K-man

Sad news indeed. Peter was a top guy.

What I find plain dumb about all this is: To get an RAA CTA endorsement I would have had to: a) Obtain a class 2 medical b) Pass the written CTA exam (Allegedly harder than the GA requirement) c) Demonstrate that I am capable of handling the situation of flying into Essendon and Moorabin. Due to the RAA endorsement being shelved, I now have a different option: a) Obtain a class 2 medical b) Pass the written PPL exam c) spend two hours under the hood for instruments c) Demonstrate that I am capable of handling the situation of flying into Essendon and Moorabin. That will take a little more time and quite a few dollars but, at the end of the day, I am still the same pilot and I will be piloting the same aircraft in the same airspace. Maybe the fact that I am not intelligent enough to see a great difference here is why CASA don't want me in their airspace!! :baldy:

There seems to be this constant theme of leave RA alone, we like it like it is. In Eugene Reid's presidents report in the latest RA magazine he refers back to the situation in 1977 when we couldn't fly above 300' or fly over or across highways. I am sure that those conditions still suit some people but most have moved on. In 1986 we could fly to the dizzying height of 500' and cross the highway. Should we have drawn the line there? If not is there some other point that we should have stopped our progress? Since then recreational flying has evolved much more and it will continue to evolve for the next hundred or more years. We can't stop development. People with red flags would still be walking in front of cars if the clock stopped at that point of time in the automotive story. If your passion is to fly at 300' around your property and no further, fine .. go for it. That is your right and privilege. If your desire is to own and fly a faster and perhaps more sophisticated RA aircraft, optioned to a standard that is safe to utilise controlled airspace, then I believe that that privilege should be sought for you by RAA. As has been pointed out by many, just because a privilege is granted doesn't mean that everyone has to apply for that privilege. We can all fit under the umbrella of RAA. It is so totally negative and counter-productive to fight amongst ourselves.

I was at the Bundaberg Air Show and there were very few RAA aircraft involved. However, there was one significant breach of RA regulations which may well have raised the ire of CASA. However, I cannot believe that the actions of one pilot, or for that matter a small number if you include the incursions at Temora after Narromine, would cause CASA to tear up months of work. The last para of McCormick's letter is very interesting in light of the fact that no reasons are given. "I consider,however, that the above proposed changes to current rules are not in the best interests of the safety of air navigation." This seems to be McCormick's personal position, adopted without consultation, and I really feel we deserve a better explanation bearing in mind the huge amount of work and effort RAA has put in on our behalf.

We flew up last year and stopped at White Cliffs. We stayed at the Underground Motel. Very comfortable, good food, reasonable price and they pick you up and drop you off at the strip.

Hi Tomo. I should have noticed before that you were flying from YDAY. We called in recently after the Bundaberg airshow. Nice strip! :thumb_up: Unfortunately we copped atrocious weather along the coast so missed out on a lot of sightseeing. Next time!!

Having flown both, and enjoyed every minute of it in both, I think that everyone would choose the Tecnam as it's so much smoother to fly. The problem is, it's chalk and cheese. You could buy 2 or three J160s for the same price as the Tecnam and one J230 with enough left over to buy fuel for the next 10 years. It's like comparing a Volkswagon with a Mercedes. I have friends with Jabs who absolutely love them and have had no problems and know of others who have had no end of trouble. Dollar for dollar, Jab wins hands down but ... the real issue is the motor. I agree with the major, leave me with our 912 until the Jab engineers iron out the bugs. ;)

Sure beats using chopsticks!! :thumb_up:

Gee I love it when you guys talk dirty! :devil:

I am putting this back on the agenda as it seems to have dropped off the back end. There must be someone out there with some ideas.:hittinghead:

I reckon you did all right .. except for Carby Heat! You need to remember the possibility of icing when you're coming down on idle! You'll run the risk of an accident if you're not more careful!!! :thumb_up:

The Underground Motel at White Cliffs is another interesting ans enjoyable place to stay. The guys will pick you up and deliver you back to the strip.

Hi John, Welcome. You obviously enjoyed the GSA display and probably talked to some of the guys. Although I live the other side of Melb. I am proud to be a member of the Lethbridge crew because they are such a friendly and helpful bunch. Bruce Vickers is the CFI and with your background he would have you 'off and away with RAA' in no time. They have a sausage sizzle Sat lunch time. Why don't you pop out and say hello?

Some time back there was an advisory circular AC 91-220(0) regarding operations at non-controlled aerodromes. http://www.casa.gov.au/newrules/parts/091/download/ac091-220.pdf In particular: This was followed up with: http://www.casa.gov.au/fsa/2003/jan/60-61.pdf which clarified the situation. Now, I can't find any other reference to CASR 91.220 so I don't know if the rule was enacted or not. (RAA does refer to this rule but only by the number, not its content.) The reason for the interest is this. Under certain circumstances (not denoted in ERSA or in a controlled airport) is it allowable to fly a RH circuit if conditions dictate? Common sense says yes and the proposed rule would have allowed it but I can find no further reference to it.

The fire came within about 500m to the north of the field at Lilydale. No fires really close to Coldstream airport, but they weren't far away. We flew around the Yarra Valley, and down towards Warrigul, from Lilydale yesterday. Lots of smoke etc near Kinglake, Glenburn Gap and Healesville so didn't go near those spots. Just hoping they get all the hot spots before the next bout of hot weather and North wind.

