68volksy

Hah! You won't see many planes flying around. Sausage day is generally a bit more popular although with the landing/taxiing/parking fees now sitting at $70 even a very reasonably priced sausage isn't luring people out...

Just to keep people up to date the fees are now $20 to land, $20 to taxi in, $10 to park and $20 to taxi out again. Not exactly sure how much Mr Airport Operator Man expects to raise from the very few aircraft that are left at Goulburn. Certainly can't see it making visitors any more keen to drop by...

Welcome Les! If you're ever around Goulburn airport on the first Saturday of a month around midday then swing by the BBQ at Goulburn Aviation for a sausage (if you haven't already). Just follow your nose!

Welcome Nate!

That's unbelievably expensive for a Gazelle! For RA-Aus you could try the Jabiru at Goulburn Aviation which is $160 per hour wet. Just need to get checked by the CFI. Or the Warrior at Goulburn Aviation is $200 per hour wet if you have a GA licence. In Canberra you could hire the Canberra Aviation warrior at $250 per hour wet. There are other options also - website for both Goulburn Aviation and Canberra Aviation is www.goulburnaviation.com.au. In Canberra a good option is also the Aero Club which hires its 172 at $200 per hour wet and they also have a range of other aircraft.

Sorry for the late reply and probably no use to you now... Canberra tower is usually very happy to take pilots through - just give them a call and someone should be able to show you how it all works. The flying school takes all its pilots through on days when the weather is not so clement. The tower also runs info sessions regularly and almost always someone comes along to any aviation functions being held. Anyway just a plug for them really as they're a great bunch and keep things friendly.

It is a little bizarre! Basically the airport owner feels that he is owed money from the hangar owners and the money he is owed by them dwarfs the possible revenue from the landing fees. He appears to have no legal right to charge the hangar owners and has not tried to pursue any outstanding debts through the legal system over the past 5 years. The largest hangar owner and the airport owner have been "at war" for decades. That's Goulburn Airport politics in a nutshell...

Hi Graeme, Goulburn has plenty of hangerage available but you're very correct about the politics. Airport owner has called a meeting this weekend where we believe he plans to tell us that he is fencing off the rest of the private hangers. He fenced the first one off about a year ago with an aircraft still inside! He has extended an invitation to half a dozen aircraft owners to rent space in a new hanger he is constructing... On the upside there's still a bunch of passionate aviators milling around the airport so if you're looking for something to do on the first Saturday of each month Goulburn Aviation has a BBQ about midday and everyone is welcome!

Welcome Norman! Come visit us at Goulburn any time you're after an aviation fix or an excuse for a short nav. BBQ's on the first Saturday of every month at the Canberra/Goulburn Aviation hanger.

First of all welcome to the community! A DAME is the only real way to get a definitive answer about your particular case. List of the ones near you is at: Designated Aviation Medical Examiners - ACT Dr Pitcher is a pilot himself and other pilots have recommended him. I use a DAME here in Goulburn by the name of Dr Hutchins but haven't had any medical "issues" to work through yet so can't comment on that area.

Should put in a plug for Goulburn Aviation if you're after PPL or RPL - $280 per hour for the Warrior. They also do RA training in Goulburn but if you're after that then Bruce is closer.

Great spreadsheet and cost break-down! I've done quite a few of these for the flying school over the years and your figures are pretty much in line with what what i've figured out for our ultralights. We factor in a little more maintenance-wise as the aircraft get a bit more usage from a vast variety of people (around $1500 per 100 hours). This allows for all the stupid things like door latches, scuff plates, lights and radio issues that seem to be constantly grounding the aircraft. It gets very scary when you start factoring in depreciation and interest costs for the initial aircraft purchase. When we do the figures for the GA aircraft we can say with almost absolute certainty they will make it through 10,000 hours of training usage and we'll get our capital outlay back at the end if we buy second-hand. Most LSA's and ultralights though are a stab in the dark. How many hours will a Jabiru/Foxbat/Sportstar actually last in the training environment? Anyone have any real-world feedback? We talking 5,000, 10,000 hours?

It'd be nigh on impossible to make the statement "the weather was not suitable" and have it proven in a court of law - you'll get as many in the affirmative as you will in the negative. So i'm feeling that nothing will come of this catastrophe apart from a family left with no father/husband and a young boy currently sitting in an induced coma. The Avdata recordings may make interesting listening - there was a lot of chatter between the pilot and the ground on every load that went up including a fair bit of talk regarding the conditions. Video footage from a couple of locations is also available. Unless there was some form of technical malfunction though then I can't see there being any outcome other than that mentioned above. Some might be a little more cautious when assessing weather conditions? Of interest is the local pilots who chose to pack up at midday (some didn't fly at all) due to the turbulence.

