Jerry_Atrick

EASA CANNOT DO IT. The regs are so poorly written and change at such pace, contradictory, etc, that even instructors and EASA itself can't always work them out. When asked what a speciic provision meant, the response was, just comply with the spirit of the regulation... How can you operate like that???

A bit of background: When we moved (for me, back to) Melbourne in 2003, I was effectively grounded as it was an expensive place to live on one salary and, well, my partner isn't too keen on any form of flying, anyway. So, to keep entertained, I would "play" MS flight simulator and more often than not fly the default Mooney. My son, around 9 months old would watch me, and maybe at 18 months was flying himself (and not doing a bad job). On my 40th birthday, we went to Tocumwal for the weekend to celebrate, staying at the Coachmans Cottages (I think they have changed now). I managed to convince my partner to let me go for a "joyflight" so I took my son to John Williams aviation, which I knew had a couple of Mooneys. Upon entering the hangar, John and I introduced ourselves and my son instantly recognised his fleet, pointed to them and proclaimed, "Mooney". John was a little stunned by it and complimented him on his aircraft knowledge. Fast forward to October 24, 2010, and my son had just turned 8 years old. We moved back to the UK in 2006. I have yet to get back into flying, but am still "playing" with MS FSX, as his he. He is a prickly and stubborn so-and-so and was getting on my nerves a bit; so my partner suggests I take him away for an overnighter, I book some hotel somewhere for the next weekend and warn him that bad behaviour will result in it being cancelled. By Wednesday, we cancelled it. A couple of weeks later, he has a week of reasonably good behaviour, so on the Saturday morning, I jump onto one of those last minute booking sites and score a night at the Crown Plaza, Marlow Bottom for about £50. Fantastic.. So we hurriedly pack and off we go. The next morning, we awoke to a cold, but crisp and gin clear British winter's day. We hop into the car, but being a Sunday in a semi-rural area, there is not much happening. We found a park and had a kick of football (soccer) and then when bored of that, I thought, Wycombe Air Park (Booker) is not too far from here, so rang the missus to ask her if she would mind if we went for a joyflight. She was very hesitant (as she still thinks those tiny aircraft just randomly fall from the sky), but I reassured her that the flying school there was only until very recently British Airways Flying Club, had superbly maintained aircraft and the instructors were second to none. She agreed, so son and I drove to the aerodrome. Thanks to the relatively new EASA and its regulatory fight to put private GA out of business, flying schools could no longer give joyflights on their approvals (they basically needed a full charter service AOC); I didn't know this and when I asked if we could book joyflight, I got a very stern look from behind the desk and was told in no uncertain terms they don't do them anymore. When I inquired why, the response was given but I was offered as an alternative a trial instructional flight. We looked up the booking sheet and there was a slot available at 4pm. It was 11am now. Darn it, 5 hours to wait, but as I still hadn't returned to flying, I was prepared to wait it out. After driving around, singing silly lyrics to the tune of a well known TV commercial at the time, interrupted by a fine roadside services lunch of McChucks or some such similar cuisine, we drove back to Booker a little early with the idea of stopping the cafe overlooking the grass runway where gliding takes place. The cafe was closed, so we whiled away our time looking at the aircraft arriving and taking off. With about 15 mins to go before our slot, we walked in and started the process. We were assigned an instructor and after introductions, he guessed correctly who the student pilot was. It was quite funny, because he literally raided the every cushion from the two sofas and a desk