SGM

Jabriu J160 per RAAus https://members.raa.asn.au/safety/accident-and-defect-summaries/

On our insurance, we had to nominate the pilot's name, and was slightly more expensive if they have less than 100 hours time... so not that practical to add/subtract renters/borrowers. BTW - I was able to add my daughter to the policy for her ab-initio training, but the insurer had to look at the flying school's track record when calculating the extra premium.

Update: I reached out to Kerry for some mountain flying training on my forthcoming NZ trip.. "Early August 2022 we had severe winds which caused the hangar to collapse destroying the aircraft inside it. The hangar has not been re-built and I am hiring a Maule aircraft, which is based in Alexandra" So it's great she is still in business, albeit with less availability. The website is parked, but her email is relatively easy to find online (if you can't find it - message me).

Truck.

I am reliably informed the cause was fuel selector valve human error - there are four tanks on this one.

Feeling lucky? and/or want to support a great aviation charity? A $15 ticket could win you a 2023 Cirrus G6 SR22 - value is listed at $3.47m as it includes Management fees, Hangarage, Fuel (up to $150K), Chartering capabilities, and full pilot training* for the first 12 months The lottery aims to achieve funds for the purchase of the first small jet (Cirrus Vision Jet), dedicated to the transportation of health professionals and students for placements in rural clinics. The benefit will help to alleviate the problems rural and remote patients are having in attending hospitals, medical services or travel for care across the country. The need having been greatly increased as a result of the COVID pandemic and recent flood events. Angel Flight has helped transport Doctors to communities where there have been no medical services of any kind for months. With your contribution, we hope to make these missions easier, more accessible, and more expansive. Tickets are available nationwide and can be purchased now through yourjetlife.com. Video on Sunrise at the launch https://fb.watch/ipK5eHVHm7/

Looks like they were almost home - but at 1500' and had to act quick.

A photo taken by my father as he cycled along the bike path. It's from Lilydale Airfield - great advertisement for their practice forced landing training!

I flew over French Island yesterday with my daughter... is this the strip? @Mike Gearon is this yours?

Trip report : Barnbougle Dunes. Where? It's on the north east coast of Tasmania, near Bridport, and if you are coming from the mainland, it's not too far beyond Flinders Island. What's to like : Private airstrip right next to the beach (cross wind join show in video attached) Accomodation is good, you can a book room for a single night, and their courtesy bus picks you up to save you walking the 2km to the Lost Farm reception. Refer https://barnbougle.com.au/ . We paid $260 for one night with an ocean view and were picked up by friendly Scotty. It has a sportsbar, bistro and restaurant. We went to the restaurant which was good, mostly for the ocean views. (Photo with wine glasses below) If you want to go into Bridport (nearest town) there is a private operator who can do this. Adrian is THE man, super friendly, and he was happy to help me fill my Rotax with U95 from the Bridport servo. Contact him here https://www.tassiett.com.au/ . He also runs other tours eg winery's etc. The golf course looks amazing, and the beach is quiet and people-free (photo of beach below) What's not to like : Weather can be a bit fickle crossing Bass Strait. ATC and skeds where helpful as always. I enjoyed the 30kt tailwind home today. Runway gets plenty of use (up to 13 planes have been there in one day apparently) and it's very long, but quite gravelly so I was super careful about runups etc. Reception will send you a PDF of the airstrip - 24 and 06 Bridport is a small town, with not much and it's too far to walk Lost Farm Restaurant food is ok but not remarkable BTW on the way home my wife spotted Mount Chappel Island (pic below) and said "let's land there and expore". We didn't..has anyone? Google seems to indicate it's home to giant tiger snakes which has now put her off ; ) IMG_1969.mp4

In my RAAus training there was a short, pretty easy exam on the following...

