Suggestions for commuting to Melbourne

[Mat Farrell]

Hi folks, I'm an RAA licensed pilot, flying a Jabiru J230. 

I live in north east Victoria (Mount Beauty), and am looking into convenient ways to commute to Melbourne. At this point in time, avoiding airspace is a necessity.

 

Ideally I'd land somewhere within walking distance of a train station to get into the CBD, then out from there as needs be. It would be possible to leave a car at an airstrip somewhere, but ideally I'd rather not - I'm open to either idea.

 

For my thinking, Lilydale/Coldstream is one option (and having family around Greensborough/Hurstbridge is a bonus), but Riddells Creek also look tempting, with only a 2.5 hike to the train station. Thoughts or other suggestions?

[Garfly]

Matt, I suppose you'd go for Riddells Creek over Penfield since at the latter you'd need to get into Sunbury before getting a train into the city. But if you did choose the standby-car option, YPEN would have its attractions, no? Presumably you'll be able to pick your days to do the 'commute'.

Anyway, it must be great living and flying at YMBT.

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by Garfly

[RossK]

Tyabb could be another option ,it's only 1km to the station, but not sure about regular Public transport there.

 

Leaving a car somewhere is going to be the quickest option though as getting from the airfield to a metro train station is going to add a fair bit of time.

[Mat Farrell]

Cheers folks.

Garfly - yup, Riddells wins wrt distance to a train, though to your point, I don't know a lot of these strips, so haven't really assessed suitability (wet weather ops, can leave the plane tied down for a couple of days, etc). YMBT is a wonderful place to live. Driving the Hume to Melbourne gets old fast, though - hence figuring out the flying options.

Ross, Tyabb does sound good. My initial reaction was that it's a ways out of Melbourne, but then again, the other options I've tabled are no closer, really.

[Mat Farrell]

19 minutes ago, Garfly said:

Matt, I suppose you'd go for Riddells Creek over Penfield since at the latter you'd need to get into Sunbury before getting a train into the city. But if you did choose the standby-car option, YPEN would have its attractions, no? Presumably you'll be able to pick your days to do the 'commute'.

Anyway, it must be great living and flying at YMBT.

 

Oh, and as to picking my days - sort of. I do freelance work, so I don't get to pick them as such. Rather I take work when it comes up, and would make the call on whether I can fly or drive on any given day.

[facthunter]

Before I went to fly into Riddle  I would visit there and do a couple of circuits. It's not far to the station but not all trains stop there.  Sunbury has many more  trains. It's only VR  (Diesel) that goes beyond Sunbury and it's a better service and often bypasses a lot of inner stations and even Sunbury. Parking in Sunbury? Not so easy. The electric service terminates there. so high frequency of service.   Nev

[Garfly]

At least in Melbourne you have lots of suitable airfields ringing the city - albeit at some distance.  Sydney is far worse off in this respect.

WX, of course, is the big bugbear if you've gotta be there.  But with forecasting so good these days, at least you can plan to go by air when it's fair.  I guess it won't be that much quicker in the end, but it'll be a lot more satisfying.

[red750]

As Nev says, Riddells Creek is serviced by VLine, not PTV. Link to VLine timetable.

[facthunter]

Riddle is South of Mt Macedon and with a North  West wind may have turbulence. There's a valley at the south end of the main strip where a NE wind will give you a big updraft and you don't want to be landing 1/2 way down the strip. Nev

[facthunter]

 There's another just North of Melton that operates a school and has plenty of room to park. Nev

[turboplanner]

Mount Beauty - pick the best valley - Benalla - Kilmore Gap - Bachhus Marsh - train to Melbourne.

[Bosi72]

I've just paid $16.50 to Avdata for landing at Bacchus Marsh.

Melton is free when you buy a burger (very good one)  🙂

Tyabb/Coldstram/Lilydale have donation boxes. 

 

Whatever you decide, the weather at Kilmore or Glenburn Gap would play the key role. Maybe flying to Mangalore as an  alternate, then catching the train to CBD would cut off some time. Vline doesn't stop at every station like Metro line and runs faster.

 

Probably the long term solution is to get Controlled airspace endorsement (assuming that's constraint) then fly to Essendon or Moorabbin (both at $35) and be as closest to CBD as you can be.. 

 

 

[Mat Farrell]

All good thoughts folks, thank you.

