rdarby

Anyone going this year? I finally have an ASIC so may give it some air time! The BMW Club will also be there so I will go support some friends showing their cars. Last year weather turned us back, hopefully we get through this year. I'll be there in a generic white C172 called WXX or KBL.

Two things I noticed was the faster than usual climb due to less weight, and also the light in the cockpit and the right wing, which was usually blocked out by the instructor. All was well until I came over the fence then realised I was not able to keep it straight and landed off the side of the runway. I was not ready and needed more instruction and mini-solo's after that. Overall it taught me the difference between a bad instructor and a good instructor and how important it is to make sure the student is aware they are fully in control and not being helped along anymore, and the mental link is broken, else you land on the side of the runway.

Thanks for all your help. I flew it today and I think it went well. We went from YBAF to Jacobs Well and got a code, and were told to stay outside of class G but keep going South and contact YBCG tower. They didn't say where so we went to Q1 and requested and were asked if we were familiar with Robina. I said no so was told to orbit then was told to visual approach. Taxying was the hardest part as I was tiring and slow to read back, which started to irk the controller but he calmed down after asking if I was dual. All up actually simple, controlled airspace is controlled by professionals and not hard for us pilots.

Thanks very much for the help Aldo and Pearo. I have one more question though please. I'm sure I will get briefed before we go, but am trying to read up on this now. I am used to class D (Sunshine Coast) where I approach a VFR reporting point and call the tower, after setting my transponder to 3000. I say "Sunshine Coast tower, Cessna 172 ABC, approaching the point, 1500, received Alpha, inbound, request airways clearance". After that I do what I am told and repeat back instructions. However I understand the SSR code to be the transponder code I will need so that in class C the ATC can provide positive separation (whereas in class D that doesn't happen). How do I request the code, or do I do the request above and then will get told the code? I have read what I can understand in the VFRG which has the phrases, but nothing specific that I can find? Ryan

Thanks for the help Pearo:)

I am doing a nav on Saturday that includes a full stop at Coolangatta. I will study the ERSA entry but does anyone have any tips? I am approaching from Archerfield. I see Coolangatta does not have an entry on the CASA OnTrack, maybe as it is class C. They help for other places! Any advice welcome! Thanks Ryan

Welcome, Brisbane is the best place for flying I think, we have the best weather and all the airfields! Where are you flying from? Cheers Ryan

It depends on where you got the ASIC. If you get a CASA ASIC you need a medical first. I can't work out how to fill the form in any other way.

And of course instrument flying. But that isn't really hard as it is aimed at helping you understand why you should stay clear of cloud.

Frank, in my opinion I don't think there is a difference between a pilot certificate and an RPL. Except for weight and balance which is a bigger deal than I realised. But I have experienced GA pilots opinion on this. And to be fair if you were flying a Drifter you may struggle a bit, but that is the plane not the syllabus. But you still need to learn the heavy plane. It flies differently. I think it depends on what RAAus plane you flew and also your school. I learned on a SportStar and received good training. I then got slack so spent a few hours refreshing myself. Theory exam is the same except for weight and balance. I have no idea about the XC as I am only starting that next week.

