walrus

Be fair. We are all CASA supporters. We are trying to help them through their current difficulties with a minimum of pain and maximum benefit.

Turbo, with respect, regarding medical risk, you fall into the common CASA laid trap. 1) You talk of medical risk without quantifying its application to flying an aircraft for recreation and enjoyment. 2) You believe others(doctors) can and must exactly quantify risk. 3) You then take an absolutist position on risk management which is unsustainable. Firstly for a known medical condition to produce what I would call an "adverse aviation event", the pilot would have to know about the condition, ignore whatever treatment regime they are required to undergo. Then they would have to ignore warning signs of incapacitating illness, embark on flight and succumb. As per the British experience this happened 4 times in 45 years! Doctors cannot give an absolute unconditional assessment on anything and CASA knew that requiring such a statement would sabotage the Basic Med 2. The best Doctors can do is produce a "balance of probabilities" assessment which is highly subjective even after thousands of dollars of tests by specialists. Yet even then CASA won't often accept the results! This is hypocrisy. Every person at any age has conditions of one sort or another. Risk management is a two sided process. It is NOT about absolutes. It requires balancing perceived risk against all of the costs of ameliorating that risk. The whole reason the medicals are even an issue is because this has not been done and CASA refuses to adopt risk management protocols for ANYTHING! Risk management is a relatively exact science that leaves little room for pontificating would be "professionals" to grandstand and grind their axes. So a self certification medical standard needs to balance the costs of the alleged increased in risk to the community against the benefits to the community of an increase in aviation activity by an increasing number of pilots who would otherwise not be flying. Some idea of the disaster that is Australian medical aviation can be gauged by the British expereince - 4 accidents in 45 years versus the millions of dollars paid in Australia to specialists as pilots try to argue with a stubborn and unresponsive CASA. To put that another way, why not make five point harnesses, annual drivers licence medicals and retests, crash helmets and fireproof suits mandatory for all passenger cars? Such an action would definitely lower the road toll but it is equally obvious that the cost, both direct and indirect, would be stratospheric - ayet we allow CASA to do exactly that to recreational and GA aviation! Furthermore have an observation to make: The entire CASA regulatory edifice is now so bad that it is only a matter of time before it becomes unusable. In the medical area, I have been told numerous times that commercial pilots now have two doctors: their DAME and their "Real" doctor. In addition, diagnosis and treatment for some conditions is postponed because of its likely effect on careers. Elsewhere the signs suggest that the industry is paying lip service to CASA requirements because they are becoming impossible to comply with in terms of cost and complexity. I have seen some flying behaviours that I would not care to do myself but nobody censures them any more. The cause of real safety (which is a state of mind) has been drowned in a sea of regulatory cost and compliance requirements and matters will only get worse as participants are forced into unsafe behaviours in an effort to survive.

CASA has a habit of living by the old Lawyers joke: "we will give you all assistance short of actual help." That is what they did to the Basic class 2 medical. On the surface it appeared to be reasonable - then you discover it was a commercial licence standard, there were a range of common conditions that excluded many and CASA asked for the examining doctors "unconditional" approval. My doctor looked at the paperwork , made a phone call to his lawyers and then told me he wasn't issuing any of these because CASA had neatly made him liable for anything that happened to me. I expect the same this time, for example: 1) Allowing 760 kgs but requiring all work on the aircraft to be performed by a LAME or L2 or some other way of preventing owner maintenance. 2) Allowing PPL self certification - but removing their access to controlled airspace. 3) Allowing access to controlled airspace to RAA pilots, but only if the aircraft MTOW is less than 600kg and it is fitted and approved for IFR. In other words, they will give with one hand while they take away with the other so that none of us are better off.

Ian, if you want to metricate everything, give up flying. The aviation world is owned by America and virtually everything, al least in light aircraft, revolves around the A.N standard system “AN something”, or mil spec “ms something” or ‘BAC”, “BMS’ Boeing standards. ‘By way of example, my Rotax had metric fuel and oil connections. Do you think I could find ANYONE in Australia who could supply metric fittings and metric braided Stainless/teflon hose? After a month of looking I gave up and bought metric to AN adaptors for the engine. AN hardware is ubiquitous, some of it even locally made.Fuel system is all AN - 6, Oil is AN - 8.

I was bitten by a triumph motorcycle and a Morris Minor as a youth and a Jaguar ruined me financially through its engineering incompetence then there was finally trying to fix my British father in laws rover made me realise that all British engineering transport products built after 1936 should be euthanised. The Bae 146 didn't help either although the ALF502 was a Lycoming product.

......But why?

General advice I've read elsewhere is not to talk to CASA without your lawyer present and considering the MOU between CASA and ATSB, that goes for them too. This is not to accuse CASA of being corrupt or anything but it is a recognition of the simple facts that you could get charged with a serious criminal offence as a result of investigations: 1) Aviation offences are strict liability offences. 2) Aviation offences are criminal offences which means your are a felon with a criminal record if convicted. 3) A criminal record means that many professions are forbidden to you, as is most if not all, overseas travel. You wont be flying an aircraft again either. The size of the punishment doesn't matter, its the conviction. 4) Aviation regulations are so complex and impenetrable that you are unlikely to be able to navigate them without legal assistance. You may not even know you are incriminating yourself. 5) As the video indicates, you are highly unlikely to be able to avoid incriminating yourself given courtroom tactics. Its a pity it has to be this way.....