chair. Armed with them, a clipboard, map and headsets, he looked a sight with all his accroutments wanting to egress from his clutches as we walked across the apron to the PA28, refusing my offer of assistance. He placed 3 of the large cushions under my son and two behind his back and asked an instructor returning from another lesson to take the excess baggage back to the club house. The instructor and my son pre-flighted the exterior of the plane and then the interior. The instructor went through everything and my son absorbed it all. Then the instructor fiiddled around, but finally got my son to a point where he could reach the control column comfortably, but his legs dangled and could not reach the rudder pedals: I hopped into the back (yuk!) and the preflight commenced. Soon we were taxying for 24L, which is grass. Remeber, my son is 8 years old and during the taxi, he asks if he can take off. I thought to interject to make it easy on the instructor to say no, but before I could make a decision, the instructor calmly says, "Yes.. I will operate the rudder - you can do everything else.. By the way, what are you going to do?" I was gobsmacked. The boy not only went through the throttling up and at 55kts, raising the nose, but also answered he would check the airspeed is alive and the DG is pointing in the runway direction. "Very well, let's see how you do!" Lined up and with clearance to take off, it was the first time ever, I thought of really asking the ol' fella upstairs to have mercy on us. But the little fella, with his right hand, nurtured the throttle towards the firewall, checked the DG and called airspeed alive. At precisely 55kts he pulled back on the control column and the PA28 almost rivaled an F/A 18 pointing towards the sky. "Maybe not so enthusiastically" said the instructor as he nudged the control column forward a little and called my son having back control. Darn it, he was showing me up! He was bang on 79kts and a little over 550fpm climb and I am sure the centreline was in line with his rear-end. Well, the instructor gave my son instructions, and he dutifly carried them out. turns, ascents, descents etc. He was pretty good and held altitude and heading better than many experienced pilots. Here's a medium level turn he was executing: We would continue and he would ask questions, follow instructions, and without any correction from the instructor (at least none that I could remember - of course the instructor would be on the rudders when required).. The instructor, however, did deny his request to try a stall - maybe they are forbidden in TIFs... As we flew over Blenheim Palace (I think), he did ask if we could land on the driveway and visit. I think the insructor would have liked to: And the boy could not ask enough questions: Finally, and too quickly, the bimble came to an end.. The instructor allowed the boy to come within about 50' of landing before he took control. Of course, the instructor was talking the boy down, but he had the speed and rate of descent nailed... Bad photo and more than 50' above the ground, but you can see the boy clearly has control: We landed and taxied back to the cliub house. As he was under 14 (EASA increased it from 13, though would not have mad a difference ion this case), he could not log it, so they presented with with a TIF certificate and a symbolic log book entry. He was on a buzz; I was on a buzz, too.. I knew I would have to start saving for his flying lessons (though, he wold have to contribute). I raced home to show the missus the photos and when we arrived, we already had some friends visiting. As they left, I had to apologise for not letting them get a word in edgeways as I vividly recalled every moment of that flight... Sadly, he lost interest in flying at around 14 (saved my a bucket); I think the gene that kicks in with distractions started... But, it looks like now, at 17, he is getting the bug again... Sorry about the quality of the photos. A bad workman always blames his tools and I am blaming the Blackberry I had with me which was old school even then.. JA

