KRviator

The benefit to numbers will be Farmer Joe can (probably) maintain it himself if it is only going to be used in PVT ops, vs paying a LAME to do so for him, so the RAAus fees of $4-500 might actually be a saving... But they don't really have any other option - the Yanks allow uncertified ADS-B and even the Poms found the stuff from Dynon (GPS-2020) and Garmin (GPS-20A) outpoerformed the TSO'd stuff that was supplying position information for the certified crowd.

500 responses, but operational ATCO's only make up 30% (1067/3534) of their workforce, according to their latest annual report. The remainder are support staff and managers.

Why not? It happens now... Jabiru, RV3/4/9/12, probably a bunch more I can't recall...

Now CAsA have put out the "Consultation will start soon" rhetoric it kicks things off. But as I was once told by a manager..."Consultation is not negotiation", ie, CAsA don't have to take anything anyone says onboard when they draft the rules, or even if they draft new rules for +600kg. I'll wait and see, but am not going to hold my breath.

I dunno about that. My rugrats have taught themselves to fly on the PC-based simulator to the point of being safe. They are 7 & 8 years old and have been able to do it for 18 months. I've had bugger-all input for the most part, but they crash it, reset it, get better, crash again, reset it and learn from their mistakes. You can teach yourself to fly, you can teach yourself to fly aerobatics, IFR. even precision and non-precision approaches if you want to hit the books, you do not necessarily need ol' mate beside you saying "do this here and the plane will do that". I taught myself the buttonology and processes to fly a GNSS approach with my GPS & EFIS, having never flown a minute IMC, because it's an emergency skill I might someday need, no instructor sitting there saying "press this".

I'm the opposite side of the spectrum, sorry.... The Q400 is an abortion, albeit an (unfortunately) successful one. Far out of proportion it kind of reminds me of the Metro, an overly long skinny fuselage. The earlier DHC-8's were fine, but the -400? ? Then again, I'm the kind of person who things the A-10 or AH-64, arguably two of the ugliest airplanes ever created according to many, are simply beautiful works of art. ?

Funniest thing I've heard in days, well done! ?

Marvin the smoke system bloke on the VAF makes ER tanks that fit behind the seats in the side by side RVs. 7 gallons a side IIRC.

I am usually very, very good with "the rules" (just ask my employer who hates that trait...), but "the rules" as they relate to our operations are such a convoluted mess that I suggest no one can understand them to maintain 100% compliance, 100% of the time - and if you don't, then you've committed an offence of strict liability (I do understand that bit..). As for questioning 'the administrator", try asking CAsA the same question three times in a row, and if you come up with less than 2 answers, you've done well. They can't even understand the meaning of the word foreign... But, let's take a look at one rule of the new Part 149...with my bolding. Count those bold references. There are 18 references to other rules, in this one rule. So, to fully understand this one rule, you have to crossreference those other 18 rules. This is the kind or problem Australian aviation has. The rules are written for lawyers, not those at the coalface, and they are written in such a convoluted way that even if you make an honest and genuine attempt at complying with them, but breach one or more, because they are strict liability offences, CAsA only needs to prove you did it, the 'honest and reasonable' defence doesn't apply. And with a regulator of CAsA's reputation, that is a baaaad thing.

So....For the uninformed among us, because we hear the SAAA and RAAus spruiking "We're going to Part149", "We're Part 149 compliant" et al... WTF does part 149 actually mean, do and give us?!?

The Victorian GAF's today show the freezing level as low as 3,500'. Something to seriously consider when they're also indicating -SHRA and TSRAGS is do you need FIKI capability, or can the trip be postponed or rerouted?

I didn't know it till last night, but they've now got a DA62 now, and doesn't it look niiiice! Still has diesel engines too!

The same way RAAus has said "We'll never divulge your details" and only 18 months later, in the printed copy - but not the edited online copy - is an article saying "Oh, we've inked a deal with some random mob to sell out your details to feather our nest" and when called out on it, "but but but, trust us...."

What were some of your likes & dislikes about owning the Twinkie?

