Powerin

Yes DB, I agree, it's very loose isn't it...although I guess I fly the same Eaglet as you do at Wagga so it may be just that aircraft. Lots of things to like about the Tecnams but I dislike the handbrake setup on both Eaglet and Sierra. Too easy to make a mistake. Primitive though it is, the locking catch on the Jabiru's brake is better IMHO.

Hi all, As yet I haven't been tempted to post about my flying training as I've made reasonable (and fairly uninteresting) progress so far. Until my last lesson. Most of my training has been done in the low wing Tecnam Sierra and, being an easy aircraft to fly, I've had no trouble learning in it and loved flying it. Then, for various reasons, we swapped over to the high wing Eaglet for a few lessons. The Eaglet is a faster and more slippery aircraft and it took a bit to get used to the different characteristics. But after a couple more lessons doing circuits in the Eaglet my instructor, for better or worse, said "another session like that and you'll be going solo". I went to the next lesson feeling good but I don't think I was over-confident. I was happy to take things as they came. This time it was back in the Sierra and that's when it all went pear shaped. I just couldn't fly the thing. Takeoffs and circuits were sloppy, base turns were too late, approach speed and height were all over the place and I couldn't get the flare right. For the first time in my training my instructor had to take over one of my landings. Part of it was flying a different aircraft again, but mostly it was me and I don't really know why. I left the airport feeling fairly despondent. That was back in early December and since then we've been flat out on the farm with a long and difficult harvest. But today it was finally time to get back into flying. I must admit to feeling a bit apprehensive. As I left my wife said to me to forget the last lesson and have fun. Seeing it was nearly eight weeks since my last lesson I practised my radio calls and downwind checks on the 80km drive to Wagga airport. When my instructor suggested we get back into circuits I decided to follow the advice of some wise members here and asked if we could just go for a fly instead, so I could get the hang of things again. That was fine and I headed out to check over the plane. I opened the door into the school's hangar and sitting there was a shiny new Tecnam Twin. Cool! I drooled over this for a little while (I want one!) and then continued outside to preflight the trainer...back into the Eaglet this time. (I usually drool over the company's R44 helicopter that also lives in that hangar). I spotted an ever-so-slightly loose aileron counterweight on the walk around and after we tightened this up we headed over to the bowser to fuel up, parking near a Chieftain that had just filled up. A group of happy sounding blokes helped the pilot push the Chieftain back and then piled into it and headed off as I was filling the Eaglet. Then it was my turn and off we flew into a cloudless sky. Takeoff was OK, concentrated on keeping the runway centre line, 1000ft (300ft AGL) flaps up, still concentrating, and then comes a gentle reminder from the instructor....climb speed needs to be faster than that......that little black ball needs to be closer to the centre than that...and we're at 1300ft - time to turn Xwind. Oh well....it's been a while since I've done this. Headed to the training area climbing to 4000ft and then the FI says "do what you like". So I just spent half an hour turning and circling, climbing and descending and generally having a look around. It was fun and a good reminder of why I'm learning to fly. Back to the airport, joined mid-downwind, remembered the downwind checks, made the radio call and turned base in good time, pulled the throttle, bled off speed, flaps down and started the descent. Time to turn final and the runway picture looks good.....should be able to glide it in. Bit far right after the turn but not too bad, I remind myself that the Eaglet cowl is higher than the Sierra and choose an aiming point on the runway. Bit of throttle to arrest some sink, bit of dancing around in some turbulence, flare feels good, look at the end of the runway and we're down.....a lot sooner than I was expecting but still smooth. Phew! I can still land an aeroplane! I left the airport feeling a lot better and ready for next time. I can highly recommend just going for a fly when you hit the wall in training....and I'm told everyone hits the wall at some stage. Peter

Merry Christmas everyone. Thank you to all the members here for your wisdom and humour over the past year. And a special thanks to three members - JG3, Ahlocks and Tomo - who all took me for a fly this year and helped motivate me to start on the learning to fly journey! Peter

Ahhh...it's so nice to be amongst like minded people (nerds?) Sounds like you are doing well with Ubuntu win!

