Nightmare

Caboolture Airfield is Growing nicely, have they finished the clubhouse yet? The weather has kept me grounded on my days off lately.

I'm happy with my LSA55. She is my first aircraft. She cruises at 95-100kts with fuel burning at 12-15L/hr, 65L tank. Maintenance costs are not bad. She handles and lands well and looks great. I like to take passengers up so I struggle a bit in that department, with a usable weight of only 181kg. My passengers have to weigh 55kg or less or I have to start going with less fuel. But 3.5hrs of endurance at 100kts, I can do some serious touring with that, single seater with 55kg of baggage . I only just purchased it a few months ago, so many of my adventures are still in the future, but so far, so good. Prior to purchasing my plane, I was a bit dubious about the Jab engines, but I have grown to love and respect it. Like with any engine, you have to look after it and treat it how it is supposed to be treated, and it will repay the favour. Tony

I used to work at the prison at Woodford, it can get a little hectic there at times. Tony

The township of Woodford is about 12nm NW of Caboolture in Queensland. It has one of Australia's largest prisons there. Not sure if this is still current, but about 10 years ago it was the largest prison in the southern hemisphere....Tony

Hi and welcome Hughesy. All my instructors have been around that age, so I doubt you will find it difficult finding a good one in your area. Shop around, meet the people at the flying schools and have a chat with them. Even have a TIF(Trial Introductory Flight) with one or two to see how everything feels for you. Check out the RAAus website for flying schools in your area. Costs? Expect to pay from $200 to $250 per hour. Lessons usually run about an hour. I generally took my lessons at the rate of a lesson per week, or one per fortnight. Any longer and I found I was playing catch up too much. It's all competency based so you'll get your RPC when you are ready. You need to pass 5 exams as you progress through your training, but relax, it is all awesome! I had so much fun plowing through my flight training. I can vouch for the Jabiru's. I just purchased a LSA55. She is easy and fun to fly, and economical to run. I hear similar about the Savannahs. Keep us up to date with your progress... Cheers, Tony

Hi and welcome Crispin! Interesting machines those Gyrocopters. I saw one or two operating at Woolongong when I was there earlier this year. But can't recommend anyone to teach you in that area sorry, I'm from Queensland, but you will get heaps of good suggestions from people in the know, I'm sure. Tony

Hmmmm (the sound of pmccarthy's aircraft overhead). Is that rain falling from the sky? Tony

I always assume everyone is a very well trained pilot on here. We have passed the necessary exams and underwent the many required training hours under instructors who are very competent at what they are teaching, to attain our pilot certificate or license. As we all know, that is no easy feat. From that bench mark I respect my fellow pilots and their competence. My opinion of them goes up or down from that point, depending on what they do. It is my belief that a "brain dead" person, or person not considering safety, could not pass their certificate or license, as the adherence to safe flying practices, aka, good airmanship, is very much part of the curriculum of the competency based training that we did. You'd have to achieve that after you gain your qualification and experience, and I believe you would have to work damn hard to get to "brain dead" after such an achievement, considering how much safety, and good airmanship, is drummed into us during our training. Also reinforced by the fact that one little mistake or omission may result in our demise, makes me more inclined to practice good airmanship and not to forget our safe flying practices, that I have learned. These lessons were often learned from the blood of aviators who have gone before us. Tony

I still think flight planning stops every 2 hours is the better option.

Very, very sad. We were all hoping for a different outcome. My condolences to Ian's family and friends. RIP

Mind you, if you had the call of nature, I think you'd appreciate the faster cruise speed. I hate those other "in flight options" available to us .

Hi and welcome SLB I completed my XC endorsement (also RPC) about 9 months ago. It was a steep learning curve, but it was a whole lot of fun, and well worth it! Cheers, Tony

as far as I'm aware, that would only hinder you if you were going for a RPL or PPL, but not necessarily RPC through RAAaus. If you are fit enough to drive a car you are fit enough to fly. However there are some conditions still that would be a problem and these are listed in the Ops Manual. You can find this manual on the RAAus websiteTony

Hi and Welcome Robert! I see you're a fellow Jab owner, I have its smaller cousin, the LSA 55, great aircraft to fly. Where do you fly out from? I've flown over Woodford a few times, and I worked there in the past. it's a nice part of the world. Cheers, Tony

Cool, I'll have a chat with a LAME about this. I'll be doing this within the next few days.

I looked at the sky early in the afternoon and thought, it'd be nice up there. So I took a nice de-stressing afternoon flight today around Watts Bridge and the Scenic Rim

Hi and welcome DC16. It's an awesome experience getting your RPC and XC. It gets better as you progress. It's good to have your son on board as well. Keeps us up to date on how you are progressing. Cheers, Tony

G'day Luke, Make sure you tell us how you go. Tony

I'm not planning on doing any big XC flights for a little while, until I am confident everything is good, and I think it is. I went for a couple of touch and goes the day after the incident and all was good.

The time it took from the start of the base leg to landing it. As soon as I saw the pressure at zero, I set the power to idle, and made the turn, attitude to best glide. As soon as I was near taxi speed, I was exiting the field and shut down as soon as I was just off the taxiway. It felt like seconds, but it was probably between 1 and 2 minutes. I couldn't have had a better place for this issue to happen, being at the end of the downwind leg, except maybe on the ground...Tony

Hi and welcome Ashbell. Warrior or Jab? If economics are a factor, I can vouch for the Jabs. At 15L to 20L /hr fuel flow, low servicing costs. I get about 13L/hr in my LSA. But it is a light aircraft, useable weight at 181kg. The J160 is a bit the same with full tanks, you are limited as to your Pax's and cargo weight. The J170's are the way to go if you want to take a pax with full tanks who is not anerixic. Cheers, Tony

I guess I also told him this was my very first service in my first aircraft that I purchased at the end of February this year.

I would've thought L2's, not just the one I used, but the other 2 different L2's who were servicing the aircraft would've picked up on that.Interesting that the manual states the word "should" and not "must"

I'm sure those questions may be raised and investigated due to my report I did to RAAus. He said that it was just something to watch as the new oil settling into all the leads and other places that a running engine would make the oil go, or words to that effect. He also advised me to check the level when I got back to my home field, and said I'd probably need to top it up a bit for the same reason.I tell you, this event shook my confidence in flying a little. However, I did a couple of circuits the next day. Cheers Tony

It must've been a non-pressurized return line, it was a rubber hose fitted over a lug, held on with a standard hose clamp, appearing to be the type commonly used to hold on radiator hoses on cars.