KRviator

That's cool to watch. 

On 13/06/2022 at 6:57 PM, APenNameAndThatA said:

I can’t lie. I deduct points for wearing a flight suit. 3/10. 

Strewth I hope I don't pull up behind you at the bowser! 😁

There's no flight suit, but I do wear a tactical style vest loaded with survival goodies. The usual explanation for anyone curious enough to ask about it is "I'm flying in a plane that I built in my back shed! And I'd like to tip the odds in my favour if it goes to shit..."

Wouldn't mind putting a bid on the Cardinal, but I'm on shift so couldn't get it off-site in time...

And it has 2,600TSO and a prop that needs an overhaul in less than 100 hours too. No mention of the spar inspection either, for what is a fairly high-time airframe. If that doesn't pass, you've got a 2,000lb paperweight - replacements are rarer than unicorns!

On 03/05/2022 at 9:41 AM, MattP said:

That’s interesting, and funny that my spidey senses were tingling too, but I couldn’t put my finger on it, something just not right there. He’s stuck at the same point you are, logs / docs or lack thereof. 
 

 

@MattP how'd your mate go with this Deb? Still listed so I'm guessing he has passed on it as well, or did he dig deep enough that he found why she won't sell?

Question for those at Murwillumbah - VH-CDD a Comanche, looks to have been kept there, at one time or another last year. Anyone know of her up that way, and if she went for a swim? I think this is the one that has just been listed for sale and I'm thinking about making some enquiries about her, but this photo - and Murwillumbah's recent history concerns me...

Image courtesy or AustAirData.com.au and was taken 26/3/21.

And the dates are out for 2024...I've already checked my roster and I'm on RDO's - who else is going?

17 minutes ago, Thruster88 said:

I don't believe you would be able to maintain it yourself because it is not essentially the same as your build. Multi engine, retractable gear, hydraulic system etc. Ask the regulator some questions, I am sure you won't get a definitive answer.  🤔

I thought anyone could maintain an Experimental, you just couldn't sign off the 100-hourly? Will go check the latest CAsA Instrument and report back!

EDIT: 
Nope, T88 is correct as things stand now - unless I welded the downlocks in place and turned it into a fixed-gear, you need to meet one of the clauses in Instrument 18/22 to maintain it - so long as the aircraft are essentially similar, being defined as "not" essentially similar if:

if they are made of different materials; or
if 1 has retractable landing gear and the other has fixed landing gear; or
if 1 has electrically-powered landing gear and the other has hydraulically-powered landing gear; or
if 1 has electrically-powered flaps and the other has hydraulically-powered flaps.

But that looks like it'll change with CAsA proposing the following:

Quote

Who can performance maintenance of Amateur-built aircraft?
Any person may perform maintenance other than an annual condition inspection on an amateur-built aircraft. No licences or qualifications will be required under the legislation however the annual condition inspection may only be carried out by:

the holder of an AMT 2 or 3 certificate for the aircraft or one that is essentially similar (AMT 3 certificate only)
a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer (LAME)
an approved maintenance organisation (AMO).

Source

3 hours ago, facthunter said:

EXP VH is used by a lot of warbirds I think if that's what we are talking about here.

I think that's Experimental Exhibition, whereas CAsA shows this as Experimental Amateur Built. And I've no idea how anyone has achieved that with what is, really, at the end of the day a factory built aircraft.

Quote

You'll spend real money operating this kind of plane and none of these planes have serious anti icing if you get caught.  Nev.

Yep - and that fuel burn is enough to put me off for the performance you're going to get. Though the appeal of a heavy-lifting twin I could maintain myself does have a certain appeal, but whether or not it is enough to win when you look at the hard numbers and $$ to operatee, because lets face it, Avgas isn't getting any cheaper, remains to be seen.

Mini-Me and I flew up Friday arvo - after I flew home from work in the Pilbara to Sydney Thursday night and finding the car had a flat battery in the long-term carpark and the NRMA was 4 hours wait time (they actually arrived right on 2 hours), I finally got home around 0100 Friday morning. The KRviatrix graciously allowed me a sleep-in until 0930 and we were airborne around 1300 after topping off the RV at $2.85/L. Ouch...

4.0 hours start up to shut down via Narrabri, Gundi and Chinchilla, with only a few occasional clicks of the HDG bug to go around clouds we'd made it to Raglan. However, I did forget to tape over the air vents and with an OAT well into the single digits, it was just a little bit cold at 8,500 (LESSON 1 - Tape over the vents earlier in the year)...Landed, taxied to parking over in the back row near the tractor pull and threw out the swags before heading over for the roast dinner. (LESSON 2 - take your chairs for this, saves sitting on the grass, and you'll be more comfortable if you decide to stay for the music & beers)

Dinner and a Bundy later, we headed back to the plane and Mini-Me has inherited my 20 year old swag and so climbed in and promptly fell asleep, so I got the new one we'd not long ago brought - and it was about here I remembered we had brought a junior swag, for Mini-Me Mk1....So here's me at well over 6' trying to get comfy in a swag meant for a kid who tops out at 5'. Dozed off, slept through the Saturday wakeup call and eventually pulled the swag back to reveal a very dewy, very cold RV. Dressed and went down to have a look at the tractor pull, Mini-Me wanted a choccy thickshake for breakfast, as you do, so he got that, and we went for a walk up the hill to take in the birds-eye view.

Came back down and went to look at the Albatross and ran into an old mate from 173 Squadron that I hadn't seen in nearly 20 years, we both knew we'd be there as she's a local and I'd been trying to get to Raglan for years, so it wasn't a total surprise, but it wasn't explicitly planned either, so we caught up for an hour or so, Mini-Me and her kids played well together, they liked the RV and I got a heads up about the 6AM "wakeup call", so when it happened Sunday morning, I wasn't as surprised...We thought we'd top off the tanks today to allow an early getaway Sunday as we had to be home around Sunday lunchtime to drive to Newcastle that afternoon, so did a quick circuit, refuelled and headed back to our parking spot and then walked back over the northern side with the camp chairs in tow. I do like the Raglan runway though... The two smoothest landings I've done in a long time were made there, and right in front of a bunch of spectators. Though my chances of getting a hat-trick are slim indeed, I reckon...

Had a look through the bikes & trucks, and then picked out a good spot for the air display before hooking into some steak burgers from the school P&C (VERY good!), then a look through the markets, dinner (Another steak burger) and dessert were had while we watched the fire twirlers & fireworks before heading back to pack up what we could and then into bed.

6AM came and went with that big-asre explosion, so up and (eventually) out of the warm swags, rolled them up and put them away, left one sleeping bag out to tuck away on top so we could pull it out on reaching cruising altitude then off for breakfast. B&E rolls from the P&C - again, quite nice - then a longish wait for a hot chocolate for Mini-Me and we headed back to depart. On the plus side, we got to see at least a dozen other fliers depart, as well as the Albatross go out and return.

Wheels up around 0830 and we set course for NSW. Up to 9,500, the KLN-90 feeding the Dynon its' flightplan, GPSS & ALT modes selected on the autopilot and we settled in for the trip home, VFR-on-top for about an hour north of the border, before clearing to scattered clouds in northern NSW then thickening again around the Hunter, necessitating a steepish descent through a couple of gaps then a more gentle descent to keep Mini-Me's ears happy, even though we could have stayed high then done a rapid descent straight to the runway, with the weather camera showing CAVU skies within the 15 mines around home. Tucked the plane to bed, had lunch then into the car to go to Newcastle. Around 8.5 hours of flying, nearly 2,000km and perhaps $700 in fuel, food and drinks for what was a great weekend.

The flight north, pretty much like this the entire way there. Apart from one big-arse cloud just north of Narrabri where we looked at it and went "Nope!"

BYO Device, but Netflix was the order of the day.

First time camping with the plane. Next time, I'll get a lightweight tent over the swags I think.

The roast dinner / bar / live music area.

I think they said they had around 130 planes there on the Saturday. You can see they're probably no far off!

And several thousand campers tooo

With many more still queueing to get in when we did our lap!

 

I've got a Lego one just like this!

The ground is down there, somewhere...Glad I have the KLN-90!

Still bloody cold on the way home, but this time we had the sleeping bag around us! 😛

Just now, Yenn said:

You need to look at the certificate of registration, to see what restrictions are place on that aircraft. It could be that it cannot be used fro what you want to do with it.

Good point @Yenn - I was thinking about just what OpLims the AP would have mandated. Even if it is just PVT VFR or PVT IFR that'd suit me as I can do my twin training in it and fly the family. There's no interest in charter or having her online at a school. The other thing I was thinking was whether she'd have the CAR 262 approval for "flight over built up areas", though with two type-certified engines I can't see why she wouldn't have it...

So in my ongoing search for a suitable 4-seater, I came across this a few days ago on PlaneSales...
 

Quote

"1966 Piper Aztec Bitzer Experimental

Twin Engine Bitzer Piper Aztec (Experimental) - VH-EBT aircraft. Always hangared. Quick reliable travel for 6 adults plus baggage.

Contact: Dave (040 385 3396, [email protected])

https://ninelima.org/bitzer/

Total Time (TTIS): 4400 hrs, Engine1: 600 hrs, Engine2: 600 hrs

Airframe number: 27-3859"

Now, VH-EBT (apart from being a 747 in years gone by) does show as "Amateur built" on the CAsA register, with (presumably) an "Experimental" CoA to go with it. Given the SAAA is pretty clear on shenanigans such as this (thou shall not do it, kinda thing) - and someone has taken CAsA to the AAT before about trying this on (and lost) can someone perhaps educate me just how this particular Aztec has been issued an Experimental-AB CoA?

From what I can see online, she was originally registered in Seth Effika as ZU-BIY, so I'm guessing it was redone over there and then imported here under the category, but I'm truly at a loss as to how an AP could issue an Experimental (Amateur Built) CoA.

Apart from the fuel flow (21GPH @ Econ Cruse / 155KTAS or 28L/100km compared to the RV's 10L/100km), I'm seriously interested in it, as I could maintain her myself and only require a Condition Inspection from a LAME, and she'll carry full fuel (144 USG) 4 adults, and their bags a longish way - but how many LAME's would sign off on such a bird is my question?!? And what would the chances be of "someone" in CAsA revoking the CoA and leaving you with a 5,000lb, twin engine paperweight?

13 minutes ago, CAV0K said:

Thanks everyone,

 

So regarding maintenance, if you build you can do all the maintenance yourself or choose to use a LAME, however if you buy factory built (new or secondhand) you must use a LAME?

 

Also if you were to buy a factory built aircraft, but second hand, and I wanted to upgrade the avionics, could I do that myself?

 

Thanks again 

Build it yourself, Experimental VH- or RAAus = Can maintain it yourself.
Buy a Factory RAAus aircraft = Can maintain it yourself if not used for hire/reward
Buy a second-hand RAAus aircraft = Can maintain it yourself if not used for hire/reward
Buy a second-hand VH-Experimental = Must use LAME (Or original builder UNLESS you have previously built a "similar" aircraft - ie I built my RV-9A. I can sell it, and buy a second-hand RV-10, Sonex, or other metal Experimental and maintain it myself. I cannot buy a second-hand Long-Ez, Jabiru 430 or Velocity, nor anything with folding feet from memory)

Buy a Factory (new or second-hand) VH-aircraft = Must use LAME

Pretty sure for the avionics upgrade you mention, under RAAus because it is factory built, you ned to do the MARAP process - but I've since left RAAus so am not 100% on it. 

To modify a factory-built VH- aircraft you'll need a LAME to do it, either under an Engineering Order, or an STC.

My money's on space junk - but part of me wants to know just how dense that tiny bit of metal is that it punched through the roof and the ceiling and then took a chunk out of the tile floor too! Whatever it is must've been really moving!

RecFlyers: I saw on FB that Upper Hunter Council has their new Operational Plan out for public comment, which incorporates the landing (and other) fee structure for Scone Airport - Pages 323 & 324 have the airport fees... Tell you what, you wouldn't want to be going there for a weekend! ~$25 landing fee and around $75 in parking if you stayed for 48 hours with an average bug-smasher.. $100 before you've spent a dollar in town I think is pretty pi$$ poor.

