JohnMcK

Hi Pembs, I support the principle of your changes but I would be most surprised if they got up in their current form. Even though I agree with your aims, I will personally vote against them and advise my constituents to do likewise. What you propose is just far too complicated. Two terms is a good idea, but an incumbent can't stay on if no one else nominates because nominations will have closed before this is known. Extending the President's term by half a term will throw the whole voting system into disarray as we have an alternate year voting system. If it must be extended it must be by one full term. Then what happens if the President gets voted out straight after the election???? Do we then have to have a bi election? Perhaps a three consecutive term maximum, with no exceptions may be better option. Putting the costs into the Constitution was a very bad move. That locks those charges in until there is another change to the Constitution. It would have been much better to leave costs out totally, and leave it up to the Board with your input through your local member. If you must put something in perhaps something like "At a minimum cost, or token cost", or something similar. As I mentioned before if you want this to get up it must be relevant, and it must be simple. My suggestion is to talk to the seconder and your group and make this whole thing much simpler before it goes to the members for a vote. My 2 cents worth, Cheers, John McK PS, Your presentation to the Secretary was quite professional.

Hi Pembs, A couple of points. Have a good read of the Constitution first. Some of what you require is already there. Perhaps not complied with though. Sect 15(iii) of our constitution states that the Treasurer must submit a financial statement and a P&L (that is what you want) 14 days prior to the AGM. Your bit about 30 days after seems silly. A mid year financial report is also required by the Board at the February meeting. concerned members should request a copy, and scream if you don't get one. Sec 36 allows any member to see any documents of the Association at the office in Canberra. Perhaps a motion by your local member to the board to allow distant members to receive simple electronic copies of relevant documentation. My personal view is, make it easier for members to receive the current published reports. As stated above we have Sec 25(vi) Perhaps a change to "As soon as practicable" might provide you some of what you seek. As it stands this could be 6 or 12 months. The other stuff is good in principle but member apathy is the killer. Nearly half the board have never faced an election, as there were no other nominations. (In particular the 4 small states - numerically) Have a look at section 13 (i). (One member one vote) this is not being complied with. If the members want a State based Board (as it is now) a change to the constitution must be voted on. The biggest issue as I see it is Transparency and Accountability. There are some Board Members who want to keep everything secret from the members. To me secrecy in administration matters breeds laziness, incompetence and corruption and must be resisted. If you want a change to get up, make it simple and make relevant. Good to see you doing something and getting involved. Cheers, John McK

Hi All, To try and keep members informed and stop some confusion by the membership, and at the same time not divulge actual salaries, perhaps I could repeat a couple of statements I made to the board re the salaries, before going in camera to discuss the actual amounts. This information was available to any member who wished to be an observer at the meeting (and from memory there were 2 member observers present) I made a statement to the effect that our staff are our greatest asset and virtually no individual thinks they are paid too much. But we are a non profit association, funded in the main by member subscriptions, and we must live within our means. I tried to explain that the large salary increases sought by the CEO were, in my opinion, excessive. (particularly after the increases just 12 months previously). I stated that from my experience in business employee cost blowouts can destroy a business, and more modest increases should be granted. There is a major problem with a business like ours that grants yearly salary increases. You get the issue of "The compounding of the wages bill" Anyone who understands "compounding" will know what I mean. We do not pay salary's that one could get in private industry, or in some branches of Government. But all wages are relevant. A well paid person would think our wages are very low, while a lower paid person would think our wages are generous. However, to try and generalize, I also made the following statement at the Board meeting. "That if you were a department head at one of our senior high schools, (I can only speak for Qld) or a senior university lecturer with 2 degrees and a masters degree and over 30 years service you would find it financially rewarding to come and work for us." John McK

