Aldo

Long story short I had noticed a similar drop in RPM with my 3300 at similar hours (but I have a good idea why it was caused now), with all the same indications that you have stated, good plug & exhaust colour, engine running smoothly, the only thing I did notice on a couple of occasions in the few hours previous was the odd miss at altitude in cruise (had put it down to a bit of carby ice at the time) and a slight increase in oil consumption (in fact it was in the catch bottle), leak down test showed 3 cylinders not particularly good (the worst No.1 was 30/80). Pulled the worst one found the rings glued to the piston, the other two were the same (1, 2 & 4). Completed a top overhaul and all was good. Leak down test will take you about 30 minutes, another thing to check is your exhaust make sure the muffler is not blocked up with soot or hornets nests. Anyone want the full story let me know Aldo

If you're looking to buy one I know of a very good low time lightning that is for sale. PM me if you're interested.

I could be wrong but I don't think HECS will pay for the flying portion of your degree

Ben I use aviation security ID (www.securityid.com.au ) guy to talk to is Les Walters, I live in Queensland and they are in WA I got my last one in 4 days, also less expensive than CASA. The first one I got I cancelled the application with CASA and received the one from these guys in 7 days. Les Walters Director M 0428 4848 01 Airport Security Pty Ltd / Security ID ABN 87 100 017 212 In Australia Tel. 1300 00 2742 for ID Cards International +61 428 4848 01

I thought it was one to build that was ten times cheaper and five times better than anything else available!

VDO is the actual clock time from engine start to engine stop

CAR262AP (5) (5) CASA or an authorised person may authorise a particular aircraft to be operated over the built-up area of a city or town subject to the conditions and limitations CASA or the authorised person considers necessary for the safety of other airspace users and persons on the ground or water. I applied for and received an exemption for flights over built up areas and received the certificate of exemption (granted this was 2009) but as I read 262AP (5) approval is still able to be granted. Also there was an article in a sport pilot mag a while back that listed all the limitations, as far as I could determine if you held a class 2 medical (minimum) a full PPL (inc CTA) and carried the required equipment you could request a clearance into CTA (doesn't mean you will get it though). I don't have the mag any longer to double check. Aldo

Dafydd You're not flying where I am then, the traffic here has increased by a factor of 20 (at least) over the past 12 months and most of it is in the 3 miles a minute plus range. Aldo

Mark Appreciate the insight into what happened and I also understand when you say it shouldn't have any adverse effect on you, you guys did all you could. Thanks for the update, and I'm not going to speculate what may have been the cause, I have spent a bit of time in 206's and they are as good as any for getting max loads off the ground safely. Please pass on my condolences to all involved. Aldo

Welcome to the club (its a good one to belong to), to be sure not to join the next one make sure she gets as involved in flying as much as you do. Congratulations mate.

My take has always been I like to fly to wherever I want to fly to (within reason depending on what aircraft I'm in) if I need an ASIC then I will have one because I like to fly (it's only 200 bucks most people spend that much on a night out at a restaurant with their wife). That said I also believe it serves no purpose to those of us that fly, it is in place to satisfy the concerns of the general public that aviation is as safe from the nasty terrorists as it can be and all the security goons are there protecting them (couldn't be further from reality but we are not dealing with reality only emotion). What they (general public) don't realise is that it doesn't stop some person going and buying an aircraft, learning to fly it (no ASIC required) packing it full of whatever flying OCTA to Redcliff and then the 4 minute jaunt to Brisbane and parking it through the front windows at 6 in the morning when any number of WB are unloading/loading with probably upwards of 5000 people in the vicinity. Nothing and nobody to stop them. I'll probably have the feds come knocking on my door now and never be issued with another ASIC again.

Doesn't look good, a few guys on here are from up there so will no doubt know a bit more information.

Nick I applaud your enthusiasm but it's not the system, it's the inept application of the system by the users, the licence or certificate you hold is not relevant either (I've seen plenty of RAA guys that perform way better than GA/commercial guys and obviously vice versa). My advice (for what it's worth and you certainly don't need to take any notice of me, I've only been flying for 27 years and I still learn something from every flight) is learn to fly with the equipment you have, with clock, compass, radio, up to date maps, wiz wheel and correct navigation procedures you should be able to give a pretty accurate position report at any time (+- 1NM) if you can't you haven't done enough training. You may want to check up on the separation requirements! Forget the technology and fly the aeroplane (yes I do use GPS & I pad as this reduces the workload but I can throw both of them out the window and still know where I am within a small margin of error), VFR means visual navigation and we all need to be proficient, if we're not this is when the system fails. Aldo

Matty Sorry missed the humour Aldo

Matty Missed the point entirely, 2 miles with 5 miles a minute closing speed is 12 seconds!