This is a very broad church, mosque, synagogue, temple... And I would not consider blocking people who are not being repeatedly being personally offensive as not being open to others opinions and facts... And I am looking forward in earnest (and I am being serious) to everyone providing constructive and substantiated facts, opinions and debates.. My comment was simply (and I am yet to have read those since making mine, so apologies if I have missed something) that the arguments are the same and seem to be just going arond the treadmill..

I have to say, I bucked out of this one.. . Assertion - the maths show low death rates... Reality - they do, but the rate of indection and the rate of hospitalisation shows that the leaths services of whatever coutnry would be quickly overwhelmed - and the death rate would then increase... Assertion - doctors and health experts don't no what they're talking about... and a spreading hysteria and fear mongerung.. Reality - Armchair pilots are the same with aviation.... Repeat the assertions and defences over and over again... I gave up biting when there was nothing new that was being asserted... @octave, I understand why you're doing it, but.... seriously.. when then inlet valves are closed,.. not much you can do...

Hello George, an welcome. You will find, although Aussie focused, this site members from all over....

Aeronca! (Doh! Wrong thread)..

And another:

One for @willedoo :

@Vincik , I saw the NOTAM of Italy closing VFR flights a couple of weeks ago. feel for you as the lockdown is pretty tight there. I would think wine is more of a necessity than other stuff at the moment to help people keep sane (except, of course, those that are negatively affected by alcohol). Here, breweries are considered essential services and pubs are converting to delivery/take away food outlets and some, as in Aus, also do retail. Our local village pub, which has a landlord who is inexperienced is only doing fish and chips every other Saturday at the moment. We are lucky - as of yesterday, in all of Somerset (my county), only 48 people have been comfirned infected and all in the one location, just south of Westonzoyland. As the crow files, it is about 15 miles or so NNE of me (ironically, not far from the GP suregery I am registered at). I hope Italy comes out of it soon... From what I have seen of Italy, it is one of the more community spirited societies I have seen where age is not seen as a defining factor of whom one socialises with; Each time I have been there, I have relished the hospitality and the spirit of Italians (mainly have been to the North). It must be on the verge of agonising for so many to not be able to interact with their fellow people. Stay safe, sir.. Hope to be flying there in June...

Darn it, just saw this after by diatribe in the bfr thread! Well done to CASA.

Is EASA land, thee is no such thing as a BFR anymore.. Basically the rules are: By your two year anniversary since your last renewal, you have to have flown for at least 12 hours in the last 12 months and if you have, you need to do an hour dual with an instructor in your last three months leading up to the expiry of your renewal. They CANNOT fail you and the flight does not even have to be instructional (in other words, grab an instructor - go for a bimble and land - as long as you are dual and it is an hour, that's all it needs). If you miss this - or oddly, if you meet the requirement but the instructor doesn't file the paperwork by the expiry, then you have to do a flight renewal test - which is sort of like a BFR used to be, but no flight plan and no navigation - from memory it is the three stalls, PFL, normal and glide approach - may be a bit more - can't recall ever doing short field, precautionary landings, low level or anything like that out of necessity). I think EFATOs are in the test. Remember it is only required if you let your renewal lapse. I know a couple of flight instructors who have been very clear to people they have done the biennial hour with that if they had the power, they would have grounded them. They can formally write up areas they think the pilot should get remedial instruction on - no more. How is that for safety? (BTW - EASA think a mountain of paperwork and bureaucracy will make everything allright). My personal minimas are a biut more stringent: - 90 days since flying or of I am feeling rusty anyway - I grab my examiner and we blow the cobwebs off by doing basically the renewal test mentioned above and more if I feel that rusty (so, for example, it has been over 6 months because of the paint job that overran.. so I will go straight to the next point). - Every two years - we bascially re-do the whole flight test and then some. In the case of lockdown - maybe they should take a view that if you were current, e.g. had flown, I dunno, 3 hours in the last 3 months or something, the extension could be granted; otherwise, you are likely to be rust anyway and you shouldn't be flying... The precise definition of being too rustly may be 6 hours in 6 months - but has to be reasonable as we know lack of recency is an issue with flying skills. I personally have no problem doing the BFR. Many pilots I speak to who fly many more hours than me loathed having to di it when it was a requirement over here as they were always current. But, almost every time I asked how often they preactices stalls, EFATOs and PFLs, the answer more often than not was they hand;t or at least not enough. It is debatable whether once in 2 years is enough, but at least it gives some meaure of competence and prvides the opportunity to practice if that is required. FWIW, I think road drivers/riders should have to go through similar - maybe every 5 years. Over here, we have speed awareness courses when one gets done (only allowed onve every three years and if you attend, you don't get your demerit points). I attended one (caught on camera going 33mph through a 30mph zone in a village at about 11pm.. Police here would not even bother - shows when public servants get to make the decisions, things are not quite the same), I consider myself a reasonably good driver, and they basically sent through the whole road safety thing - not just speed kills - and it did indeed refresh some of the grey cells that maybe had taken a too relaxed attitude to some things such as distance between cars, skidding, etc.