Hi All, My 2 cents worth. Before I took early retirement wood, glues, resins, composites etc was my day job. Wood, if looked after and you keep the rot out of it, has an unlimited life (no fatigue). It was only let down in the early days by the available glues and resins. Good quality resorcinol glues (they are not all the same) have an unknown life span at this stage. I would often use resorcinol as the control glue in an accelerated aging test on other glues. The big drawback with resorcinols is they are not gap filling at all, unlike epoxies, so your bonding surfaces must be absolutely "tight". A glue line more than a "poofteenth" thick will crack. Also being water based you need constant pressure on the glue line until full cure. (you need auto clamp pressure, or you need to keep tightening up the clamps as the water is absorbed into the timber or evaporates. Actual glue molecules only make up about half of what you see, the rest is the water carrier. Epoxies, on the other hand, are 100% glue (at least the good ones are) and they are excellent gap fillers. (You only use low clamping pressure with epoxies) Their life is also unknown at this stage but accelerated aging tests show a life well in excess of 50 years, if you keep the UV away from the glue. The downside of epoxies is they don't like UV and will break down if exposed, particularly the Amine types. The other downside is they are thermoset. That is they will soften with heat. Some common imported epoxies from the Northern Hemisphere have a heat distortion temperature as low as 50 deg C. Not something you want to build a plane out of in our climate. But then again there is always Tasmania to go flying. (Once the heat source is removed epoxies will go back to their origional strength.) A good quality epoxy is the best glue readily available to the average home builder. If you are an excellent woodworker, the best glue not affected by heat, is a good resorcinol. But unless you are real perfectionist, you will lose all the advantages of a resorcinol. Polyurethanes are fairly new on the market and currently are showing real promise. As in all things, there are good ones and bad ones. White glues. The 2 part crosslinking ones are real tough glues but these must never be used on aircraft as they suffer from "creep". Fatigue. We all know metal fatigues (wood doesn't) but it is a little known fact that composites fatigue as well. In fact most composites only have half the strength as they did originally after only one million cycles. (one movement per second.) In one hour of flying you have 3600 cycles, or after only about 380 hours your plastic plane is only half as strong as it was when you bought it. Food for thought, isn't it. To stop flexing you need to build a composite strong, but then you add weight. Build a plastic plane real light, and it has a short life span. Wood, on the other hand, will last forever if you look after it. Cheers, John McK

Hi Guys, Most things are possible, but not all at once. When we take on something we have to do it well (as the rest are watching) with the resources we have available. We don't have access to deep taxpayer pockets like CASA. In years to come we will have more of these privileges you have been discussing. Years ago we did have a trial of ultralight aerobatics. Unfortunately we had a very serious accident and the trial was stopped. (As stated previously by Brentc) That is not to say we can not have another go at it in the future. There are ultralight type planes that do legal aerobatics by being GA registered. eg Wayne Fisher's Drifter. As time goes on we will get more and more privileges. It wasn't that long ago we were not allowed to teach in dual seat aircraft, fly above 300 ft or fly across a road. I think we have come a long way in a very short time. Cheers, John McK

David, To answer your question, Technically It could be done electronically if the vast majority of members voted for it. But this will be a real long way away yet. I get access to the magazine "pre print" . I have broadband but it still takes me about two sleeps to download. Personally I like to read a magazine in my hands. Cheers, John

Mathew, The mailing issue is also a real bug bear to me, and I get heaps of complaints about it. I have brought this issue up at Board level a number of times. We do have a problem with AP but our duty is to our members first, If we miss the G&G deadline - Too Bad. Some Board members claim to never had a complaint about this matter, so my advice is to get on to your local member. Cheers, John

Mathew, The mailing issue is also a real bug bear to me, and I get heaps of complaints about it. I have brought this issue up at Board level a number of times. We do have a problem with AP but our duty is to our members first, If we miss the G&G deadline - Too Bad. Some Board members claim to never had a complaint about this matter, so my advice is to get on to your local member. Cheers, John

Hi All, All RA-Aus members will soon be getting a CD copy of the new Ops. and Technical Manual with the July Magazine. Included will be a "Bonus Section" of John Brandon's excellent Tutorials, an electronic version of AC43.13 "Aircraft Inspection, Repairs and Alterations" and AC90-89A "Amateur Built Aircraft and Ultralight Flight Testing Handbook, and a copy of CASA Visual Flight Rules. The new Ops. Manual will become effective on August 1, 2008. PLEASE, don't ring the office about questions straight away. Even if only 10 % of members ring in that is nearly 1000 inquiries and will totally overwhelm the office staff. We, the board and office staff copped a lot of flack by a very small minority of members by going electronic here, but we have saved your organization tens of thousands of dollars that can be better spent elsewhere, and have given you a bonus section that would be cost prohibitive to send out in printed form. If you are a special case and don't have access to a computer you can request a printed copy of the manuals only. You won't get the bonus section in print form. As a side note, the FAA has now ceased sending out AD's in printed form. If you are a pilot in the US and not now on the internet, you are out of the game. A special thanks needs to go to board member Lynn Jarvis from SA who voluntary did a lot of work on the bonus section. John McK

