kaz3g

They seem to be involved in an awful lot of fatals...Kaz

If RAAus pilots and aircraft owners started joining AOPA their alleged limited sphere of interest would be bound to change. How much support do you think the owner of a C172 facing SIDS costs would get from RAAus whether or not he or she was a member of the latter organisation? My view is that we need to break down barriers, the "them" and "us" mentality that exists amongst recreational pilots based on what they fly instead of why they fly. The bureaucracy has successfully kept us all divided for decades and the only way we will ever have a real voice is if we have a united one. Kaz

I don't use FB but I scrolled through the the photos and it seemed to me thAt the great majority of them were VH registered...I didn't actually see an N registered one. But so what??? There has been a change in management with significant changes in the way they do business; a bit like RAAus. They have a new President and are taking a new direction. Like every aviation association, AOPA is always looking for contributors to its magazine. Perhaps some of you here could send them some copy so that the wider aviation community could learn more about the recreational activities you enjoy? Even you, FT! Kaz

I think if people read what AOPA is trying to achieve and understood it, some of the paranoia might dissipate. They are wanting a recreational environment similar to what is now happening in the USA, including the abandonment of the Australian Class 2 medical in favour of a genuine driver licence medical replacement. I got out of AOPA for a long time when things between it and CASA were far too cosy and the Board was dominated by high end and heavy metal flyers. It is much more of a broad church now and it's prepared to stand on toes to get the pollies to listen. Mark Skidmore resigned his AOPA membership today so one might surmise he is expecting some revelations to be aired and more than a little flack following them. Kaz

AOPA is the only broad-based association for non RPT aviators that is independent of the sometimes not so subtle control maintained by CASA through its regulatory framework but its "voice" has been muffled in recent years by a significant fall in membership. FactHunter has made numerous references to the benefit of membership and I want to add my support because I think the future of all recreational flying is at great risk due to the heavy metal focus of Government and Regulator alike. If you own an aeroplane or fly regularly as a pilot, the cost of an AOPA membership is a small impost with lots of benefits including a brilliant glossy magazine and Internet newsletters. Add to the membership numbers and strengthen the voice of this broad aviation lobby. Kaz An important message from AOPA Australia ... Dear Member, As you will be aware the board of AOPA commissioned a comprehensive briefing paper, Project Eureka, written by leading aviation industry figures detailing problems with the General Aviation industry and providing real solutions to these problems. The paper is now complete, and will be available on the AOPA website next week. AOPA President Marc De Stoop has prepared the following covering letter to the Minister for Major Projects, Territories and Local Government which summarises the recommendations made in Project Eureka. AOPA will be meeting with the Minister and key advisors in the coming weeks, as well as circulating the executive summary to media outlets. Please take the time to read this letter and familiarise yourself with the main changes we will be calling for in order to revitalise one of Australia’s most important industries. It is vital that AOPA members support the board in getting Project Eureka as much traction as possible with politicians across the country. Regards, Aaron Stephenson - CEO [email protected] PDF Version HERE Get social... Follow @aopa Australia on Twitter Copyright © 2016 Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of Australia All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of Australia PO Box 26 Georges Hall, NSW 2198 Australia

If I'm going down to Essendon or want to join the InLand Route , I now fly a track close to the freeway rather than KIM. I then turn onto the Inland Route at Wandong with a call on Melb Radar frequency if relevant. The Glenburn Gap is a much shorter run to Moorabbin or the Yarra Valley for me and I have found it is often open when KIM is closed. It's narrow and I do a call to MR when iffy plus then a 10 NM call on the YV CTAF. MR certainly know where you are and your altitude...he once asked me what my height was and I foolishly rounded it off a tad. He then told me to get my instrument checked!!! Kaz

You can fly at the LL without transgressing but you need to know that your altimeter and transponder are accurate (TSO and 2 year check), and fly the altitude accurately or suffer an incursion report if the space above is controlled C or above. In the example given, you can fly VFR up to 10,000 if you have a transponder and radio because the 8500LL is the lower limit for E in that location, not C. Kaz

Looking at the Albury VTC you will see that there is a Class D control zone around Albury from ground to 4500 and Class C above it. Reverting to the Melbourne and Deniliquin VNCs, you will see two small red circles, one just north of Benalla and one NNW of Yarrawonga. There is also one inside the Albury zone. These are Restricted areas and it's not only likely to get you a stiff reprimand if you transgress them, it could also be very uncomfortable if some one down there lights a match at the wrong time. The same goes for the much larger PRD down near Puckapunyal and Nagambie. Your charts are your friends and Ozrunways makes them easy to interpret. I hope you enjoy your flying to the max and wish you many hours of enjoyment doing so. Kaz

I have picked up a couple of these previously and Ozrunways have been grateful for the advice. The errors are probably coming from the AOPA Directory database. Kaz