 

Bosi72, yup, that's my big constraint. I thought the only way i could fly into CTA, fundamentally is to have a CASA license (RPL or PPL. working on that...) I know there are a few odd exceptions (such as approved school ops), but am I missing a trick here? As i understand it my AC is good for it (24 reg, VHF and transponder), but i'm the limiting factor.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Not sure of the regs with respect to non GA but Essendon is within a 10 min walk to the 59 tram into the city (from memory to Elizabeth St end of Flinders Street station).

 

 

 

[Bosi72]

On 31/08/2022 at 8:01 AM, Mat Farrell said:

All good thoughts folks, thank you.

 

Bosi72, yup, that's my big constraint. I thought the only way i could fly into CTA, fundamentally is to have a CASA license (RPL or PPL. working on that...) I know there are a few odd exceptions (such as approved school ops), but am I missing a trick here? As i understand it my AC is good for it (24 reg, VHF and transponder), but i'm the limiting factor.

Hi Matt

 

I feel devastated at this moment after reading the news and connecting the dots, especially for not encouraging you more to study and learn as much as you can.

 

After getting a PPL, I still felt a big gap in my aviation knowledge, therefore I've decided to read, and my first book was CPL Meteorology. Because this was the area which I wanted to learn more about, and to know what to expect/avoid when flying for fun.

 

As we all know, passing an exam, or getting a licence is only a "licence to learn", because we are living in ever changing environment. Therefore learning never stops.

 

I hope this post will encourage fellow pilots to learn more.

 

Rest in peace my aviation friend 😞

 

 

 

 

 

 

[onetrack]

This truly is a sad event, and one always wonders what else could have been said or done, to ensure that keen young pilots with limited experience, don't take risks with poor weather.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11229691/Mathew-Farrell-Filmmaker-42-dies-young-Victorian-High-Country-plane-crash.html

[Garfly]

Bosi72, I am gutted to hear this news.  I was following the search yesterday but didn't think to make the connection to the Matt we were chatting with recently on here.  So he was your friend. Very sorry.  I never had the pleasure of meeting him.

gary.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Sincere condolences, Bosi72. 

[APenNameAndThatA]

On 20/9/2022 at 8:02 PM, Bosi72 said:

Hi Matt

 

I feel devastated at this moment after reading the news and connecting the dots, especially for not encouraging you more to study and learn as much as you can.

 

After getting a PPL, I still felt a big gap in my aviation knowledge, therefore I've decided to read, and my first book was CPL Meteorology. Because this was the area which I wanted to learn more about, and to know what to expect/avoid when flying for fun.

 

As we all know, passing an exam, or getting a licence is only a "licence to learn", because we are living in ever changing environment. Therefore learning never stops.

 

I hope this post will encourage fellow pilots to learn more.

 

Rest in peace my aviation friend 😞

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which one did you read? 

[Bosi72]

5 hours ago, APenNameAndThatA said:

Which one did you read? 

I used both Bob Tait's and BOM manual of aviation meteorology, however some people prefer other author's writing style. 

Any will do the job.. and don't stop there..

 

There are good reading material on New Zealand CAA website

 

https://www.aviation.govt.nz/assets/publications/gaps/caa-gap-mountain-flying-may-2021-web.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[turboplanner]

24 minutes ago, Bosi72 said:

I used both Bob Tait's and BOM manual of aviation meteorology, however some people prefer other author's writing style. 

Any will do the job.. and don't stop there..

 

There are good reading material on New Zealand CAA website

 

https://www.aviation.govt.nz/assets/publications/gaps/caa-gap-mountain-flying-may-2021-web.pdf

 

 

What about the MET training by your Instructor/CFI?

 

[Garfly]

3 minutes ago, turboplanner said:

What about the MET training by your Instructor/CFI?

 

What about it?

 

[Bosi72]

54 minutes ago, turboplanner said:

What about the MET training by your Instructor/CFI?

 

 

For sure the instructors role is very important, however not many things can be said/done in ~25 hours until your first licence.

 

Therefore use all possible resources to learn and improve yourself.

[turboplanner]

1 hour ago, Bosi72 said:

 

For sure the instructors role is very important, however not many things can be said/done in ~25 hours until your first licence.

 

Therefore use all possible resources to learn and improve yourself.

25 hours is your FLYING time. Theory should be a lot more.

[facthunter]

Met knowledge is super important to "airmen" of the basic variety same as a sailor must know the "moods" of the sea. and read them.  I've always taken a great interest in weather matters and still been caught by unforeseen events. and erroneous forecasts. Nev