AM397

Brown-nosing definately rules me out as a contender. I lost count of the number of jobs I quit or got sacked from because I didn't brown-nose and told the boss to suck it when he or she was being unreasonable or outright psychopathic. I actually like the idea of first taking the RAA and the Level two certificate for maintenance and then move to a PPL later on.

Oh, thanks Yenn, but when we talked about "building" in these last couple of posts we were talking about building a house. It's great you put the information there, though, as I didn't know that (among many other things I don't know). It actually surprises me quite a bit. :-)

Much less than building and flying here in Denmark.

Actually, an open letter is usually posted when it is sent, not when (if) it is replied to. However, I can see why you might want to wait a bit.

I have some money. It's more a question of priorities, really. The funny thing is, that if I'm not allowed to build the house I want, or if I'm not granted the visa I want, I will actually have more money to do good with. I mean, if I'm only allowed to build a cottage, or - the horror - not allowed to build at all, being a foreigner and all, or if they won't allow me to spend 6 months a year or more down there, I won't have those expenses. So, I'm currently in a very long-term process, spending my time considering a lot of things, reading up on Australian Standards, and how I can build it to Passivhaus standards while make it fit to meet AS (i.e. termite barriers, plumbing, electrical stuff etc.). It's not like AS is particular high, it's the minimum, it's just that a passivhaus is quite a bit different, so a lot of minute details has to be considered. My plan is to be able to have a plane registered down there, so I can leave it there when I leave the country for periods. I fully intend to pickle the engine etc., so it' won't just stand and rot. It's a lot of work, but I enjoy all of it, so it's just a big mountain to climb, one step at a time.

I'm not sure I want to build a plane, although something like the carbon cub wouldn't go amiss. I mean, I love doing things that end up as something, but I'm already going to build a house to passive house standards in a foreign (to me) country, so I think I have my hands full in that regard. Especially since I'm a perfectionist.

Thanks, everyone, I will wait to buy till after I have my PPL. I don't think I want to buy into a syndicate, nor do I necessarily want to consider whether it is financially viable. It costs what it costs to have the option to fly (well, within reason). I don't want to hire either, other than if absolutely necessary. I'm hypersensitive to a lot of things - lingering detergent from people's clothes and perfume to name but a few. I almost cough my lungs out when I'm exposed to that sort of thing, although some detergents and perfumes are worse than others. So, to me, it's either owning "something" or not likely at all. I note that I can't do maintenance if on an RPL, so it has to be PPL. I'm quite good with tools and excellent at fault finding on a broad spectrum of things, but I'm willing to pay my way out of things I don't feel confident I can do (I won't solder fine electronics, for one).

I have to say, it takes a special kind of naivity to think there aren't problems with the paperwork of other types/individual planes. It seems to be a systemic and endemic failure of the registration administration.

LOL, I think I will stick with just a single plane. Preferably a tailwheel-one, if at all possible I guess it's a PPL for me then.

Yep, you're absolutely right.

Four!!? I thought it was "only" three

SAJabiruflyer, But the problem is that they haven't really been open from the get-go. Quite contrarily, they seem to constantly attempt to dive under the covers, and with no or very little information out there, of course members are pissed off. No-one knows just how big a problem this is, but failing three audits in a row, stopping renewals and registrations makes downplaying the problem or even trying to not say anything because" [we're] not required to" smacks of no-one on the board knowing what another member of the board is up to. The Ian incident bears this out as well. It was yet another warning sign. So, yes, there might be some who put a lot of work in, but that doesn't mean that they all do, or that it is administred (spl?) properly. You can have employees that work their arse off, but if they're not supervised properly it doesn't matter when it comes to the bottom line. It just shows that it doesn't matter how good an individual is, it's the sum of parts that matters. And from what I can see, that sum of parts does not make a well oiled machine. There's at least a couple of cogs that needs to changed and adjusted accordingly. Unfortunately it seems that those cogs are critical parts of the operation.

Well, I have found that I just don't like surprises. Money is always worth considering, regardless of it being well within my means or not. Ongoing costs is something to consider, of course, but that is not the reason I want to do a lot of maintenance myself. It's simply because I love doing things myself without having a logistic nightmare to overcome. In any case, I'm trying to make heads or tails of what I'm allowed to do and not allowed to do, and to a certain extent, that will probably be the deciding factor. I'm allowed certain things with a certain medical and VH plane, whereas I'm allowed other things with an RA-Aus plane/certificate. For instance, the 1 passenger maximum might be a deal-breaker since I want to take my daughter and my gf (the mother of our daughter) on small and/or longer trips. I will read the CARs 1988 42ZC (4) you mention.

Thanks, FT, What limits (compared to a PPL) would an RPL entail?

I hope this is in the right place, if not, please move it and tell me where it should have been Anyway, I wonder what the differences are between having a VH registred plane and an RA registered one? For instance, what am I allowed to maintain myself? Can I change oil on both types of registers? Can I change a tyre? Brake pads? Am I allowed to fly night VFR in an RAA plane (i.e. taking off just before the break of dawn?) in both types of planes? Any other differences I need to know? What if I went for some maintenance certificate on the type of plane I own (will own), would I then be allowed to do more on my own plane?

LOL, okay, then, turbocharger territory!

That's almost turboprop territory, isn't it?

That's unfortunately true :(

Could you zip it? Or perhaps do it as a black videofile?

It was done to show just how ridiculous the argument is. By reducing it to the absurd, while keeping the argument, shows just how vapid his argument was. In other words, it's a reductio ad absurdum. And even that is perhaps a bit much, because he actually did say that one should not worry unless directly affected. Do I worry about the state of RAA personally? No, not in the least as I'm only in the process of going down there and this will be all over when I get there (hopefully). However, I find it utterly ridiculous is the tendency shown by some to blame the people who might be affected in the long run, and to try to argue that unless you're directly affected, you shouldn't give it thought and support those who are. That kind of thinking is the epitome of selfishness (your word), and to put it forward as an argument is utterly vapid.

So, in essence, you're arguing that you only need to be worried the moment you're directly affected! Awesome, I'd love to live in such a bubble of alternative reality! Seriously, it would be so much easier to not worry about the plight of others one bit, and not having to worry about myself until the time I was directly affected. Screw everyone else, and for consistency, when you then do get affected, please keep it to yourself and worry about it in your lonesome, because why should anyone else care about your plight, if they aren't themselves directly affected? I don't think you're "low strung", I think it's a matter of (not) caring, and a matter of (a lack of) abilities to see tendencies.

I think both are really good. The one I posted wasn't a scale model of a real thing, for one. I'd love to have had a go in a Concorde!

I think people are strapped in for the ride. There isn't much else to do. Except, of course, hoping for the best. Even though I don't have problems (I don't have a plane yet - phew!), I can't see why people "should have faith" in anything regarding RA-AUS. Faith is per definition belief without evidence. If you mean "faith" in the sense of "trust", I have to disagree with you there as well. Trust, like respect, is earned, and from what I can see, they're on a long and hard route to earn any trust from anyone.

If you thought skydivers were insane, watch this. I'd actually rather be the skydivers than the pilot of Porter. To slow him down to be able to receive the skydivers, he's pulling a chute as a drogue (you can see it in the first few seconds of when the porter becomes visible.

Another good rocket video, with various camera angles (it goes to 100,000 feet!) and changing audio as the atmosphere thins: