Our trip to the Tamworth control Tower

[SDQDI]

Today we (Quirindi aero club and friends from scone, cessnock ect) had a fly up to tamworth and a trip through the tower.

 

It has been a long time coming with one of our members doing all the paperwork with CASA spending a lot of his time to make it the day it turned out to be. It hasn't been without its hiccups, just on Thursday I got a phone call from Jill Bailey (had me wondering what I did wrong to start with:whistling:) anyway it turns out that there was no record of me doing my radio endo and without that I couldn't be aloud to do the trip. She was very helpful and told me if I could get the exam done early Friday that she would do her best to get it through to CASA before the 4pm deadline. Well to cut a long story short I found evidence in my logbook of my radio endo so a few calls and emails to Ken Flower (my CFI, well not mine exclusively but...... Well you know what I mean!) I had all that sorted and confirmed which was passed onto Jill who then passed it along to CASA very promptly. I can't praise the help of Jill and Ken enough as without their extra effort I would not have been able to make the trip.

 

The day started with breaky at 8 a good dose of bacon, sausages and egg followed by a briefing with the very helpful, patient air services Gent who explained everything often having to repeat to get through to us 'noobs' a lot of which hadn't flown into controlled airspace previously. Then it was a staggered start to have a safe amount of separation for the flight up to Tamworth. 12 aircraft was the end total with around 20 individuals. Once we all got up to tamworth we were vehiclised over to the tower and escorted through for a full explanatory tour with answers to each and every one of our questions. It was very informative and it turns out shags has been telling the truth, the controllers don't have two heads and actually come across as quite normal appearing folks:thumb up:.

 

I had to get back home to do some farmwork so my passenger and I got out early and had a trouble free exit from the controlled area. All in all a very informative day which has taught most of us quite a bit. Certainly if any of you get the opportunity to go through a tower make sure you take it up!!

 

So in conclusion a bunch of us RAA cert holders (quite a few who never have been in controlled airspace before) got permission to fly into tamworth and we totally enjoyed it even if we did start out with higher than normal heart rates. A top day of flying (and I didn't bounce any of my landings:kicking: Woohoo!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rankamateur]

Was Garry Dee from scone along in his White Savannah?

 

 

[SDQDI]

I think he was, I'm not real good at remembering names but I think the savannah pilot is called Garry. He is a little hard of hearing, is that him?

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Was Garry Dee from scone along in his White Savannah?

Yep. Garry is a regular at our events. Unlike many STOL aircraft (like Hornets with huge wheels ) his Savannah goes like a scalded cat.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

 

It was comforting to see controllers still use paper tiles (soon to be replaced with touch-screen versions).

 

There are a couple of signal lamps hanging ready to communicate with aircraft having radio failure. Must brush up on my signals.

 

 

[rankamateur]

I think he was, I'm not real good at remembering names but I think the savannah pilot is called Garry. He is a little hard of hearing, is that him?

That is him. We built his first XL Savannah, and the replacement S one he had down there. It flies absolutely beautifully.

I put in for it when he is finished with it but he said I had to stand in line behind his daughter.

 

 

[DonRamsay]

A stressful but very rewarding day. It was enough of an education to suddenly understand how much safer it is having a controlled airport rather than the "see and avoid" scenario at non-Towered airports we normally fly into.

 

While it was tough to get the radio calls mostly right and follow the strict procedures, it was possible to realise that it could be much easier with a little practice. All that just increases the argument for a controlled airspace endorsement for RAAus so we can avoid the unsafe Ultralight Lane west of Williamtown and flying over tiger country to avoid Coffs and Coolangatta.

 

Many thanks are due the great blokes at Quirindi for organising the day and making it all happen so well.

 

 

[Pearo]

This is good stuff. I love flying in controlled airspace now. Once you do a few trips, you realise the procedures are not that hard and that ATC are not mega procedure nazi's either but rather really helpful bunch of people. I am sure when I stuff up my read back it must be annoying, but as I get more experience I have less issues. We all have to start somewhere. What I have realised, is that if in doubt, ask ATC for clarification (although make sure you study the airport and procedures before hand). Also ring the tower on the phone for advice before you leave, to date I have not talked to anyone who was not 100% helpful. Same goes for the BOM people, call them, they are great.

 

I also thing its a great thing when rec pilots visit the tower and meet the ATC's in person. I managed to get a tour of Brisbane Tower and Brisbane Centre (thanks to a good friends cousin who was the boss their at the time). Also, as a PPL student at Redcliffe, we are supposed to visit the Sunny Coast tower as well (although I have not managed to yet due to time constraints). IF anyone can get a tower visit, then do it, its a must.

 

 

[Ada Elle]

I got introduced to the guys at YSCN tower. Was a great experience, and I got to apologise in advance for my terrible radio calls (first time in CTR).