David Isaac

Doesnt apply to ALAs. you can have them next door within reason. Most Council strips are ALAs except I note that Quirindi is licensed, probably only because of a required condition of BAE for the training they conduct there.

Great outcome. I assume you put the DA in on a substantial rural property? An airstrip on a substantial rural property is regarded as normal rural activity in planning terms. How did you define "airstrip" in your DA?

Pretty aeroplane.

I am sure that not all could survive. After all they ain't 'black boxes'.

The GoPro survived the DH 82 crash on the GC Maj. Memory cards are quite resilient.

I'm with you all the way Aldo now I see where you are coming from. Especially the training and CTA bits ... though Id probably agree to CTA transit in limited coastal zones with appropriate training.

If you had done a design feature add on to your license such as Manually adjusted propeller (CSU), retractable undercarriage or tail-wheel as part of your part 61 conversion to RPL it would have counted as the flight review as it also did on the good ol days.

An endorsement on type/feature always counted as the equivalent of a BFR in the old days, I assume it is the same under Part 61?

I don't know why "we" all tend to complicate this matter. A smart person would NOT be building an airport or an ALA or a runway. A smart person is simply grading a paddock to meet the dimensional guidelines for an ALA as detailed by the CASA guide (if you want to be covered by your insurance), or any other suitable dimension if insurance is no concern. You will then use that paddock on which to land and takeoff in your personal aircraft in exactly the same manner as you would build a road on your property to to allow you access with all your heavy equipment. Friends visiting you could use your paddock to land in the same manner they would use your private road on your property to gain access to you. Do you seriously need a DA to put a trafficable surface around your rural property and do you seriously need Council approval to drive your harvester, tractor etc across you paddock,? Do you need Council approval for a visitor to use your road into your property? It is NOT a runway, it is a paddock on which you land and takeoff and as long as the paddock meets the ALA guidelines for slope and dimensions and has a means of indicating wind, your insurance will cover you and it is none of Councils business. For God's sake don't tell anyone you are building an airport, because you are NOT. It should be readily arguable that landing and taking off in an aircraft from your property is as much a normal rural activity for us as is driving a truck, tractor or car on and off your property. But please be sensible about flying right over your neighbour's house without their approval or they could make life difficult for you in the same manner as they could complain about driving down the road with no exhaust on your car. Simple common sense folks ... Building an airport is an entirely different matter and good luck attempting to get a DA approved for that ...

you are right Nev, unless you are doing tail wheel training or early high drag Ultralight training where it is ingrained in you.The number of GA pilots that I have witnessed flying that have anesthetized legs and feet is amazing.

Not sure who "... you guys ..." is Aldo, there is a reason when the paying public die there is a higher degree of accountability. In RAA aircraft usually the maximum casualty is two and both knew and took the risk in flying. Cameras are a great idea, a camera was instrumental in determining the structural collapse of the DH82 on the Gold Coast year before last. The issue was not the camera, but the mandatory suggestion. Not sure what world you live in Aldo, or maybe it was simply an emotive slip, but rag and tube are here to stay, I own one in each category. If you knew anything about the simplicity of real rag & tube you would know that many of them are cheaper to own and operate than many other more complex GA aircraft and they typically have bugga all ADs to comply with (compared to most aluminium GA types). They have easier inspection and fix issues in the SIDs area as well. Take one trip to Luskintyre and you will soon realise there is a world of rag and tube alive operating and strong. Not to mention the very active RAA rag and tube brigade. The Drifter has to be one of the most popular and most fun ultralights you could ever fly. I highly recommend having a fly in one. If you VH experimental register one, it also aerobats very well. But I am certain you know all this and were perhaps taking the p1ss.

Dutchy I didn't think anyone was suggesting any disrespect on your part towards Franco. Perhaps the eagerness on the part of some of us to explain Franco's comments was taken the wrong way by you. I am sure pretty much all of us agree that altering the accident rate will shift the regulatory focus. Accident rates unfortunately are largely caused by a combination of deficient training and human factors; which of itself indicates deficient training. If we (collectively) can improve on both we can probably determine our regulatory future.

Dutchy, Franco is a highly respected risk averse old school rag & tube instructor from way back. You wont catch Franco knowingly breaking any laws . As Planedriver suggests, Franco is saying ... allow those who want to fly minimum aircraft in an acceptable minimum manner, lets not overburden them with excessive mandatory requirements.

Well not always. Depends on the competency of the witness.

Perhaps he had lost power and was attempting to glide to land (pure speculation of possibilities on my part), if witness accounts are credible it could have been a stall spin attempting to stretch the glide, the same thing that happened in the Speed accident and fatality at Avalon following a fuel exhaustion no power scenario where at least the passenger survived to tell the story. Difficulty is we may never know ... poor bugga.

Keith, Did you read my post above in relation To Rick P's comments? Did you attend YOUR associations GM either in person or online? Did you watch the meeting video link that was sent to all members? If you had taken the time to attend or watch the video you would have had all the answers to your questions regarding the magazine ...

Same story for the one that went in off Avalon beach after a fuel starvation. Subject to other no problems you should be able to land a low wing in the water with the correct technique and live to tell the tale ... no judgement call here just an observation very sad outcome.

Rick, I think what you have said is a very harsh and biased assessment. If you had taken the opportunity to attend the GM either in person or via the live web link online (which I did and can attest to the exceptionally high video and audio quality) or took the opportunity to watch the your GM on the link that was emailed to all members who have provided their email addresses, you would have been privy to the detailed explanation from our CEO on the methodology behind the changed magazine distribution. I fully support what they have done. The magazine was costing the organization a fortune, and we have all been winging about the costs. The new board have made huge steps forward. We are a quantum leap ahead of where we were in the not so distant past. You get the sense that we are in good hands. This new facility of web link for meetings is absolutely huge. Hopefully they will enhance this with the ability to ask questions on line as well soon and it will be almost as good as being in the room except for the camaraderie when there in person. This really is the only path forward for proper member attendance and representation for such a large number of members spread across this great land. I am hopeful that eventually we will all be able to attend and even vote on line for any special resolutions. This is all possibel, hell some countries are doing online voting these days.

Yes, take a look at the wing leading edges, just as if she went into a brick wall.

Wayne, We got home OK. Bit of a head wind most of the way, but clear over the divide into the valley and all the way to Cessnock. Not sure we would have made Warnervale though, but this time our destination was Cessnock. We had a fantastic time. Trevor and all the Darling a Downs folk did a fantastic job and made us feel so welcome. Thanks again folks, it was a great trip.

DWF, that is just fantastic. Where are you.

Damn right with that one Richard.

wasn't meant to criticise you buddy. Just a comment for those who dont know. Yes we all make mistakes HITC idea is great; I recently awoke to the use of my iPhone for that very purpose ... all the details in your pocket.

A good reason for effective structured maintenance training.

Yep ... the lesson is, if you don't know what you are doing or the consequences, don't do it. If you are disconnecting something you are not sure of, tie and label all the cables and document where they go BEFORE disconnecting. There is a lot to this electrickery stuff.