pj8768

Thanks for the map link - added to homepage

I've got some time off in April and hoping to faff around western NSW, Victoria and South Australia for a week or two. I'm aiming to take a tent and if possible/permissible pitch underwing or an adjacent campsite if one exists, one night at a time. Might occasionally pubstay for the occasional cleanup. Does anyone know of any airfields, like Temora or adjacent to Moruya for example, where camping is encouraged or allowed? The alternative - Pitch at dusk and leave at dawn before the local council worker accidently runs the slasher over your tent? Grateful for anyone able to share experiences.

CPAP when travelling - some CPAP distribitors have a portable device made for hikers so light weight and runs of rechargeable batteries (called transcend). Alternatively CPAP australia sell a battery pack for your own machine, but weighs a bit.

A problem- none of the passengers filled in a prelanding customs card

Ahh.....the ability to relax and enjoy the simple things in life - like fly a kite and not worry about the shirt and sunscreen!

I can't imagine navigating through that territory without gps back up with so few waypoints.

Never leave the house without a change of underwear handy

I've flown into a few airfields where calls are made about chute drops and number of canopies (expected!) e.g Maitland, Goulburn. If approaching circuit inbound, other than watching out for potential prop damage, any advice on chute-drop etiquette?

That should tease the Great Whites

The Harley brigade now flying! I can see it now- customised "pipes"', ice cream bucket helmets, white T shirt and Levi's with OAT of zero degrees.

There were plenty of vapour trails along SE Australia today. Anyone know the cause/s and significance?

Great aerial pics "Great Southern Land" on aunty

But where were "Pussy Riot"?

Dear Mr Smurf Have you ever considered becoming an instructor? Might be one way of building up some hours, although with risk of life, limb and gastrointestinal integrity. Regards

Once (note past tense) had my plane hangared at a private ALA south of Canberra - no name required to those that know the area. Sunny day, no wind, weekend - "sorry, runway's closed, I'm mowing the grass areas". You're friggin kiddn me. Regular occurrence.

Albatross by Peter Green would make a good one, except for the nasty bird strike......

I fly humming the theme to the dam busters

Aviate, navigate, communicate, urinate, defecate?

Updated maps? How long does it take for a decommisioned or overgrown ALA to disappear from a map - Boorowa, Greenthorpe on Sydney VNC, Tralee on Canberra VTC? - I'm sure there's more

Unfortunately greed is often a stronger motivator than behaving responsibly and ethically - enough for some to gamble on someone else's life.

Buyer beware - maybe human factors should extend to buying an aircraft - how to spot a lemon and a dodgy used car salesman, how to organise an independent inspection, legal responsibilities of buying and selling. Beyond bringing aviation into disrepute, what are the possible legal ramifications for some of the cowboys, and also organisations overseeing aviation, from family members etc?

I work in the medical field - anxiety disorder and depression are very prevalent - a significant proportion of patients are well controlled with agents such as SSRI therapy. Soon it'll be mixed to the drinking water just like fluoride. Medical clearance is a vexed problem. What's safer - a patient who has regular medical checks, notching up a diagnostic list, or one who ignores symptoms and sees a doctor once every decade or two? Which one would you think has to fill in forms for the rta or casa more frequently?

Occupational asthma is well described with welding - you can get sensitised to fumes from flux, aluminium, nickel, chromium etc - reaction can either be immediate or several hours later.

I vaguely recall an Australian pilot mag editorial on this issue. FAA in USA has something about fostering aviation in its mission statement, in addition to safety, whereas CASA's mission statement is all about safety, and nothing about fostering anything other than safety. Safest form of aviation involves static displays or taxiing practice. Perhaps time for an adjustment of legislation? Happy to be corrected....

Have dabbled in sleep physiology. Two things that drive sleep- 1. Circadian rhythm, or body clock. This is stuffed for international pilots as they constantly traverse time zones aka constant jetlag. Meant to be awake when timed to be asleep a few time zones back - circadian rhythm dips normally around 3-4am (the "wall" for those that have done night shift) and 3-4pm for those that follow a standard 24h waking day. Italians smartly deal with this with the afternoon siesta. 2. Sleep debt- the longer the time spent awake, the greater the drive to sleep. This is best paid off with a stage of sleep known as slow wave - brain electrical activity greatly slows down. Concept of the power nap- no longer than 20mins or so. Refreshing, and brain wave activity does not slow down too much, so you can still function afterwards. If nap for too long, more likely to enter slow wave sleep. Sleep inertia results on waking. Brain waves at 1 Hz take a while to exceed the 14Hzplus of wakefulness; bit like trying to start a cold 1970s engine on a frosty morning. Most will have experienced and witnessed inertia in action - phone call at 2am that you only vaguely recall, or not at all, the kid who can't be soothed after a night terror, feeling groggy after a 1 hour nap on the weekend. Takes up to 15 mins to get back up to speed. We function best if we wake from rapid eye movement sleep, called active sleep is infants, as the electrical activity is similar to wakefulness. First REM period occurs after 90mins sleep, and cycles every 90mins or so. The mining industry is up to speed with this stuff, as there's money at stake. Much more valuable than safety apparently.