I am not a member of RAAus and not knowledgable of its politics (to provide context to this post). Althog I take what you say, Ian, does going digital not then introduce some level of accountability that I am inferring from the posts in this thread may not exist? If people are askign questions and RAAus are pporviding answers, then they will have to be carefule about whow the frame these answers as these will exist in perpetuuity. Even if the forum is via some interactive webinar tech or video converencing cuh as zoom, the streams can be recorded, so being flippant, careless, not answeering questions; or conversly responding in a thoughtful manner, explaining a particular question is complex and requires a bit or work and providing an anticiapted timeframe being documented and evidenced for all to see and judge. Yes, there can be trolls and degenirates that try and manufacture something that it isn't, but surely the accountability it brings is a good thing? Take your point - if they are inexperienced, they are taking a risk, but the organisastion will have to move with the times at sometime?

Those volksplanes don't look to have particularly big cockpits.. How did you secure the contents of the coke bottle now the neck was cut off it? Esp on landing?

Where I have come across something like this before? Oh yeah - the coal debate under flight shaming - where China could do no wrong - and there was no acceptance that China manipulates markets.. Suddenly, Brietbart are saying China is bad and it is gospel.. Keep on digging... BTW - As much as China is an economic powerhouse, it doesn't control all the markets... (but I will give you, it can exert some influence over them - which is why the US now have said they want to reduce their reliance on Chinese production and Iain Duncan Smith here has been waging a war against the kow-towing to them that the British Conservative government, partucularly under David Cameron - and also Labour under Tony Blair did)... Also, if you did any real research into mediafactcheck, there is some independent questioning of its reliability and practices - mainly because it doesn't provide credit of authorship... A criciticsm I would accept.. Not that it really matters much what I think...

FB: Really? Clinton Funded?.. Did you get that from Brietbart? Maybe check here: PolitiFact - Wikipedia And even if it was, so what? How has that proved it is not accurate? I did a search and couldn't find a link toi Soros - maybe you can post it? But even if he did, what does it prove? Soros did hve an insider trading conviction. But what does that prove? Bannon, who owns Brietbart is a self-confessed white supremacist - Sorors is a philanthropist... Hmmm.. If anything, on the assumption a) it has been finded by Soros and b) Soros ha anything to do with it on a continual basis 0- where's the evidence to suggest it is an inaccurate =or biased site (of course, from others than it accuses of being inaccurate or biased)? Generally the deeper a rabbit hole people dig, the more entrenched based on emotion and ideology they become.. Align yourself to a white supremacist whose soapbox has been proven by many to be misleading and whip up racial tensions; against those you accuse, but have not proven to be inaccurate... Go for it...

FB - I don't need to fact check my sources - anymore than you fact check yours.. But my sources at least proffer uop evidence as to why your sources are questionable (their term, not mine).. Why don't you find sources questionging my sources ol' chap.? One of my sources doesn't say everything Brietbart has to say is incorrect.. in fact they cited one artile as mostly true... Again - you like to go on the attack with crap but when people find ways of questioning your assertions and where they're based from, all you can say is "you should check your sources"... Mate, all I can say is I seem to trust my sources like you seem to trust yours.. As I said - you think they're wrong or questionable - you prove it... [edit] Oops... forgot... [/edit]

