What do you find to be the greatest challenge?

[Mick]

I find that time is a big issue, very frustrating when my aircraft is a 40 minute drive away from home at a private strip and I live 500 meteres from the local airport where there are no hangars available.

 

Weather is also a factor when ducking out for a quick early morning flight before heat / bumps /wind, is not really an option.

 

We continue to lobby the council to make more land available for hangars...................

 

 

[sfGnome]

Access (and the weather) are the things that kill me. Where I live is 1 hour's drive from the closest available a/c for hire (and then only for brief periods booked well in advance - see note about weather!), 1 1/2 hours to the next closest, 2 hours to the next and 2 1/2 hours to the next. It's a bummer to drive a 3-4 hour round trip only to find that circumstances at the strip are not suitable, regardless of how good the weather forecasters predicted it to be.

 

Of course, when I finally get in the air, I really enjoy the challenge of being a clean, consistent, in-control pilot. Unfortunately, those things remain a challenge...

 

 

[rgmwa]

Interesting comments Naremman

 

I'm still a working engineer (working towards retirement), and also learned to fly at Jandakot, but starting only 3 years ago when it was still GAAP. It took me about 18 months part time, plus a not so small fortune to get my PPL, and there was a lot to learn on the course (I'm still learning). The nearest I got to flying into Perth itself was on a solo Nav, when ATC let me fly as far as the threshold of runway 03, down to 500'. Even that was apparently quite rare and although it was on the flight plan, my instructor was surprised later that they actually let me do it. It was pretty stressful, but I was pleased to have done it.

 

The workload in and around Jandakot on the ground and in the air certainly keeps you focussed. I'm now fairly comfortable with it, but more often fly from Murrayfield because it's much more low-key. Had I known about RAA when I first started, I may well have gone that way rather than GA. Although it's nice to be able to fly heavier aircraft and in controlled airspace, I think your daughter is doing it the smart way, saving a lot of money in the process, and being trained just as well.

 

Just to keep on-topic, although money is always a consideration because this hobby is so expensive, and time is also an issue to some extent, my on-going concerns are really:

 

1. flying enough to remain competent to handle a plane safely

 

2. having to face my first AFR later this year

 

3. passing my next medical

 

4. not forgetting all the theory, technical information and regs

 

5. keeping up with changes in procedures

 

6. trying to become a better pilot

 

7. gaining the skills needed to maintain my aircraft properly once it's completed

 

rgmwa

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Ive got adifferent problem, anything over about 40 minutes plats hell with my back and there is not much room for improving the seating, so it is little and often, rather than long trips. A low cost plane helps financially.

Sorry to hear of your back pain issues, Yenn. I have had similar problems in the past, aggravated by hours sitting in crumby car seats. I have never had any back pain when riding the bike, even on a 5K trip home from Darwin. Sitting slightly forward, as you would on a horse, seems to be a big part of the solution. I've even seen a few horse-saddles mounted as office chairs for the same reason.

 

I wonder how we could incorporate this idea into our planes?

 

 

[ayavner]

 

I wonder how we could incorporate this idea into our planes?

http://images1.makefive.com/images/entertainment/movies/the-best-stanley-kubrick-movies/dr-strangelove-7.jpg

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

http://images1.makefive.com/images/entertainment/movies/the-best-stanley-kubrick-movies/dr-strangelove-7.jpg

This sitting position might delay the onset of back pain, but the glide slope looks a bit steep!

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

...As I'm not flying often enough currently (too much work) I worry that I'll forget some important and otherwise obvious air law such as who I have to give way to...

Isn't it like the road, governed by the product of mass x velocity squared

 

 

[Ballpoint 246niner]

The greatest challenge- getting pilots to stick to the disciplines they were taught. You wouldn't build a house then start chipping away at the foundations would you?

 

 

[eightyknots]

Ive got adifferent problem, anything over about 40 minutes plats hell with my back and there is not much room for improving the seating, so it is little and often, rather than long trips. A low cost plane helps financially.

