BirdDog

looks like you will have to plan a trip to Cessnock - please report back and give us a heads up on things like locating the cafe, distance to the flight line etc.

Wow - Nobody? I can't seem to even find a contact. Called the council, they don't have a clue, and one mob I called doing maintenance out there, doesn't really know and suggested I fly in and see what I can find.

If anyone knows anyone that may know someone that may know a guy a Coota, I would be keen to talk to them.

Congratulations!! Set yourself up for a visit to HARS in Wollongong, they make great steak sandwiches. Don't forget your ASIC.

Hey all,

For those still watching at home, I thought I would update you to advise that I now have my X-Country Endo - So all good for me. :)

Cheers all

J

Hey all,

I am looking for a new home for the Bird Dog closer to home and Coota looks the goods. Anyone know of a contact out there? I am preferring hangar space rather than leave her out in the cold.

Cheers

J

I am with you mate!! There as talk earlier about cabling being pulled etc etc. But like I said, if it's done by someone who knows what they are doing what is the issue?

I just had my entire exhaust ripped out of the bird for a full refurb! Why is that OK, but the same guy can't make it easier to see my engine instruments! LOL!

Thanks all. A good discussion. I am still on the fence with "modifications" like this. If it's done by a LAME or someone with the approval, I don't see an issue - But I don't write the regulations.

I was out again yesterday and had a Pax. A mate who is a bit larger than me, and I made a note of what problems I faced when wanting accurate readings on the engine instruments, and I will stand by my claim that having to lean over in front of him in flight, surely can't be better than getting the instruments on an angle.

I REALLY hate the attitude of "LSA pilots have been using a flat dash for years" as an excuse to sit back and not look for a better way forward. Seriously... Are we that old and stubborn that we can't look at something and improve it.

Anyway.... I will put up with my dash the way it is, and fly and be happy, but I still think an angled dash would make for a nicer experience for me in the cockpit.

Just my 0.2.

My Bird is online with a school at a club, and as an owner I guess it's my right to allow only who I want flying the bird. That said, I don't really restrict. BUT... I am be happier if the person wanting to fly does a check flight with the CFI, with the school, and all is made sure he or she is capable. I think a lot of clubs would like you to be a member first. I certainly request that our CFI makes the call on if the person is capable or not - Check flight etc etc.

Thanks lads,

Shame me for thinking that making my cockpit easier to read might actually make it safer. LOL!

LSA can only be changed by manufacturer approval. It's all in the regs and ACs. But back to the matter at hand. Angled instrument adapter/mounts, 3D printed by some clever guy? Assuming you have room behind the panel to angle the things. Might just be right up Peter Anson's alley..... http://www.ansoneng.com/ as greatest invention since the flux capacitor. Not that he invented that, but I'm sure he could have if he had wanted to.

I have a mate who just ripped his entire dash out and replaced with glass - how does that happen?

I might have to ask him I think.

In my aircraft I have all the flight instruments on the left straight in front of me & the engine instruments on the right angled so I can see them all accurately. It seem. such an obvious configuration but there are so many factory built aircraft out there that have thrown ergonomics and logic out the window. The same applies to location of controls.

Slightly off-topic, but I was once peeking inside a helicopter at Echuca, and the engine instruments looked like they'd been thrown at the panel - nothing was straight, with some instruments up to 45 degrees rotated. It all became clear when I asked the pilot about this; at normal pressures & temps, all the needles should point straight up. This allowed a much quicker check on P's&T's.mal

Ahahahah! That's actually a brilliant idea when you think of it! LOL!

So recently I became the proud owner of an Evektor Sportstar and I am loving it, with one exception. The instruments and gauges on the right side of the cockpit. The really should have been angled back toward the pilot to make them easier to read. To get any accuracy, you have to lean over to the Pax to see the instruments correctly.SO... does anyone have any ideas on how I can rectify this? Maybe retrofit some sort of angled bezels etc?

 

I am open to ideas.

 

Cheers

 

J

It really is an oversight by the factory. After you have sat in the pilot's seat of an aircraft that has all the instruments banked toward the pilot, it becomes quite noticeable.

So recently I became the proud owner of an Evektor Sportstar and I am loving it, with one exception. The instruments and gauges on the right side of the cockpit. The really should have been angled back toward the pilot to make them easier to read. To get any accuracy, you have to lean over to the Pax to see the instruments correctly.

SO... does anyone have any ideas on how I can rectify this? Maybe retrofit some sort of angled bezels etc?

I am open to ideas.

Cheers

J

I actually think this is the property my brother owned about 20 years ago! The views from the strip are amazing!

What is this crap can't some understand that by reading section d 20.5 ithink it is what is difficult about 25 nm flight RETURN back to your take of strip for Christ sakeYou make a landing 25 nm away from your take off point and take of again that is ANOTHER flight like it or not

Please explain to the insurance co why you landed when the sheeet hits the fan Neil

Because Neil, if, as you say "when the sheet hits the fan" the lawyers will have a field day. Why is it so hard to ask for decent regulation to be written.

As I have asked earlier, what defines the take off point? If you read back through the thread, my aircraft can be between 2 ADs. So how long does it have to be on the ground at AD2 before it becomes, as you call it, "the take off point"? 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week?? How long! See the ambiguity. And as I am now no longer a student, it can't be the "training AD", because I own the aircraft, and I am no longer a student of the club.

