Simonflyer

Michael Jackson had chartered a 40 seat plane for the afternoon, and was taking a bunch of under-privilidged kids up for a joy-flight.About half way through the trip one of the flight attendants rushed to Jacko and his personal assistant Pee-Pee with the bad news."im sorry to inform you" said the hostess, " but the plane has a major problem, and it looks as if were not going to make it-The pilot would like to see you both immediately!." They made their way to the cockpit, and went in to talk to the pilot who told them the bad news.."weve lost one engine, the others on fire, the landing gears broken, and the tails about to fall off-we only have two parachutes on board, and we would like you and Pee Pee to use them as we believe you can do a lot more good for the world than anyone else on this plane.. Pee Pee turned to Michael and sadly said "but what about the children" Jacko turned to the pilot and said "do we have time?" :rilla::rilla::rilla::rilla::rilla:

Hi Shags. I work with a bloke who was in the Air force for a long time, and he loved it.He was a pilot in a Hercules, and did all sorts of stuff from aiding areas after natural disasters to moving troops into places where the sh*t had hit the fan. Lots of moving around, lots of time away, lots of different kinds of flying conditions etc.if you dont mind a challenge keep going, but if you like to be reasonably settled, look for something else. ..

I guess in the moment your probably going to think of your own skin, but if he turned over the terminal and an RPT then he was putting a lot of lives at risk.. Saying that..If it was all pulled off well(which it was), and there is no harm you may say that whoever did it knew what they were doing..I guess if there was a high time instructor in the plane he may well have had a good grip on the situation, and would have known the planes limitations well?? Who knows..Its all speculation really..

When anyone complains they really only have to look at ryanair.. There looking at Charges to go to the toilet...theres no check in counter, so if you forget to do it online before you go its 40 smackeroonies..The guy who runs it is looking into upright seating..Hes a bit of loon if you ask me.. Tiger are a pack of mice compared to some lowcost airlines.. If you get there on time and read the small print and there usually wont be a problem....Its not there fault if your late..

Hi Foto.. Dont fret mate.It is a bit tricky in the lighter planes as you say, and you aint the first to have a few early niggles.Just stick with it, and try and relax, and one day soon it will start to click.. Something that really helped me when i was battling the aircraft was my instructor telling me to think of the air as water, and not to over react to every single little pocket of warm air or gust, but just to relax as if i were in a boat and let it do its thing.Obviously on short final if its about to smack you into the ground it might help to do something, but in the most part it will settle down again soon enough.. One other thing..if you can fly regularly that will help a lot.youll get in a nice groove if you can fly a coupla times a week.. Cheers Simon

Yeah thats all good and fine,but what about the engineering behind this, this or most importantly this. :thumb_up:

Hi Dark.. I think its a good habit to always check the fuel before any flight.You are the pilot, and as such its good to start taking all the responsibility that you will soon have as Pilot in command.It would be really annoying(to say the least) to take off and then realise that you are out of fuel.. The rudder..well i wouldnt be moving it around too much, as its attached to the front wheel, and it wont like being moved much.It can put unneeded stress on it and other components to do so.Just make sure it is not about to drop off.. Overall with a walk around id say its good to get a system going so that you always know what your up to.I tend to do fuel and oil first, then start at the nose-prop first, and then get to it.Id also suggest taking it nice and slowly.Again it would be really unfortunate to have a problem because you missed something that could have been spotted in a walk around.I always check bolts and tyres areas that join and control surfaces/flaps extending and probably more.. The last suggestion would be to continually ask questions of your instructors..you are not meant to know what to check for, and if it was rushed or not shown to you properly then keep asking.You are spending plenty of money on your investment of learning to fly, and its up to you how much you get out of it..Id say 2/3rds of my fight training so far has been done on the ground.. Good luck and enjoy.. Cheers:thumb_up:

