Airservices

[pylon500]

As mere Recreational flyers, most of us only fly day VFR (don't we?!) and listen to our radios if we have them.It is rare for us to require any outside help in our day to day flying.As such, previous AUF (RAAus)

 

policy has been to protect us from the money grabbing private sector

 

that runs AirServices, by refusing to divulge the operators of

 

recreational ultralights.It would now appear that

 

AirServices simply threaten to bill RAAus directly at which point the

 

bill is forwarded to the certification holder!I don't know

 

if AirServices is made aware of the reciepient, or how they would go

 

about enforcing the monetary procurement from RAAus if the the bill has

 

just 'disappeared' into the 'system'?<br ="k-block-placeholder">"Say again-crackle-crackle- tower, I'm-screech-buzz-altitude at-buzz-crackle-crackle ?"

 

 

[Guest howard]

It has been, and continues to be, RA-Aus policy that we do not divulge personal details to any organisation other than AMSA.

 

AMSA have direct, but selective, access to the MATES database for

 

search and rescue purposes and their use of the database has been

 

responsible and, on more than one occasion, may have mitigated a life

 

threatening situation Not even CASA has access to the MATES database,

 

though they may probably have the right to have details of all pilots

 

and aircraft, but so far have not exercised that right.

 

The office does receive accounts from a variety of sources for

 

navigation charges or airport charges and passes these onto the

 

aircraft operator. I should point out that these account are few and

 

far between and to date, getting these accounts paid has not been a

 

problem. However, if the operator refuses to pay the charge then it

 

would probably be paid by RA-Aus and then the operator would become a

 

debtor to RA-Aus on the basis that it's a service to members. If the

 

operator fails to pay then the debt has to be written off and it

 

becomes a cost to all members.

 

 

[wanabigaplane]

Landing fee not via RAAus

 

<div align="left">I just received a landing fee after landing at Mudgee. The bill came to me directly from Avdata, and not via RAAus.

 

If someone read my registration certificate in the aircraft, they would not have got my name so wrong. They could not have found my address from the name they read.

 

I saw no one at Mudgee, and talked to no one. They could only have identified me through my radio calls. How would they get my name and address if it was not provided by RAAus? :;)5:

 

 

[Admin]

Your radio calls would only give your rego which could be seen in the air or on the ground but gives no information as to the owner or pilot as you say. What was the aircraft and could they have made some inquiries to the manufacturer to ascertain your details as the RA CAN NOT give your details out?

 

 

[Guest Guest]

I find it amusing that RA pilots actually complain about receiving airways charges and landing fees, irrispective of how they got your details. There are repeat offenders out there who are wrecking the currently "free" system for everyone else. Some people clock up hundreds of dollars in airways charges bills that go unpaid. This is so unfair for GA pilots who have to pay.

 

The sooner RA-Aus release everyone's details the better!

 

 

[Guest danda]

Hi to all

 

Being fairly new to ultralighting and having not travelled a lot of cross country I would like to ask how do you know who charges and who doesn't also when you land at a airfield that does charge what do you do to avoid conflict.

 

Please don’t think me silly however I have never been told so therefore when I start travelling cross country out of ignorance I could well find myself in the same boat unintentionally.

 

Don

 

 

[Guest Ken deVos]

Hi Don

 

I am also new to this game (2.5 years), but have learntto always contact the operator of an ALA before leaving home.

 

Some operators (eg Lilidale Vic) are very, very unhappy if an ultralight lands on their field without prior permission (except in an emergency, of course).

 

Cheers

 

Ken

 

 

[Guest Guest]

Most "council" owned airports charge under the Avdata scheme. For a RA-Aus aircraft, somewhere between $4 - $7 for a landing. I flew many a times into Dubbo as an example in RA-Aus and never knew of landing fees, but then flew GA into there and picked up bills, so they either don't bother with them for RA-Aus because of the anonynimity or they are getting lost in the system somewhere.

 

Private field operators should always be contacted prior to arrival there, otherwise things can get a little nasty.

 

Airfields such as Hoxton Park charge under the banner of BAL (Bankstown Airport Limited) so their charges will be independent of Avdata.

 

 

[PaulN]

Hi Don,

 

Like Ken says, make the effort to contact the owner/operator of the ALA prior, this courtesy is esp appropriate with private strips. The same courtesy is not req'd for your larger more public aerodromes. However, once down and parked one should make the effort to locate the owner/manager to settle your dues. The bonus here is that you meet new people and make new friends, and you'll know you will be welcome back there. Some of the larger fields you'll often find no-one around which is really tough because there's no-one to give your money to.

 

How do you locate these owners? The ERSA lists info for most of the strips you're likely to use, but there are many that do not list here. Get yourself an AOPA National Airfield Directory from http://www.aopa.com.au/website/afdorder.cfmat a cost of $50. This lists most strips in Oz, but not all. Chances are, the ones not listed that you may want to use will be by invitation only anyway.

 

Both the ERSA and the AOPA directory detail info about the airfield, landing fees, fuel availability, contact names and numbers, etc. The AOPA directory is more informative with stuff like nearest town, accommodation, and so on.

 

From my experience, when you talk to owners in advance they are friendly enough and usually offerhelpful advicebased on local knowledge. It pays to double check stuff like co-ords, elev, and rwynums while you're talking with them too. When Gwen and I did a flight through the outback last Sept one of our stops was at Wilpena Pound. From the AOPA directory we noted all the relevant strip info for the flt plan and GPS set-up. However, in flight at about 30 mins out I contacted their chief pilot by mobile and just happened to mention the rwy nums we had in the conversation. To my alarm he said "Mate, you've got the wrong airfield. We are .......".What we didn't knowwas thereis another strip about 15 milesfrom Wilpena with different elev and different rwy nums. The AOPA book incorrectly listed all the strip data for this unknown field under their listing for Wilpena. Anyway, it made for an interesting "seek and ye shall find" scenario as neither strip is indicated on the WAC.

 

Paul

 

 

[Guest danda]

Thank you all very much, I always believe that you only get into trouble if you don't ask questions thank you for the answers.

 

Don

 

 

[Ross]

Hi Don

 

AVDATA Pty Ltd are engaged by some airports to collect landing fees.

 

They have a website with a list of charges - see below

 

http://www.avdata.com.au/AirportChargeRates.pdf

 

or just do a Google search on "AVDATA" to see a list of related sites.

 

Regards