Notice how the pilot kept his mouth shut? Good man! Nothing for the ATSB or CASA. They are joined hand and foot. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjt-aiR8pf0AhXSbSsKHQnqCxEQwqsBegQIAhAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dd-7o9xYp7eE&usg=AOvVaw0m8ia3E7_AUW90asWpWd_m

Jackc. today another tradie asked what I wanted for my old 80 series. I told him he was number 5 in the queue. I have a 200 as well.

RAA has at least four markets in my opinion, GA has at least four and the costs of everything connected with aviation is increasing. That creates a great deal of friction as associations and businesses try to find a "one size fits all" value proposition that doesn't exist. Lets catalogue them: RAA: - the ultra cheap home built rag, stick and two stroke market for people who just regard getting airborne as the achievement. - the " shiny new toy" market for those who want an airborne jet ski - price is no barrier. - the home builder who wants a little touring. - refugees from GA without class 2 medical certificates or who have no money for GA. SAAA: - Home builders - The "I can do 180 knots" RV 99 home builders 😜 GA: - the airline stepping stone crowd. - private business users. - well healed recreational flyers Then you can add the aerobatics guys and the techno fetish guys who just want to polish their flying Ferrari, be it a glider or powered. All of these good folk are on display if you visit enough airports. To be fair to CASA and the associations, trying to balance all those competing interests is difficult if not impossible. In the yacht clubs you see the same tensions - the family cruisers at one end and the ultra racing crowd at the other who budget for half a million in sails for each new season

Turbo, I'm in complete agreement with you but I'm married.

It wouldn’t be Australia if such a change didn’t require another layer of paperwork and more complex rules. However, congratulations to RAA for perseverance. The access to controlled airspace would also be very welcome because it then makes touring a lot easier to potentially plan. My touring plans founder on controlled airspace road blocks at Alice Springs, Tindal, Darwin, Broome, Karratha, Perth and Adelaide.

Does the weight increase for 95.55 apply from 2 December 2021?

Flightrite, it's called progress. It's inevitable. Aircraft performance increases with time as it should. If anything, RAA/LSA adopts technology faster than certified aircraft because it doesnt require the same level of certification. We are even occasionally seeing lsa technology get adapted to certified aircraft (Dynon and Rotax) "Cheap Flying" as a concept is/was never going to remain cheap because as performance improves, so does the operating envelope and rules have to cater for that. Dreaming of older and simpler times is just that - dreaming. The next generation of LSA are going to match the performance of certified aircraft (in crude terms) and the generation after that will exceed them. Personally, I am looking forward to the weight increase because my MTOW is constrained to 600 KG by regulation..

Que?

The fuel circuit in a 912 iS includes dual redundant pumps, an 8 micron filter after the 40 odd micron gascolator and its pressurised when running to about 45psi and a flow rate of about 70 l/h ( > 2X maximum flow). There is no air access to this system, the only air contact is on the free surface in. the fuel tanks. Murphy’s law therefore suggests some new failure mode will apply one day instead of “gum in carburettor passages”. 😞

Mr. Funnel is your friend.

Between starts? One - two weeks.

Rotax recommends unleaded 95 for my engine (912 iS). Starts every time.

Sorry, my apologies.

KG Wilson, BP Premium 95 does NOT contain Ethanol. https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/country-sites/en_au/australia/home/products-services/data-sheets/premium-unleaded-95.pdf ....And another thing, Avgas has an SG of about 0.72 BP 95 ha an SG of 0.75. You should factor that into your W & B. Furthermore Unleaded 95 has about 3% more energy than Avgas, so expect your fuel consumption to increase for the same power.

Let’s face it, Government hates private non RPT and non military or government run aviation in all its forms. Their only concern is to ensure that as an industry sector we die quietly. I cannot think of one positive action Government has taken for GA/RA that hasn’t had to be dragged out of them with much kicking and screaming.

Garfly, I've done some research and there is a subtle software error in my ADSB installation - will be corrected before next flight. ADSB should have shown the two other aircraft. Anyway having he Ozrunways is a useful backup fort guys with no transponder.

Flew to a destination for lunch with two other aircraft last week. Two had sky echo and I have ADSB in/out transponder. ADSB only showed close traffic BUT we all had ipads running Ozrunways. Ozrunways showed all of us and we kept in line astern at about equal four mile intervals 🙂 …A little chat occasionally on 123.45 and we kept ourselves neat and tidy there and back.

Pen, regarding Los Angeles, there are VFR corridors right through the middle of controlled airspace, none of this skulking around the edges at 500 feet. Regarding “mixing it with hundreds of passengers” - you do that when you use any CTAF with an RPT service already. You arrange separation with the RPT pilots, they won’t bite your head off. When there is potential conflict, I usually give them the courtesy of landing first on economic grounds by just extending downwind a bit. ‘’All PPL holders learn and are endorsed on controlled airspace procedures, it’s not rocket science. ‘’RAA students at Moorabbin have been using class D airspace for years. Sure we all get rusty, but it’s not that hard. ‘’As for medicals, in the USA and UK they self certify without it raining flame and aluminium from the sky. Besides, what do you think ADSB, transponders and radios are for? ATC is there to help, not hinder.