to get in anywhere for lunch on Chrismas Day.

 

Crazy Gallaghers should serve lunch, not bad food for the price.

 

 

There is always so much going on behind the scenes that so few people ever become aware of. Hopefully it doesn't curtail open discussion too much.

 

 

Hi Ozzie

 

Don't feel like too much of a wally. It is understandable that they need to be thorough, but that doesn't excuse poor practices and dragging it out for so long. They would have known all of the requirements right from the start, and it would have been so much simpler to be clear from the start what they expected you to submit to process the claim.

 

 

Wow.....a couple of times I was cringing expecting a prop strike from the heavy braking on the tail draggers. And some of the takeoffs seemed to raise the tail under power, get rolling and smack the tail into the ground to lever the main wheels off the ground - that must be so hard on airframes....

 

 

It is doable - but debateable obviously. You will have to look at lowering the compression, preferably with suitably designed pistons (expensive) or perhaps a thicker headgasket (custom copper one?). I would also want to know what my manifold pressure is.

 

 

You are in one piece, and the plane will fly again. So all in all, it is a positive experience!

 

My second solo ended up with the Tomahawk in very poor shape, never to fly again. At that stage in your experience, a couple of things happening unexpectedly is more than enough to through you off your game. Just get back out there as soon as you can, just like falling off a horse (which I have also managed to do many times!)

 

 

I still drive/ride around and find myself practising radio calls....10 years on!

 

 

I would say go for it. If your instructor is good, they will not sign you off until you are ready. It is something new and so will be a little nerve wracking. There are plenty of us that were pretty nervous when the instructor first climbed out of the aircraft and sent us solo, wondering whether we were ready. I expect that your skills will be somewhat honed by the end of the course, then it is just a matter of keeping them at that higher level.

 

 

Most schools will follow a set program for training, so it doesn't hurt to read up on the upcoming lesson. For example, your first (after a TIF) should be Effects of Controls, and that is a great time to just cover the basics of what the controls are, what the primary and secondary effects are etc. After your lesson, go and practise. Close your eyes and visualise yourself doing what you did in the aircraft. Some may disagree, but I found that using a flight simulator was very helpful. After every lesson, I would go and do exactly the same on the simulator (FS95 from memory). While maybe not completely realistic, it can make a big difference, and certainly did for me. And these days, if you get FSX and one of the Australian scenery add on programs, you might even be able to fly a similar aircraft from your home airport.

 

Like everything though, the more preparation you do, the better it will work.

 

 

I'm all for low level aerobatics, and hope to be able to do them myself one day. Many times at Toowoomba years ago I was lucky enough to watch the Aerotec aircraft being put through their paces. But this guy was obviously a loose cannon. With such a small amount of experience on type, and carrying a passenger? If you want to give wild joyrides, do it above 3000', in a designated aero box.

 

 

Most of the foreign students I met at uni where useless as. Lazy, cheating, plagarising kids from rich families killing a few years in Australia before starting work.This maylasian guy I got on with always laughed "I can't speak english but a I get a degree in business marketing".

A little off topic...but most of the foreign students that I know/knew in university had phenomenal work ethics, and it was rare to see the top academic awards being presented to white Australians. Just look at the lists of graduates with Masters degrees or higher, and try to pronounce those names. You don't get there with laziness and cheating alone.

 

I remember reading a book once where the author debated why westerners were determined to beg/barter/demand for an increase in pay regularly for doing the same job. At some point the money grabbing has to stop, both for staff, management and shareholders alike.