If you hold a PIFR, this discussion is moot. ? As I said above, your flightpath is dictated by a non-approved WAAS GPS antenna, through an uncertified EFIS to an autopilot that you may well have installed yourself. A PIFR pilot wouldn't be concerned with flight beyond last light, he would have held an alternate in the event they couldn't get the lights on at Leigh Creek, he would have diverted when his fuel state dictated he wouldn't reach his alternate with his fixed reserve intact, he wouldn't have been doing NVFR in an RAAus aircraft and he probably wouldn't have killed himself and his passenger... The intent of posting the above narrative is to highlight if you have AB & C installed, which a lot of people seem to going by posts here and in various magazines, in an emergency you can utilise what you have to fly an approach that gives you a somewhat decent chance of survival, vs tooling around without a plan hoping things will work out and then spearing in when they don't. Yes, NVFR or IFR flying needs training and the appropriate rating, no argument there from me - never will be either - but we continually hear of VFR pilots getting into IMC, or in this case, flying beyond last light and coming unstuck. The above is a tool that may help them survive their foolishness and more importantly, not kill their innocent passenger... People are free to consider it another tool at their disposal if everything's gone to hell, they are free to think I'm stark raving mad for even suggesting doing something like that - I don't really give a rats. But I'm not going to keep something that may save a life to myself just because someone doesn't like the idea.

Completely agree Yenn. ✔️ Prevention is always better than cure. But we practice forced landings, we practice PSL's, stalls and steep turns. If you are equipped with an EFIS and autopilot it doesn't take much to become confident in the buttonology enough that you can use such a method to keep you upright and hopefully get you down in one piece. If by having this discussion, we've prompted other EFIS owners to think "Gee, I didn't know it could do that, I might go out and try it to see if that KR bloke is right" then the conversation has served its' purpose. Hopefully no one will ever need to use it, but I'd rather someone know they could if they have to. It might have saved 2 lives last week, it might not, but it can save someone going forward. Insofar as comms, Ironpot, if you are using this to get down in one piece, you are yourself already in an emergency and hopefully the RPT will sod off to the hold somewhere and monitor your progress. You don't need ADS-B for it, that simply tells people where you are. You don't even need a transponder, just appropriate EFIS, autopilot and OzRunways / Avplan (I think AvPlan works), which a lot of us seem to have.

Emerald-Launceston, 7.0 hours, 16GPH (fairly conservative, might get 1GPH lower, particularly LOP with EI) = 423L, at $2.20/L (Fairly cheap, but price last time I refuelled at Cessnock) is $930 in Avgas alone. Not factoring in oil, or other operating costs... Mind you, that is cheap if you are taking 4 people. 4 x DeathStar seats, plus checked baggage, plus seat selection, plus hotel for the Brisbane overnight, it can work out much cheaper to fly yourself. But for a solo trip, you need to put a value on your time and run the maths that way. Anywhere within fuel range of my RV it is cheaper and faster for me to take it than fly the airlines. If I need to land for fuel, the airlines quickly catch up.

FWIW, I have tried it before to prove the concept, at a remote airfield and in mid-morning CAVU conditions, and the highest workload - for me anyway - was the mental juggling to try to hit the next altitude constraint without having to level off. It is surprisingly easy to do and almost painless when you know the systems involved. If you set your altitude to 100' below airfield elevation, and have the autopilot set up in IAS-hold, you control descent rate with power, so only have one control to manage. You can set up a VS-based descent, but then are watching speed as well and if you change selected VS, you need to make a corresponding change in power. Assuming you re already inbound to Leigh Creek with the autopilot in GPS Nav, it takes 8 presses on the Ipad screen and about 20 seconds, most of which is time waiting for the 8-year-old iPad2 to respond to the screen presses. It'd likely be much faster with a modern iPad. Rubber band the route to an IAP waypoint Confirm the waypoint (OzRunways will then ask you if you want to load the entire approach into the current plan) Confirm the "Add RNAV Waypoints to plan" Rubber band the route from the FAF to the ARP (As the approach/OzRunways sequences you to the MAP from the FAF, not FAF-ARP-MAP) Send to SkyView (SkyView will announce "Flight Plan Updated" in your headset as confirmation, and update the waypoints, ETA's and ETE's on the SkyView map screen) Tap near the destination Select the destination airport Select the appropriate RNAV Approach chart. Once you have done that, you are free of changes to your horizontal flight path so long as you keep the AP in GPS mode. The iPad will show a Georeferenced approach chart so you can cross-check your position and be assured the Dynon is flying it accurately. All that is left is to descend appropriately, and depending how you have your Dynon set up, you will get ETA/ETE's on your screen, so you can do the mental maths for required descent rate for that segment. The distance between RNAV waypoints seems to be a fairly standard 5nm, so for a 60KIAS approach speed (roughly what I use in the RV), you have ~5 minutes each leg to confirm your position, altitude and descent rate. Now the important bit...I am not condoning this as a standard 'everyday' practice. That needs to be understood from the outset. However, for those aircraft equipped with Dynon/G3X or other EFIS systems, particularly those that have WiFi flight plan functionality, If everything has gone pear-shaped, you are stuck on top of cloud or airborne after last light, this provides a means to fly a published approach under autopilot control that could well save your life, particularly if the GNSS is closely aligned with the runway.