@kgwilson - many condolences and sad for the additional pressure placed on you. Back to topic - I have cancelled my shareoplane booking to fly to Turkey for Anzac day, and CAT/RPT is out of the question at this stage. There is an organised fly in called Raduno in Italy; I still have my Shareoplane booking for that as it is in mid-June, but not holding out too much hope. (https://forums.flyer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=66&t=114298) @Flying Binghi - for your entertainment re Brietbardt: | PolitiFact. Of course, some of the citations are older now and there aren't thousands of them, but you wanted more. I personally won't use that site nor give it any traffic whatsoever, but there was a story that made it big here, because it plagiarised a BBC report about the increase in sexual assaults in either Sweden or Switzerland. It falsely stated that sexual assaults were up a significant percentage (I can't recall the exact, but it significant - c. 25% seems to ring a bell) in the sameyear that Europe opened the flood gates to immigrants and blaming the immigrants. The truth was, they were using numbers over a 5 year period where the first year coincided with the country widening the offences that are categorised as sexual assault. If you took the percentage by which the immgrant population increated the total population of the country and compared it to the percentage increase of sexual assaults in that year, it was a comparatve decrease per population. There are other sites that call into question its journalistic integrity. For example, https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/breitbart/. Re the AFP article you quite, it states, "Vigilantes in some Australian outback towns have reportedly slashed tyres ". It doesn't say they have... It quotes a pollie, not facts, and I don't know about you, but when was the last time you heard about a pollie trying to sensationalise something? To use one of your favoured emoticons, ? Just like SloMo, BoJo and now Trumpo, who's inaction has catapulted the US to the biggest of yet something else, are going down the lockdown route... But, hey, you guys obviously know something your idolsa and icons of the free world don't Oh, another emoticon (as after all, that is what most reporting being referred to is): ? Personally, I can't wpork out if it should be , or

Thanks for your responses. Really sad to hear Gordon passed away - I purchased my set directly from him - top chap! I'll give the manufacturer a go - are they still being made at least? Cheers, JA

The UK so far has no theoretical restrictions to VFR flying; the quote in Hunsta's post (#6) comes from the UK DfT. However, there is an effective ban of VFR flying as most, of not all GA airfields have closed to al lbut emergency services traffic due to the order to shutdown all but essential businesses. I am not sure about strip flying, bu a look at FR24 suggests nothing is really happening with private flying GA at the moment. At the moment, commercial flights are operating to allow nationals and residents to return home cross border, even Italy, so I doubt people are turning to GA en masse to get home - at the moment: [ATTACH type=full]51774[/ATTACH] (Note, the small plane to the west of the highlighted plane in a Kenyan Air Force C27J Spartan). There are definitely many fewer planes than normal in the skies and most over or around Italy are bound for other countries But, unlike the total shutdown of CAT (RPT_ like that which happened when the Icelandic volcano erupted, people can get home. (I had a few calls from people I didn't even know asking me if I would taken them to or repartriate them from Europe back then).

Jeez, @turboplanner - do you not sleep?

@onetrack - searched EQ1 wireless headsets and there was not much except for a US retailer discounting them.. Much appreciated, Lance

