K-man

One of our most memorable flights was when my wife and I each hired a Technam and flew, each with an instructor, over that section of NZ from Waneka. It was basically instruction in mountain flying and we each logged about 7 hours. We flew over the alps with the most beautiful glaciers, down into Milford Sound and out and North to one of those beautiful seafront strips you refer to, used by deer shooters, with flax lining the strip about 2 metres from each wingtip. We drive on the roads trusting that the guy in the 20 ton truck coming at us at 100k will miss us by more than a metre by staying on his side of the road. I think my chances over tiger country are at least as good as that.

Beautiful part of the country. We had a problem with our CSU at Broome. I sort the help of a LAME who, on finding out we had a Rotax, referred me to the local lawn mower shop. Most unprofessional aviation person I have ever come across.

Life's tough! We had to fly to Mt Beauty for lunch today. Not a cloud to be seen, smooth air, tail wind and beautiful mountain scenery. I'll post some photos when I recover from the trauma.

Well we hit 188 kts today! Admittedly that was speed over ground. Isn't it amazing what a 40 kt tailwind does to your speed?

Pipistrel is one of the few aircraft which use TAS with Vne. As a result they have to display the table you refer to. I actually did a lot of research into this topic some years back because, like you, I thought using TAS was logical. In fact some years ago a Pipistrel aircraft came apart in flight due to inadvertently exceeding its VNE hence the placarding. Most recreational aircraft don't calculate TAS unless they have an EFIS and an outside temperature probe. In the case of my aircraft when I have a TAS of 135 I generally will have an IAS of about 120, very rough approximation as obviously it varies but suffice to say maybe 10% to 12% difference. When I looked up how Vne is calculated I read something to the effect that it is arrived at by either flying at the speed where flutter is experienced and taking 15% off that speed to obtain Vne, or a speed that had been safely demonstrated in flight and taking 15% from that speed. Other articles I've read say '10% or more'. There are many interesting articles available if you do a quick search. Here is one from Australian Flying that explains it nicely. The author here refers to taking off 10%. I can't find the original article I read referring to 15%. http://www.australianflying.com.au/news/vne-and-flutter-explained

The beauty of the Dynon system is that it has been fitted in many Alpi Aircraft so approval is a formality. One of my friends has a Trutrak with single axis (roll) servo attached in the same way as Alpi suggest and he is very happy with it. It still took a bit of effort to get it signed off. This new product is totally different in its operation so I would be contacting Alpi first up to check with them. The product itself sound like excellent value at that price but it may well go higher shortly, as they do say it's an introductory special.

Obviously you aren't going to be carrying even one jerry can in the Pioneer. We carry a collapsible 20 litre container and sometimes need more than one trip to top up when required. We have never had a problem getting fuel and never had bad fuel and we have never experienced the animosity HITC was alluding to in any out of the way places. Actually it has always been totally the opposite, but we do plan ahead and contact every place where we will be landing. For us, we normally fly with full tanks. I take a small bag for two weeks away (3kg) and my wife goes overboard at an excessive 4kg. That leaves plenty spare for cameras, extra oil, water, tools, first aid, emergency supplies, cover and tie downs. We have never had an overheating problem but we do push the climb to get the oil temp over 100 degrees to remove moisture. Once enroute I normally just climb at 500 fpm. What extra fuel you burn climbing you save at the other end when you come back down. To be honest, I've not noticed any real difference in fuel burn with extra weight. We burn 18-20 litres per hour regardless and would average 130+ cruise at that rate. Depending on conditions the cruise may drop to 120 or might be above 140. Landing fees? Well that's just part of the cost of flying. Most small places don't charge, some do. In the scheme of things it's not a great amount normally and often it's an honour system.

I'm guessing Wye River, Airies Inlet and Anglesea.

Maybe the white splash off the point in the first shot or bottom right in the second. Either way, I'm just guessing.Nice to find a fellow Alpi devotee. As to MTOW, is it 560kg? What instruments do you have? What do you call long haul? We have a range of around 550NM plus reserve. It's a shame that Michael is no longer doing the Pioneer flyaways or we would probably have met up.

Is that your very nice looking 300?

We probably arrived about 12pm. We had a Bonanza, Jab230 and the Pioneer. We left about 2pm but didn't see any other aircraft. Were you at Brown Bros. Milawa or did you fly in to Wangaratta? We settled for the Milawa platter and chips outside in the fresh air. The restaurant was booked out. I think they were hosting a hen's party. $100 coffee is one thing, $250 lunch another.

Thank you!

And you would be spot on. Buller looks different from the North and it is also the Northerly aspect of the Cathedral Range. You are also right about the dead trees. What devastation. Each of those trees would be at least 70 years old as the area was probably burnt out in the 1939 fires. Looking across was like seeing a mountain of dirty snow, there are so many of them. Well done.

