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KRviator

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Everything posted by KRviator

  1. KRviator
    If you are going to routinely do over-water flights, I would recommend something like the HEED/SpareAir tiny SCBA systems. They're fairly cheap, relatively small, and could probably be mounted under your knees in most planes and would give you enough time to calm down after the initial oh-shyte moments and avoid the panic of knowing you only have a few seconds to get out before you need to breathe. I've seriously considered getting one for the RV, as if I put it in the water, being a bubble canopy it'd be hard to open if it flipped over in the time I'd likely have available.
  2. KRviator
    The local rag is saying it was a training flight from Bankstown-Orange-Carcoar with FlightAware & FlightRadar showing VH-OIS flew that route, deparing Orange 0537UTC before heading to CarCoar before their return disappeared.
  3. KRviator
    For those that aren't aware, Upper Hunter Shire Council is spending megabucks on an upgrade of their airport to build a new warbird museum & terminal, in addition to a new parallel taxiway & repairing the existing runway. They have decided to close the entire airport for a period of 4 weeks from 09 November until 05 December, assuming the weather cooperates and doesn't delay things further. There will be no fixed wing ops, no helicopter's in support of firebombing, nothing at all will be permitted except ground access to your aircraft if hangared there - not that you can actually go anywhere mind you! Additional works are currently taking place and will continue beyond the closure period, including the new TWY A tie-in to the 29 threshold and adjacent properties, drainage, and a new fencing proposal that will make the picturesque rural views of Scone look like Guantanamo Bay - complete with barbed wire...🤬 I presume the RNAV approach will not be NOTAM'd as not available, but I wouldn't put it past the airport manager to do so, "just in case" someone tries to land off said approach! If you routinely use Scone as part of a Navex or just as stopover for fuel or a piddle, doublecheck your NOTAMs for the next month or two!
  4. KRviator
    If you have the $$, I'd get a small 2 seater over a roomy single seat. Even if its' only somewhere to throw your nav bag & water bottle. There's a couple of Jabiru's for sale on the RAAus classifieds for $26.5 and $27.0 and a GR912 for sale down Tasmania way but both obviously not singles. I saw a Sapphire for sale that I'm thinking about buying if its' still around when I've moved house, for $11.5 but I'm told they aren't that great for taller pilots - and it has a '447 in it, and you said you're after a 4-stroke. Check out Lightwing's page - they look to have a Pocket Rocket with a 582 available now for $12K. That's good value, even if it is a 2 stroke...
  5. KRviator
    Totally agree @facthunter, I didn't articulate it clearly, but I'd meant that example to be in the context of planning, not actually flying it. If I've read the AIP right and there's no other clause hidden away, then I'd need to plan to Cessnock, and have enough fuel to divert to Taree/Bankstown if necessary. IF you're only TAS'ing 120KTAS that's another 45 minutes or so of fuel you'll need to carry just because you can't use the GAF.🤬 Same for Bankstown itself if it were below the Alternate Minima, you could consider an alternate as Sydney, Maitland or Wollongong, there aren't a lot of options, even though you might be able to use Wedderburn, Warnervale, Katoomba, Somersby yadda yadda, they don't have a TAF so you need one that does...
  6. KRviator
    @facthunter I don't think anyone's suggesting flying VFR into IMC, rather, your departure point can go IMC immediately after you've left and, so long as you won't need to return (because you've got a known-good forecast) that's fine. I can't recall specifically planning a destination alternate in any of my XC flights since training, but have always thought about "where can I go if...." when airborne. Though in re-reading the AIP it looks like I've been a naughty boy, as I've relied on the GAF for assessing whether the destination is above the VFR alternate minima, simply due to the fact most of my flying is to airports that don't have a TAF service. I'm just thinking from the point of flying around the Newcastle area, if you are planned to arrive at Cessnock, there's no TAF, so you have to hold Maitland as your alternate. But hang on, Maitland is below the VFR Alternate Minima right now, so you can't hold Maitland. Williamtown is out lest an F18 rise and smite thee, so that leaves Bankstown or Taree as the only two options! I'm sure there would be dozens more examples like that Australia wide which makes me wonder if I am actually wrong with that AIP reference and there's another reference tucked away somewhere, but if there is, I haven't found it yet!!
  7. KRviator
    There's actually a really interesting discussion going on over at PPRune at the moment regarding alternates and the question "Do you need an alternate if your destination does not have a TAF?" My reading of the AIP is "yes, you do", but it's a ridiculous proposition - how many of us fly to airfields that no longer - or have never had - a TAF service? CAVU weather and you need an alternate - and that alternate cannot be an airport that itself requires an alternate, so you need to plan to somewhere that does have a TAF. WTF?!? The kicker is the word "aerodrome" forecast. A GAF is not an aerodrome forecast, so we would, appear, to not be able to rely on the visibility or weather in the GAF when it comes to considering whether or not our destination is above the VFR Alternate Minima.
