SGM

As a generalisation, the lower frequencies (700mhz, 850mhz) penetrate structures further and tend to wrap around obstacles better. They tend to dominate in regional and remote areas (4G), whereas 3500mhz is more useful for high-demand city environments (5G). Sometimes when flying I historically got Telstra 3G coverage. This is maybe enough for a text but rarely enough to use webpage to get METAR etc. Those 3G sites are now progressively shifting to 4G so it will be interesting to see if the transition (and the corresponding change in user demand) gives any better coverage. Some other random thoughts 1. All three mobile network providers are trialling SMS via Low Earth Orbit satellite - handy for letting someone know where you are, not so handy for contacting CENSAR or getting weather. 2. It will be interesting to see how TPG's(Vodafone) network sharing deal with Optus changes narrows coverage gap - that's due to go live in 2025. I can think of times when I have had Voda coverage but not Telstra. And getting 4 bars on your display from anyone does not guarantee mean you can make a call or download data - just ask people who went to "Beyond the Valley" music festival. 3. The only Telstra reseller that has access to the full Telstra network is Boost (others like Aldi, Belong etc just get access to parts of the network). To see the difference go the map with the slider about halfway down this page https://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones/Guides/Telstra-mobile-network-coverage. Note Boost has now been fully acquired by Telstra. 4. Phones that Telstra rates as "Blue Tick" or with a "Regional" have been tested in low coverage scenarios... you can find them on the Telstra website.

Unfortunately, that is almost certainly the Sting. It is from the facebook page of the other instructor who is named in the 9news article.

Yep typo. Definitely a Sting.

Aircraft was a Sling. Here is the wing. There are RAAus Slings at both Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie.

Our insurance is currently via Geoff Tonkin at https://insurancehouse.com.au/. It is 50% QBE and 50% Agile and is deliberately designed to "top-up" the RAAus insurance... specifically it has this clause "RECREATIONAL AIRCRAFT AUSTRALIA LIABILITY ENDORSEMENT It is hereby noted and agreed that coverage under Sections 2 and 3 of this Policy shall come into effect only after insurance available to You because of Your membership of Recreational Aviation Australia Inc. has been exhausted." In our case the RAAus sub-limit of $250k for passengers was what we primarily wanted to increase. Our view was that in the event of ongoing rehab required for a passenger, $250k would not last long. There are a few others clarification etc in the top up document, like removing the pro-rata clause (which would mean the replacement of any avionics etc only calculated on estimated remaining service life) and coverage for forced landing transport costs. I'll attach that full document here. Note 1: Previously we had dealt with Sonya at Bill Owen Insurance (now trading as https://www.aviatorrisk.com.au/) - They also offered excellent advice and customer service, but at the last requote was just a bit more expensive. I would speak to both. Note 2: This year our premium did not go up - much to my surprise. RA Aus Additional Benefits endorsement (latest).pdf

UPDATE : On Friday I received a call from NSW Fair Trading which is the lead agency in this prosecution. They can't say too much, but the main "players" should enjoy this Christmas on the "outside"! If you have any evidence, knowledge or tip-offs, PM me and I will give you the details of the lead investigator.

OK update on my initial post. I completed the BFR yesterday (and it is called BFR on my RAAus app at least) with Adam from Kyneton, Victoria (YKTN). Thanks for the tip off @pmccarthy We did all the usual, stalls, Practice Forced Landing, and navigated to an impromptu and unfamiliar airfield (Maryborough YMBU) which was 37 NM away. I keyed it into my panel-mounted Garmin 296, iPad and bugged the heading. As luck would have it I lost GPS signal about 15 NM before Maryborough but with the iPad, heading and trusty paper map meant there was no issue. Eventually, GPS came back 5 minutes later. I got to ask Adam a few questions about flying that I hadn't fully resolved in my own mind (exact ruling on the distance flying before a flightplan is required), got some advice about choosing runways where there is nil wind and cross runways, and a few other comments. The entire process took 1.5 hours and I felt the money was well spent on relevant content. Adam is a super nice guy and an experienced CFI. Highly recommend him for your next BFR in Victoria. He flys Friday - Sunday's. If you need his mobile number PM me.

My Biennial Flight Review (RAAus Pilot) is approaching. When I checked two years ago with RAAus, the cross-country endorsement is not actually a separate BFR retest requirement... however, the flight instructor I chose last time decided to make it so. So I ended up navigating without GPS for a few hours just to demonstrate I could still do it. Whilst it's probably a good relearning exercise, I have 2 separate GPS on the panel and two further (Ipad, Iphone) in the aircraft, so perhaps the E6B/map/watch approach was not the best use of either my time or my money. Two questions to the forum a. Have you been required to do cross-country navs on a BFR? b. Can you recommend a good RAAus CFI in the Melbourne area who is "pragmatic"?

Is it an official position that ATSB doesn't examine accidents of RAAus aircraft? Does anyone have that in writing? With many factory-built aircraft now RAAus registered and many flight schools in RAAus, there seems to be as much to learn going forward from any RAAus aircraft accidents, as there would be from accidents on (rare) experimental class VH-registered aircraft.

Hard to believe that an 800kg aircraft of this size could stall at 27kts... looks like this was questioned 14 years ago too...

I'm planning (another) trip flying Melbourne to Gold Coast. It works out at about 440 minutes (7 hours 20 minutes) of flight time, no autopilot. I've done before (once up, once back), but as a comparatively low-time pilot I have previously had a passenger and overnight stop halfway. This time I am solo and I am interested to know whether others have done... (trying poll feature)

I think your main options would be Lilydale ($110/month on tiedown, ~$550/month hangar but may not be available), Coldstream (soon to be redeveloped?), or maybe Mansfield (Walsh's).

Maybe don't buy an Angel Flights lottery ticket... that reminds me I wonder how the co-promoters Royce Crown and Margorie Pagani are going.

I have a stupid question... are their generic 912ULS engine mounts? or does each airframe manufacturer have their own?

Hi Friends I watched this https://iview.abc.net.au/video/RF2327V010S00 the other day and noticed (at 2:30) the Cesssna Caravan VH-MFD - which is presumably the most practical way around this part of Australia Has anyone from this forum flown their aircraft into these areas? Any advice on planning etc appreciated.