KRviator

Today's Airspace closures... Temora (Class E), Mallee (Class E), Bathurst / Dubbo (Class E), Huon, (Class A,C & E), Hobart & Launy Approach (Class A,C & E).

These are some bloody big swathes of airspace that are now off-limits to VFR traffic. The one saving grace for areas such as Temora is the Class E LL is FL125 - but for the Dubbo area it is 8,500.
 

I just saw this on PPRune and given it could affect me in NSW, it's likely to have the potential to affect other fliers too.

TIBA stands for Traffic Info Broadcast by Aircraft, and is essentially when otherwise-controlled airspace becomes "uncontrolled". Not like when a MIL CTR closes or the ATCO at Tamworth goes home for the night and Class D becomes Class G, TIBA is stand-alone.

What does this mean for us though? Well, tomorrow morning, from 0600L - 1330L, the Class A, C, D and the Class E airspace in the Inverell and Gold Coast sectors (not geographical area) is going to become a TEMPO Restricted Area. You will need clearance to enter Class E even if VFR.

It Is listed in the relevant area 20 Notams, but it'd be very easy to miss, if you aren't paying attention, or if you are just going for a local jolly around the New England or Gold Coast areas and wouldn't need to consider anything more than your local AD notices typically. Given the use of TIBA to cover ATCO shortages is increasing, it'll pay to keep a close eye on Notams for your route, even if you never plan to enter Class C or D, given Class E is now off limits in these areas as well.

Thanks a lot, ASA. 

52 minutes ago, RFguy said:

seems there has been continuous change of this chapter in the AIPs

in 2017  there was a section descibed as "Limitation" .. - and it implied NO to my question -  IE that  you cannot cruise at FL110 if the upper boundary was FL110 for the day.

 

BUT !!!

but not in the 2022/- This has been replaced with TABLE 5 - B

 

Table 5 indicates that FL115 is available  unless QNH < 997
So this is different - ish
 

Could be because they're replaced that chapter with a pretty new graphic in the latest AIP? 

You can cruise at the Transition Altitude, or the Transition Level, but not within the Transition Layer.  AIP ENR 1.7.2.1.4

As you've already noted, the layer thickness may vary depending on actual QNH, which will affect whether you can cruise at FL110-FL130, but like, for example, where Class C overlays Class G at 8,500, you can cruise at 8,500 and you're still in G.

2 hours ago, CAV0K said:

I dont know anyone that uses iTunes to transfer anything. Use your icloud account and download icloud for windows. You should then be able to drag and drop as you see fit.

 

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/icloud-windows/icwddbc813bd/icloud

Never even knew that existed. But am I right from reading your post that it still has to be installed and you logged-in on the PC you're using it from?

That'd still limit me in a lot of situations, like work PC's that are software-managed by IT

Same for me, @Ian. I have an 11-year-old iPad 2 exclusively for OzRunways, but apart from the kids iPads everything else we own runs Android. I hate the Apple mentality of them deciding they know what's good for me and having to use Itunes to load anything onto it, rather than just plugging a USB cable into my laptop and doing the drag-and-drop.

I tried AvPlan on the iPad many years back and it was far too glitchy for me, but I would be prepared to give their Android version a go at some point in the future when my iPad eventually kicks the bucket.

Wiki says they only operate 164 of 'em now. 

Even if you assume they're replacing their entire fleet one-for-one, that's still a massive increase in capacity. Makes me wonder how many of them are firm orders vs options and the delivery timeframe.

Boeing must be spitting chips at losing that order, but given their ongoing problems with the Max and deliveries thereof, it's not entirely surprising...

I'd have preferred the ATSB to....suggest....that Vans do something about the longeron issue in sudden stops rather than fix what is essentially a piloting issue for the -A models.

There's been more than a few incidents of fatal injuries from relatively minor prangs caused by the longeron spreading aft of the seats, bringing the shoulder harness attach points forward, in turn  slackening the shoulder harness. The pilots torso the  pivots around the lap belt, the head hits the panel and theres your fatal injuries.

On my phone tonight or I'd link to some of the reports, but the -6A at Somerby and the -3 in Toowoomba both come to mind.

Does it have to be Rotax specific? Could you grab an oil cooler from Vans?

On 12/06/2023 at 8:38 PM, Blueadventures said:

Same person mentioned Plane Sales was $75-.  He has a current advert posted with Palne Sales.

I think I would personally avoid PlaneSales on principle now. They banned me from viewing their Feacesbook page after I commented on that Bellata Cirrus needing a significant amount of work a few months ago! 

Yep, there shouldn't be any duty payable on aircraft parts if they're clearly labelled as such. GST on price + shipping, yes, but not duty. Sure it wasn't GST you paid?