Hi Rdavies, I'd highly recommend avoiding any reading until you've gone solo. Most instructors will teach you entirely different methods to those contained in the books. Trying to reconcile what the instructor is telling you with what you have read and your understanding of the theory really over-complicates the whole process at the start. Just get into that aircraft and when the instructor teaches you to do something listen to what they're saying and try to repeat it. Up until first solo there's really not much theory to understand anyway - considerably more important to just get a feel for the aircraft. After you can drive the aircraft then get stuck into the ATC books. Just my two cents worth. Best of luck with it all and enjoy yourself!

Tragedy indeed - especially when carrying a child as a paying passenger. Doesn't seem to have stopped them making money today though - they're back hard at it...

The strip at Lanyon is a private strip. A local Canberra doctor owns the Tiger Moth and I think a guy from the ATSB owns the 172. It's a pretty minimal strip from what i've heard. The tiger moth owner was a regular at Goulburn for a while - I have his details if you're looking to make contact with someone.

From experience - get in there and offer to pay Council double! Keep a close eye on all maintenance the Council does and a close eye on the figures the Council staff are preparing for the "cost" of running the airfield. In our case these varied from $14,000 per annum to $140,000 per annum depending on whether the Council employee/s wanted to sell the airfield that week or not. Not meaning to strike fear into your heart but we've gone from $700 per annum under Council to $20 per hour now the airfield is being run for profit.

Flyvulcan's post about the catering is spot on. The Lions Club van was there all day Friday and would have cut the Saturday lines down by more than half if they were there Saturday. Talking to them on Friday unfortunately the Fly-in was the same weekend as the Narromine show. There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing trying to decide which event to go to but they hadn't missed a Narromine show for some decades so it got the van for the weekend. The ladies of the Narromine Club are some of the hardest working people I've ever seen. The speed with which they punched out those fresh, handmade sandwiches was very impressive. Well done to the Sandwich-making team!!!!

Great show and perfect weather! Carpark packed to overflowing today.

I've got the DVD/CDs - happy to lend if you like?

If you're passing through Goulburn on a Saturday then finding a loo and a cuppa is certainly a possibility but if it's during the week then it's very much hit and miss. The public loos have been locked shut for years now so you've got to beg one of the local operators if you're after a loo. You are however more than welcome to drop in to Goulburn Aviation any Saturday though - BBQ's first Saturday of every month. There's a regular group of 20 or so of us that hang around tinkering and talking there when we're not flying.

Just a note - there has been GA training at Goulburn Airport - run by the same lady - for over 22 years now and it's still going. The school's landing fees went from $900 per annum (under Council) to what would have been well over $16,000 per annum under the new operator if it had continued training at the same capacity. So it has wound down a bit after the price of flying per hour went up by around 15% overnight but it's still training on Fridays and Saturdays. Diddy - if someone has told you at some stage that GA training is not available at the airport could you let me know who might have said that? I've talked to so many people over the last few year who have been told that Goulburn Aviation was either no longer operating or wasn't offering GA training but can't seem to nail down exactly where the rumour has originated.

Forget the whole cost debate for RA-Aus. Find yourself a GA registered Tecnam or Jabiru and your GA training aircraft will cost the same as an RA-Aus one (or an RA one that's maintained by a professional mechanic anyway!). The difference in prices generally only comes down to the GA instructor being paid the award wage of $60-70 per flying hour whilst the RA instructors don't get a mention in the award and may not even be getting paid at all... The best thing about the RPL option from my point of view is no PPL exam. So long as you're not interested in anything above 1500kg or flying heaps of passengers then it's fun, fun fun!

Right behind you robinsm! Just look at the vast array of different arguments going on in this forum about why CASA should do this and why CASA should do that... Go back to the basics (and do it well) and suddenly CASA's interest in what's happening would pretty much disappear overnight. Take all that energy (and money) currently being wasted arguing and pushing for bigger and better and put it behind a board and staff focused on the simple, light basics and blow me down if you wouldn't have one heck of an efficient and enthusiastic organisation!

You're quite right Gandalph - the airport owner owns GFTC and the parachuting business. Off-siders (minions?) do the majority of the heavy-lifting for a share of the profits is his usual offer.