Be aware that Class E is "controlled" and there are some basic requirements when operating in it. Class E airspace permits greater flexibility for VFR flights. IFR flights are separated from other IFR flights, however VFR flights may operate in Class E airspace without a clearance if the pilot can fulfil the following requirements and recom- mendations: • Operating mode A and C Transponder • Fly hemispherical levels • Operate in VMC • Monitor an appropriate frequency • For safety, activate strobes and landing lights • Keep a vigilant lookout If you want to get to somewhere near Albury such as Bogong Park, you will need to be at or below 2500' and care will be needed to avoid infringing Class D close by in the East where it drops to 2000' .. You will also need to use the location on the river marked on the VTC, not the location incorrectly depicted by Ozrunways next to the highway. Kaz

Seems like someone might have been a very naughty boy... http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/cth/AATA/2012/656.html?stem=0&synonyms=0&query=Roostam Sadri The sting is in the tail which mentions something about a false declaration. Worth reading in full, I think, because the Regulator appears to have been pretty reasonable in the early stages while the respondent would appear to have been his own (and the rest of the flying fraternity's) worst enemy. Kaz

I'm certainly not going to comment about the particular case which is currently sub judicial but I can comment that the penalty under the CAR for allowing another person who is not a pilot to manipulate the controls is a fine, not imprisonment. The penalty for perjury can be imprisonment and people should be careful to declare everything relevant when making a declaration. Kaz

That's fantastic, Russ. Will you PM me, please? Kaz

I work in a rural community that has around 7,000 people from the predominantly Muslim countries of Central and Northern Africa, Turkey, Albania, Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan. In our city of 60,000, we have 5 mosques and a Sikh temple. We just celebrated Diversity Week last week and I saw large numbers from these communities, our Aboriginal community and Anglos sitting together at Kids Town sharing the pleasure of food and entertainment for the children. If you share food with them, as I have, during Ramadan or at the Sikh temple after prayers, then you get to know that they are almost all very law-abiding and welcoming people. Interestingly for me, I seldom see people from those communities appearing in Court and those I do see are almost always youngsters who have strayed from the culture and beliefs of their parents as they begin to embrace the ways of the West including ice and alcohol. Kaz

This one's for Gnu too.. Abraham drew near, and said, "Will you consume the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it?... What if ten are found there?" He [The Lord] said, "I will not destroy it for the ten's sake." [Genesis 18:32] Kaz

A defendant to a charge always has the right to defend it in Court...but the defence available is extremely limited under the Criminal Code. There must be a mistake which is both honest AND reasonable. The other issue sitting beside this is the propensity of the Regulator to use its Administrative powers to deal with "fit and proper person" considerations by suspending licences even where the evidence doesn't stand up to the criminal test. Kaz

Sadly, my own experience suggests that complaints to the APC generally don't even attract an acknowledgment, let alone an interactive response. A slightly better outcome is stipulating the right of editing the script prior to publication and getting an agreement in writing. Kaz

The draft CAAP clearly refers to fuel remaining at the destination aerodrome and the accompanying proposed change to the Regulation will make it an offence to ARRIVE without that reserve on board. As someone who knows more than I said, "they want to have something absolute to measure, Kaz." "FIXED FUEL RESERVE – the amount of fuel, expressed as a period of time, required to fly at holding speed at 1,500 feet above aerodrome elevation at ISA conditions, calculated with the estimated weight on arrival at the destination alternate aerodrome, or the destination aerodrome when no destination alternate aerodrome is required, that would be useable fuel remaining in the fuel tanks until completion of the final landing." The current Regulation CAR 234 just as clearly refers to the fuel uplift at TAKEOFF. " (1) The pilot in command of an aircraft must not commence a flight within Australian territory, or to or from Australian territory, if he or she has not taken reasonable steps to ensure that the aircraft carries sufficient fuel and oil to enable the proposed flight to be undertaken in safety." Be aware also, that there are more calculations required both pre-flight and in-flight, and a Fuel Mayday must be called if the total remaining fuel falls below the mandatory minimum fixed reserve. Call it and you get pinged, of course! That will undoubtedly encourage transparency and full compliance. Finally, you have to use aircraft specific fuel consumption data taken from the AFM, or the engine manufacturer if not available. Only where no specific fuel consumption data exists for the precise conditions of the flight, may the aircraft be operated in accordance with estimated fuel consumption data. Kaz

Thank you DWF, Phil and Russ All really helpful and the sort of assistance that makes me proud to be part of a very special aviation community. Kaz

Hi DWF Thank you for your kind offer. I'll let you know when I settle on plans and dates a bit nearer to the event. There is a law conference in Perth for about a week commencing second week August and I'll go to that after visiting Cobra for a week or so. I emailed them at Warburton and got a short reply that Opal only is available. It would be great if they have avgas in bulk and I will phone Warburton to check again, but leaving more than half a 44 behind would be awfully painful if they only have drum stock. I guess I'll have enough visiting to do while at Cobra that I'll use a drum there without wasting any Regards to all in the West Kaz