Thanks for your posts duncan.. I sometimes visit another GA based aviation site, and there is definitely a dim view of RA held by quite a few Pilots there.I recently posted something that was specifically designed to get people talking( )and was met with huge amounts of abuse probably because i had forcefully responded to a few posters who i now realise are consistent abusers of the site and i shouldnt have bitten so hard:sorry: to begin with, but it ended up being a mostly positive conversation about RA. I think that its a mix of factors that creates the problems.. The first is the lack of GA people like yourself who will go looking for info amongst the community who actually know..i.e Pilots actually flying in the RA world.I cant get over the amount of GA Pilots who still think RA flying is a batch of sub-human stupid people with "lawn-mowers strapped to their A**es"..This was actually a quote from one of the enlightened members of Prune. The second is that i think some RA pilots and definitely not the majority could improve in basic operational and procedural things such as radio calls, joining/departure procedures, and a few other things of the like that make the skies safer for us all, but i would say the exact same thing of Ga pilots.. Anyway.Again you have my attention, because i personaly would like to see the two entities working beside each other and with each other in a healthy way that sees both sections improving and getting a lot out of the other.. Cheers

For a minute i thought that was footage of me on short final....

Im a poor brunette, about 35, well endowed,and male..How bout you pay for me to fly an aircraft around Aus to go searching for your travel mate..I will dutifully test out all candidates for their..ahem..suitability, and send you regular updates..Hows that sound?

I think mostly i scored the job due to my sharp wit and good looks....Cause i sure as hell feel overloaded in the cockpit! In all seriousness though.I just put in an application, got an interview and got lucky.. p.s I also may or may not have put in about 30 hours of my own time learning the various systems of the 737-800 NG, and worked like hell on the Flight management computer (FMC) on my sim at home (xplane), and downloaded checklists, Learned how to read departure and approach plates usually reserved for IFR pilots, and fly them correctly along with various "line" flights i.e MEL-SYD,MEL-BRIS etc.I asked endless questions on blogs and forums, and basically obsessed about the whole thing until i had the most basic of ideas of how to start and shutdown the plane which is a journey in itself, then i basically hoped that i wouldnt crash or do too much stupid stuffing up during the 16 hours of on the job training where i had to "fly" from the first officers seat just like an instructor would, and i could have been dropped out after 4-8-12 and 16 hours..I finally got through and i still feel like it will take me many months to really know my way around the thing.. So not too much too it really:puzzled:

Good idea turbo.. Im currently doing my CPL theory and im doing it because it dont cost a thing compared to the flying, and while i do some saving to get me to the next phase i can study all i like..its pretty much the same from BAK level up..I just have to be disciplined and sit down and do it, and have a few spare bob to buy the books.

Hi brett. Something i did when i was limited to 25 was to do little navs within the space.I would find a waypoint 25 to the south, then the next one would be 45 or 50 to the north and so on.You will be suprised how much you can make of that space if you turn your mind to it, and it can sharpen up your naving skills. Enjoy

The recent post on SIGMETS has pointed something out to me that i hadnt thought of for a while. The theory side of RA could do with a real spruce up and for more onus to be put into operational theory for people making their way to XC endorsements.Also some of the human factors questions are pretty out there and confusing.If we are going to use the same airfields, fly in the same weather, and use the same radios as GA, our operational theory should at the very least be on a par with GA.after studying both, i dont think the RA stuff is quite there yet. There is no excuse for not making the effort to read WX charts just because were not GA flying or because its a bit tricky to start with.Nor is there any excuse for not knowing procedures for particular airfields, or flying shoddy ccts or joining procedures or any other range of "mistakes" that are made by lots of pilots (in both RA and GA i might add).The truth is that these are not mistakes at all-its just a lack of effort and a lack of care that can put themselves and others in danger... There is information readily available to make all the codes quite understandable in both the VFR day guide, and the AIP.Yes these books can be a bit hard to reference at the start as it's mostly a new language(alternate's/minimas etc), but the theory side of flying is just as important as the practical, and it could save your life one day..Just blasting of into the sky is mostly ok if your in the cct or training area as you can look up and go "yep it aint too bad",and you probably know the drill, but once you start doing NAV's that is a pretty big risk especially around weather info and other aerodromes. Getting back to the point..It really isnt that hard if youve got the reference and will to go and do it regulary.Bloody hell if i can read a WX report anyone can!..I try and check the aviation weather as often as possible even if im not flying, and after a while it has started to be readable just as if it was in plain text.When i dont know what is going on i try and figure it out with the books. As is often the case when people cant be bothered, they start blaming the system and trying to change stuff instead of acknowledging their own lack of effort.