 

Sorry to hear of your back pain issues, Yenn. I have had similar problems in the past, aggravated by hours sitting in crumby car seats. I have never had any back pain when riding the bike, even on a 5K trip home from Darwin. Sitting slightly forward, as you would on a horse, seems to be a big part of the solution. I've even seen a few horse-saddles mounted as office chairs for the same reason.I wonder how we could incorporate this idea into our planes?

Perhaps you need to put a horse on the plane and then sit on that? For instance:

 

 

The only problem is that you'll be over the 544 kg limit. An alternative is to buy one of these flying horses from Greece (and help their economy to boot):

 

 

[ATTACH=full]16571[/ATTACH]

 

The advantage is that, after a feed of grass or hay, you don't need to carry any extra fuel. The disadvantage is that you will need to get a special endorsement for this.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Crikey, 80, wot hav I started?

 

 

[Tomo]

The greatest challenge- getting pilots to stick to the disciplines they were taught. You wouldn't build a house then start chipping away at the foundations would you?

That's interesting Neil, what do you reckon is the first few things pilots start to skip?

 

 

[frank marriott]

$2.00 plus/ ltr for Avgas!!!!!

 

 

[Deskpilot]

[ATTACH=full]16571[/ATTACH]

 

That was one beautiful horse. If I'm right, that scene is from a film about a race horse that leaps from a boat and ends up on a desert island, along with a ten year old kid. He tames the animal and they eventually get rescued. Damned if I can remember the name of the film though.

 

OOPS, sorry, wrong attachment.

 

 

[djpacro]

I am interested in hearing what you find to be the greatest challenge in flying these days?

Dealing with CASA of course.

[Ballpoint 246niner]

That's interesting Neil, what do you reckon is the first few things pilots start to skip?

Hey mate, from what I see the first thing is sloppiness-Holding accurate heights, staying in balance, LOOKOUT, etc. Then many fail to practice emergency procedures. Precautionaries, EFATO,EFIC,PFL's etc. Once in 2 years they'll get a reminder with a BFR. But Murphy doesn't care about that...!

 

The other areas are adherence to correct radio phraseology and keeping brevity in same, and awareness of subtle changes that have occurred in regs and ops ; for example,in flight above 5000' requirements and general CTA avoidance and what we can ask for/can't ask for and what boundary tolerances we need to observe.

 

The line between a "safe" Pilot certificate standard, and being the best we can be is often a blurred and individually interpreted line, and IMHO if you're not trying to improve in every flight then inevitably you are going backwards, if through nothing else than simple complacency.

 

Be passionate about your flying, and even if it's just for fun be professional in your delivery. the lapels that matter are the ones you wear in your behavoirs -not on your shoulders.

 

Food for thought.......?

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

... awareness of subtle changes that have occurred in regs and ops ; for example,in flight above 5000' requirements and general CTA avoidance and what we can ask for/can't ask for and what boundary tolerances we need to observe...?

Good points you raise, Ballpoint. Those of us who haven't had the recent benefit of an instructor overseeing our flying would have read about the new access to air over 5K, but there perhaps needs to be some clear explanation of what we have to do.

 

Some blokes say we should keep off the airwaves when you go above 5000'. Others say we should report to WLB or BNE centre. If we don't carry a transponder it seems like the right thing to do, so that the controllers know who that unidentified blip is, and where he's going.

 

If we RAA aircraft cause significant stress to the controllers, there may be pressure for us all to invest in transponders.

 

 

[frank marriott]

Prior to the Dick Smith area you could fly full SAR VFR. Not now - only SAR time.

 

Centre does not want to know about VFR now. If you have a transponder on 1200 they will advise IFR traffic of conflicts and call you on area freq. as well.

 

Without a transponder they would not know your altitude and thus would not know if you were a conflict. Many areas away from larger airports the radar coverage is only SSR so you would not give a primary paint.

 

Frank