99% of it will be done pre-flight. If you have calculated your fuel and your reserves and you know the weather and have taken that into account in your calculations, it will normally only be a matter of checking your gauges when you do your routine instrument check. If you have more than one tank you need to keep tabs on how much you have used from each tank. We use a 30 minute timer for that. Thirty minutes left, 2x thirty minutes right, then back to left. FWIW, I have never had to calculate fuel mid flight.

A few of us flew in to Yarrawonga some time back at the same time an overseas student was also inbound. Suffice to say he totally disrupted the other approaches, was totally silent when asked about his position and caused others to get out of the way until we were sure he had landed. On the ground, it was apparent that the student was accompanied by an instructor so one of our guys went over to have a quiet chat. Unfortunately the instructor couldn't speak English either. I have no idea where they were from and we didn't take note of the Rego. As to paying for the English test, I was astonished that I had to pay more than $100 to demonstrate that I could understand someone, who couldn't speak English properly, attempting to speak English. Didn't someone once say "it's a mad, mad world"?

My wife (PPL) flew it, not me. She did a great job.

Yes, that's what I meant by Sydney Harbour. Unfortunately on the day the cloud was too low by 100' so it will have to be next time. Naturally we flew Victor One. However, that leg was from Port Macquarie to Merimbula and did pass through quite a bit of controlled airspace.

Perhaps you could check Sale airspace with the RAA ops manager if you are so sure it is not an exception. I did. If he was wrong, so be it. You might forgive me if I asked for and accepted professional advice.

Quite right but you also have Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, military airspace near Williamson, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Coffs, Williamtown, Sydney Harbour and Nowra. I didn't say it was all controlled airspace, but if you try to put together a flight plan to fly coastal it's hard to get many legs available for RA. Sydney Harbour is not mandatory but is controlled and that was on the agenda.

I remember one flight where I turned final and could hardly see the runway it was so dark. Couldn't quite work out how I had run out of light so quickly ... then I took of my sunnies!

Apropos the safety thread and last light, I was thinking about fuel burn and fuel reserves. Finding this thread with a lot of interesting discussion, I thought I would bump it and continue the discussion. There's a bit of confusion about regarding reserves. There's enough information here to satisfy anyone so I won't rehash it. The question was asked, does anyone still do fuel calculations? Everyone I know is most particular in calculating fuel required to the last drop. On of the longest runs we planned was from Kununurra to Broome via Prince Regent and Cape Leveque. All up it was just on 500 miles which would have us landing pretty much with the reserve remaining and not much more. An easy option was to detour via Drysdale Station and top up there. That simple choice reduced the run to 370 miles and left us with 20+ litres above the reserve.

Not the information I was given by RAA. If you submit a flight plan you can be given clearance to fly through Sale airspace. I'm not sure how many other restricted areas are available but Sale is definitely one.

It was one of my goals to fly from the top of Cape York, coastal, to Melbourne. Unfortunately poor weather stopped me flying the first leg to Cooktown. I had to go via Weipa and across to the coast. From Cooktown south to Merimbula is almost all controlled airspace unless you go inland to avoid it, something we didn't want to do. So my wife did a fantastic job flying all the way coastal through all that controlled airspace, conditions she is not accustomed to be flying in. I had to wait 'til Merimbula for my turn to fly, then I was able to fly through Sale airspace, legally with RPC, back to Lilydale. There is an anomaly here as well. RA pilots can obtain clearance to fly through some airspace but not other. I think from memory it is airspace designated with an A suffix, as with Sale, R358A.

Actually the law is, you can't legally fly after last light unless you are night rated and in an aircraft fitted with instruments for IFR. As long as you land before last light you are legal. Whether it us safe to arrive 10 minutes before last light is totally another matter. https://www.casa.gov.au/sites/g/files/net351/f/_assets/main/download/caaps/ops/5_13_2.pdf

I would suggest that this is not as hard and fast a rule as Ada Elle is suggesting. You must plan the flight for 10 minutes before last light (ETA) but unless you live on a planet with no wind it is very hard to plan with certainty that you will always arrive at that time, short flights excepted. Off the to of my head, I think it was suggested that at Likydale, where we are just East of a row of hills, 20 minutes is more appropriate and if it is heavy overcast you may need half an hour.So, if a group of instructors or pilots were discussing last light I wouldn't be dismayed at all if they had a range of views. Sometimes the letter of the law is not quite right. Sometimes you have to use a bit of common sense. http://services.casa.gov.au/outnback/inc/pages/episode2/episode-2_The_lowdown_on_Last_Light.shtml