drifterdriver

If you enjoy the wind in your hair its hard not to love the old Drifter. It'd be nice to have another in the area.

Ab initio instruction is not allowed unless you are the builder but a type conversion or a particular design feature (say water endorsement) can be undertaken if you are the owner and the instructor is appropriately rated. I have previously trained an owner in a flying boat and no paperwork problems arose. Hope this will help you out. Nick

I sent Pat's son Tommy loose for the first time today out of Dunwich. Pat was pacing back and forth like a cat on a hot tin roof shouting out instructions as Tommy was on finals (as if he could hear over the sound of a 582), it was really interesting to watch. In future I reckon I'll think twice before sending a fellow instructor's offspring solo with them present. I did manage to see the landing even with the added entertainment and it quite nice. Pat was so keyed up he made Tommy sit in the back on the was home. All I can say is you should have been there. Here's hoping I can act a bit cooler in a few years time.

Well apart from my push as stated above to change the requirements for a BFR I think we're fairly straight.

The Ops Manual is being altered to allow "on Condition" even as we speak (thank God)

Yeah a tough one especially as you're trying to help someone out, its more than likely just on the wrong side of the line and as turtle mentioned an insurance assessor would raise an eyebrow if something untoward happened. Give Lee a call, he's back in the office from NQ.

Well better than hearing them sing for their supper.

Facthunter, I have been giving your Super Hypothetical some consideration and I feel that altering the flight review interval to two hours may be somewhat obvious and not slip under the radar. I believe a better approach may be to engineer a typo during the current Ops Manual re-write with the word "biennial" changed to "biannual" and hey presto four times the amount of BFRs (and with no need to change the abbreviation). Once instigated the change could be hard to reverse as it could be strongly argued that going back to the original interval may result in a lowering of "safety standards".

RAAus gets a small amount from CASA that doesn't cover even one of the managers salaries, although it is still greatly appreciated and saves us from doing lamington drives.

Couldn't agree with you more.

Mike, apologies for singleing out aircraft salesmen, we already have some on the board and many of my club associates sell aircraft. With this in mind please change the wording to "plumbers or cardiovascular surgeons" and I'll apologise to them next time around. Ian, no offence was intended by my comments and the fact that you felt it necessary to defend your position was certainly not my intention at all. That you have developed this site at your own cost and have sourced numerous products and offer them at exceedingly competive rates is certainly a positive thing as far as I am concerned.

Hello all, Thanks for all the comments and particularly JL. Personally, I see this forum as a wonderful opportunity to spread the word about the RAAus and I would like to congratulate all who help make this forum possible. As this forum is a commercial venture (which I have no problem with and actually recommend Ian's products to my students and use them myself) I think it could be remiss of the RAAus to utilise this site as an official means of communication. The RAAus and Board have to act and also be seen as acting impartial and favouring one commercial operator over another would do considerable harm to the organisation. Another point is moderation, having this in the hands of a commercial operation would obviously again leave the RAAus open to all kinds of perceived conflicts of interest. Carol, Chris and I are more than happy to continue doing what we are doing at the moment and we all appreciate the opportunity to keep members informed. On the subject of Board candidates I agree that its important to vote for the most suitable person. The Board currently has a blend of retired pilots, new pilots, people who fly for fun and those that instruct and I think this is a great way to get a cross-section of membership and views. I wouldn't like to see the Board dominated by one group or another and I certainly wouldn't like to see it full of aircraft salesmen. Recently a member told me that they felt that there shouldn't be any instructors on the board as they would be doing it only for their personal gain. I for one derive no advantage over another instructor by being on the Board as I am already busier than I want to be. I also feel it is a good thing to have someone on the Board with experience and who is regularly meeting and bringing in new members and knows their concerns but that's just my thoughts. Whatever your opinion try to find out more about your local candidates and if anyone has any ideas on how the RAAus can help to make this happen please post them here. Nick

Life is full of compromises and while it's not everything we could ever hope for, what is on offer is pretty close. I appreciate the confidence and trust that has been placed in the team and myself and we are endeavouring through the minefield of Canberra to pursue the best possible outcome for the organisation. The number of members in the RAAus is close to exceeding the total combined membership of all the other players involved and with this in mind some of their reactions to the NPRM have been less than favourable, particularly as some of their membership bases are in decline, so every one of our responses certainly helps the case. Alliances change and CASA is not necessarily the dark side any more, in fact they see us as a role model for self-regulation, not a bad outcome for our organisation.

