rdarby

Try them on first is my advice. We all have different heads and different size ears, and I have a set that is comfortable but not as god active noise cancellation. I find reducing pain on the ears after flying for hours is essential. If you try lots on you can see what works for you and what you need to trade off on. I don't think you can say a specific type is best as you really need to see what fits you. Ryan

I refuelled at Goondiwindi, and there was no callout fee and it was a public holiday. Gilgandra is a gravel strip, but the motels there will come fetch you.

Hi Dan Welcome and enjoy the lessons. I started at about your age and I love it! Wish I had started earlier! Yes you can buy a plane cheaply but then you need to hangar it and maintain it. Lots of threads and advice on here about cost of ownership, and the forum is full of people who rent, buy, form syndicates etc. Only advice I can pass on is to try do lessons as frequently as possible. If you space them out too far you have to relearn muscle memory. Have fun! Ryan

I am definitely going this year. Got the flights and accommodation booked, just need to sort out car hire from Chicago. Doing a drive up to arrive on Sunday, and leave on the Saturday, so almost the whole time. Maybe we should do a meet up one day? Ryan

I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often. There are skydivers where I fly and I often have to delay joining the circuit till they land, but what happens if someone doesn't see them?

Yes I have the S1. Try before you buy is my advice as they all work best on differebt shape jrads. The S1 os hood of you feel squashed eats on long trips. Most comfortable I have had bit meant for a larger head. The way they adjust the clamping for a smaller head just breaks the seal. The ANR is crap compared to the Zulu or EQ1's. I wish I still had the Zulu's now I don't fly so far so much. I mean really crap. But try them on and forget the reviews, way too subjective.

The revamped lounge is open now, has been for a month or so, and is much larger with some very nice views. Well worth the wait for the reconstruction. And apparently they are going to have entry from the lounge through into airside, but that may just be a rumour.

Phone the council directly, they have someone who deals with the airfield and I have been told to ask them if they have space.

I saw this at a conference about 7 years ago. The keynote speaker was the NASA risk manager. Really interesting insight into how they work.

I had to put a post-it-note on the dash saying "FEET" to remind myself to actually peddle when I was on finals! Makes a big difference, and you don't want to lower a wing at that low speed. I still remember the instructor shouting "Stop waving the stick around and use your feet!"

Sad but true FT. But we need some sort of circuit breaker. I think that the introduction of new training like Human Factors is a step in the right direction, to make sure that the new generation see things differently. It is one drop in the bucket but a start. I for one am getting safer as I get older, it is too much stress to take chances anymore.

There are two ways to think about this. One is to say "don't worry" which in effect means you don't learn or improve. The second is to think and to make change. The RAA % is way too high and it is that type of stat that gives us a bad name, bad enough that one day someone may want to regulate us a bit more. We need to stop seeing this as random or unavoidable, and do more to decrease it.

Don you did the best thing I think. I had the same issue, but ended up buying the USA maps to install on my Australian Tom Tom. There are two issues with this I found. First the maps cost more than a GPS bought in the USA! Second, the map stops all the Australian maps working, so I have to backup and restore the thing every time I switch between them!

I thought hard about that plane too, it was right behind mine (in the same hangar as Mark), and a nice price! I think he landed well, and obviously thought about what he was doing and where he was going. I am glad he walked away and maybe it can be repaired as it looked pretty intact.

There are a lot of things being discussed here, and I think the OP may need to reflect on themselves too. Speed, 28 hours isn't so bad, I took a lot longer. You need as long as you need. It is up to your ability to take it all in and demonstrate your ability, not about the school wanting money just because you are over 20 hours. That is a minimum and generally it's youngsters who do it for that. You could not do the later syllabus up front as you didn't know how to control the aircraft then. No point in teaching you about a precautionary landing if you don't even know how to land. The syllabus builds up in layers of knowledge and ability. Regarding the brake fluid, I think that you need to discuss with your next school if they will teach you about the whole aircraft and how it works, or you need to figure it out yourself. You have brakes, you should therefore know that brake fluid is involved, so of course you should check it. Now if you are like me and need to learn about mechanical things from scratch, then you need to question the school on why they didn't detect you don't know these things and teach them to you. But if you don't know something, find it out. At the end of the day do what you think is right. Don't ask others. You are the PIC of the plane and your life, so if you don't like that school then move. If the plane feels wrong them don't take off.

Anyone who has been before, do you know if they sell non EAA member weekly tickets? They don't on their website so maybe not. If you are not an EAA member you pay $41 a day. Over 5 days that is $205. If you are an EAA member you pay $154, including a year of EAA membership. And I think you get a magazine then too? Sounds like a no brainer to join the EAA, or am I missing something? I don't want to join unless I will save money in doing so, as I belong to too many things as it is! Cheers Ryan

I've now booked myself for the Malaysia race! It is probably cheaper than going to it in Australia, if it was still here. Air Asia has a special, $280 return for the flights. I'm staying right by the lake, it is going to be a hoot.

I don't think aviation is the type of place to be asking for forgiveness, as if it goes wrong, you die. Anyway the cost of getting the permission is too high, so we have cancelled the whole thing. At least my involvement, I have no idea what the Xmas party organisers will do for plan B.

There are some things the law says you need to carry, and your instructor will help you with exactly what. For example a chart (map), and an ERSA. For yourself you will need to think about comfort and ease. So for comfort, make sure you have a cushion if it's needed. But mainly a bottle of water and tissues if you need them that are handy. And a cap. You can get your own headset if and when you are ready, but Nev is right a bad one can annoy but you will get used to it. For ease of flying, I carried a notebook and pencil all the time. To take notes on procedures the instructor is telling you about, and to write down hours to put into my logbook. When you do cross country there is more you will need but wait for that before you start spending. One thing I was told to buy and have never used is a knee board. Gets in the way and is uncomfortable in our little planes. Depending on the checklist in the plane, you might want to make your own one, that works for you while you are learning. Good luck and enjoy!

Farri I know you are joking but that is not a good attitude as if something goes wrong or I get caught, it is me in the court and losing my flying privileges. And the next person who applies for a dispensation has a hard time of it because I ruined it for all. No one stops me flying a night equipped SportStar at night either, but I don't do it as I'm RAAus.

I have found out more from CASA directly. You need CASA permission, and to get that you fill in an application form. CASA then does a risk assessment of the operation, and they charge $160 an hour to do that. It will take 2 to 3 hours. What they didn't say but what I heard is that it is a headache and not worth applying for.

Hi Poteroo Thanks for some good advice. Why upwind? Ryan

I have called CASA and was told to send an email explaining what I wanted to do, which I have now done. Now I wait and see. I hope it all works out.

Has anyone done a lolly drop before and wants to share some advice?

I flew into Sydney (by VA 737) during the fires. From about 10,000 we could see an inversion with the smoke trapped under it, and smell it in the cabin. From the terminal 747's were emerging from the gloom like ghosts. You could not see the other end of the runway. For two days in the city everyone smelled like they had been near a fire. It was really bad, the news told of the fires but not how wide the impact was. I can only imagine what the asthma sufferers must have been going through too. And no way I would have flown in that murk! sfGnome you did the right thing!