So, let me ask you this Neil,

Example 1

I take off today from AD1 (Where my plane was for the last week) and I land 20nm away at AD2. It stays there for 1 night. The next morning I get up - Where is my 25nm boundary now?

Example 2

I take off today from AD1 (Where my plane was for the last week) and I land 20nm away at AD2. It stays there for 5 nights. I go up again - Where is my 25nm boundary now?

See my point!

Now... it get's even uglier, because there is another AD less than 25nm from AD2. SO... If I decide to leave my plane at AD2 for say a month, I then go to AD3. Then... There is another AD less than 25 from that, so how long does the plane have to stay at AD3?

You see what I mean. The regulations don't account for the instance where the pilot does not leave his aircraft at 1AD, and does not account for an AD being within that 25nm. If it clearly stated that landing at another AD was not allowed, we would not be having this discussion.

And in case you are wondering, yes I am serious when I say it lives between 2 ADs. They are not they far apart and a bunch of us have planes, so we fly all over the place.

Surely those same hills that block your view give you are giant clue as to where you are.....

Wow! I go away for a few days, and come back to pages to read! :)

Awesome discussion though, and is always good.

Fingers crossed Saturday week I will have my XCountry endo. Whoo hoo!

A couple of things I will add....

I don't care who you are, the way those regs (and plenty of other CASA regs) have been written - is crap! Pure crap, and can easily be done better. That said, I personally think 25nm is way enough! Where I fly, in less than 20nm in one direction puts me on the other side of hills with absolutely no clear visibility of where the home AD is. Thankfully there is a dirty big ocean on one side that will help with that! :)

However, fly at a mates home AD that is less than 1 hour flight away inland, and everything looks the same, with no easy identifier as to where the AD is. So I get the whole argument for Nav. It's the very reason why I am getting mine, and always had the intention to get it. Heck, I did most of my training flying my plane home across the country with my instructor beside me.

But what this thread has shown is the regs are still, to this day, poorly written. What that does is (as it has done in my industry) is caused confusion amongst pilots. It causes heated discussions where opinions conflict, and it's not good.

Why could it not just be written better like...

You must not fly more than 25nm from the airport you took off from.

You must return to the the airport you took of from without landing at another airport.

SOLVED!

But no... The same thing has been happening for years. The regulators write a rule. The lawyers rewrite it. The regulators rewrite it again, and the lawyers have another go, and before you know it, the Chinese Whispers like process means what spits out the other side carries much ambiguity.

I am not saying we scrap the 25nm. It's plenty far. Just make sure it's written properly. It's not that hard! Sheesh!

But anyways... Like I said... I like a healthy discussion, if it brings awareness to the next pilot that has just gone solo that he must stay 25nm from his AD - Then good! :) Maybe we saved him from getting lost on his next flight.

Cheers

J

If you are at one AD, and take off, the flight ends there. If you land at the other AD it's within your 25 Nm training zone, so no problem.If you park it, and it lives there for a time and is your second base, then there are grounds to say that if you have been around the area with an instructor, and you decide a reasonable time later to go for a flight in a direction other that your first base, then it would be a flight from the second base.

However, If you departed the first base, landed at the second, had lunch, cup of coffee, went into town etc, and you then took off again, no one would be fooled by thinking that would qualify as anything other than the second leg of a flight, so you would be restricted to 25 Nm from the first base.

Was talking with my instructor about this today. I tend to agree with your way of thinking, only, where I flew with my instructor really has no bearing on where I can fly. For example... If I get you to fly my plane to somewhere in WA, then I am quite entitled to get myself to that AD, and fly it within 25nm of that AD, having never flown there before.

I just find it increasingly interesting how a simple yet fundamental part of our rule set is also still a bit grey. I have been working within Civil Aviation for nearly 12 years, and was hoping RAA might be a little different, but it seems not.

What is interesting is, as soon as someone pipes up with a view, many are quick to jump on you - when we are simply just discussing a topic. It seems like it's taboo! Is it that bad to have a discussion, or should I just shut up and tow the line.

Interesting how we think we know the rules.

Having dealt with casa regulation for 12 years, nothing surprises me anymore.

Plus... why would the RAA Ops manual even mention consecutive flights.

So let's get that straight. Landing is not a problem.

Well no. I have already asked casa re landing at another AD and the answer was as long as 25nm.

No. There is nothing stopping you landing at another AD. As long as it's within 25nm.

Thanks, but it still does not answer my question - My aircraft lives between 2 airfields! What happens in that instance? They are 20nm apart. In fact, I have 4 airfields within 25nm. I am sure there are many other pilots who have 2 strips in close proximity. What would happen in that case?

So... without sounding stupid... Let's say my plane is at AD1 today, and I fly it to AD2 where I leave it overnight. Tomorrow I go back and go for a fly. Where is my 25nm boundary now? It's a reasonable question.

Oh.. and the regs don't state anything about landing. They just state not more than 25nm from the departing airfield. They don't even mention anything about consecutive flights. Which is no surprise really.

Yep! I am glad that I have done my Nav training. It teaches you a whole lot more than you think. :)

Back to the 25nm though... and this is a legitimate question from my PPL buddy. What is the originating AD? My plane is 19nm from another AD, and at times it lives it's life between these 2 ADs. Sometimes it's at one for weeks at a time, and then other times it can live at the other for weeks at a time. So where does my 25nm start and end?

I am not being silly, and I don't really care, in 2 weeks I will have my endorsement - but it's a good question right! Today it might be at AD 1, but then tomorrow, I might leave it at AD2.