I fully respect other's opinions here, but for me, the Dynon (and others, I just have Dynon) isn't just a glass cockpit. You're completely correct there is a terrific amount of data available, but it's also what isn't there that is a massive boost to safety in its' own right. Audio alerts, timers, and continuous monitoring of everything engine & electrical related. The Dynon will automatically announce, in your headset "Oil Pressure" or "Engine Monitor" if something goes out of limits. It will announce "Timer Expired" or "Approaching Waypoint", or "Flight Plan Updated" if you change something on OzRunways and then WiFi it to the EFIS. It will alert you to change fuel tanks based on a timer you set, or on reaching a specific fuel quantity or consumption. You can have all the above with the traditional 6-pack presentation on the Dynon screen if you so choose, but for me, the EFIS presentation with SynVis over the top is more natural. Some EFIS manufacturers ( GRT, for sure & MGL I think) even allow you to connect a FLIR camera and overlay the EFIS symbology on the camera image, as you would get in an F15! Using this accident and my Dynon installation as an example, if you couldn't get the lights on, you can open the Leigh Creek GNSS chart on the iPad, select the waypoints and WiFi the plan to the Dynon and, with autopilot engaged, all you have to do is monitor the vertical component, which you can do with the Vertical Speed hold or Airspeed hold modes on the autopilot. The Dynon will fly the approach, and if you continue beyond the minima (emergency afterall) you at least stand a good chance of arriving somewhat intact, within the airfield boundary...A 'standard' 6 pack doesn't give you this level of automation, or safety, and I would never go back to such a layout in any airplane I owned.

Big $$ to buy an already-built -10! I have around $110K in my -9A! ?

There's a few Twinkies (twin Comanche) for sale for well under $100K. Particularly with tip tanks, they should get you there non-stop in around 7.0 hours with up to 3 people depending on the BEW and model. (I know your profile says Brissy but I used Emerald-Launy as a rough guess as not many farms around Brisbane) Loaded up with all the family though you'll need at least 1 tech stop around Dubbo. They're reportedly one of the most efficient light twins around, using not much more fuel than a bigger, fast single. Whack an electronic ignition on each engine, and you are back down to two magnetoes with their 500-hourly inspections, and get lower fuel burn & easier starting too. I'm shortly going to sell my RV-9 and am giving serious consideration to a twin comanche... A J-model Mooney is about as efficient as you'll get in the piston singles, getting around 155-165KTAS from the IO-360, and with the Monroy tanks can do that distance non-stop, with 2 x 200lb people on board. These seem to get around $100-120K on the classifieds.

Usually not. That's one of the major gripes with RAAus, they either don't, or are very selective in what they release about a fatal accident. But...IT can, and it does get disseminated - occasionally. Although, the Mt Gambier crash data was obtained from OzRunways, not an onboard EFIS-based datalogger. The problem with with the Dynon (and others) data is it is not crash-hardened. The last flight is stored in non-volatile memory, but if that memory chip is damaged, that's it. The ATSB (and NTSB, et al) are very good at trying to mechanically & electrically fix damaged chips if they believe something can be learnt (as in the Cirrus Orange prang), but they are not miracle workers. I have found myself pushing the boundaries of what would be considered sensible a couple times since I've been flying behind the Dynon in marginal VMC. IT was legal, yes, but it wasn't smart. I'd look down to confirm the Dynon position agreed with the Ipad, look up and I had the 5km, but no discernible horizon, reliant almost exclusively on the AH on the Dynon. That was a wakeup call for me and I've not done that again. Given almost every pilot in Australia flies behind OzRunways or Avplan that gives your arrival time almost down to the second updated in real-time, I can only wonder if the bloke in question was that comfortable with his EFIS setup he deliberately ignored his ETA based on his (over?) confidence with his equipment, but overlooked the reliability of the PAL.