Here is my experience with the SkyEcho so far... might be helpful if you are considering one.. received my unit 3 days after ordering (btw it's marginally cheaper to get it direct from UAvionix than the RAAus "special price") filled in the Grant form (I put down business my ABN otherwise the grant gets reported to the ATO as personal income!) setup is pretty easy.. basically your Ipad/tablet/phone will connect to a Wifi called SkyEcho, and the in Avplan the other traffic will appear green (rather than blue arrows) [presumably similar on Ozpilot] this of course means if you use a wifi-only tablet as I do, you will have to choose between the ADS-B SkyEcho traffic OR the internet-based Avplan traffic. If your device has a sim card, you can have both at the same time (assuming you are in mobile coverage) from the ground it seems to pickup aircraft at 20nm range all the time, and often up to 40nm out. Interestingly the green ADS-B SkyEcho representation seems 1-3 nm infront of the blue internet-based Avplan. This is something I wanted because recently I had some (helpful) Melbourne Centre "proximity warning" and then sighted the aircraft much closer than Avplan had indicated. As I have an RAAus aircraft I needed to email [email protected] and ask for a Hex code to put for your aircraft - got a same day reply after I supplied some details. The protocol for the ADS-B "call sign" for RAAUs aircraft is R1234 (where 1234 is your RAAus registration eg 24-1234) The unit requires 2.5A to USB charge, which lasts 12 hours.. so most aircraft will not have enough amps to charge from a 12V USB plug, and hence you either need to bring it home to charge, or take out a decent powerbank if you leave it in the aircraft

Current application number is ADSBRP000197

Both wife and daughter are lightweights - and we were probably going to make seperate flights with only one in the back - I certainly didn't want to discourage either of their enthusiasm for flying.

I had the opportunity to spend last week in Queenstown New Zealand skiing, and noticed a small flying school about half an hour south. It's run by a lovely lady Kerry at https://www.ace-aviation.co.nz/ I booked a mountain flying lesson in her tailwheel Piper Pacer, with my wife and daughter as passengers. Unfortunately the conditions were not suitable, with too much crosswind for the very narrow strip, but she gave me some free time with a ground briefing, and this helpful booklet to read https://www.aviation.govt.nz/assets/publications/gaps/caa-gap-mountain-flying-may-2021-web.pdf Hopefully next time I go I will get the chance to do a few hours of training - might be helpful for Mt Beauty, Hotham, Jindabyne etc. I thought I would post here a) to give Kerry some thanks, and b) to see whether any of you have tips in flying in Australian Alps areas.

I think Scott Sutcliffe at Full Throttle Aero Pty Ltd is great. Professional, reasonable. He was at Moorabbin now at Lilydale Airport. He does plenty of RAAus including Lilydale Flying School. If you want his mobile number message me.

Presumably extinguishers in small aircraft are primarily of use on the ground or maybe to tackle a very minor cabin electrical fire. I can recall reading somewhere that fireproof gloves were recommended by some - the assertion being if you are flying and experienced any engine-related fire, it would be almost impossible to extinguish it with that much airflow and your focus would be maintaining control during an emergency descent and forced landing (rather than trying to extinguish). I have also thought a fireproof wool blanket might be handy addition to the kit, it having the benefit of extra "utility" as part of a remote survival kit (or even just to cover loose luggage in turbulent situations)

Are there other devices being actively considered by RAAus members?

Maybe Brumby 600 aka J544 (ok ok I looked up the rego)

still rising

Sad. In the middle of the photo is the white top of someone's fuselage, a vertical and part of a black prop. To the left is a flying boat. I had a chat to this owner when I visited December, (at that stage he was putting the finishing touches on the restoration and preparing for a first flight - the Tweed River is not too far away) In the background, on the other side of the North-South runway, are two hanger buildings also well underwater.

I saw this posted yesterday https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-12/old-bar-airfield-tiny-airstrip-with-big-aviation-history/100796410 I've added it to the list of obscure airfields to visit. I have an older copy of the Pilots Touring Guide and have seen Country Airstrips .. is anyone aware of a book with more human-interest and historical content on smaller Australian airfields? Steve

There has been some early comments on this forum about Angel Flight, which I volunteer for, so I thought I would post these videos (with permission) Why??.. 1. By raising your awareness you may be able to mention it to someone you know who needs it (typically regional Australians commuting to city hospitals); 2. You may be in a position to volunteer yourself; or 3. You may be in a position to make a tax-deductible donation