Thanks Motz...that was brilliant. You should write training manuals! I found that method easy to follow, easy arithmetic and so elegant...and as a student I know nothing of navigation yet. The only thing that worries me is that the pic of your daughter is on your other left.....:big_grin: Peter

I know exactly what you mean!

Iggy's thinking of coming to Wagga??

Reading the Arion Lightning newsletter today. There's details of a guy who's made mods to the Jab 3300 airbox (just a splitter vane I think) and seen marked improvement in EGT spreads. He has graphed the before and after temps. Details and pics here: http://www.flylightning.net/images/pdf/Newsletter%203-12.pdf near the end. This may be old news to most of you.

Here's the section on reporting accidents and incidents from the Ops manual: http://www.raa.asn.au/opsmanual/4-08.pdf And from the AIP ENR: http://www.airservices.gov.au/publications/current/aip/enr/114_1-10.pdf The relevant legislation looks like it comes from the Transport Safety Investigation Act. I'll let someone else find it in CARs if it's there

Do you get to test the airstrip after you finish it? :big_grin: Good luck and safe travels.

Well done Darks...an inspiration to those of us who deign to follow in your footsteps (or is that fly in your wake?).

Sounds like a good case for limiting consecutive terms then. But sometimes changing a constitution to fix a particular problem at a particular time can backfire later. What if you get a great board, that's working well, only to have half the members leave because of this rule? But maybe that's the risk you have to take to fix things. The constitution allows for the removal of any board members at any time. The process is the same....you get 5% members to support the calling of a general meeting and a resolution needs to be passed by members votes. However, you would only need more than 50% of the votes to pass the resolution. You need 75% to change the constitution.

I think Bas is probably right. Changing the constitution may not help. But here's some thoughts on the proposed changes for what they're worth: 1. The constitution already says the secretary should give minutes to the "Editor" for inclusion in the mag [section 25 (vi)]. (Does this happen? Has it ever happened?) Rather than putting a new rule in the constitution, I would perhaps amend 25(vi) to have the 30 day time limit. Bear in mind that in the future any of the "suggested" media may cease to exist. 2. Two sets of financials per year may not show much more than one and will cost more to prepare. How about getting the audited financials for the previous year and the treasurers proposed budget for the coming year circulated to members? This should give a reasonable indication of how things are going. 3. I suggest either you set a limit of consecutive terms or you don't. If you have exemptions for the chair or for when there are no other nominations then nothing will change and the rule just becomes confusing. Even now there are rarely any other nominations. Note also that the chairperson is elected each year by the board members. So there is never any guarantee of the continuity of any chairperson's position anyway. You have to trust your elected board members to choose wisely. 4. If you have electronic transfer of voting forms you have to rely on office staff to spend more time collecting votes from various mediums, verifying their authenticity, printing them out as hard copy, adding them to the proxied votes and correctly delivering them all to the returning officer who counts the votes. This may cause more problems and cost than it saves. I don't think it is up to a constitution to say what is cost efficient and what is not. It will change over time. Perhaps it is more relevant to have a convenient voting system which results in members bothering to vote...whatever it costs. My humble opinions only. I applaud your efforts so far. More of us should do the same if we believe the board is not serving our best interests!

I can't see that section 36 prevents anyone from being sent a copy of the books. It does however ensure one method by which any member can view them: 36. Inspection of books. The records, books and other documents of the Association shall be open to inspection at a place in the ACT, free of charge, by a Member of the Association on request at any reasonable hour.