You might also care to note that Upper Hunter Council also provide - at no charge - 48 hours free camping for caravanners only a few minutes walk from the centre of town, complete with a dump point, for any Grey Nomads. Again, why is one lot of tourists actively supported with no-cost facilities yet others aren't?

For anyone that wants to put their two bob in, either email [email protected] or go via snail-mail to: General Manager, PO Box 208, Scone NSW 2337.

Here's what I'm submitting, so feel free to copy, paste and tweak it as required - but for fuxake please put something in to try to put a stop to these ongoing bloody fees. It only takes one Council to abolish landing fees for private fliers that'll in turn provide an example to others.

 

Quote

I am writing to oppose the proposed fee structure for Scone Memorial Airport, as contained in Council's proposed DPOP.

It is observed Council proposes to carry over casual landing and parking fees for visiting aircraft, with slight increases commensurate with inflation.

I cannot support landing or fees for light "general aviation" (GA) aircraft, that is, the type often owned and flown by visiting private pilots and that typically weigh less than 3,500Lbs / 1,500Kg. These aircraft would be subject to a landing fee in the $20-25 range for each landing in addition to a parking fee of approximately $75 should they spend two days in Scone before returning home leading to over $100 in "Council fees" just to visit town as a tourist.

It is noted Scone does not currently have metered parking for residents or visitors to town, not any toll or "entry fee" to town for visitors arriving by road, such as the 'Grey Nomads" in their 4-Tonne Landcruiser towing a 3.5-Tonne caravan, indeed Upper Hunter Shire Council even provides camping and sewage dump point facilities completely free of charge to these visitors, to encourage such tourists to the region, and I applaud Council for doing so.

However, your attention is drawn to commentary on pilots forums PPRuNe1 and RecreationalFlying2 where visiting pilots clearly state they actively avoid airports that charge a landing fee, either through being made to feel unwelcome when compared to caravanners, or finding 'better value' in visiting a town whose airport is free to use.

When viewed against airports such as Temora or Narromine, it is observed neither of these airports charge fees, yet both offer far superior facilities than that found at Scone, ie Temora has multiple runways, their Aviation Museum has child-friendly play areas, there is accommodation available on the airport for pilots and their passengers in addition to the Museum itself being superior to Hunter Warbirds in terms of facilities, physical size and the provision flying days, as well as the number and nature of aircraft on display. Narromine, like Temora, offers more flexibility in terms of runways, has both a gliding club and aero club on the field as well as an aviation museum and accommodation located on the airport.

When considering how we may attract visitors to both Hunter Warbirds or Scone itself, who naturally have a choice of what town they visit, it is noteworthy to consider that for a pilot taking off from Bankstown, Scone is 25 minutes closer than both Temora or Narromine (using a cruise speed of 140Knots), however, the addition of landing and parking fees renders Scone the more expensive town to visit, especially when one considers that once you land at Scone, there are few transport options into town, unless you are already aware of the taxi's operating hours, or Upper Hunter Rideshare, you will be forced to walk several km into town.

In short, the extension of landing and parking fees for visiting aircraft renders Scone Airport both uncompetitive in a financial sense, and unwelcoming in a tourist sense, to visiting recreational pilots and their passengers. However, it must be noted that I do not oppose, and in fact actively support, landing and parking fees for aircraft that are registered to a commercial entity, for they are using a Council asset in the course of their business and as such, should be expected to reimburse Council. But for aircraft below 3,500Lbs and registered to an individual, I urge Council to scrap the landing and parking fees as a way of attracting more visitors to the region. What little money Council would lose in landing fees from such an endeavour would be more than made up by the increase in income to local businesses.

In closing, I draw your attention to Cr R. Campbell's comments from the December 2020 Ordinary Council Meeting where he said emphatically stated "We want this airport to be used much much more in the future, and if we're going to just, just do it uh and then just think we haven't had a strike here since whatever it was we're looking back, let's look to the future, we want as many planes as can come in more planes in the future that's going to make it the usage of the airport much more worthwhile."

Abolishing landing fees for privately-owned GA aircraft would go a long way towards achieving this, with the attendant benefits for the town as a whole.

Sincerely,
The KRviator.

1. https://www.pprune.org/pacific-general-aviation-questions/646418-unfriendliest-airport-ga-australia.html
2. https://www.recreationalflying.com/topic/37859-recreational-aircraft-landing-fees-feedback-needed-please

On 02/05/2022 at 4:22 PM, extralite said:

If i had a criticism it would be they are a bit boring to fly. Like a Prado of the skies.  Airborne, put on autopilot, kick back until you arrive.

Ain't nothing wrong with a Prado. 😁

We had a 2020 200 Series Sahara with all the ARB gear and after a year of being thoroughly unimpressed with pretty much everything except its' torque & the traction control offroad, we pissed it off and got the KRviatrix a 2021 Prado VX. SSSoooooo much nicer to drive, is quieter, carries half the fuel of the 200 did but will go just as far, with the only downside being we lost 500Kg of towing capacity. And I can talk to the bloody infotainment system. That's something the sales rep never tells you about the 200 Series, bloody arseholes. Spend a hundred grand on a car and you can't talk to it.🤬

Though now I've been relegated to the Suzuki Swift for town runs! 

43 minutes ago, MattP said:

@KRviator just curious if you ended up hearing any more on the debonair? A friend was looking and mentioned it, along with the fact he’s tried with the broker to get basic details and hasn’t received response. It rang a bell and I did a search on here, and voila!

 

Given it’s been up for about a year or so you’d think they’d be keen to move it?

@MattP I did yes, I briefly spoke to the owner a few months back, and again, he's not going to sell it for a dollar less than $100K even though the broker has listed it at $99K. No documents or logs are available to be sent electronically, they're held with the LAME, in Tocumwal, IIRC - so I called him and had an....interesting....discussion.

Apparently he is quite reluctant to send any documents or really assist in anything like that as he's "been in strife" for putting people off the plane somehow. He wouldn't clarify how he's managed to do that, but shortly after that discussion I had my Covid booster and the following day wound up in hospital for 3 days and off flying for a few weeks so didn't do any more follow-ups after that.

If everything checked out, it would probably be a good plane, but there's enough red flags raised so far that I've moved on now. If the broker and owner aren't going to so much as lift a finger to help a potential buyer, then go straight to the next one, IMHO. If your mate is still interested, impress on him something doesn't sit well with me about it, or she'd be in my hangar already. I can't explain what it is, but there's something there. The lack of assistance (trying to hide something maybe?), the near total lack of communication (Not really for sale?), the LAME 'getting in strife' for putting people off the plane, or just general disinterest, I dunno, but my spidey senses were tingling. 

By contrast, when I do find my next plane and list my RV, the attached PDF (Haven't fully finished it yet) will be online or emailed to anyone who wants it to help them decide. It doesn't take long to do up something similar, but if you want to sell your plane and are asking 6 figures or more, for fuxake put a bit of effort in.

Let us know how your mate goes anyway. It's a shame as she does look in good nick from the photos, but what's in the logs, or more importantly, isn't in the logs, might tell a different story...

Version 1 PDF.pdf

All I can think about is at 7:50 taxiing over the cane railway and emulating Ansett and their DC-3 by running into the side of a train! 

Tell you what though, as a train driver I'd love to be based there looks to be a gorgeous spot. And those cane trains are kinda cute compared to what I normally work.

2 minutes ago, extralite said:

Somewhere in Canberra is a bunch of shiny suited bureaucrats having meetings thinking they are doing an important job preventing terrorism by coming up with this rubbish.

But can't you see they have prevented a terrorist attack with the ASIC!  No one has flown a plane into a building in Australia since the ASIC was introduced. The ASIC works! 

Of course, we'll leave aside the fact that more people die on our roads every Christmas holiday period than have been killed by terrorists in Australia since Federation, and as a nation we're willing, indeed happy to accept 30-40 odd deaths each Christmas and over 1,000 every year for the convenience of the motor car.