I won't post Pete's contact details publicly to avoid them being crawled and harvested by a bot, but they're listed in the Somersby (YSMB) ERSA entry. He's a good bloke, flies a Maule. 

If you're on the northern side (doesn't sound like if it you've asked at Wedderburn though!), you could give Peter a call at Somersby. It may be Short, one way and EFATO is likely to be painful to fatal, but may be an option. I loved my time there with the RV, very convenient for me and a good bunch of folks.

Came across this on PlaneSales tonight, a 2023 "TL Ultralight Sparker". Looks somewhat like a Sling, but what made me snort my cuppa over the keyboard was the price! $294,500 EUR - which works out to $483,000 AUD - and that's before delivery and GST, so you could say that is well north of $525,000 AUD....For a two-seat ultralight! I mean, C'mon, who's going to drop Cirrus (or an extremely nicely equipped RV-10) money on what is at the end of the day, an ultralight!??

You can easily put a -10 in the air for $300 to $400 for a beautifully equipped one, and the balance would buy a lot of Avgas. Or 98RON if you wanted to go that route. Is anyone actually buying these new-fangled things?

28 minutes ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

LTF, where did you hear about this? I regularly search the interweb for blocks for sale at Toc airpoart and only get the original Facebook advertising the council did. Without a Facebook account, I had no chance of seeing the original lots for sale, where of course, the Berrigan shire short changed their constituents and gave them away for a song.

 

I would be most interested in purchasing a block a Toc... or even a finished poroperty.

Looks like it sold normally with an agent listing it on Realestate.com. 15 Wirraway Ct, $285K.

And for those Scone blocks adjoining the airport, found out one's already sold, the other's listed for $347K. The other two adjoining residential properties recently sold for $800K (3x2, no shed) and $1.15M (5x3, + hangar-sized workshed) just two days apart last month!

The only way I've found is to have either FlightRadar or FlightAware receivers - or your own DIY ADS-B solution - at home. Their server will often block the public display of MIL TFC on their respective websites, but you can often see them when you log into the receiver directly. 

Of course, they (Ronny) also have a habit of running with their IFF off which makes sense in their training environment, so this is not a guarantee.

4 hours ago, derekliston said:

If you believe that airline pilots never stall their planes then you need to watch a few videos by Mentour pilot on Youtube! Most recent one I’ve seen was on television news ATR 72? and I’m sure at least half the membership of this forum would have seen it!

In their defence though, it's hard not to stall it when you shut down the wrong engine! 

Then there's the Dash at Buffalo, AF447 of course and a host more besides.. Hell, even GT's "Worlds safest airline", Qaintarse, came within a bees dick of stalling a perfectly good 747 in CAVU conditions entering the hold because they overwrote FMC speed and didn't monitor the PFD and injured a half-dozen pax and crew.

Doesn't seem to be easily available in Australia - typing it into Google only brings back Insurance policies, the Assurance providers are in the US or UK. I've certainly never heard of it before down here...

From my post over on 'Prune - a quick and dirty map of BP-only airfields around the country. Subject to corrections of course, and data pulled from the ERSA, and not confirmed or validated in any way...

I looked at it several years ago with a couple of insurers and both rejected it when I said I flew privately. Same thing, anything smaller than RPT and you're not covered. One of them (BT ? The default one from St George, anyway) had a clause to the effect of "I do not partake in any activities in the list of prohibited activities" and when I rang them up asking "Well, where's this list, it's not in your PDS" they replied "Oh, no, it's not. It's commercial in confidence, you tell us what activities you do, and WE will tell YOU if it is on the list" - they had no comeback when I said "Well, how can I avoid doing anything spontaneous or off-the-cuff if I don't know I won't be covered if you won't provide 'the list'". Arsehats.

Short answer is, if you fly recreationally, you've got little to no chance of finding life or income protection insurance at any reasonable rate.

1 hour ago, old man emu said:

Viva Energy has their own card: https://www.vivaenergy.com.au/business/aviation/aviation-fuel-card

True, but that won't work at Broken Hill or Moree, where it's an AirBP bowser (for example), and there's no other alternative. That's why the SkyFuel gig was so good, they held the accounts with BP / Viva (Shell) etc etc, and the suppliers charged them, and in turn they billed us (me). They were big enough for AirBP to bother with, but me in my RV who is lucky to use 1000L of BP AvGas a year isn't worth them even picking up the phone it seems.

So even if you stick with SkyFuel and have the Viva & WFS cards, you're still going to be SOL if you need to go somewhere like East coast -> Adelaide via BHI after hours.

Quote

I would imagine that it is simply due to the owner reaching retirement age and converting his business to retirement funding. You can't blame him for that.

Not at all. But I'm just disappointed as it is another nail in the coffin of GA. I get that Viva = Shell and Shell & BP are mortal enemies, but this seems like a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face. Sure, if there's a choice of bowser, Viva/SkyFuel would prefer you to use theirs, but where it's BP-only, well, what happens then? The flier doesn't use that airport, or doesn't fly that route at all because they can't get fuel.

