NT5224

Hi folks probably a dumb question! A couple of years ago when the subsidy came out I bought a Sky Echo. For some reason I never got around to registering and fitting it to my aircraft. I don’t fly much and live in a remote area, fly from my own property and so never had much pressure on me to register. I don’t have any particular reason why I don’t at present. I believe the risk of collision where I live and at the altitudes I fly very low. Has anybody had any experiences using ADS-B to convince them it’s a really good thing or conversely a bad thing? Has it saved your bacon ( avoided collision) or maybe landed you in hot water (landing fees, airspace violations). Has ADS-B had any unexpected consequences? I note now that going online, anybody in the world can now track flights with ADS-B activated. Alan

Nev, I wish you’d come up to my place in the Top End and explain to all the thousands of scorpions that they don’t belong here and should bugger off to the desert instead! And if you can draw away the King Browns too, like the pied piper, it’d be much appreciated…🤣 Alan

A couple of months ago I quipped about a tree falling and crushing a runway marker on my strip… And received some very amusing responses. 🤣 But now I have another aviation incident to report. Or, in truth probably not report… So I got stung by a scorpion in my aircraft. I wasn’t actually flying at the time but was at an out field to refuel. After getting back in and starting up I felt sharp sting in my lower back under my shirt. But since I was strapped in, I couldn’t move freely to investigate. I assumed it was a wasp or a horsefly and thought nothing more of it. Uneventful flight home but putting the aircraft back in the hangar found a scorpion under the pilot seat. Chucked it out. I have no doubt the scorpion originated from my own hangar. I have seen them around the hangar and regularly spray for them and other vermin. But now ten days later I have a big reddened blotch on my lower back which is still a bit sore to touch at the sting site. im not sure what lessons can be learned from this experience. Should preflight checklist include a detailed inspection of every nook and cranny of the aircraft including within seat covers? Is that practical? I spray in and around my hangar and around the undercarriage of the aircraft to discourage passengers boarding… Should I have flown home after an assumed insect sting? I know some people suffer can anaphylactic reactions, but I don’t. Anyway, who is to say how long a reaction will take to have effect? Do you wait two hours, four hours, six hours? Losing the light would be a greater risk than some possible effect of an insect nip. Will this stop me flying? Absolutely not. I’ll keep spraying the hangar and have a good look in the cockpit and brush down my seat before a flight, but hey this is the Top End… Alan

Hi team a very simple question. I use my IPad as my primary flight device but last week flew a few circuits with only my IPhone. I have OzRunways installed on both devices, same account. The latest flight was logged on my IPhone but doesn’t show up in the flight log on my IPad. Can somebody explain how I might copy the last flights over to my IPad? Can I sync the two devices somehow, or do I need to export those flight logs? Could somebody explain how I do that? Thanks in advance Alan

Reporting an aviation incident -of sorts. The Boy and I were on our afternoon stroll along the airstrip when I noticed a tree fallen down directly onto a airstrip marker Gable, crushing it.. What are the chances of that? I will remove the tree and fix the Gable. They are hand-me-downs from RAAF Tindal so have some heritage significance. Who knows….I might even find time to go flying some time? Alan

For those of you that know this stuff… Do military aircraft operate on the same frequencies and ATC systems? Flying in the Top End I have had both fast jets and helicopter pass close to me/under me, and assume they didnt even know I was there. I was carrying ADSB but they weren’t on it… How would separation normally be maintained between a military helicopter and a commercial airliner? Alann

Yes this is all true. My 0320 would run fine on Mogas and I believe may be certified to do so. However, what Lycoming does not approve is switching intermittently between fuel types. I might do so in an emergency ( if no other fuel was available) but basically stick with Avgas. Incidentally, just from personal experience I find Avgas runs smoother and cleaner on various power tools around my property. The small two strokes prefer the lead lubrication and don’t get gummed up with all the aromatics and stabilisers they put in unleaded 98. Scaling up this observation to an aircraft engine, I assume it runs better on specialist aviation fuels. Have not personally experienced plug fouling with Avgas. Cheers Alan

Good point Skippy. But as I don’t use 98 unleaded in my Lycoming that’s of little interest to me…Will be more significant to those flying with Rotax or Jabiru motors… Alan

Hi Team I have a question. Every year I get repeat billed by the ‘Country Airstrip Guide’ people for their latest update. It isn’t cheap, (probably upwards of $50) and they don’t make it easy to unsubscribe. But as far as I can tell there are very few updates and differences year to year. So you keep paying for the same document on repeat. Furthermore, the ‘pilots touring guide’ that comes packaged in Ozrunways seems to contain virtually identical information and Ozrunways itself provides the airstrip diagrams. Can anybody explain to me what is the advantage of a subscription to the Country Airstrip guide? How does it compare with the pilot touring guide, and is it worth having both? Maybe there’s something I’m not getting… Cheers Alan

As a Territorian I must admit I find peoples fascination with crocodiles bewildering. Don’t you blokes have Brownsnakes and red back spiders? Do you try to eradicate them from the southern states? Crocodiles are the same. I have plenty living here on my property ( not marine crocs, granted) and am always pleased to see them. They are a species that has persisted millions of years virtually unchanged and no more deserve persecution by humans than we would deserve to be eradicated other species who could. Live and let live. Alan

Nev gotta say I disagree with some of that. The Top End is warm true, but when the job needs doing, you do it! My wife and I are currently in the middle of a tough concreting job, despite heat and humidity. I like to believe we are also capable of rationale thought, although possibly not to the same level of elevated intellect as you southern intelligentsia 🤣 Alan

Plenty of reasons to live here Nev. 🤣 Alan

That’s spectacular footage but I would personally be rather nervous flying so low with a two stroke behind me…

Really saddened I recall occaisional chats with Mark and remember him as a top bloke with a real passion for aviation and education.

