Ben Longden

Sorry, I'm a bit lost with this thread... I dug these out of the current VFG from CASA. Anyone shed light where it says no flying above 5000ft? Ben

Mike is right. We are taught the rules of the air apply to ALL, and come from the one authority and that is CASA. This is straight from their current VFG Guide, and CASA have these regulations "pending review" which means they are rules until they are changed. Ben

Paul Austin Melb Age July 13, 2007 OPPOSITION Leader Ted Baillieu and two other senior Victorian Liberals have been involved in a frightening mid-air drama during a flight from Melbourne to inspect flood-ravaged East Gippsland. The door on their light plane flew open at about 6000 feet as gusty winds buffeted the aircraft in foggy conditions. One of the two pilots raced down the aisle and battled to close the door, which was banging on the fuselage of the 10-seater Piper Chieftain. Mr Baillieu, who was sitting closest to the door, held onto pilot Scott Talman as he leaned out of the plane and tried to pull it closed. Realising the wind was too strong, Mr Talman warned the passengers to tighten their seatbelts, rushed back to his seat and sent out a distress call so the twin-engine plane could make an emergency landing at Traralgon. The three passengers  Mr Baillieu, his chief of staff Michael Kapel and Opposition emergency services spokesman Andrew McIntosh  and Mr Talman and co-pilot Connie Dunn endured freezing temperatures and high winds in the cabin during a 10-minute descent to Latrobe regional airport, with the door still open. "Probably the biggest danger was that one of us could have been sucked out," Mr McIntosh said yesterday. "It's not like a big jet that is pressurised  you are not flying at that level  but the speed and the wind could have easily dragged us out." He said the most anxious moments were when the pilot was "fighting with the door". "It was pretty brave of the pilot to do what he did," Mr McIntosh said. "After we'd got back onto the ground, he said he'd never seen anything like that in all his years of flying." Mr Baillieu said: "I've spent a fair bit of time in small planes over the years and been in some interesting situations before, but not quite as interesting as that one." Asked how his wife and children had reacted when he told them what had happened, Mr Baillieu said: "They were happy that I was telling them about it rather than someone else." He paid tribute to the "thorough professionalism" of the pilots, who were able to secure the door while the plane was on the runway at Traralgon before flying on to their destination, Bairnsdale. Charter company DirectAir decommissioned the plane after it returned to Essendon Airport. An investigation found the door's safety latch was faulty. DirectAir wrote to Mr Baillieu to apologise. In a statement last night, managing director Mark McLaughlin said: "At no stage was Mr Baillieu or his two staff in any danger." He said DirectAir was proud of its safety record. "It flies thousands of hours every year and this is the first time in its history that a door latch has come loose." Mr Baillieu emphasised he was happy with the service and would gladly use the company again. The Opposition Leader's dry sense of humour was on display during the incident, which happened last Saturday week. As the door of the plane flew open, he told Mr Kapel and Mr McIntosh: "You'd better tell the pilot that we've lost the door." After the pilot's frantic efforts to close the door failed, Mr Baillieu said: "I suppose this means we had better keep our seatbelts on."

I used to have an accident and disability policy, but they flatly refused to cover me, even as a passenger in any recreational aircraft... they would only cover me for RPT... With the leg injury, I would not fly in the left or right seat until cleared by the doc, and off workers compensation. This is because people could assume that you are fit to fly, you are fit for work. I would spend the healing time doing the theory and going for backseat rides wherever possible... Ben

Mike said; systems failures - things in the regulation, organisation, documentation, etc of what we do that contribute holes in the Swiss Cheese; CRM - getting aircrew to work with ALL the resources available to them and to use effective methods to work with that information; Profiling - understanding who your pilots are and what their strengths and weaknesses are; Reporting systems - blame free, confidential and effective; Teeth - if you persist in doing bad things then you won't fly any more. This could be described as "best practice", and perhaps we all need to remember this and adopt it either formally or informally across the industry. Ben

The Shepparton Aero Club were treated to a special evening courtesy of instructor Tristo Meddings. The club were taken on a guided tour of the Melbourne Centre - home of the mysterious voices on the radio at Air Traffic Control. Unfortunately, piccies could only be taken in the simulator... And a light hearted moment from instructor Nathan... It was a sobering experience to see the centre and realise that at one end of the room was a guy manning the Perth radar, and at another, Shepparton... and in another area, Sydney.. A trainee working with an instructor at a console identical to that used in the room next door - and at the Brisbane Centre. The screen, and below a detail.