Fantastic post, and a good question... I am convinced that too much experience is still never enough in aviation, and from my experience's of flying GA and RA, the actual stick and rudder flying is more difficult in the RA planes therefore forcing the pilots of such aircraft to become sharper and speedy with flying technique.RA planes are lighter, more affected by the elements, and take quite a bit more focus when the weather isnt being friendly with xwinds,thermals etc.The bigger heavier GA planes sit beautifully due to inertia and the benefits of being able to load a number of friends and rack off is brilliant. There is a reason it's called Recreational Aviation..It is financially within reach to many more than GA ever could be, and therefore opens up the art and joy of flying to the masses in a way that hasnt been around for a while.I guess thats why RA is having such growth..My prediction is, and you can go back to the GA snipers with this if you like, but within 5-10 years ALL schools will have an RA element to their training, or will at least be using Tecnams, jabirus and newer lighter aircraft of the like to train from ab initio.Its happening already, and it will be all over the place soon enough. The attitudes of the sceptical GA pilots will take some time to dissipate, and in some cases it will never leave, but they can kick and scream and whinge all they like, RA is here to stay, and will only keep growing.I think much of their negativity stems from the bad old(not too distant) days where dodgy home built ultralights were falling out of the sky with regular monotony, and i bet many of them dont have a clue about the new breed of U/L that is safe and sound, factory built, high tech and high performance.. There are really good pilots, really poor ones, some in between, some crazy and some flying artists in all kinds of aviation.It doesnt make a difference what and where you fly as long as your having a good time, and looking after yourself and everyone else around you in the air.Thats my opinion anyhow, and surely flying as many different aircraft in as many different situations can only be good for overall safety if safe and thorough training methods are being used.. Cheers

Its never EVER too late..:thumb_up:

On one hand, I think we should all learn to read the forecasts as they are.I have found that decoding them is fast becoming an enjoyable pastime, but i am also all for safety, and if having it in plain english suits most, then thats how it should be.Id hate to think that even one person would go flying in marginal conditions and have a problem because of a misinterpretation.. I would say that buying yourself a copy of the AIP is money well worth it if you really do want to know more about all forecasts..

Its good for any pilots who havent got their XC though..You could do 6 hours of straight and level flying and still not have departed the circuit!

Drizz Another option to get a feel for how to recover from unusual attitudes and angles in a safe environment is to have a shot on a flight simulator either on your own computer if you have one, or by finding one at a flight school although the second option aint cheap.. Then just go "flying" and knock yourself out so to speak..The good simulators like Xplane and microsoft flight sim are realistic enough to see what happens without putting you in danger.You'll soon see what works and what doesnt...Ive found them to be of great use. The main thing as others have noted is to get the wings level first, then get to sorting out speed and altitude etc.. I would make a note that im sure youre well aware of, but the best person to teach you about recovery procedure's is your instructor Enjoy..

Was it just me, or did i see a flag/windsock indicating at least a x wind and possibly even a bit of downwind?

Good one Bec.. It just keeps getting better and better..Enjoy the Nav's.. :thumb_up:

**Facthunter** It is really too hard to tell what you may or may not do in a given situation..it depends where the student and the instructor are at in terms of experience..another thing is about visual perspective..I doubt that the camera from that distance would really do justice to what it actually felt like in the aircraft, and im not sure letting the student clip a wing and possibly bury the nose into a drain is really going to help anyone learn all that much.. It actually didnt look all that harsh on the film on the first run, but if you run through to the actual point where the flaps get dumped(hit mute cause mum keeps squealing) the tail very nearly scrapes beacause of the nose high attitude(not so bad in the scheme of things as long as your going straight which merv has said wasnt happening), and then there is a quick input to the rear and the right(one in fright no doubt and definitely not good at low speed, and i reckon when the wings leveled out would be when merv gotta hold on it)..The wingtip itself was probably cutting the grass, and it wouldnt matter who the student was,i would be looking to correct things at that height..If they were to resent me for looking after our safety, and a very expensive piece of equipment then so be it.. I do respect and agree that students need to be allowed to make mistakes to learn, but not in a position where there is no room for error like that.Its too possible to go very bad, very fast.

Whats a Jabiru?