@Flying Binghi - I agree that we don't know whether or not the 21 year old had underlying issues or not - however, how many people aged, say 18 - 50 have or don't have some underlying issue that will allow the virus to take hold and kill them? We don't know. Regardless, in today's western societies, it is unacceptable that we do not apply our medical knowledge to save lives of people even wuth unknown medical conditions and the problem then becomes, if we allow too many beds to be occupied by people and have to start making decisions about who to give those beds, the percentage and number of deaths will rise - possibly exponentially - and many of those will have been preventable deaths but for the lack of resources to cope. The question then becomes somewhat qualitative - how far to we go to protect what could go well beyond the average mortality rates caused by the flu to preserve our individual freedoms. It's highly subjective and I think comes down to something like this: Do we prevent the spread to keep the infection rate curve shallow so that the herd builds up its immunity but preserving all but those that would succumb to it regarldess of treatment - but maybe even stop many of those from even contracting it, or do we allow it to spread like wildfire and take out those we could normally treat, but make the herd stronger as a result? They are extremes but this is the sort of questions it boils down to. At present, governments on the east and west divide seem to be going for the former and I personally am not uncomfortable with that. @SplitS: I am by no means even knowledgeable on the Aussie constitution and don't have the time to do research. But the article you presetned about declaring an emergency, although not seemingly enshrined in legislation has common law roots - possibly inherited from the British legal doctrine of Royal Prerogative. In the judgment of Pape cited in the article, the majority of the HCA ruled: ‘The Executive Government is the arm of government capable of and empowered to respond to a crisis be it war, natural disaster or a financial crisis on the scale [of the Global Financial Crisis]’. In that case the executive government (the Prime Minister and Cabinet) can act to take control of the disaster even without legislative authority. ' There was a strong dissent by Brennan, but notwithstanding, there was no legal authority cited that overturned or substantially modified the decision in Pape. So, while there is no legislative authority, there appears to be a legal authority. It is conceded the question of fact wasn't tested in the case - but that comes down to whether or not the GFC is sufficient to be called a disaster, emergency or whatever the terminology is. On section 92, the Wikipedia entry is illuminating - basically it is not black and white as people are asserting.. In fact, it seems to come down to as long as there is no discrimination amongs the people of all states, the barrier may well be legal. Under Nationwide News v Wells, cited in the Wikipedia article, the tests of the barriers are, and let's face it, if you are immobilsing people for 14 days for entering, it is in effect a barrier: whether the law is enacted for the purpose of burdening interstate intercourse. [JA: Not technically - they are enacted to stop the spread of Coronavirus] if the law is enacted for some other purpose, whether it is appropriate and adapted to the fulfilment of that other purpose, but a law may be found to be enacted for the prohibited purpose by reference to its meaning or effect. [JA: Tough question - see below] where a law imposes a burden by reason of the crossing of the border, or it has the effect of preventing or impeding the crossing of the border, it will be held invalid if that is its only or chief purpose. [JA: Definitetly not its chief purpose. I like to think the days of rivalry between Vics and NSW, for example, are long gone and only held by a few relics, or those at high risk to COVID-19] the above are subject to permissible regulation which might take the form "of excluding from passage across the frontier of a State creatures or things calculated to injure its citizens", but the severity and need for such measures must still be assessed. [JA: The first part is met and the second part seems to talk to appropriateness above] The bits in [JA...] are obviously my take on it; others may have a different view. The question of appropriateness is probably subjective; why state borders and not local council borders, etc? I can only think that (at least the time of me leaving Australia) is that the states are responsible at least for the administration of the public health systems and therefore, going back to the idea is to slow and hopefully stop the spread so the state health systems can cope, this would seem sensible. I am not a lawyer, and am certainly not a judge.. so my 2 cents worth more than anything. Bu s. 92 appears to be anything but cut and dry.

@gareth lacey - thanks! Hope they have changed names or something...

I am sure younger, fit or otherwise healthy people who contract it and the succumb are not in the same category of numbers as those who have underlying issues or at risk age group, etc, however, here is, sadly, another: Coronavirus victim, 21, 'had no health issues'. Now, what happens if it is your daugher, sister, niece or that of a close friend. A lady in the village lost both her Aunt and Uncle to COVID-19; both well into their 80s, but it doesn't make the pain any less for the survivors.. and they were reasonably fir for their age, too. I happen to live next door to a couple who are both specialists at the local hospital; I have to say, until the conversation I has with them, I was a little, "this is over the top - as even if we all isolate, it will lay there dormant until we start mingling again".. Yes, it will if we don't wait at least 2 or so more weeks after there are NO MORE reported cases. But, as one who is an epedemiologist pointed out to me, once it dies; it dies... I agree the flu kills many 10s of thousands of people a year; I agree that life is not a guarantee; But this is a beast that doesn't appear to only pick off the weak.. the problem is, it is unpredictable in its impact and many more people require intensive care to get through than the flu... And if we allow the infection rate to get up, we won't have the resources to handle the demand and the death rates will rise above what they are now.. It is not a great picture. The next door neighbours live in fear that they will have to decide who gets the ICU bed and who doesn't... You can bet your bottom dollar, when it gets to that, the "at risk" groups will cover a lot more people.

@gareth lacey - yes - I bought them direct from the company. I have searched the internet - the site - microlight.com.au doesn't exist and the last FB post (I joined just to be able to see it) was from 2017 or 2018... I take it there has been nothing in the local press over the last couple of years?