This could well be somebody out of MKT on a Sunday. What a tragedy! Condolences to the friends and family of the fellow aviator we have lost… So many fatal accidents/incidents in the news lately… It’s disconcerting. Is this just the way these stories are being reported (e.g conflating different categories of aviation) or there something else…? A sad day Alan

Hi All Great, very instructive video. I hate to criticise, the emergency was well handled, but I thought the pilot landed very long at high speed. In a real off strip situation you probably want to glide at best rate to make of your touch down point, but then slow things up when you’re sure you’re in. I’ve had two engine out emergencies in real life flying, but am still learning. Helpful to see this exercise. Alan

Hi RGMWA sorry to hear about the inconvenience to your friend, but glad I’m not the only one afflicted. The irony is the Class 5 declaration was meant to streamline the process but I have spent three or four hours already trying to get one- and am still no nearer than when I started. This is just an IT bug, CASA public facing staff have been helpful, but I wish I’d just gone with my usual Class 2 basic now. Note to CASA (and all operators of automated public services). Please test the system thoroughly before launching! How on earth a Class 5 Declaration can result in direction to a DAME for a medical examination is completely beyond me! Class 5 and Class 1-2 should be on totally different systems. How did they become mixed up? Another automated system that gives endless trouble is that annual flight movements survey conducted by the department. I always have to send my data just as an email…. Sometimes they tell you to do that explicitly because the system is ‘down’ (yet again). But glad to read the system is working for many people. Gives me hope Alan

They’ve escalated my issue up to IT. They’ve been helpful but I’ve already applied three times and paid twice so not keen to apply again. I have one paid declaration logged in the system. They just don’t know why the certificate wasn’t issued. I hope they can just nudge that one along. Alan

Hi Turbo I'm describing my own experience. I do know how to use the system, order a pizza or an Uber. The Issue is clearly an IT problem and could happen to anybody. The platform delivering Class 5 declarations is still just a few weeks old and there are inevitable glitches. The CASA team were startled when I showed them the machine had sent me a DAME examination appointment. Remember it’s a Class 5 ‘self assessment’. It’s like the Robodebt computer sending a demand for cash to somebody who doesn’t owe any. It’s just a machine gone haywire… I have no problem with CASA. Alan

Those who have the Class 5 declaration, what does it actually look like? Anything like an actual medical certificate? My problems are being escalated in the CASA IT department. The staff are being helpful -but our AI overlords seem to have something against me… Alan

Passed test. It is an IT issue. On my second attempt the system mixed up my Class 5 Declaration with an application for Class 1 or 2 medical certificate and sent me to a DAME. I have a bizarre document from CASA requesting me to go get a medical to progress my Class 5 Declaration. The whole point of Class 5 is to streamline that part of the process. I don’t have any medical conditions. Alan

So this time, to avoid a full day journey into Darwin to see my medical man I took a punt on the new Class 5 declaration. Attempt 1: Went through the online process, paid my money then…… nothing. No certificate. Attempt 2: Went through the online process, pressed submit and got a message saying an appointment was being booked for me with an Aviation Medical Examiner! (as required for a Class 1 or Class 2). Unbelievable. I have just received an email from CASA confirming that I will need to go to a DAME for my Class 5. How is it possible that those two systems can be conflated? So I called CASA and spent an hour speaking to two lovely people who helped me the best they could. They could see my first application and payment -but couldn’t explain why a certificate hadn’t been issued. They could see my second errant application and killed it from the system as it was preventing me from getting back in. They told me to log back out and start over. Attempt 3: Went through the online process and paid a second time. ‘Error Occurred while processing your request. Contact CASA’. Have other people been through the Class 5 medical route? What have your experiences been? Cheers Alan

Hey all just been thinking about doing a little flying while on a trip down to Adelaide. I looked at some weather data for Aldinga strip and was startled to see the daily average wind speed at about 13 knots, with gusts of up to 50 knots. For somebody from the Top End this seems really high. I’m sure the strips are lined into wind, but I think my own aircraft maximum crosswind component is about 18 knots. I’m guessing flyers in Coastal South Australia must have mad crosswind skills! Is Aldinga really that windy? Or are there times when it is possible for a relatively benign flight? cheers Alan

Good point! So Group G is for the sick and the weary… They should call it Group W. Alan

Hi folks if the moderator thinks this thread should be moved into the other Group G discussion, no worries. I’m the owner of a VH reg aircraft, flying from my own home airfield. The Lycoming Rebel has MTOW of 760kg which means it’s eligible for Group G. Why should I be tempted to defect to Group G? What’s in it for me? Is CASA looking to divest itself of light aircraft operations completely in future? Is this the thin end of a wedge? What about aircraft rated for multiple passengers? I’m trying to get a clear view of the pros and cons of switching, and would be particularly interested to hear from other GA pilots in a similar position. Now that RAAUS has confirmed Group G rego will be numbers not VH letters I’m concerned about being relegated to second class citizen status by other traffic…😂 Cheers Alan