It certainly does. Everything you see and a whole lot more. I think I have mine setup to record everything at 0.5 second intervals, but you can get that down even more. There's even free viewers available online to take your downloaded file and recreate an EFIS presentation if you feed said viewer a Dynon/Garmin file. That being said, people need to want to install stuff like this. SkyView, like Garmins G3X, isn't overly cheap, but for what you get it is lightyears ahead of the latest gear from Boeing or Airbus. Personally, I went a step further and installed an automotive dash camera on the rollbar with GPS built in, so there's a visual record of what happens too. A quick look through a file I downloaded last month from the Dynon shows it records the following: GPS Fix Quality, date, time & satellites tracked. Lat, Long, GPS Alt, GS & Groundtrack Waypoint name, bearing, XTE, & distance System time Pitch & roll degrees to 1 decimal place Mag heading & turn rate IAS, TAS & VS Pressure alt & Density alt Lateral & Vertical acelleration AoA & OAT Barometer setting Wind direction & speed Heading & altitude bugs CDI source selected, scale & deflection AP mode, engagement status and current servo position Transponder Code, status & IDENT status Oil Press & temp RPM L & R MAP Fuel Press & flow Fuel QTY L & R Bus voltage & sensed amps Hobbs & tach time CHT 1-4 & EGT 1-4 Ignition system status (user configured) Calculated % power LOP/ROP status Other files available show any annunciated warnings, cautions alerts or their triggers in addition to the 'black box' file. One of the reasons I installed the TSO'd KLN-90 was, in an absolute worst-case scenario, I could load an RNAV approach and fly that down to minimums rather than aimlessly tool about looking for a sucker hole, or worse. It also allows enroute navigation without positive fixes.

Certainly can. As derek said, SkyView can show all that and a lot more. Here's a subtitled screenshot I put up to show some of my rail-forum mates. What is not shown is the OZRunways overlay available - I was using the Ipad that day, or the IFR GPS interoperability. I use a TSO'd KLN-90B for enroute navigation, that pushes the positive-fix time out to 2 hours, from the normal 30 minutes. You can also see the SynVis concept, instead of a 'standard' AH/EFIS, you have a 3D, digital representation of what you'd see out the window. I'm flying up the coast here, so it's water and flat, but in the hills, you see them, valleys, rivers, etc.

Unfortunately, this regulation already existed in the CASR's, the laughable point - to me anyway - was they simply copy-and-pasted it over to the 'new' Part 91 without thinking 1) Do we really need this? and B) IS it really necessary to make it a criminal offence? I'm sure there is not a road-based equivalent that says "If you roll your 4wd on a farm, you are guilty of an offence", though if you had no authority to be there (closed NP trail, driving like a muppet, etc), then an argument could be made in a few other areas . But if you were doing what was reasonable in the circumstances and fell foul of what a 'reasonable person' would consider an accident, so far as I'm aware, that'd be the end of it. And that's the problem...You can do all the assessments you want, and up until something happens, nothing will happen. But if you drop a wheel in an unseen rabbit hole, or a patch of soft ground pulls you to one side, or you nose over, you're instantly guilty of breaching this rule. And a vengeful regulator can use this particular rule as a blanket cover-all in the event of your screwing up. And as it's strict liability, all they have to say is "Ol' mate ran off the runway, therefore, the strip wasn't suitable in the prevailing conditions", and what defence do you have? IANAL, but from what I can see, the answer to that is "not much". I'm not sure this is correct. ISTR, you don't need to do a W&B, if you have previously proven the aircraft is incapable of being loaded outside it's envelope. I'll double check my W&B notes from the MPC, but recall there was a question along those lines in the course...