AeroGirl

Well, it looks like CASA has finally cracked it with Jab, been a long time coming. It will be interesting to see if Rotax becomes an option for factory Jabiru's now...... It is going to hurt a lot of RAAUS schools though, and I feel sorry for them.

Hi Chrism, great stuff, look forward to meeting you all, a UNICOM will be in operation on 118.1 on the ground, to help with guidance for parking. All, just a reminder that it is on this Saturday 0900 hrs, the seminar is free for anyone to attend, so please come on down to Jaspers. We also have 1 flight slot left for anyone wishing to do a hands on introductory lesson on the day. It is going to be a great day. Sally

Of course you will be there, else you would be sleeping on the lounge hun. ;)

Free Upset Recovery / Emergency Manoeuvre Training Seminar at South Coast Recreational Flying Club, Jaspers Brush Airfield on Saturday 2nd November 2012.

Hi Everyone, The Red Baron team will be hosting a FREE Upset Recovery / Emergency Manoeuvre Training seminar at the South Coast Recreational Flying Club, Jaspers Brush Airfield, Jaspers Brush on Saturday 2nd November. The seminar is conducted by the CFI of Red Baron, who is one of the Upset Recovery / EMT Experts at Red Baron. On the day 2 of the Red Baron Alpha 160A aircraft will be available for hire with instructor for a special rate for those wishing to have an introduction to Upset Recovery, Emergency Manoeuvre Training or Aerobatics. Depending on the student, these flights can basic Upset Recovery/EMT introduction through to Aerobatics introduction. Also for those just wishing to do a 'hands on' or 'hands off' aerobatics joy flight, these will also be available. Please see the attached PDF for further information. Red Baron EMT at Jaspers.pdf Red Baron EMT at Jaspers.pdf Red Baron EMT at Jaspers.pdf

Yes you are correct in the bands that Australian GSM uses, sorry, but the problem still remains, the distance mobile phones are designed to communicate is up to about 35 km, not the 33,000 km or so required to reach a satellite in orbit. So GSM is quite useless for SAR in remote areas of Australia, even on Telstra. Packet size is never an issue, since we are talking about a few kb of data to transmit co-ordinates and a unique ID.

I believe the issue with RAAus failing to publicise Jabiru engine failures, or force Jabiru to do something about it comes down to statistics. In RAAus eyes, there is simply not that many engine failures to warrant action, this is because people are not reporting the failures to RAAus, but seam to be just going back to Jabiru for repairs. Jabiru have not got a reason to make the statistics public, they probably want to suppress them, as they are in the business of selling aircraft/engines (as dodgy as the engines appear to be), and do not want to loose business by issuing a recall, or the public loosing confidence in their engines by offering the option of installing a Rotax instead of the Jabiru engine in their aircraft. So the answer would seam to be, if you own an aircraft with a Jabiru engine (or any other engine), and have an engine failure, report it to RAAus, (or CASA for VH rego) then RAAus has some statistics to use to force some action against the manufacture. Without those statistics, RAAus cannot do anything.

I do not believe so, GSM mobile phones work in the 1800 Mhz frequency, and require line of site to work, they do not operate with high enough power for it to be received by a satellite, let alone enough satellites to gain a position fix. An aircraft with 3 GSM antennas could pick up and obtain a fix on the location of the mobile phone by flying overhead. Not likely, although an aircraft so equipped with GSM base station equipment could probably call the phone. If you have a Satellite Mobile Phone then they could call you using the Satellite Mobile Phone network, just by calling your the mobile number associated with that Satellite Mobile Phone, they could probably, in theory, also obtain a good fix using multiple Satellites to locate you, but not many people have these, as they are expensive. You can however rent them, which is probably a good idea if you are going remote, no matter what your means of transport. The Satellite Mobile Phone network has coverage all over the earth, with a few very small black spots. BTW, the SPOT Messenger devices make use of the Satellite Mobile Phone network to send packets back to SPOT with your co-ordinates obtain using a built-in GPS receiver, and well as alert SPOT in an emergency.

