North Qld newbie :-)

[timothyb]

G'day all. I say newbie but I'm actually a 300hr PPL with an IFR rating. However I haven't flown for near eight years now so definitely not current. I've done most of my flying in the US as I resided in Hawaii for a number of years - before going off to Japan and then returning to Oz. I did all my PPL training in Hawaii and so have many hours island hopping - a great place to fly and some great scenery if you ever get the chance. Just get expect to fly over water a lot :-) In addition to HI, have flown a bit in California and have done some NSW/QLD flying in the past via rental GA aircraft.

 

I've been based in Townsville for near five years now and the flying 'itch' has returned. I discovered recently that the FAA has stopped with paper licences and so waiting on a new licence to come in from Oaklahoma - then I'll be setting off on the path to convert to an Aussie PPL.

 

Already been reading over the forums and lots of great info & banter. Looking forward to more..

 

Tim

 

 

[dazza 38]

Welcome Tim

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

G'day all. I say newbie but I'm actually a 300hr PPL with an IFR rating. However I haven't flown for near eight years now so definitely not current. I've done most of my flying in the US as I resided in Hawaii for a number of years - before going off to Japan and then returning to Oz. I did all my PPL training in Hawaii and so have many hours island hopping - a great place to fly and some great scenery if you ever get the chance. Just get expect to fly over water a lot :-) In addition to HI, have flown a bit in California and have done some NSW/QLD flying in the past via rental GA aircraft.I've been based in Townsville for near five years now and the flying 'itch' has returned. I discovered recently that the FAA has stopped with paper licences and so waiting on a new licence to come in from Oaklahoma - then I'll be setting off on the path to convert to an Aussie PPL.

 

Already been reading over the forums and lots of great info & banter. Looking forward to more..

 

Tim

Welcome, Tim. Sounds like you have done some interesting flying. We never hear about private/recreational flying in Japan. Did you see or hear anything?

There are a few members from your area, so you might hear from them soon.

 

This is a great forum with a wide variety of flyers. The discussion sometimes gets a bit robust, but there is more to agree on than there is to divide us.

 

 

[timothyb]

Welcome, Tim. Sounds like you have done some interesting flying. We never hear about private/recreational flying in Japan. Did you see or hear anything?There are a few members from your area, so you might hear from them soon.

This is a great forum with a wide variety of flyers. The discussion sometimes gets a bit robust, but there is more to agree on than there is to divide us.

I found Japan a complete contrast from the US re flying (but of course a lot of other things too!). Getting a JPN flight licence was a doddle. I ended up in a room with a lot of airline pilots where we simply passed a written test - based on a fairly simplistic translation of their air law. However I never used it(!). C172 rentals were something like $250/hr and I had been used to $75/hr in Honolulu (NB. This is eight years ago. Hourly rates have gone up in HNL but don't actually seem to have moved much in Australia).

 

It seems that any Japanese interested in GA go to Guam and do all their PPL training in Guam. Then go back to Japan and convert. I can't imagine that Guam would be very interesting after you'd done a loop of the island and not much in the way of XC options

 

Townsville (other than TSV) seems to have three airfields - Bluewater, Montpelier and Donnington - courtesy of WWII. But I can't say there's much traffic in TSV airspace. But it is noisy when the F18s are in town. My work is right under the approach to 01 and you have to pause for 10-15 secs on a phone call when they come over. Tim

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Welcome Tim, I live in Townsville and fly out of Monpelier Airpark, and before that for many years from Stark Field, which is only 6 Klms from Donnington Airpark.

 

Did a similar thing to you and also got my PPL in California , but got bored with the cost of GA and prefer to fly Rec aircraft which really is the way to go if you do a lot of flying. There are rec flyer and fields all up and down the coast, so we look foward to catching up some time.......cheers ....Maj.......NQ RAA board member ...

 

 

[timothyb]

Cheers, Maj. I couldn't agree more about GA vs Recreational. There are no doubt various factors involved but the only people I've met (since returning to Australia) who were consistently flying GA aircraft were guys who had basically decided they wanted to be commercial pilots and thus were prepared to hack the cost as part of working their way up the ladder. I rented a Beech Baron for a bit in Honolulu and remember being a bit freaked out at paying $200/hr wet. If only I had known :-)

 

About the local scene, I have a couple of q's.

 

What happens in the 'wet' season for VFR pilots and for places like Montpelier that have dirt runways (I think)? Is it pretty much hang up the headset and wait for the odd clear day?

 

Also, how many board members are there for NQ RAA? It would be good to know a bit more about the structure as I'm likely to become a new member.