  8. KRviator
    I've either misinterpreted that bit, or completely forgotten it. The only 60 minute "requirement" for departure I can recall is if you do not hold a current forecast for your destination and you intend to obtain that in flight, which you can do for upto 30 minutes after departure. So takeoff, fly 30 min out, get forecast - it's crap - return to origin = need 60 mins good weather. But if you have a known-good forecast for your destination, you can depart if you can maintain VMC and your departure point can immediately go IMC, with not a care in the world. What's the reference in the VFRG? I might need to hit the books again!
  9. KRviator
    Centaurus over at PPrune mentioned a similar accident at Camden around a decade earlier. A MECIR checkride was underway and as part of the briefing, the checkee, a current airline pilot, refused to accept an EFATO below 500AGL at night. The ATO agreed to this. They flew Bankstown-Wollongong-Camden and almost immediately on rotation at Camden - at night, remember - what does the ATO do? Fail an engine, with predictable results. The ATO received serious, ultimately fatal, injuries and the checkee serious injuries.
  10. KRviator
    That AirNorth one was downright stupid - and almost a carbon copy of a B1900 that lost control at Williamtown a year or so earlier doing the exact same thing! If you go to Flight Idle on your typical auto-feather equipped engine, you are no longer simulating "just" an engine failure. You are simulating an engine failure and the failure of the autofeather system. And as has been found many times over, almost all light piston and an awful lot of turbine twins will not accelerate yet alone climb away like that. We will continue to have accidents until people want to learn from the mistakes of others.
  11. KRviator
    I remember reading an article maaaany years (10 or so) ago about some Uni rocket testing out that way. They used a Jab to search for the first stages after they had come back down. Whether you would be able to get in without some kind of legitimate excuse though I can't answer...ERSA suggests it's not available, "MIL exclusive AD - no public access"
  12. KRviator
    Well that's one way to log multi-engine turbine time. Remines me of the Cri-Cri with two AMT jet's instead of the JPX engines. Reckon an SAAA AP would sign off on it? Or could you try to get it in RAAus under CAO 95.10?
  13. KRviator
    IT's an F-Model, so that'd be the early hydraulic flap system I suspect.
  14. KRviator
    For me, the big issue is size, even for the J-models. I had seriously looked at one until I found out how small they are. They're economical, certainly, but there's an annual AD for structural corrosion, and from memory, you can't install an EI on the IO-360 as it has that funny dual-magneto setup on it. There's a nice J-model for sale in WA for $132K that would be good, but it wouldn't be my first choice unless I could find a CAR35 engineer to work with to install an EFI system on it... A MooneySpace member posted this video showing the comparatively small cockpit and it was enough to put me off one unless it was the best of the bad options. Kinda like politicians that way, I guess...
  15. KRviator
    I have been thinking a little about the R182. A bit faster than your typical 182, but it has that gear...Still, I haven't specifically ruled it out either. There's two for sale in Oz I've found, $115K + GST and a 5SOH for $185K w/o GST. If I did have to go the Cessna route, I would probably settle for the fixed-gear version, if only to simplify maintenance. Still not as good a useful load as a Comanche and bit slower for the same fuel, so you need more fuel to actually get anywhere, but arguably much better parts availability and LAME knowledge. SIDS isn't a deal-breaker but certainly something to be considerate of unfortunately. One potential benefit to a 182 is the Dynon SkyView package is available (as it is for the Comanche) but the autopilot is also available. In saying that, Horsham Avionics I have since found, is able to do a full install in the Comanche. $$$ though, but worth it if the base airframe is priced right...
  16. KRviator
    Yes. That is precisely what I did. I held the bare RPL, and was tooling about locally in the RV while I waited to get the RPC Nav endo done. I then submitted (I think) a 61-1RE originally and was told by a particularly helpful CLARC rep that it was incorrect (as I wasn't adding an RPL Endo, but porting an RPC one), and to use a 61-1RTX, even though I already held an RPL. Filled that out and uploaded it through CAsA Self-Service and a week later, the new RPL with Nav & TW arrived in the mail.
  17. KRviator
    I had - briefly - considered a Tobago or derivative but didn't konw about the TB21 turbo, J_A but I don't really want to have to have the hassle of importing one. I can't even get to Victoria to inspect a Comanche at the moment, yet alone buying one from overseas at the moment! 😛 The one I did see for sale was advertised for $240K on Controller, with another two on TAP for $165 & $179. That's too expensive for my liking, and add GST & a bunch of fees on top of that, and it isn't good value I feel.