Doesn't the word OR make such a difference.

Hi Paul, Probably be bringing it back to Jacob's but not quite sure. We managed to fit 4 Drifters and the Zephyr in the hangar so there is room, surprisingly. We certainly wouldn't go 230 nm without you, someone has to bring the fuel to get us all home if we went that far. Going on a navex to Inglewood this Sunday for a fly-in in a Gazelle call me if you're interested in tagging along otherwise I'll see you at Paul's 40th. Hi George, If you're reading this tonight you should already be in bed asleep resting for solo#2 tomorrow.

A bloke who until very recently worked for the Drifter Factory at Dalby had it as his own bird and absolutely mothered it (even the aileron push rods are polished). You're more than welcome to join us Paul, although you may have to park at the other end of the strip as Jan might make a mess drooling on your plane. Sabre is definately on the way (and I do need another bottle of scotch).

Just a refurb. 2000 hrs and looks like only 20. Absolutely immaculate and the best certified one I've seen in years, although I am looking for another SB if anyone has seen one. But the way thanks Sabre, I'll have to put you on commission. Grandpa also wants to come to Kooringal so the group is growing.

Hello to all. Sadly, after discussing the matter with Lee, due to the back and forth processes currently in place between ourselves and CASA regarding changes to the Ops Manual it may take considerably longer than we would like for anything to occur in the area of changes to training and six months may even prove to be optimistic. I concur with the problems filling in the NPRM forms and I have had a number of members who have faced the same difficulties. I would like to applaud your efforts Ross in getting the job done. Regarding Board Reports, I think it would be of great benefit to the membership to have a better idea of what was happening and hopefully this forum can to some degree assist this occurring. Before joining the Board I personally only met a Board member once in almost 20 years of membership and I can understand to a point why some may feel distanced from the Board. I hope that both Carol and myself can help to allieviate this situation. Hope to see some of you at Inglewood on Sunday, subject to weather. Nick

My fellow aviators, I have one important point about what you can do for your organisation as opposed to what your organisation can do for you. I was talking to Lee Ungermann recently and the response from members about the NPRM was unbelievably low, embarassingly so. A number of extentions have occurred and assuming they continue to happen there is probably still time to send emails, make calls, hassle your mates, put a notice on the club house wall etc whatever it takes to get more people to respond. We don't look all that bright as an organisation when hardly anyone bothers to spend 10 minutes on something as important as this and it does nothing for our negotiational stand point either. Off the soap box now. Nick

Hi Andy, I may be able to fill you in a bit. At present an individual is able to do up to three hours training before joining the RAAus and to join the organisation your daughter needs to be 15 years of age. At the last board meeting it was decided that we would align ourselves closer to the current GA standard and set no age limit on joining the RAAus. Your daughter will still have to be 15 before she can solo but at least she can commence training earlier (once the Ops Manual has been altered - maybe 6 months away). The situation currently exists whereby young students have to start training on a GA type and once they attain the age of 15 can then complete their training in an RA aircraft, shear lunacy. On a personal note I think its great because it means my son (on the left) can have more than three hours to improve his landings, which still leave a bit to be desired. Nick

Had the new Drifter up to 75kts today, she goes like a cut snake, flies so nice and straight and no Jan you can't borrow it.

I'd forgotten all about that B2

My co-pilot on the left.

Found a really nice one but now another mate wants one.

If he wants a BFR he'd better be and by the way Jan Drifter Drivers don't get lost we are only uncertain of our position.