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Tim......Yes I used to rent a very nice C 172 with the works for us $60 wet. Came back here to a real rough C 172 at $200 + !!.............I do a lot of hours so recreational is the way to go in this country if you are a fun flyer. I believe it takes the same or more skill to fly a good rec aircraft properly anyway.

 

Montpeliers' runways drain pretty well after rain, except in a few places. generally you can always find a runway that is usable. I flew out early yesterday for Proserpine, and returned late morning today with no dramas. After rain you do need to drive the runways to check for washouts which can occur. There were some on the chosen runway yesterday but being aware of them was no problem at takeoff. There was lots of cloud around on both legs, but managed to maintain VFR flight down yesterday and today. Down to about 1500 ' in places today but no dramas, after spending most of the time at 5000' with a good tailwind. Good local knowledge and Ozrunways helps a lot always of course !...

 

There is only one RAAus board member in the North Qld area and three in the SE Qld region. There are moves happening ATM to reduce the national count from the current 13 board members to around nine, which would help the board to operate better. We could end up with one in the S E corner and one up here in the North...watch this space .........Cheers Maj......NQ RAA board member.

 

 

[Hongie]

Welcome Tim, I'm in mackay, there are a few of us around here :)

 

Did you drop into heathrow maj?

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Yes Brad overnighted there....heard you had been there on the weekend also.................Maj.......

 

 

[Russ]

Welcome Tim, I'm in mackay, there are a few of us around here :)Did you drop into heathrow maj?

Where,s heathrow please...and what,s avail there etc

 

 

[Guest GraemeM]

Where,s heathrow please...and what,s avail there etc

London, Jabs not allowed.

Graeme.

 

 

[Hongie]

Heathrow is near Proserpine mate, you will need to message the owner, he is on this board. It's a pretty undulating strip, and the cross strip is short, so carefully does it.

 

 

[Hongie]

http://www.recreationalflying.com/members/ianwells.1933/

 

That's the owner

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Where,s heathrow please...and what,s avail there etc

Russ, Heathrow is a private field South of Proserpine airport close to the coast and just North of the mouth to the Oconnell River. Known for its impromptue Sunday B B Q s and fly-ins, which are usually well attended by local flyers.

Julie and Ian Wells own Savannah 'Cab Sav' plus a Drifter, and there are two other aircraft based on the field.

 

There is a large accomodation house (T2 !) adjacent to the field, which is available for short term rental, so that visitors may stay and fly the local Whitsundays area. Other overnight accomodation for visiting flyers may be available in the 'bat cave' crash pad.

 

Two runways are available suitable for some aircraft types, due to one being shortish, and the other undulating at one end, otherwise more than adequet for the experienced pilot.

 

For actual runway and operating details you should contact the owners.............Maj....

 

 

[Doug Evans]

Hi Tim

 

Live in the Proserpine area based at lakeside Airpark look forward to catchin up between work & weather

 

Cheers Doug

 

 

[Russ]

Thanks guys, bit by bit building up data base of strips etc, me and me jab intend some serious travelling, mate is also luring me into a round oz look about, planning on 2 mths just doodling about, no passengers, swags etc. yet to tell the wife, now that could be interesting.

 

Buying this jab, before I ran it past her was also " interesting " but 3mths has now passed, and I,m now game to sleep on me back again, me family Jewell's are now safe......I hope

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Rus we always knew aviation was dangerous, but my instructors never mentioned the risk to one's wedding tackle while sleeping!

 

 

[red750]

The location of Heathrow. "A" is Proserpine Airport.

 

 

The Heathrow airstrip.

 

 

 

[jeffd]

welcome Tim i am a new member here as well as a new flyer still doing my student training but find all the topics on here as good to read,especially as i am only qualified to listen and not make comments lol much like children should be seen and not heard scenario haha.however reading different opinions and methods of tackling issues is what flying is all about i suppose and can only add to the enjoyment of flying

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Heathrows short runway, looking South.....and on of the impromptu Sunday fly-in BBQs................Maj....

 

 

 

 

[timothyb]

Cheers, all. Heathrow looks like a really nice little spot & I think the Sunday BBQ photo probably sums it all up. Tim.

 

 

[jeffd]

welcome Tim i am a new member here as well as a new flyer still doing my student training but find all the topics on here as good to read,especially as i am only qualified to listen and not make comments lol much like children should be seen and not heard scenario haha.however reading different opinions and methods of tackling issues is what flying is all about i suppose and can only add to the enjoyment of flying

hav to be optimistic lol

 

 

[stevek]

Grew up on a farm about a mile north of the Heathrow strip. There used to be a couple of farm houses close to where the strip is. I think they blew down in a cyclone.