51 minutes ago, RossK said:

Hmmm

Stuck in Salt Lake Clay

Yep, I was going to link to that one too.

Taking a leaf from the C182 POH "If it fits, it flies" I'm getting ready early, as I'm away in the Democratic Peoples Republic of McGowanland in the lead-up to Raglan (for the first time in 11 months, mind you 🤬), by test packing now before I get home from my swing and run out of time.

So, in the back of the RV we now have:

One folding camp table

Two full-size swags

Two folding camp chairs

Two adult sleeping bags

One bag of tie-down gear

One fly-away kit

One (normally fitted anyway) first aid kit

Two umbrellas

One head lamp

QTY Cyalume sticks and;

Books for Mini-Me to read enroute

To still go on top are

2 pillows

Soft overnight bag

My normal flight bag

2 hats & sun cream

Probably more as I think of it.

8 minutes ago, Paul W said:

G'day mate,

Tell me more about Raglan please.

Raglam (aka "The Old Station Fly-in") is a must-do on any aviators calender.

I've not been, but have wanted to go for several years and with Covid cancelling it last year and the death of one of their founders the year before, IIRC, this is the first time in 3 or so years it's been back on. Basically it's a huge drive- and fly-in for anything that can fly, on-field camping or under wing camping is encouraged, licenced bar, organised entertainment at night, truck & vintage car displays, all in all a great weekend - and all you pay for entry is $25 per plane!

Their website. And for the more youthful members, their Facebook page.

The below image courtesy of the Old Station flying club gives a bit of an idea as to how many people and planes you can expect.

I built my RV-9A and the kit quality was of a standard there were precisely three calls back to the mothership asking for advice. One was where I was having a blond moment and had my mental image of the assembly 180* out, the other was where I (had another blond moment and) drilled the canopy screwholes one size too big and wanted to confirm it'd be fine (it was), and the third was seeking the ok for a reinforcing plate over a rudder mount that I'd stuffed up, from memory.

The -9A would handle the 760Kg MTOW without an issue, with mine now weighing 472Kg fully equipped with dual EFIS, ADS-B, dual axis AP etc etc...That gives full fuel (135L), two x 85Kg adults and 22Kg of baggage and the legs to fly a full 4.5 hours at 140KTAS with reserves intact.

IF you even think you want an RV, put a deposit down now, as the Vans lead time is 10 months for most model tail kits, 12 months for the slow-build kits and out to more than 18 months for QB kits! FWIW, I worked out how much it'd cost to build my -9 "as I did" a few months ago. Even before the "covid tax" that hit shipping and the like, the replacement cost was $195,000.  

IF you plan to build, do what I did. Don't even think about the $$$, just keep spending them until you're ready to fly and then work out how much it cost. It's less painful that way!

@Paul WGreat write-up, and pretty much mirrors my commentary at PPRune. I would really like to go to Birdsville with the KRviatrix as a "one of those things you've gotta do" type events, but theres buckleys chance if I'm going to be stung $200 in landing fees, a carton of beer in parkin fees, and still have to hump our gear a mile or so to the riverside camping area and then have to pay to get in to the event itself or for other thigns there. 

I'd rather go to Raglan where they (almost) frown upon aviators who don't camp under their wing! And you're with a hundred or more other fliers who are actively welcomed to the event. I'm counting down the days till it's on again this year so Mini-Me (2) and I can take the RV up for our first time. We (tried) to get a deal on a lightweight tent at the Rosehill camping show yesterday (without success) so am going to resort to mail-order...I think I could squeeze our swags in the RV so that's the other option.

56 minutes ago, PapaFox said:

Yes, the aviation security status check must be current as per Aviation Transport Security Regulations 2005, section 6.55

Because why use the term ASIC or AVID or even "valid" when "security designated authorisation" and "aviation security status check"  will do? Fuck me. 

PF wins the choccy frog though, there's the reference I couldn't find. Well done. 

But when you actually look at the regulations, I can find no mention of an AVID...And the ASIC requirement is all geared towards security controlled airports, etc as you would expect. Probably another example of what CAsA thinks the rules say, and what they actually say...