KRviator

Knock off a jar of your wife's nail lacquer. That'll work just about as well.

FWIW, HERE's the accident report from the BA accident. And yes, the Captain did have his belt on, though had loosened it during the climb.

Pity it'd cost $20,000 to keep the cows away from it and look after the access road to the base of the turbine.

Reports from passengers on board suggest she was in fact wearing her belt, but when you have several hundred cubic meters of air at 8PSID trying to force you out an opening a foot square it's not going to end well if you're in close proximity to the opening.I'd also suggest consideration be paid to the captain of BA5390 who had the cockpit window fail and was drawn outside the aircraft, though in this case, he survived. I dare say the skipper had his belt on too....

Ain't that the truth. When you can install a 20kW solar system for around $25K and be assured of being paid for power, it makes an awful lot of sense. Even a 10kW system with a battery seems to be enough to get you off-grid in a suburban system if you are smart with your energy use. No it isn't, IMHO. Sure, it provides steady power, but then you have to store the used fuel for centuries. The Roman empire lasted around 2,000 years. Does anyone really believe we can safely cool and store high-level radioactive waste for 50 times that?If you want to consider base-load power, solar on every house, and gas-fueled gas turbines for night would seem to be the more environmentally-friendly option.

In this case, there doesn't appear to be much structural damage to the aircraft. The engine - certainly, but not the aircraft. And consider Boeing design their aircraft with fuse pins in the pylon so a catastrophic engine failure that threatens to endanger the aircraft will fail the plugs and the engine will fall away from the wing. Hopefully...Now, Aloha 243 was another story...that was impressive!

Excuse me? Us drivers would love them to be covered! So would ARTC, to stop coal spillage contaminating the ballast and points motors. If you think coal dust is bad, don't ever look at a Pilbara iron ore train doing track speed!

Depends on your point of view. I'd rather have safety, practicality and lower insurance premiums instead of the tailwheels sex-appeal. Then again, I am an ugly bugger, so perhaps sex-appeal isn't the right word...

At what speed? Endurance doesn't equal range. Forrest is the only one I know of, and they list both AvGas and Jet fuel available.

You won't go wrong with a -9A unless you have your heart set on doing aeros at some point. I'm putting a new panel in my -9A and will put it on the market in a few months as I need a 4-seater. I should've listened to the KRviatrix and built a -10.....

Silly question, but does it have to be grass? Would a dirt runway, kept smooth by the old dragging-railway-line / sheet of reo method be suitable?

Not for the price! Dimensions of block: 325mm x 323mm x 37mm Pack of blocks (10): covers 0.95m² Price: $33.25 500mx20m = 10,000m2 = $332,500. Another brand "Turf cell" seems to be marginally cheaper, but still well over $30/m2

Geez at $2000+/20kg and 10g/m2, you're looking at roughly $1/m2 for the surface you want to seed.

Even though I'm based there, I only know what the ATSB has posted, but VH-OAJ was involved in an accident at Somersby this afternoon. A local news outlet reports the pilot was airlifted to Royal North Shore, but no indication on his condition.

Meant the 440-odd kg C150 you were talking about. That'll teach me to proof read things after nightshift.....

Of course it is. I have a 445kg BEW, but registered 2 seats. Nothing at all wrong with that concept so long as the 600kg TOW limit is adhered to. So full tanks & me, or half fuel and one of my rugrats. How's that any different to a 152 operated under RAAus?

Ain't that the truth. I tried to get on the MPC being held in Perth next week, and never got a call back from SAAA HQ with the details or anything. The course last year in Perth they ended up cancelling at short notice - too bad if you'd already booked flights and accommodation. I think I'll stay with RAAus a bit longer!

The same as my RAAus RV-9. Nothing wrong with it so long as you respect the limits.

I don't think you can see individual responses in the poll, so we'll never know who just had a birthday!

I work FIFO and the number of people in my crew who are intrigued that I built my own plane, and the performance you can get from some light aircraft is surprising. As I tell them, for much less than the cost of a 200-series, you can buy a Mooney/Bonanza and have door to door times faster than paying $5,000 for a round trip for your family to Perth - and without having to deal with the muppets at airport security! A 9 hour drive becomes a 2H45M flight, etc etc. Sure it isn't RAAus, but it's a start!

Strewth, that'll teach me to proof-read my bloody posts... And now I cant even put them in the right order!

Following on from musings in the Qantas cadet thread, it got me wondering just how many young people are coming through the ranks who fly for fun. It seems to me that most recreational pilots are on the wrong side of the 50-60 age bracket, and there are not an awful lot of people taking up flying for their own enjoyment at the younger end of the spectrum. My personal opinion is people simply can't afford it if you want to own a house these days, but that was also my experience 20 years ago when learning to fly out of Toowoomba... So, that leads us to the poll above, to see just what sort of demographic we have here on the RecFlying forums...

If I've used the right calculators, a new C172P cost $34,000USD brand new in 1981. According to the RBA, the exchange rate was 91.75c/USD in 1983, which I've used as the conversion rate, so a new P-model would have cost $37,000AUD (I haven't updated the purchase price from '81-83 to give the benefit of the doubt to the Cessna...). Australian inflation since then works out to 214% or from $37000 ->$116,000AUD for a brand-new C172, excluding GST and import duties...According to several articles, you could buy a house for a smidgen over $80,000 in the early '80's, with an average annual income of $21,000, or a roughly 4:1 price/income ratio. In 2015 the average Sydney house price is now over $900K with an income of $78,000, or an 11.5:1 ratio. Based on a $37,000 172 and a $21,000 salary, a new 172 these days "should" cost around $137,000 AUD. The lack of disposable income - a direct result of rampant housing & cost-of-living increases - means most working people simply cannot afford luxuries like flying - particularly on an average salary around $80,000. It is only when you've been able to pay off your mortgage are you likely to be able to afford such luxuries.

Can't fly in a GA plane less than 30-40 years old at most aero clubs.Can't fly at my local airport without paying 600/hr for circuits IN MY OWN PLANE. Can't add an experimental EFIS to a certified plane without CAR21M EO, which leads to; Can't fly behind an EFIS at most aero clubs, stuck with antiquated vacuum gauges. Require TSO'd GNSS position source for ADS-B. Can't use Dynon/Garmin solutions for experimentals. Can't import a US plane at a reasonable price due GST being applied to landed cost and exchange rate. Can't buy a reasonably-priced NEW aircraft anymore, though this is a worldwide problem now... Airports closing, being sold off, or otherwise being rendered inaccessible due cost/insurance/admin issues. Can't owner-produce parts for certified aircraft. Can't owner-maintain certified aircraft for private ops. Can't access an RPT airport without an ASIC. Which you now have to renew in person....at whatever cost every 2 years. Can't get hangarage at reasonable rates at an awful lot of airports due council/owner/insurance costs stifling investment. And I'm sure others will have plenty more examples.

Of course it matters. Australian GA is dying - and has been for years. These students that Monash - and others - are training do not go on to fly in Australia, they bugger off back to their respective home countries and fly there. Additionally IMHO, there's a huge difference between the likes of these sausage factories with their international students and integrated courses that are propping up the movement figures, vs your average weekend warriors that either no longer fly themselves, or are not being replaced by the current Gen Y'ers and Millenials.Have a look at your average aero club - there aren't an awful lot of young folk coming through these days, most members seem to be at least 50 or older...And that's been the case since I first joined the DDAC 20 years ago! I reckon it'd be an interesting poll on RecFlying, if we asked everyone their age bracket.