Today I passed the flight review which finally got me the RPL. I have had an RAAus Pilot Certificate for 5 years up until now. I didn't apply to convert, I did it from scratch. It makes no real difference. And it also depends on the school and if they understand converting the piece of paper, which mine didn't. I had to learn to fly the plane anyway and don't see the point in applying to convert it in advance. I started a few weeks before I did my first flight by reading the Bob Tait BAK/RPL book. When the school put me through the test, which was when I said I was ready, it was all on weight and balance mostly. I didn't do the pre-solo etc. tests that cover the simple stuff, I focussed on what I didn't know. In theory weight/balance/loading is easy but it gets your brain going too. The Dyson-Holland books are actually more detailed and I think better than Bob Tait, so I used both to study. In theory you can skip the BAK but the school may ask you to do it as they consider it part of the theory needed for the Cessna. And it was good to relearn it, I was surprised at how much I had forgotten. I also applied for the ARN early. That took 3 days. Then I booked the medical. Do that early as you need the ARN and the medical to get an ASIC, and it took some hunting around to find a Dr who was available within 2 weeks. The medical was emailed to me a week after the appointment. I had to wait 2 weeks for the appointment. It took 10.4 hours in total, in a C172M. The first few hours were just getting the feel of the airplane. Not too hard as it doesn't get affected by the wind. I would have considered myself ready for solo at 3 hours. The school I went to wanted me to be checked out completely on the C172 first. Getting used to the trim took a while, as it feels like something old and heavy compared to our lighter airplanes which almost feel like they have power steering by comparison. Instrument flying is not too difficult but I did get the leans, and it needs to be practiced and it not going to mean you should go into cloud. I did that as hours 4 and 5. The rest has essentially been getting ready for the review, and practicing forced landings and precautionary landings over and over, as that showed up that my handling of the airplane was not as good as thought. Low and slow is different in a heavier aircraft. Basically I was preparing for what we would do in a BFR, and it was more about getting those procedures and thinking straight than anything else, and not throwing the aircraft around and not constantly changing the throttle. The engine needs to be handled more gently too. In summary I wanted to get it done sooner and I could have if I had practiced forced landings etc. in my Foxbat, so instead I did 4 hours of that, which included doing the test twice as the first time showed I was not actually even ready for a BFR. I didn't have to redo the radio license, as that was assessed as good enough. I had to, along with everyone, do a basic English assesment which was just being recorded reading paragraphs from a book. Next is nav's to see what the gap is there which includes controlled airspace. My RAAus nav endorsement comes over but I need the PPL nav's for the PPL, or at least enough to be ready for the PPL test. It's not too hard, for me it was more of a general refresher of everything. If you are up to speed on everything and haven't gotten old and slow and full of bad habits, you will do it quicker. But you have to consider why. I need a PPL to fly overseas, but generally a C172, which is all most of us could afford to fly, itsn't worth it. 2 adults and full fuel and a cruise of 105kts is all it can do. You can do better in a SportStar for a lot less money. Good luck to anyone considering it. Ryan

Thanks for the tip on Jim's books. I just bought his flight test book, $10 on Kindle.

For the GA PPL exam you can book and write it at a test centre run by ASL. So you can do it independently of your school or club. ASL does not mention the BAK exam. Is it possible to do that independently? Or only through the school? I think the school creates their own version?

Can anyone recommend a school that is RAAus friendly in the Brisbane area? Specifically not making us do too much unnecessary duplicate training.

Thanks guys. I have got the forms and found a local DAME. I will get the RPL just so I can practice solo at least while I do lessons for the PPL (after I learn to fly a Cessna).

My end goal is a flying tour overseas (USA and The Bahamas). So I need a PPL. The only reason for the RPL was to have something to bridge the journey from Pilot Certificate. If I could have got an equivalent and then trained to fly a C172 I could get going, but in reality I need to do all the other PPL hours anyway so it might not be worth the effort. The only real advantage seems to be I skip one exam.

No I'm RAaus Pilot Certificate. So no instrument time. I must have misunderstood the other posts on this where Pilot Certificate holders seem to have got it simply by filling in a form (and a few other forms and medical) and all the endorsements were transferred over. The RPL isn't much good to me if I can't transfer over the nav endorsement.

I'm trying to fill the form to apply for the RPL in, and in the section about the flight hours you have there is a * next to cross country hours which refers to a note that you need cross country hours for the navigation endorsement. But there is also a * on the line below it which is about instrument flying. It seems to suggest you need 2 hours instrument time as well to get the navigation endorsement. Is that right or new?

Thanks John. I think this one needs to be on the bucket list for this or next year.

Anyone ever flown the morning glory cloud up in Burketown in a glider, or any airplane before? There is a chapter on it in The Cloudspotters Manual and it looks like it could be a fun trip up there at least. Cheers Ryan

Does the RPL equate to anything overseas in the way a PPL is international?

Did you do all of that in the ultralight category hence no license over there? Or did you get a sport certificate?

Anyone know when the next one is? I like the idea of a $100 high tea!

Plane and Pilot often has articles on tours around the Bahamas, for Light Sport pilots. It is aimed at the US and Canada as the Bahamas recognises their sport pilot certificates or whatever they have. Has anyone here done that before, especially with an Australian pilot certificate? I suspect not, and the only way to go international may be a PPL, but I am hoping someone has done it. Cheers Ryan

That was a very nice fly in. It was organised, nicely mowed strip, two wind socks and lots of white gable markers. Weather was really good, minimal wind. There is a very nice entertainment area where we had a snack, and I hope they host a lot of BBQs there as I will fly in for them. Was easy to find too and I didn't even use a GPS. Well done and I hope you have many more! Ryan