Hi Russ Looks like a great plan and hope you have a fantastic time doing it. I'm planning a trip July/August from home in Vic across to Broken Hill, Coober Pedy, Ayres Rock, Warburton, Carnegie Station, Meekatharra, Cobra Homestead (my old place), then down to Perth for a conference and back home via the southern coast. I'm going to have to carry extra fuel because there is no avgas at Warburton and I don't have the long legs you have in the Jabiru. Can't decide whether to use a plastic tank or a bladder but I won't plumb it in; just siphon into main tank on the ground at Warburton. Kaz

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/two-men-dead-in-yarrawonga-airport-plane-crash/news-story/9a41c0340d55371e688bc5841a7a9847

CIVIL AVIATION REGULATIONS 1988 - REG 234 Fuel requirements (1) The pilot in command of an aircraft must not commence a flight within Australian territory, or to or from Australian territory, if he or she has not taken reasonable steps to ensure that the aircraft carries sufficient fuel and oil to enable the proposed flight to be undertaken in safety. Penalty: 50 penalty units. (2) An operator of an aircraft must take reasonable steps to ensure that an aircraft does not commence a flight as part of the operator's operations if the aircraft is not carrying sufficient fuel and oil to enable the proposed flight to be undertaken in safety. Penalty: 50 penalty units. (3) For the purposes of these Regulations, in determining whether fuel and oil carried on an aircraft in respect of a particular flight was sufficient within the meaning of subregulations (1) and (2), a court must, in addition to any other matters, take into account the following matters: (a) the distance to be travelled by the aircraft on the flight to reach the proposed destination; (b) the meteorological conditions in which the aircraft is, or may be required, to fly; © the possibility of: (i) a forced diversion to an alternative aerodrome; and (ii) a delay pending landing clearance; and (iii) air traffic control re-routing the flight after commencement of the flight; and (iv) a loss of pressurisation in the aircraft; and (v) where the aircraft is a multi-engined aircraft--an engine failure; (d) any guidelines issued from time to time by CASA for the purposes of this regulation. (4) An offence against subregulation (1) or (2) is an offence of strict liability.

The ATSB report shows very clearly that the great majority of incidents have been with starvation, not exhaustion...there was sufficient fuel but it was not provided to the engine(s). Kaz

From AOPA... NEW FUEL RESERVE RULES CASA’s proposed new fuel reserve rules have been attacked by special interest aviation groups and experienced commercial pilots as a step to far with no increase in safety outcomes. CASA have proposed to make a fuel reserve of 45 minutes mandatory for day VFR operations. This has the potential to severely impact areas of recreational aviation like the operation of some antique aircraft and warbirds. If the 45 minute rule becomes law it means a pilot will commit a criminal offence if they land having used any of their reserve. This is absurd. Antique Aeroplane Association president Matt Henderson researched the issue and discovered there is no safety case for CASA to make this change. “CASA are using ATSB data as the basis for this change. The wording of the change requirement is that Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) reports have revealed incidents and accidents directly related to carriage of insufficient quantities of fuel,” he said. “They have not identified a trend, nor a major shift in the number of incidents, simply that the ATSB have reports of aeroplanes that have had incidents due to fuel exhaustion. I suspect this is an issue dating back to not long after the Wright brothers first flew!” In the period 1969-1986 there were 312 instances of fuel exhaustion (running out of fuel) or roughly 18 instances per year. From 1991-2000 there were 61 instances of fuel exhaustion or about six instances per year, and in the decade from 2006-2016 there were 48 instances of fuel exhaustion or about five per year. “So based on that data, the trend is actually an improving one...and improved most when there wasn't a mandated fuel reserve,” Mr Henderson said. “The CASA documents also suggest the impact to industry would be ‘minor’ and only affect ‘specific types of operations on short duration flights’ when actually that is the complete opposite of our situation.” Commercial pilot Doug Sprigg, who has more than 10,000hrs on a variety of GA aeroplanes, has also expressed his concern at the proposed changes to the rules. “As the owner operator of an Auster J1N antique aircraft for more than thirty years, I am acutely aware that many of the antique and ex-military aircraft have operated safely and successfully without the need for more prescriptive and restrictive rules,” he said in a submission to CASA. “CASAs guidelines in the current CAP 234 have stood the test of time and I believe are adequate. They should remain unchanged “Many antique and ex-military aircraft have very limited endurance. Several types operating currently have little over an hour’s total endurance. Operators of these aircraft are acutely aware of endurance and monitor fuel state accordingly. Compliance with proposed rulings will severely limit range making operations almost impossible.”