GraemeK

I usually try to cross-check things by setting the altimeter on the airfield elevation, then having a quick look at the Kollsman window to see if the setting is close to the local QNH (for YLIL I use the YCEM QNH off the 'net). Just catches gross errors ......

Plus you need radio ...... it's all in the AIP. Neither the VFR Guide nor any ATC publications have any regulatory standing.

Great work TP! Particularly the bit about the Act and CARs having priority, people sometimes forget that. There's a good chart in the VFR Flight Guide (page 2) which shows the hierarchy.

Great stuff :thumb_up: - always wondered how to get rid of the little buggers ..... Reminds me of working in the lab many years ago when we'd use the lab vacuum hooked up to a 20 litre bottle and a hose with a long glass tube on the end to capture blowies.

The tax break is an investment allowance providing an additional tax deduction of 30 per cent of the cost of eligible new assets acquired between 13 December 2008 and the end of June 2009*. There is also a lower (10%) deduction for assets acquired between July and December 2009. Small businesses with a turnover of less than $2million can claim the deduction for eligible assets costing $1,000 or more. The 30% can be claimed as a deduction in the 2009 financial year (it is not a rebate). Thus, if your plane cost $100,000 you can claim a deduction of $30,000 this year. Thus, as bushpilot suggests, it doesn't really save you 30% - the saving will depend on your marginal rate - at a 30% marginal rate, you'd save $9,000. Suggesting it's 30% off the price is a little bit naughty! The Treasury has put out FAQ's for this allowance here. * terms and conditions apply!!

For me it was regular times spent sitting in one of the jumpseats on 747's for takeoffs and landings (pre 9/11 of course). I used to travel to the US or Europe pretty much every month, so enjoyed a lot of those experiences! Never really had the time to indulge my interest in flying until I retired recently and shouted myself a 59th birthday present TIF in a Jab 160 - from then on I was hooked. I didn't really know about RAAus then, had always assumed I'd go for a PPL in one of the YLIL Warriors (and may still do that) but seems to me there's not a whole lot of point in it (given I'm likely to be flying by myself anyway as the missus has made it clear she'll never fly with me - she has a real fear of flying even in the big kero burners - and the RA cert with or without CTA endorsement will pretty much cover my needs). Of course, it coulda been living under the flight path for RWY26 at YMEN in the 50's with stuff like Viscounts constantly overhead. Or living just outside the boundary on the threshold of 26 with my first GF in the late 60's and sitting in bed listening to the Bristol freighters warming up just outside our window for their late night sorties across Bass Strait.:thumb_up:

Yeah - best to avoid the sharp whack and make the call, even though technically you're crossing before the threshold of 36R. It's also a reminder to make you have a good look for someone on finals. Not a problem while 36L is out of action ....

Oops, apologies for the thread drift .

It's in several tables (they do like to make things seem complicated) - here's the URL: AIP GEN 1.2. While there are tables for each airspace, the guts of it is the same - 1500m horizontally, 1000ft vertically (just love how we mix units!). In GAAP, clear of cloud. In Class G at greater of 3000ft or 1000ft AGL, then clear of cloud and in sight of ground. Cheers

AIP ENR 1.2 is the one .....

My reading of the need for runway clearances is: at a non-towered aerodrome - lookout and ensure it's clear before crossing, make radio call to warn others you're about to cross. at a towered aerodrome - clearance always required (AIP ENR 1.1 para 4.3.8) at a GAAP aerodrome - clearance required to cross active runway only (AIP ENR 1.1 para 27.1.1) - presume active runway(s) as nominated in ATIS - not sure???

It's a limitation on the aircraft registration - see for example CAO 95.55, paragraph 5.1 (exemptions subject to flying below 5000 feet, except for the "unable to land" provision).

Goodonya Bec - well done :thumb_up: !!! I'm looking forward to my first solo, but may be a while yet!

Great stuff basscheffers :thumb_up:. I tried to do this a while ago, but couldn't convert from PDF directly - I had to do a lot of manual editing because the formatting/flow seemed to change within the file, and the fields got out of kilter. So well done!

Good question - I'm also confused . In s2.07 of the Ops Manual, for the Pilot Certificate, it makes it clear that it's 20 hours, including five as PIC. But for the CC endorsement, it says 10 hours training and 2 hours solo - so that would imply 12 hours I guess ... I'm sure someone will know the answer :big_grin:

Just to reinforce Orion's comments regarding documenting the loan - it's also important from a tax perspective.

Most likely a financier would ask you for a directors' guarantee anyway, if the company has limited assets .....

Hey Bec - not slow at all, I'm at 15 hours and still haven't nailed my landings Congrats - well done!

Hopefully I'll make my first Natfly, by Jab 160 :thumb_up:

Strange - I got my ARN and the magazine just started arriving. I wasn't expecting it to, because I'd heard you had to ask for it.

It's providing METARS, not ARFORS I think .......

Try Pingplotter. It will give you timings to each node between you and the website you're trying to reach - you'll be able to see where the bottleneck is occurring (eg whether it's just a slow website, or whether one of your ISP's routers is a problem).

OK, newie here - here's my story. I grew up in the '50's under the approach to RWY26 at Essendon, so saw everything from Viscounts to 727's close up from the backyard. Pretty exciting stuff, but poor family so no chance of flying in them . Then after (first) marriage, lived for a while on the eastern boundary of YMEN where the throaty tones of the B&B Bristols doing their runups late at night used to lull me and the bride to sleep .....:thumb_up: From there, spent most of my last 30 years travelling back and forth to the US and Europe in the big kero burners, up to a dozen or more times per year. Pre 9/11 was a great time, with plenty of rides up front and lots of interesting take-offs and landings - plus met a lot of really great pilots with lots of stories to share. Now I'm retired (or retrenched or whatever, who cares at this stage :big_grin: ) at the age of 59 I finally realised my lifelong desire to fly. So I'm here solely to enjoy myself - no hour-building for me, I'm too old to aspire to a CPL or ATPL ;). And RA is an absolute godsend! From here, I hope to build or buy a plane (build would be great, but not sure SWMBO would agree, but then she'd probably not be happy with buying either) and spend heaps of time in the air exploring some of the beauty this country has to offer.:thumb_up:

I well remember that Sunday - I was the student in the Jab at the time :ah_oh: . A little scary as I'd just started the climb from the go-around (go around resulting from me being way too high on final, but that's another story ), but the instructor responded quickly and decisively and flew a very tight circuit back on to 18R. I know what you mean about the highs and lows - there's been some lessons where I can't do a thing right, I know what I have to do but just somehow stuff up on really basic stuff. After one particularly frustrating lesson I suggested to the instructor we just spend an hour in the training area practising the basics, just S&L, medium level turns, climbing, descending etc. It really got my confidence back, and my flying improved. I think in my situation, I was too tense and gripping the stick so tightly I lost the feel for the plane - and the more feel I lost the worse I flew and the tighter the grip. So that lesson I concentrated on relaxing, and feeling the pressures and things were better. The ups and downs can be very frustrating, but at least things are heading in the right direction I think.:thumb_up:

Just joined tonight after chatting with a fellow student while waiting to do the RA "Human Factors" exam. I'm a (mature age) student pilot, flying Jabiru's out of YLIL. G