And that does no one any good in the long run.

It's probably not a huuuge issue for most RecFlyer's who can refuel themselves, but I reckon there's enough out there for this to be a royal PITA, as BP are the only fuel supplier on the airfield...

Many years back I signed up with SkyFuel for their suite of fuel cards, so I could get motion-lotion wherever I needed it, no matter what bowser was installed on the airport. I've not long got an email basically saying Viva Energy has brought out SkyFuel, and WEF 01 July, all AirBP cards will be cancelled. If you want one, you'll need to go through AirBP directly". Which was kinda the problem - AirBP won't, or at least, doesn't want to deal with us plebs directly, hence the SkyFuel arrangement, which I always thought was the ducks nuts for private fliers.

Still, thanks to the staff at SkyFuel for their support and letting me get fuel pretty much anywhere I needed it over the years, it's just a shame your new owners don't want to deal with AirBP - or at leaast, have AirBP deal with us directly to benefit GA. But I guess we should be used to that in Oz, right?

Anyone have an alternative to the AirBP cards for their bowsers that won't accept credit cards and AirBP won't allow you to open an account?

1 hour ago, turboplanner said:

Before jumping off the deep end over a word I used, or the definition of its use, I would simply recommend reading what I posted earlier in the month because it was in very straightforward English and explained what has to be done to get approval.

UUhhh, what are you on about? I quoted OME not you?

The only things you have posted earlier in this thread relate to the AustRoads Commercial Standards, which don't apply as Sleep Apnoea is a disqualifying condition for the AustRoads Unconditional Commercial medical standards, which is required for the Basic Class 2. it matters not one whit whether you could obtain a Conditional licence medical, as the Basic C2 requires your health to meet the unconditional standards.

What is important though, is the qualifications contained within the AustRoads standards, for Sleep Apnoea "if the person has an established sleep apnoea syndrome (sleep apnoea on a diagnostic sleep study and moderate to severe excessive daytime sleepiness". OME has a diagnosis of Sleep Apnoea (presumably), but if there's no evidence of daytime sleepiness, then the threshold is not met and OME would meet the AustRoads standards unconditionally...

25 minutes ago, old man emu said:

Most GPs don't "manage" chronic conditions themselves. They send you to a specialist. If you think about it, that is a sensible way to do things. Your LAME, L2 doesn't do the calibration certification for your altimeter. It's sent to an instrument maker who is a specialist. Same for your avionics. 

 

However, since 2017, when Transport for NSW began asking for reports on my sleep apnoea, the same Respiratory Specialist has been "managing" my condition. That management consists of an annual download of the data from my CPAP machine and a quick look at it. Last time I got chipped for not using the machine every night, but since I wasn't driving buses, I was let off. So what makes CASA think that a DAME, who doesn't know me, nor has never been involved in my diagnosis nor reviews is "managing" my condition?

OME the DAME won't be managing your condition, he'll simply want to see reports from those that are managing your condition to determine it's risk "to the safety of air navigation".

So before you go to 'im (the DAME2) get the (or go and get a) report from your breathing quack to say "Yes, OME does have sleep apnoa, it's been and continues to be, successfully managed by the CPAP machine, for which I have read the automated reports of him using it appropriately and as such, as a breathing quack, I deem him safe". Will save you playing Doctor Ping between the DAME & specialist pong getting reports etc etc.

49 minutes ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

 ARO, your math says that a plane  engine has a failure once in a MILLION km, if flown at 100km/hr.

I reckon my cars have been less reliable than this.

Should buy the right car then! 😛

I had an old (1993) Patrol with the 4.2 diesel. Brought it from the father in law of a mate with about 250,000 on it. Did nothing to it mechanically except change the oils & filters, replaced the alternator and the seal on the fuel pump. Mostly highway driving initially, then medium (30km or so) distances around town. Drove it for about 50,000km with no speedo after the correction box failed. Fixed that, then sold it to a mate with 550,000km indicated on it (worst thing I ever did), and he's still driving it around 5 years later. If you assume an average speed of 40km/h, that car has over 16,000hours run time, and probably closer to 18-20 if you factor idle time as well with nothing done to the engine except consumables. No rings. No pistons, no gaskets, no new head.

Though in saying that, it did need me to pull over twice. Once was the throttle cable came out of the bracket after I'd forgetting to tighten the jam nut. Did it up finger tight, forgot to tighten it once I got back home and never had it happen again. And the plug fur the fuel solenoid must've wiggled lose, the engine just stopped dead. Coasted to the emergency bay, had a look, unplugged and reconnected it and she fired straight up and never had the same problem.

It was slow as all get-out, but you would get there. Wherever you were going.