Nick With the short time you have been flying I'm not surprised that you find it difficult, spatial awareness and orientation is something that takes a lot of practice especially when you have to decipher it from a radio call (and nine times out of ten the clown on the other end mumbles so fast that you have no idea what has been said anyway). The best way that I find is to have a radio that you can monitor more than 1 frequency on, depending on where you are flying and the distances between CTAF's I will always monitor the CTAF from at least 30 miles out and have the area frequency on the primary channel. This allows me to build up a picture in my head of all the traffic in the vicinity and their expected times of arrival at the destination. If available I will always have the Transponder on 1200 so radar is able to see me if inside their range. I also write down the call signs of any aircraft that is likely to be within 5 minutes of my ETA. If the other aircraft are IFR and their track or arrival time is close to mine I will call centre and advise them of my position/track and ETA for the destination, they will generally pass this information on to the IFR aircraft, if not the other aircraft should hear your position and intention report on the area frequency anyway. The radio your eyes and your ability to visualise the other traffic from the information you hear is your best defence in avoiding a midair. That said I have recently had three near misses. 1. Afternoon departure out of Toowoomba FD478 flying doctor inbound from the west heard his inbound call on CTAF spoke with him and advised that my track would take me 6 miles south of Oakey, asked him if he was tracking inbound overhead Oakey to which he responded yes, we passed within 1000 feet horizontally of each other (same altitude) 6 miles south of Oakey (scared the crap out of me) 2. Inbound to Roma MJA (chieftan) call at 20 miles 8000 feet on 095 bearing estimating within 2 min of me (I was behind and on 107 bearing) and at 8500 feet, thought ok I'm 2 miles a minute he is 3 miles a minute I'm closer than him but we shouldn't cross paths as we were both tracking for crosswind for 36. Next call from MJA was at 15 miles and I was at 8 miles (something wasn't adding up) how could I have got a minute in front of him and his estimate was still 2 min before me, I called him to confirm he was at 15 miles and he responded yes, I tracked a little further to the south to give myself some room, when I finally saw him we were less than 1000 feet apart same altitude, I called and asked if he had me visual to which he answered no I told him I was at his 9 o'clock, the response was an immediate right turn, I landed No. 2 to him with no further issues. 3. Inbound to Miles from the south east, flying doctor (king air) inbound from the west estimating within 2 min of each other, called him and asked his intentions, he said he was tracking to join xwind for 04 (immediate alarm bells) why was a king air tracking from the west with the active runway being 04 tracking to join xwind I eventually saw him ( he never saw me) and we were about 2 miles apart. Lessons: keep your eyes outside and work hard on your spatial visualisation skills. Don't trust anyone to be where they say they are going to be, maintain your lookout. Aldo

Think yourselves lucky, I like M61A1 run my house on tank water and would only consider drinking any town water anywhere as a last resort. Last year my water bill was in excess of $1000 and we don't have a potable town water supply. That's what you get from Western Downs Regional Council

FT Its not the rain it's the crap that comes in over the range at 500' or lower, 3 mornings last week, 2 so far this week almost impossible to get in. YTWB would be perfect except for the fog that can roll in any time any day.

To be able to fly more than three (3) days a month, why would you want to subject any flying organisation to that s..t hole with the weather it has? I'm qualified to comment as I try to fly there 4 out of 5 days a week.

Move it to Queensland away from the coast - fly 340 days + a year, second highest member count in RAAus if I remember correctly

The best method is the one that you are most comfortable with to be able to complete a satisfactory landing. Couple of things to remember though If the forecast wind at you destination is greater than the published max x-wind for your aircraft then you must plan an alternate where the wind strength is less or there is a runway more into wind to reduce the x-wind component. The landing is not complete until the aircraft is parked and tied down - many pilots have come to grief following touchdown and go phew glad that's over, only to find that the problems have only just started. The more precise your circuit and approach the better the result - if your not happy the earlier you decide to shoot a missed approach the better, go round and get it better set up next time, providing you have enough fuel you can do this as long as you like, there should be no pressure on private (or commercial for that matter) pilots to get it down on this approach - forget about what other people think and concentrate on what you are doing. Don't overthink the situation, there is only one (1) thing that you have to do with a x-wind landing in a light aircraft and that is to control the drift - i.e. the wheels should be pointing straight down the runway at touchdown, all the rest is the same If all else fails and you don't have the fuel required to go somewhere else or keep trying, find a road that is into wind do a couple of good precautionary runs to check for obstacles (power lines, vehicles, trees and the like) and put it down there - you will no doubt get your butt kicked by CASA and others but I would rather be alive and asking for forgivness than be dead and have my actions or lack of discussed on a forum such as this one. Above all else practice, practice and more practice competency is all about currency. Personally I find it easier to lay off the drift (nose into wind) and fly a normal approach, as I approach the flare bring the nose to be aligned with the centre line with rudder and control the drift with aileron, once on the ground maintain full into wind aileron, get the flaps away (only if you have control) and start breaking to get the speed washed off. Aldo

I have the same problem with my 230 and I believe it is related to the fuel tank filler/cap installation. If I happen to overfill or park on an uneven surface and the fuel is able to gravity feed from one tank to the other I have found that the fuel actually leaks out through the wing root (I'm yet to find the reason for this) but I suspect it is to prevent over pressuring the fuel tank, if you look inside the fuel filler point you will notice a row of holes in the metal insert, I think this is where the fuel/fumes are able to pass into the void space in the wing. If this is the case then fumes will be able to transit through the control cable openings from the wing root to the interior of the fuselage. I'm not certain that this is the reason and I'm investigating further.

Don This is the same issue faced by any business, I know I've been there and the sooner we bit the bullet and put on staff specific to the jobs required to be done the better the business operated. This was mainly due to the fact that myself and business partners (directors/board) were able to get on with managing the business growth and direction. As much as we didn't want to, we also put in levels of management to manage each department and allowed them to manage these departments (this initially increased our overhead for no increase in return) but has eventually allowed the business to grow and produce much better returns. You will find that if you put on the correct staff and allow them to have ownership in the business/organisation it will produce much better results all round. Be very careful with this approach as it is quite easy to end up back where you started, also temporary staff have no ownership in the operation and therefore you will not get the maximum result. Just my opinion for what its worth. Al

Ladies/Gents A GM's job is to manage not to do, without sufficient underlings to manage a GM is useless (as he/she can't do it all him/her self). The only solution is to spend whatever money is required to be spent, and if that means it will cost members more per year then so be it, put on full time staff (as many as is required) to get the systems updated and the work completed only then will RA-AUS be able to move forward. If this isn't done RA-AUS will die a slow death as it has been doing for some time now or CASA will speed that process up eventually with one swift blow. Al

Thanks Turbo Nice to see some people understand where I was coming from.