  18. KRviator
    Yep. I had my AUF PC from waaay back when and was working on the Nav component but bad weather kept stepping in. I claimed the credit for the basic RPL and when I finished off the RAAus Nav's, submitted the form (Think it was the same form, 61-1RTX) claiming credit for the Nav and also the Tailwheel endo that RAAus had left off my RPC and I'd never noticed till then. Paid the $50 or so and a week later, viola! An updated RPL with Nav + Tailwheel endorsements turned up in the mail. Remember you cannot fly VH- on the basis of your newly-issued RPL until you've done a GA flight review though. A GA review (typically) covers the RAAus review, but not the other way around. EDIT: Just checked CAsA Self-Service, yep, form 61-1RTX to add the additional endorsements and you can lodge it online.
  19. KRviator
    I'm breaking out in a rash just thinking about fiberglass! 😛 A 4 seat experimental wouldn't worry me at all, for I fly in my RV-9, but realistically, there is the Sling 4 TSi and the RV-10 and not much else that would compare to an RV. The problem with the White Lightning would be I likely wouldn't qualify to maintain it, it being 1: Fiberglass and 2: Retractable, which leads to 3: they are comparatively rare and finding a suitable LAME might be a problem. Were it a FG and metal bird I would qualify under the "substantially similar" provisions relating to experimental maintenance.
  20. KRviator
    It is indeed. But you can also do your RPC, use your RPC to get your RPL and then go do your RPC (RAAus) Nav endorsement and following the addition of your Nav endo to your RPC, then add it to your RPL, it just costs you another $50 or so for CAsA to process the form. Still cheaper than doing it in a GA aircraft though! You don't have to have all your RPC endorsements you want to get before you apply for your RPL, you can add them over time.
  21. KRviator
    Indeed there are, but I don't want to go backwards in performance. The RV gets along at 143-145KTAS at 2400RPM at 55%, a 182Q will just do the same at 75%...maybe...and the climb rate isn't anything to write home about. I had given the 182 much thought when it looked like I'd be staying at Somersby, with the short strip there, but we're in the process of buying a new house that backs onto Scone airport, so the STOL requirement isn't as important as it was previously. If I could get CAsA to give me a CASR 42ZC authorisation to maintain it myself, on the basis of building and maintaining my RV-9, then that would almost tip the scales in its' favour, but the chance of that is remote. A major benefit to the 182 though, is Dynon is expecting their EFIS to include autopilot approvals next year. The Comanche won't even rate a mention for that for years to come, if it ever does. This was another thing that swung me away from the Cardinal too. Garmin is planning Comanche approval for their G3X-based autopilots "in the next 12 months" and while I have the idea of supporting Big G, an EFIS + AP is going in whatever I get, sooner rather than later...
  22. KRviator
    A Comanche 400 would be a blast, but it's too much airplane for me unfortunately, TurbAero.
  23. KRviator
    IIRC, the LSE ignition uses magnets in the flywheel - same as the SDSEFI - as a timing reference. The pickup for those magnets sounds like it conflicts with the slip ring brush mounting for the Airmaster prop, and the prop slip rings in turn blocking the magnets from being detected by their sensor. Steveron you could try asking on Vans forum, but the Air Master prop is pretty slim pickings on the big Lycomings AIUI.
  24. KRviator
    Not that much to do. Send the form off to CAsA (61-1RTX), pay your 4 bits, and wait. Once that is done, you'll need a GA flight review to 'activate' your RPL. CAsA will issue it on the basis of your RPC, but you can't use it as you won't have done an AFR within the previous 2 years.. Hopefully the school at which you did your RPC has GA aircraft available, or you might find whatever school you pick for your flight review wanting to 'train' you in GA aircraft handling. I avoided that by pointing out that yes, I did have the RPC, but it wasn't a bare-bones issue, I had been flying RAAus for many years beforehand and had an RV-9 that I flew but if you don't have that, you might need to bite the bullet and do a few hours in a C150 or something.
  25. KRviator
    Thanks for that! I've put in to join. I have indeed considered the A36. Gympie had one for sale recently fairly cheap ($125K IIRC) and there's a couple others listed recently but much higher $$, but I don't really need 6 seats, though the old adage "if you need 4 buy a 6 seater" typically applies. If I can get by with 4 in the Comanche it seems prudent to do so. That being said, the sheer volume of A36's produced means parts availability will never be the issue it may become for the Comanche.
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