And one of our legends at Shepp wears them as well.... And he has his pax endorsement, and is about to work on his cross country.. Ben

Saw this on a 4WD in a car park.... If I wanted a BITCH I would have bought a dog. Ben

Easy.... Bankstown, Goulburn, Yass, and then head for Yarrawonga ( a great cuppa and welcome at the paint shop there) and off to Shepp for an even better coffee with a bloody great club and all the assistance you could ever want before you tackle the advised VFR route to Melb. Besides, Mogas and Avgas are available at Shepp.. Oh and the coffee is the real stuff as well. If the weather is too crapolo for VFR over the hills, Shepp has a car available as well as contacts for low cost accommodation. Not only that, its a kid friendly place as well. If you time the flight to arrive at Shepp on a Sat, stay around for the $6 lunch (usually about 20 there) and there are plans afoot for pancake Sunday brekkies.. Ben

I was taught to fly hemispheric levels no matter what alt you plan to fly... especially when under 5000, which would have to be the most congested airspace for VFR traffic. Ben

What a wally! I wonder how he went when he had to front up to the boss and explain what happened.... Ben

Either way its what you might call a "pucker" event....;) And yes, I hate bloody acronyms and the like. Ben

Mmmmm.. I got THIS from my GF the other day, with a note to memorise it... :;)2: Ben

Brilliant Mike.... Ben

Thanks for the info... So far, I have done the BAK, as well as the pre solo and cross country theory bits and bobs.. as well as the rest of the things to get the RAA certificate with cross country. So is there such a thing as a requirement for a single 3 hour (150 Nm) solo navex? Ben

Just a quick question for those in the know, with facts at their fingertips.. I have my RAA certificate with Pax and X Country endorsements, and around 50 hours logged with about ten command. The longest cross country was 2.1 hours To continue the learning path to the PPL, what now? Ben

Not so much of an "incident' but an alarming moment anyway. I was in the doctors surgery with our local DAME, doing the stuff required for Unca Casa's Aviation Medical, and he commented that I hadnt filled in the name of my local dentist.. (I'm allergic to them, I said..) Not much of a thought really, until he mentioned that CASA likes to know so that if the A/C you are in turns into one of those smoking holes in the ground, they pass on the details so your remains can be identified by dental records...:;)2: Ben

And to confuse you even more.... once you have the aircraft in the correct attidude, depending on the approach selected (wing down, crab or combination) as you come in over the fence, just remember to keep your eyes on the end of the runway... Ben

Avgas is going to be the preferred option, not only due to its more stringent quality checks, but with the increasing use of ethanol in various MOGAS brews, and the issues with ethanol and fuel distribution lines, filters and seals. Anyone know what Rotax advises for their engines? Oh, and I would love it if someone can tell me why the smell of Avgas makes me nauseous... Ben

I saw the vision on NINE news.. and was bloody astounded..:;)2: That thing BOUNCED. Bloody hell. And if any friends or rellies of the families are reading this, I really do hope the inquiry can get to the bottom of this, and may those who were lost get to rest in peace. Ben

The Age. Melb 18.6.07 A "freaked out" passenger has praised the efforts of a pilot who carried out a safe crash landing at a New Zealand airport this morning. The Air New Zealand Beech aircraft, with 15 passengers and two crew aboard, had tried to land at Wellington when the crew found a problem with its landing gear. It was then diverted to Woodbourne where the crew completed a safe belly flop landing just after 9am. The badly damaged plane was sprayed with foam as a precaution. Marty Solomon, a Wellington man who was on the flight with his partner and son, was full of praise for the crew. "I was a bit freaked out, but as soon as we came to a halt I was alright. "The pilot did a damned good job at landing the plane." "I jumped out through the window, the hole wanted to be a bit bigger though." Solomon said the crew had kept the passengers informed and got them to prepare for the crash landing. One passenger, who was understood to be pregnant, was taken to hospital for a check-up. Blenheim's Woodbourne airport in the South Island was expected to be closed for two hours while cranes were brought in to remove the wreckage. The aircraft was on a flight from Timaru to Wellington and was operated by Air New Zealand subsidiary Eagle Air. The Press

If the file is not stored in his cache, then he will have to reload it every time... taking time... Ben

Or even to ABC TV... they are using some nice stuff from viewers as the backdrop for Wx reports. Ben

Bloody hell.... nice stuff. the clouds look almost 3D. Ben

Only got one of those D cell Maglite torches... bit big to fit in the bag, but by golly they turn night into day. Looks like a trip to super cheap.... Ben