Hi All, There has been some discussion about accident reporting on this forum lately. But I don't think all members know the position the RA-Aus is in here. First ALL accidents are initially "owned" by ATSB. They have statutory authority. If for whatever reason they don't wish to investigate an accident they pass it over to the police. The RAA has absolutely NO authority over an accident. Now because the police don't have the knowledge of our sport or our aircraft, our qualified accident investigators become involved to help and assist the police. We have no form of authority. We investigate and write a report for the police which then goes to the Coroner. It is the Coroner who determines the cause of the accident. Until he releases his report we can say very little about an accident. Hence the time delay. But we can talk in general terms. I would like to put up for discussion three issues here that have caused serious consequences. 1. Seat Belts. If you have car type seat belts and you become inverted you will NOT be able to release the buckle with a load on it (your body). If you don't believe me just try it. Clip up your belt, pull hard on it to simulate your weight and press the buckle. How many of you carry a knife or better still a seat belt cutter available from a car accessories store. I am not advocating for more expensive buckles, just suggesting you carry a cutter. 2. Non flammable clothing. How many people here wear suitable clothing when flying, and this means long trousers and long sleeves. This clothing issue is really the difference between life and death. 3. Personal safety gear. How many people do you see that carry a small epirb/plb on their body. What about a small torch and a belt cutter and a small personal first aid kit. Cargo pants (buy cotton) are now common or military clothing with lots of pockets. These make great flying clothes where the pockets can hold your personal safety gear. Better still wear a non flammable flying suit, or fire proof overalls. For those interested I wrote up a very sad accident on my SQ board rep blog last year that perhaps may have had a different outcome with some of the above taken into consideration. http://ragandtubeaviator.blogspot.com/2007/09/accident-lessons.html I was also quite impressed when HPD flew into my place recently to take me for a ride in his new R44. He climbed out of the chopper wearing a military style vest with all his safety gear on it. This is not posing. This is providing for your personal safety in the event of an accident, or un-planned outlanding. But anyway, I suppose I should not have been surprised as he is Drifter trained and a past Drifter owner. (If you haven't done Drifters you just haven't done it) Being serious again please consider the above. This is one area where each of us can make a difference. What are your comments and suggestions? Cheers John

Hi All Airsick is right. First the new ops manual has to be sent out, then there will be a period of time for all pilots to become familiar with it. Then the Ops Mgr. at his discretion, will declare a date of activation. Cheers, John McKeown

Hi Flyingphot, I am not an instructor so this post is only worth 2 cents. Be very careful of what you read in these forums on actual flying matters. Take note of all the posts, there are often very good posts, but you often don't know who they come from or the experience of the poster. (I have seen both good and dangerous posts) Also what works for one may not work for another. Talk to and practice with an experienced instructor in the type of aircraft you fly. My home airfield often has a strong crosswind component. My technique is to crab down final, with nose into wind, leeward wing lower. If I am high, I put on some slip, keeping the nose into wind, flare with nose still into wind, kick straight just before touchdown and lower upwind wing. But this is what works for me. Others may have a very different technique. See and practice with a good Instructor. That is what they are there for. Perhaps Ian could find a method of getting qualified instructors to comment on flying matters like this, and have some symbol that identified them as such. I know there are a couple of very experienced instructors on this Forum. Cheers, John