And in the article we read .. Once again, a lot of these accidents were not ultralights, but, why no response from RAA? What a lost opportunity.

For anyone with the Rotax 912, with regard to the engine restart. Our manual suggests restart should be possible by simply applying fuel and ignition, as long as the propeller is still windmilling. If this fails you need to increase the angle of attack and reduce speed, even up to a stall, until the propeller stops rotation. Then you lower the nose and use the starter. The other thing in our POH is the airspeed for the glide, 60kt for minimum rate of sink and 65 kt for best distance in still air. We've had two partial failures due to faulty throttle cables and had no problem landing either.

Time to spare? ;) Go by air!! Sounds like lots of fun though.

Your log book is a legal document. There are certain requirements as to how and what information is recorded. It is an offence under the regulations if an entry is falsified. Your log book, if properly maintained, should be accepted as a valid record of your experience. As has been pointed out, it is not a record of ability or competence. It is a total lack of respect to say it has no part in your training process. If you have the experience, it will show in your flying.

Thanks, but no thanks! I've read it already. :devil:

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a fly so we decided to meet up with some friends for lunch a Phillip Island. :thumb_up: To get a little familiar with other strips and conditions and to allow an extra t/o and landing for each pilot we called in at YTDN on the way down and YTYA on the way home. Approaching Tyab my wife gave a 10 mile inbound call which was followed by an inbound call from a C172 which gave its position as 200m metres behind and 500' above (keep in mind the 172 is 5 to 10 kts slower than our aircraft), over French Island. Naturally we are looking everywhere for this aircraft. To let him know where we were we gave an early joining oblique downwind call thinking we must have been well ahead by now. He responded by saying he was mid downwind. We still had not sighted him so my wife decided to turn away, circle and rejoin behind the C172 which she did. The 172 was now in sight and we followed it in. The issue is this. The 172 pilot made at least one call from the wrong location. He gave no downwind join call and his calls all followed our calls. In my mind we were at all times in front of him until we aborted our approach to ensure our safety. We changed pilots and set off home to YLIL. Established on downwind in the circuit and another aircraft flies in from the right joining mid-field crosswind cutting in in front downwind, forcing us to slow and extend downwind to gain separation. I deliberately have not described the second aircraft. Suffice to say it is VH registered. Isn't is interesting that in one afternoon our safety was threatened by two GA registered aircraft flown by two young PPL pilots who for whatever reason felt that they had the right to push ahead of an RA registered aircraft. We were not in a hurry and were not put out but there seems to be an attitude problem out there. Any-one else had similar experiences? We normally fly mid-week, is this the weekend way to fly?

On the basis that we plot our course on a map and take our direction from the compass, then we don't need a GPS, but aren't they great as backup. :thumb_up: As far as I can see the aviation GPS is pre loaded with most of the things you need and as such doesn't take a lot of time to programme, and the CTA boundaries are useful. Your Garmen as a backup unit would be fine. We connected our old GPS to a laptop with mapping software for a trip to central Aus some time back and in the vehicle it was fantastic. I wouldn't like to have to use it in the aircraft though. I would use your Garmin and keep an eye out for someone upgrading their aviation unit, or someone with a hand held installing a new system.

Yes, I also sent letters to both papers. Bloody hard to vent the steam in under 200 words. Neither published my response.

In sport, Beta blockers are on the banned list. They were used to reduce heart rate and hence aid shooters by giving a greater time between heartbeats to get off their shot. They may also be effective in stopping anxiety induced tremor as in stage fright. Overall though I don't think there is much evidence to support the use of Beta blockers in the treatment of anxiety. I don't believe that anxiety is one of the indications for the use of Beta blockers and as such I doubt many doctors would be keen to prescribe them, particularly to a budding pilot. First dose side effects such as decrease in blood pressure leading to dizziness and the possibility of fatigue could be a big problem with occassional use.

My stomach is extremely unreliable. When I was scuba diving from boats I was sick almost every time. :yuk: Motion sickness normally has very little to do with anxiety. It is the vestibular disturbance in the ear. As previously posted it helps if you are able to concentrate on the horizon it helps a little however as soon as you start to feel unusually warm and a bit clammy across the face, get the bag ready 'cos it's likely you will be sick. I have found all the usual medications totally useless in the normal recommended dosages (and I certainly would NOT recommend higher dosages because of the possible side effects). Having sold all those products for motion sickness for many years the feedback was never really positive. The only product that seemed to work most of the time, and it was the favourite of the yachties, was the SCOP patch, worn behind the ear. Unfortunately they went off the market about 10 years ago. As for Ginger etc, they work for some people but not many. I prefer not to eat much, if anything, before flying if the conditions are likely to be lumpy and I take some water to sip along the way. My classic bag effort was on my final cross county when I had to hand over to the instructor (sorry Bruce if your reading this). Too many deviations. I survived the first three but the fourth one got me! Too much looking down, drawing lines, measuring angles, combined with thermals. Another memorable flight was from Birdsville to Alice Springs and the re-emergence of the curried camel pie! Fly early in the Centre. However, motion sickness is no reason to stop flying, just be a little more selective depending on conditions. :thumb_up: