mnewbery

This is a general statement to everyone. After each site migration I need to re-follow and re-ignore members. I'm used to it now so consider this post a timely reminder. One suspended member is due to be un-banned tomorrow so I got in tonight before the forum posts start up again

This web page might provide some context as to how a landing light came into direct contact withe long dry grass in the middle of a landing area obscured by smoke

One Pipistrel Alpha Electro is working in Jandakot and it's been there since the start of 2018. Here is a video of it. Nobody has mentioned sail planes and motor gliders or did I miss that?

The auto industry internationally has specified that a tyre can be expected to function as rated for 10 years from the date of manufacture. After that time, between the ozone the sun and how it was used or stored, failure won't be a surprise and running it to the rated limits after 10 years is stupid. I laugh when I see hire trailers with 12+ year old spares but I do check.

https://www.skyshop.com.au/shopexd.asp?id=1560&bc=no

This is a common size for a lawn mower front steer tyre. I bought heaps of tyres and tubes from "Ryanie for tyres" in Clifton. The ones I used for drifters were Carlisle so any tyre shop that sells Carlisle brand tyres will be able to get some. One example might be the mower shop in Emerald. Failing that, order the front tyre for a Cessna 150 at five times the price but only four plies

If we are talking about bushfires, fifty three

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-22/fire-burns-just-south-of-canberra-airport/11891428 First thing, the airport was open on 24th January and its a relatively smoke free normal day. Its a very long article but basically this grass fire that started near Oaks Estate in 22nd January got a bit out of hand. The wind changed a bit and the second fire was burning up against the fence of the local business park. This business park is adjacent to the airport. So of course the fire bombers, aviation rescue fire fighting appliances and the local metro fire brigade got in and fought it. Because there was smoke and crap in the air, bombers flying low across the airport and people running around on the ground the airport needed to be closed for a while. A "shelter in place" alert was issued. Meanwhile, in the business park, total pandemonium. I just came off a disaster recovery exercise that modelled this exact scenario and still, someone got stuck in a lift. Other stories are coming out but they are not for here. Unbelievable. We are not prepared.

It was 34C and gusting 30 knots to 40 knots on the ground at Canberra yesterday. It was unpleasant just being outside, plus the air was really dusty. About 30 minutes after the first report came through on the local radio it started to rain in town. This is about 120 km north of the last reported location. Yesterday a fire "being actively managed" nearly set Canberra airport ablaze ... and I mean the fire was right up to the fence. Regardless of the root cause of the accident it was a terrible day in terms of weather. I can't imagine what it would have been like flying close to the ground in cloud and smoke with that gusting wind bouncing off the Snowies.

*cough* Its an MRH-90 Taipan

https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/business/aviation/soar-aviation-sells-aircraft-as-it-faces-loss-of-registration/ Neel Khokani has asked for an internal review of the ASQA decision. One does not sell seven planes (plant and equipment) while also seeking to stay in business. Smells ... desperate? fishy?

VH-BWZ is doing circuits and airwork!

Another flying lesson cancelled today because the visibility was below VFR minimum for Class C for most of the day. This was good and bad because it made the decision to not fly quite easy but the air pollution was easily two times worse than the level considered hazardous. So I was pretty much stuck inside all day unless I wore a respirator/mask/thingy. My instructor is a rural FF volunteer so we had a chat about the North Black Range and Tallaganda NP fires burning since about 27th November. These fires are still burning. Nobody knows what is going to happen next in terms of the weather and this will have an obvious effect for everyone at the school. The log-jam effect will most likely last well into May by which time I expect my opportunities to fly will have evaporated. I collected a very nice used Saitek yoke and throttle quadrant kit on the weekend. This has come in handy but the pedals I ordered will take at least another three weeks to arrive. On top of that AusPost have said "we might not deliver your stuff even if we have it" in this announcement. The list of affected delivery areas changes daily so in three weeks, who knows. I have other deliveries caught up in this mess so there is a bunch of stuff I can't do. I booked as many lessons as I could from the end of January till mid March. The whole thing is a toss-up. I can't say "its a total casino" because that would imply there I am betting against the house. There is no house, its "The Weather". I am not complaining. My house is still standing and the roof doesn't leak (much). Significant rain is forecast for the area over the period Wednesday to Sunday

