Freizeitpilot

I was a pax in a Bonanza years ago on a flight to Lightning Ridge when the top latch of the door popped open. No big deal - landed at Coona and closed it.

I forgot the screenshot, for those that are interested.

One of the critical risks I see is that a TODR or LDR calculation is simply not performed because of a ‘she’ll be right’ attitude or a couldn’t be bothered thumbing through the POH. There is an unsophisticated, quick and dirty app available that can be used at your own risk. This app utilises your POH figures (rightly or wrongly), is very simple to use once set up for your aircraft, and can spit out a reasonable estimate based on prevailing conditions. The sliding scale function serves to indicate the influence of the individual factors on the TODR or LDR result. Do I rely on an unverified random app I found on the internet ? Nope ! Do I use it as a rough estimate of what I may expect on a particular day at a particular ALA - Yep! Before the keyboard warriors get hot under the collar, I have cross-referenced the app outputs with my POH table. So far my POH figures are a tad optimistic, but I suspect that is most likely due to the PIC (me). The key figure for me is always the distance to 50’ as I’ve got trees to clear, and there have been days when I’ve stayed on the ground. Use the app for entertainment value only, like I do. Available in the App Store : Take-off. (distance calculator) Don’t know if there is an android version. I have no affiliation with the app developer.

It’s an appropriate example of unintended consequences that no one thought of when security measures were increased.

Yes- I can think of two where a pilot hijacked the plane.

Yeah - the pilot was displaying one when he escorted the intruder into the divvy van.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-06/avalon-airport-man-firearm-incident/105019482 But, was he displaying an ASIC ? Bad guys don’t have ASICs, (apparently). Sadly, this will just reinforce the view that you can never have enough security around airports, any airport, to the average Joe.

Below is a different take on ADS-B from the US. The ‘S’ does stand for surveillance I suppose. As far as collecting airport fees using ADS-B data, I can also see an opportunity locally to refute spurious AvData fees which seems to crop up occasionally. Hopefully this US based experience doesn’t detract from the uptake in Oz and the obvious safety benefits. “Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) President and CEO Darren Pleasance announced today he has sent a letter to Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau protesting use of ADS-B data in “ways that go beyond its original intent.” Pleasance pointed out that AOPA supported the ADS-B mandate when it was implemented back in 2020, “as we were assured ADS-B would only be used to improve air traffic safety and airspace efficiencies." But the pilots’ group reports it receives weekly feedback from members who are frustrated with instances of ADS-B data being used for non-safety-related purposes. They include: “questionable” FAA enforcement actions; evidence in lawsuits filed against pilots for “nuisance, trespass, and causing emotional distress;” and third-party companies using ADS-B data to facilitate collecting airport fees. In the letter, Pleasance wrote: “Aircraft owners invested over half a billion dollars of their own money to comply with the ADS-B mandate, believing it would only be used to make flying safer and more efficient. Instead, they are increasingly being targeted with enforcement actions, legal harassment, and bills from third parties to collect airport fees—things that are far from the equipage mandate’s original purpose. We will advocate to protect pilots’ privacy and ensure ADS-B remains a tool used solely for its intended purpose, safety and airspace efficiency.”

The RAAF now uses the Pilatus PC21 for ab initio. That is one helluva seriously fast and complex aircraft for ab initio. I understand there is a lot of sim work up front beforehand though. Similarly, maybe to a slightly lesser extent, this appears to be the direction structured training is going for prospective multi-crew airline pilots. The days of the freight dogs in 40 yr old Chieftains doing overnight interstate flights or some ‘northern exposure’ in NT may be numbered (sadly)

I did a lot of my early training at an ALA. if the weather was crap, ie low cloud base, the CFI would simply say, a great day to practice some low level circuits ! Some day you may get caught with a lowering cloud base and ultimately need to do a precautionary landing. The ‘freedom’ at an ALA allows you to practice these things with an instructor.

I’m not qualified. If I was looking for a VFR lane for students to a new training area located somewhere well south of Camden, (toward Mittagong) I would follow the train line from Bankstown to Picton. Yes, that track has warts on it too, like being perilously close to the Holsworthy restricted area, meat bombers at Wilton and a current ceiling of 2500, but good options don’t exist. The Hume motorway may be an alternative which roughly follows the same corridor to Wilton. Would this training area transit be viable for schools at Bankstown - most likely not. These options also still don’t solve the east/west route to get over the mountains. That would require a VFR lane over the top of WSI, similar to how others have suggested major airports operate in the US. Indeed you can currently get clearance over the top of Williamtown on the right day. Comments ?

CASA actually listened - the Bankstown corridor as proposed, has been ditched. Let’s see what the next version looks like ! https://www.australianflying.com.au/latest/casa-ditches-bankstown-corridor-concept

I still haven’t seen a viable east to west vfr corridor for WSI airspace.

I’m not holding my breath. End of 2025 for CASA and then add the usual delays, deferrals, need for RAAus training manual updates, endorsements, lack of instructors, blah, blah. Im guessing maybe late 2027 ??

Harry Houdini, ever the showman, was smart enough to alert everyone to his flying stunt at Diggers Rest in 1910, There is even a movie. But clearly that was much later than Brendan’s clippings.

At a council-owned airfield, is it common practice to allow semi-permanent tie-downs to be installed (like deeply driven star pickets) at your allocated space, if you are renting the space for a month or year ? The ‘allocated spaces’ regularly become waterlogged just to add insult to injury.…and no, there is zero hangar space available probably for the next decade. The council has a reputation for being antagonistic toward the airfield, so I don’t want to formally enquire, if there is a risk of being declined.

Not caustic. It was an over-dosed neutralising amine that was used to minimise corrosion from acid carryover into a distillation column downstream of the H2SO4 reactor in the alky unit. It was over-dosed because the reactor control was poor leading to foaming and carryover. The residual amine present in the produced avgas acted as a solvent on some aircraft fuel line components.

Yes - just simple colloquial terminology. During my career I visited every oil refinery in Australia - when they existed. All of them produced ‘mogas’ as it was known by the refinery operators. Only a few produced Avgas.

Prelim report indicates bird strike on both engines, but no direct link to crash as yet.

If you can believe the comments on FarceBook, he popped a piston and had to do a 180 to avoid a car. Fair effort !!

To answer the OPs question,I believe the answer is no - there is little value in renewing the country airstrips guide each year. if you have a lot of spare time, you can collate your desired information from a combination of apps, such as Ozrunways / Avplan and then add petrol spy and maybe wikicamps…..and then Facebook groups such as Plan, Land and Stay.

The commercial media have a ‘go to’ person (from QF32 fame) every time there is an airline crash. RAAus should have the same, but get on the front foot.

What I would find interesting is a breakdown of the number of aircraft registrations in each of the RAAus groups, and how these numbers have changed over say, the past 5 years. That would indicate where the trend in recreational aviation is headed, and anecdotally, I suspect it is factory LSA. I note however there has been a net drop of 30 RAAus registrations over the past 12 months as indicated by the RAAus website. Group G may change this, but by how much?

I saw a daisy chain of about 40 satellites go over the Hunter Valley west to east a few months ago. I assumed it was a recent Starlink launch.

SMS only in the short to medium term, but still a safety enhancement for remote area flying. https://www.telstra.com.au/exchange/telstra-to-bring-spacex-s-starlink-satellite-to-mobile-technolog