By the way pembs....I wasn't meaning "you" personally in the above post. Sorry if it seemed that way. As for your proposed constitutional changes I think they look good in principal and good on you for taking the time to try and change things. Peter

What it comes down to is this: if you believe your board, or part thereof, is not acting in your interests then you kick them out. You can do this at the next election, or sooner if you can get enough members to support you. However, as I have noted in other threads, we have recently had an election. In this election only ONE of the available positions was contested (in Vic.). So the rest of the available board positions were automatically given to the one person that put up their hand to serve in the position. In the Victorian election, where there was more than one candidate, there were 372 votes counted. I would guess that means only 10-20% of Vic members bothered to vote. If you really want to change things you need to vote in the elections. And you need to put your hand up for election to the board. It is a volunteer position and you need to travel to Canberra a few times a year. It takes time and commitment...especially if you are president, treasurer or secretary. It will then be your responsibility to plan and run the board meetings, or to make sure the finances of a multi million dollar association are correct and audited, or to write up the minutes of meetings and ensure they are promulgated to members in a timely and financially responsible manner. You need to do this in your own time for free. All of this does NOT excuse a poorly performing board. But by my reading of the ACT (and other states) incorporation rules, the relevant government departments will not act against an incorporated association unless there is financial misdealing or fraud involved. It is up to members to resolve disputes, even if the board is not abiding by the constitution. The other alternative is for members to bring legal action against the board (my interpretation only). So if you believe the current RAAus board is not doing the job you expect it to, are YOU willing to serve? What would it take for you to put up your hand? Money? Do we as an association need to consider paying our board members for their time in order to attract more candidates? I don't know...I have only been a member for a month

More circuits for me today too....12 I think. Fun isn't it! And yeah, for a start circuits+radio=brainfade. I'm getting used to radio calls but I still stuff them up sometimes. As soon as I start to relax a bit and get on top of things my FI throws something new at me like engines failures. All good.

Deepest sympathy to you and your family BigPete. I can just imagine Decca beyond the Pearly Gates, in the "Just Landed" area, cheerfully greeting the new arrivals, like he did here. Peter

Tomo, One section of the regs hasn't been quoted here. It's a private flight if it's for: "the carriage of persons or the carriage of goods without a charge for the carriage being made other than the carriage, for the purposes of trade, of goods being the property of the pilot, the owner or the hirer of the aircraft;" ...which I interpret to mean it's OK to carry people or freight for free. Darks, would you interpret the last bit as you can carry goods that you are going to sell as long as the goods are owned by you (the pilot), the hirer or owner of the aircraft, or does it mean you can't? Or does it mean you can charge to carry those goods? Peter

Just a thought, do the Rotax temp senders measure coolant temp or head temp? If they are only coolant will they show the heads getting hot if you lose your coolant? I just recall in the last RAA mag incident reports there was something about a Subie EA81 engine failing from loss of coolant but the temps were still showing in the green. Peter EDIT: the Tecnam POH says its gauge shows CHT

Hi Dave, Tried to send you a PM but failed because your inbox must be full. Cheers, Peter

Hi hogan, If you like a bit of background reading I would recommend the tutorials on this site (tutorials link is also on the top menu of this page). I have only started training but I think knowing the "how and why" of flying has given me a big head start in the practical stuff. Bear in mind that some of these tutorials are aimed at Australian recreational pilots (similar to "Light Sport" in the USA) but should be valuable for any pilot. There are other links on the above tutorials page including some from the USA. I also recommend the online book "See How it Flies". It's a big read, but I learned a lot from it. Then go and do what Dazza said above. Don't rush, do your research and find which flying school is right for you. You will learn faster and perhaps save money too. Above all....HAVE FUN and welcome to the Recreational Flying site! Peter

Anyone planning to go to this?

I am not too worried about the confidentiality aspect of RAAus board meetings. Any effective Board needs to be able to have free, open and frank discussion at meetings - without fear of those discussions becoming public and perhaps being subject to legal action (if they were defamatory for instance). Signing confidentialty agreements might be taking things a bit far, but perhaps it's needed when board members come from all over Australia and none of them know each other. Important things are often left unsaid in a boardroom if members fear reprisals should they become public. Minutes are always a "sanitised" version of what goes on in a meeting, but I think it's an important move forward to make them more available to members. Even more important is making the financials more easily available. Remember, all documents and financials have always been available for RAAus members to look at...it's just you had to go to Canberra to see them.

Well done FG...another milestone reached in the journey!