406 MHz ELT?

https://www.9news.com.au/national/light-plane-crash-nsw-far-north-coast-search-underway/5bf56d1c-4cc2-4167-a875-852dc0749413

Some background reading: https://australianaviation.com.au/2018/07/soar-aviation-sells-50-stake-to-private-equity-firm/ (wonder how the investors are feeling now?) https://www.smartcompany.com.au/entrepreneurs/influencers-profiles/soar-aviation-neel-khokhani-flight-school/ https://www.afr.com/young-rich/light-touch-helps-aviator-s-ambitions-take-off-20191001-p52wh2 Quote in PPRuNe from post #40 in this thread (attributed to user GlenB) https://www.pprune.org/pacific-general-aviation-questions/626527-flying-school-owner-makes-afr-rich-list-3.html#post10604891 Reference to an article in The Australian (paywall) https://www.pprune.org/pacific-general-aviation-questions/626527-flying-school-owner-makes-afr-rich-list-3.html#post10608141 A lot of this is being covered by Robyn Ironside in The Australian. I can't comment how good an idea it is to post the text of complete articles from behind a paywall but somebody is. This time I am grateful. Another thing to note, ex-students of SOAR Aviation appear to be feeding information to Ms Ironside. She seems to know which questions to ask and where to get verified information. Some reviews: https://www.yelp.com.au/biz/soar-aviation-moorabbin-airport https://www.glassdoor.com.au/Reviews/Soar-Aviation-Reviews-E2602783.htm Its been suggested on PPRunNe that the instructors employed by SOAR had fun pumping the Google and GlassDoor reviews with positive comments when the weather wasn't flyable This story doesn't appear to be over by a very long stretch. Caveat: I do not personally know anyone who has had anything to do with SOAR Aviation

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6574015/firefighting-helicopter-crashes-into-dam-near-eden-man-taken-to-hospital/?cs=14264 Auto rotation training paid off?

Sportys E6B for iPad

https://breakingdefense.com/2019/12/the-f-35-joint-strike-fighters-pretty-good-year/

Still not declared a national disaster? If not, no federal funds for recovery

Leap year?

These images were taken from the Canbrraaaaaaaaaaa airport webcam 20th December wasn't a particularly clear day. The day before reported visibility around 1500m at 5pm. Today is a shocker. The RVR isn't available because the sensor isn't coping. At 8am the tower estimated the horizontal visibility to be 800 metres due to a mixture of dust and smoke. At the same time the AQI was reported to be 3350 with over 1500 ug/cubic metre of PM2.5 particulate. From the photo on the right I would guess the visibility is more like 300 metres. The stuff is in my house now, I can see it. Its here to stay until the wind blows it away. I just wish the politicians were here to experience it

Martin got his maps in 2017

Not to promote Sportys Pilot Shop but these guys seem to have the best deal on flight simulator bundles. I noted in a different thread that I was interested in flight simulator parts and in particular pedals. While I was daydreaming about getting some replacement simulator controls I had a look at what Sportys could do for a bundle. After postage and exchange rates the bundle (Sportys reference number B1144A) was $445 USD or about $520 AU. I was particularly interested in this bundle but there are other bundles with more features for about $100 more. Because postage is about the same and nobody in AU is selling pedals or bundles for much less than this. Also ironically I can get stuff faster out of the US of 'Aye than I can from JB Hifi or Harvey Norman Then I found out there was a guy or girl around the corner selling a whole simulator minus the PC for $1800. Before Christmas, JB Hifi were selling their Logitech pedals for $250. After Christmas ... $199. This shows it pays to shop around for a few weeks before purchasing. Unfortunately, JB Hifi don't sell yokes. Only joysticks. Does anyone have any simulator parts they don't want anymore? If so, please reply to this thread or PM me

I've got more current paper maps on top of the ones noted above. They too will be available when they are out-of-date