PLBs are great, if activated, otherwise totally useless. G force activated PLBs do not have a high success rate of activating, therefore if you do crash, and are unconscious, you cannot rely on it to activate. PLBs also do not leave a breadcrumb of where you have been, so in a situation where you are unconscious, and the PLB did not self activate, you are as good as dead, unfortunately. SPOT on the other hand, if activated to do so before or during flight, will leave a series of breadcrumbs back to SPOTs servers every x minutes. It also has an emergency activation button, which can be activated to alert SPOT in the US that you are in trouble and need help, they will then contact the relevant authorities based on where you are for assistance. In the case where you crash, and are unconscious, it still relies on you to activate it, just like a PLB, but where it differs is that the whole time it has been leaving a series of breadcrumbs, so when authorities are alerted by a loved one, the person with a flight note, or even an expired SAR time, that you have not checked in, they can contact SPOT, and find either the current position of the SPOT (if it is still working post crash), or the last known position and time stamp of the SPOT, thus giving SAR somewhere to start looking, and increasing your chances of being found and thus surviving. SPOT even have a version which you can attach to a mobile phone via Bluetooth and allows you to send a standard text message over the mobile satellite network, in which case if you need help, but are not in danger, eg flat tyre in the middle of nowhere, or out of fuel, and simply need a family member or friend to come and collect you, you can send such a message, including a link to your location. I have no idea why CASA does not allow SPOT as a substitute for a PLB, as in my opinion it is far superior to a PLB, and can greatly increase your chances of survival over a PLB, thanks to the breadcrumbs. Maybe SPOT can create a future version that is also a PLB, thus serving the purpose of both devices.

Myself and Ultralights were at the hanger over the weekend doing some maintenance to UL's aircraft (it was pouring down rain), when in walked the owner of an aircraft which will remain nameless (the said aircraft model has a reputation for having the ballistic chute pulled regardless of the situation, for example spin recovery, and recently an engine failure over pristine outback farmland), lets call him Mr C with some guests, one carrying an unlit cancer stick in his hand. Upon noticing this, I regularly popped up my head to keep an eye one Cancer Man (who is obviously not a pilot), just incase that unlit cancer stick become a carcinogenic spewing variety. Mr C and Cancer Man decided to go on a photo shoot, draping themselves on the Extra and Pitts located in the hanger, Cancer Man looking quite proud of himself being photographed with these aircraft but never having actually been in one for a joy flight, all the time with an unlit cancer stick in hand. After a while, Mr C and Cancer Man have finished moving around the hanger, pretending to be proud owners of the array of aircraft in the hanger, and begin preparing his aircraft for a high altitude IFR flight for the next day. Out comes the oxygen bottle to top up the on board oxygen bottle on Mr C's aircraft, and filling begins. Meanwhile, despite all the AVGAS stored in fuel tanks on Mr C's aircraft, as well as other aircraft, not to mention the extremely flammable gas, oxygen currently spewing forth from the oxygen tank to the internal tank, Cancer Man in all his wisdom, light up his cancer stick, WTF!!!! I hurried over to where they were, yelling at Cancer Man to put the thing out, he looks at me dumb, and then Mr C tells him to go out the door, which goes airside. He is sending his guest, air side at a secure aerodrome with a lit cancer stick. I tell him to not to go air side, to put out the cancer stick, and if he is going to smoke he must go out the front. I also gave Mr C a serving about his responsibilities with his guests. I was not impressed.

Hi Marc, Just thought I would ask if there was any further testing of the Sling for spin recovery, and what recovery technique was used in the failed spin recovery where the pilots bailed, and the aircraft righted itself? It would also be interesting to know what the recommended recovery technique is for the Sling. I saw the Sling at Evens Head fly in today, and was impressed with the build quality, and is an aircraft I am keeping an eye on for a possible future purchase. Regards, Sally

All they need to do is put a Rotax in them, and make the rudder bigger and they would be a great little aircraft. I would never buy a Jab, not with a Jab engine.

Where is the answer of "My partner was/is a pilot"?

Hi All, Just finished editing my video from last Saturdays aerobatics pre-solo check flight, which I passed, so I can now do solo aerobatics. I was supposed to do my first solo aerobatic flight today, but unfortunately I am sick with a cold, so hopefully that will take place next Saturday. Anyway, here is my video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y8VvtqZWtk Remember, do not try this unless you are endorsed to do so, and have an aircraft that is also so endorsed, else go to your local flight school that specialises in aerobatics, and learn how to do it.

Thanks. Yes that is a 3D GoPro setup behind me, unfortunately only one of the cameras actually recorded video that day, which is a shame. We only just got the 3D kit and are still working out the best placement for it. I got 3D footage in the next flight I did (which was last Sunday and was also a spinning lesson), but it was not that great cause it was too close to the back of my head, so there was issues with convergence. Hopefully we can find a good placement for the 3D kit on my next flight.