Hi bilby54, I don't know all the background on this matter, but it did concern me that you were not getting replies to your questions from the RA-Aus. I made some phone calls this morning and was informed you were told verbally and in writing the status of the mobile flying school way back in 2005 and advised that it was a one off "Trial School" and NO transfer or new approval would be given. In fact Paul Middelton wrote a detailed letter on this matter to your legal council on 20/09/2005. Extract of letter to your legal council (D,K & K Solicitors) 20/09/2005 "So to answer your questions: 1. Was it transferable? No it was a one off trial to Mr X. (JMcK deletion of name) lt never received a formal approval as a school: as such it was not transferable. ............" Another extract from the same letter. "Mobile schools by their nature create more difficulties than the good that they do. When the student pool starts to run dry the mobile school moves on leaving half-trained students who become disillusioned and bring our movement into disrepute. On the other hand our fixed base schools become hubs for both training of students and education of existing pilots. They also provide a social meeting place for our members. Mr X (JMcK name removal) trial has taught us a lot!" Bill, it appears you have been "done" but not by the RA-Aus. Being from a large state I can see the need for for some form of mobile school, but I realize we live in the real world and life is not always fair, and unfortunately, for better or worse, the old statement "Once bitten, twice shy" applies here. Ring me if you have sensitive issues that can't be brought up here. Cheers, John

"There's lots that's been kept secret, like for example the magazine losing $93,000 in the first year that it hit the news stands. This is nothing new!" Hi Brentc, This is off topic, but A little bit of clarification here. First I wasn't involved at the time, but I can't find out where you got the $93,000 from. From my checking I can only find out that when the decision was made to go to the newsagents it was going to cost us about $5,000 dollars a month up front, but you need to add back in the money that came back in from G&G from news stand sales. The board was aware that that the first year or so would run at a loss, but we currently make a profit on sales of the magazine to the public through the newsagents. The exact amount will be in our audited accounts presented at the AGM The Board at the time this decision was made had the aim to lift our image in the public arena, and the decision was made on promotional grounds. It could be argued that our steep climb in membership has perhaps come about in a small way due to our promotion through the newsagents. It is of interest that other aviation associations are now following us down this path. Cheers, John McKeown

" Got to have a computer to get an Ops Manual, cannot put a simple cheap ad in the RAAus mag, cannot get answers (not just replies) from the Board – and so on!" Tony, You will get a hard copy as will every flying school and any "hardship case". Any one else can buy a copy at cost. The board believed most pilots these days have access to a computer and the enormous amount of money to send out everyone a hard copy was better spent elsewhere. I agree with you about the adverts. I didn't agree to the changes at the last meeting and I will try my best at the next meeting to get some compromise. Cheers, John McKeown

Hi All, Bilby 54 sent me a copy of his memo. I did acknowledge and I brought the matter up at the February board meeting. First I am a new board member here and I don't know all the background on this matter. What I did find out in February was the trial Mobile Training School was a dismal failure. and caused our association a lot of grief. The file of complaints (from abandoned students and suppliers) is enormous. Second. You can't buy or sell the "essence" of a flying school. You can only buy or sell the assets. Mr bilby 54 can buy the assets of a school but then he has to get approval and have an approved CFI to run it. The "essence" of the school is an approved CFI. You can't "buy" a CFI rating. Flying schools must be inspected and approved by the Ops. Manager. The board has nothing to do with it. The only way you could "sort of" buy a flying school is to buy an operating business and the CFI stays with the business and now works for you. By the same token you could own a very successful flying school, but if the CFI walks out, or falls under a bus, that is the end of your school until you can find a new approved CFI. Thirdly. Competition is not an issue. The board policy is "mobile schools" of sorts are allowed but are called "satellite schools" In other words the flying school must have a fixed base. This way any aggrieved student or supplier has an address to make a complaint, or to visit. There is nothing stopping Mr bilby54 from setting up a flying school at Dalby, getting inspected and approved to operate as an RA-Aus flying school by the Ops Mgr. and then getting approval to run a satellite school at some other location. Fourthly, This matter is the responsibility of the Ops Manager. If the rules are followed and there is still an issue then it becomes a board matter. I hope this helps John McKeown PS I publish my mobile and home number. Ring me.

Hi Boleropilot, It went very well. From the Boonah guys perspective you may want a quick look here http://theflyingtigersboonah.blogspot.com/ Cheers

Hi Alan, I had this issue some time ago, and I got the distributor to ring the OE man direct. The short answer is NO. However he said is working on it on a "spare time available" basis. (years away) The problem is with the Raster maps (as distinct to vector maps) Raster take MASSIVE amounts of code to re-orientate the map, really making this option not viable. I have purchased and run AS electronic aviation charts with OE, using a $99 usb gps engine from Johnie Appleseed for moving map. I use the small Asus Eee PC running XP. Be aware there is a check box in OE that defaults to the best scale automatically. If you want to stay on one chart you need to un check the box. Cheers, John

Hi All, The CTA endorsement is reliant on Part 103 and 149 getting approved. This could be some time away yet. CASA have other priorities at present. However if you have a PPL and an approved engine you can fly an RA-Aus registered aircraft in CTA. With approval if you don't have a transponder. See for more info . http://ragandtubeaviator.blogspot.com/2007/09/low-flying.html Regards, John McKeown

Hi all Our Ops manager will decide the date the new manual becomes effective. It will not become effective the moment members receive their copy but some 4 to 8 weeks later so all members have time to read it. Cheers John McKeown

Hi All First, I did not start this thread. I replied to a question about the new ops manual in a medical thread, and it went from there. Ian perhaps if you pull out a discussion from a previous thread that is off target you could make mention of that fact. Not make appear that I have started a new thread. Second, re the ops manual. Yes it was an economic decision. You do the maths and add on the postage. For that kind of money we could hire another badly needed senior or two junior staff members. Flying schools and perhaps clubs will get printed copies sent free to them as will special hardship cases on request. Others, who wish, will be able to purchase a hard copy at cost plus postage. Mr Airsick, re the "discussion" about our own forum for "outward" information at the last board meeting, I suggest you seek out all the facts first from your local board member, and give him or her your personal input. That is what they are there for. As with your initial comments about Middos accident, you appear to shoot from the hip, and aim to kill the messenger without getting the full picture. We discussed ways to put "information out". We don't want a me too, tit for tat forum. We want information "in" to come through the board members. And/Or come along as an individual to the AGM and have your say personally. My personal view is the more members we get at the AGM the better. For the record, I personally support this forum, and don't wish to set up a copy cat forum (although to the best of my knowledge the RA-Aus did it first) I also know Ian is supportive of our association, and wishes to work with us. I would be most interested to know the mix of members here, GA, RA-Aus, Dual, Professional etc. However, as a board member, I also believe I must consider and discuss the long term view of our association (30-50 years). EG. What happens if Ian sells out. What happens if Ian starts to hate our association, or becomes very biased towards, say balloons, and wants to ban powered flight. (I know, unlikely considering his new purchase) But you people are the association. If you have an opinion, tell your board member. As for me, my phone number is in the magazine or on my blog site. Phone me. Tony, if you need further clarification please phone me. If you are unhappy with the performance of your board members, vote them out. Cheers John McKeown

Hi All, The discussion on setting up an RA-Aus forum was not to compete with this site which is very general, and covers all topics, and all aviators, but to have a platform to quickly put up relevant RA-Aus material for RA-Aus pilots. We tried an open forum like this one some years ago, and got burnt as we didn't have the ability or resources to moderate it effectively. John McK

Hi All The new Ops. Manual Has been approved and signed off by CASA. All RA-Aus members will soon receive a free copy on CD, and the new regulations will probably become effective one month later after everyone has had time to read them. Check out http://www.ragandtubeaviator.blogspot.com/ John McK

Hi, This may already be up here somewhere, but just in case, have a look at this. http://www.alexisparkinn.com/photogallery/Videos/2008-2-9-Il76-in-Australia.wmv John McK

Hi O.M.E Just a suggestion, Look up a timber beam or structural fingerjoint manufacturer in your area, have a friendly talk to the leading hand or foreman and take along your bottles and photos of your project.These people buy in tonne lots and spill more in a day than you could ever use. Alternatively source out a local industrial adhesive supplier and talk to the technical rep. Be nice and they will give you a couple of litres. I used to be a manager in the Industrial Adhesive Industry and did this myself on occasion. To the best of my knowledge, industrial resorcinol can only be bought in 200 ltr drums. Also, be aware, that there are resorcinols and there are resorcinols. Product sourced from a retailer may be somewhat lacking, that is why I suggest the structural beam people. They generally buy the best available product for obvious reasons. John McK