Garfly

Yes, for sure, an ATD is totally necessary for one's own log keeping. I just meant that if you're flying with no plan in the system it doesn't mean much to anyone else. In which case, the only estimate that counts (for others) is the one we give inbound at 10 miles.

Yeah, it can be quite a while between chocks-away and taking-off, so our intentions might best be held back till later in the piece. That way, any significant others with some interest in our plans, are more likely to be inside the zone and listening in. In the old days of VFR flight plans and full reporting, an actual time of departure was required by the system to start the clock on the schedule submitted. But in our uncontrolled, NOSAR/NODETAILS world, I guess a (local) departure call just needs current position (or circuit leg) altitude (passing and on-climb) and track (or first waypoint). As far as I can see, declaring an ATD (almost always 'this time' anyway) in a CTAF context is a vestige of other times/other systems. Anyway, I'm not saying departure calls are even necessary; it depends. Which must be why law makers limit themselves (uncharacteristically) to 'recommendations' when it comes to comms at uncontrolled fields.

While TCAS may be better, the cost of those systems makes it impractical for small aircraft - even for commercial IFR operators, let alone recreational types. A few years back the charter industry was squealing about being forced to put in ADS-B OUT gear - a far cheaper option than full TCAS. Yet, with the current rebate program even recreational types can get, let's say, 75% of the TCAS safety function for, what?, 5% of the cost. (By carrying approved EC IN/OUT devices.) In their own Mangalore report, the ATSB opined that had either or both aircraft carried even such basic ADSB IN/OUT gear then it might all have been avoided. Also, the Coroner's Recommendation # 1 has something to say on the issue of "Departure Calls" which have been discussed here recently in other threads. From the CORONIAL INQUIRY INTO THE MANGALORE AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT Recommendation 1: I recommend that CASA develop and disseminate educational material for the aviation industry aimed at reinforcing the importance of accurate departure calls being made by pilots in command of aircraft. It is a matter for CASA to determine the process by which the educational material is disseminated to the aviation industry. Recommendation 2: Airservices, in anticipation of harmonisation of operating requirements for Brisbane ATSC and Melbourne ATSC, provide additional training to ATCs on managing and responding to STCAs within 5 nautical miles of aerodromes with similar aircraft movements to Mangalore. Recommendation 3: 80 Airservices should consider providing additional training to current and prospective Air Traffic Controllers on the use of velocity vectors in Class G airspace. It is a matter for Airservices to determine how this training is developed and facilitated. Recommendation 4: I recommend that the ATSB, AMSA and CASA continue to work together to promote the voluntary update of ADS-B technology in Australian-registered aircraft. It is a matter for the ATSB, AMSA and CASA to determine how to best promote this initiative in the aviation industry. Recommendation 5: I recommend that CASA conduct a cost-benefit study into the feasibility and potential benefits of requiring the installation of ADS-B IN devices in IFR-certified aircraft. Recommendation 6: I recommend that the Minister for the Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure give consideration to expanding the ADS-B rebate program to extend to Australian registered IFR aircraft.

Yes, the quote was from a reliable source. The reason for it? The thread was discussing how to interpret published ADS-B data in connection with the accident.

Yes, AAK is still very much up and going strong at Taree. Ole Hartmann (the owner) has been in Europe for a month or so but I've heard he's on his way back and should be contactable in coming days. This is the email: [email protected]

Another tragic miscalculation of take-off performance: Report_ERA16FA161_93027_7_30_2024 8_11_03 AM.pdf

Yes, neither proscription would be acceptable, at all, to Goldilocks.

But I think Skippy is only arguing for the Goldilocks mean: not too much, not too little. Just-right for the given situation. Nothing proscribed. Makes sense.

Ah, okay, sorry, misunderstanding. I thought you were referring to Gryder's video where he really did fly opposite direction to everyone else on purpose, to prove a point.

Nobody claimed that either. Dan Gryder (love him or hate him) conducted a controlled experiment on a YouTube video wherein he tried to show how reluctant pilots can be to simply speak up and negotiate with each other to obviate even obvious possible conflicts. The implication was do not do this at home.

Maybe an unmissable "DOOR" warning light on the dash, then - at least for those side (or rear) hinged canopy types. In any case, all these caught-on-cam incidents make it super clear that flying the plane and staying calm(ish) are top priorities when chaos breaks out aloft.

And another mea culpa vid urging us to take "Hatches, harnesses secure" seriously.

That's a fantastic flight to have done. Shows that it's possible - even with a slowish steed. Kyle Gardner did the west-east trip in the same type a few years back and made this video:

Another sometimes useful "incorrect" usage is repeating the call-sign near the end - as well as the location. It may take a couple more seconds but can save more time and confusion on follow up queries. Rigid formats definitely have their place but so does context/common sense.

Final Report video from ATSB: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcoUR3XUuTs

Yes, speed ain't everything as this clip is at pains to show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuKFhfEOosg When I listen to local RPT pilots negotiate safe passage down among the unwashed and uncontrolled, I'm often impressed by their professionalism; unrushed, patient radio work with each aircraft they deem a possible threat. The comms alone can seem like a full time job, so lucky there are two of them up front. Anyway, as Gryder advocates (in the vid posted in the other circuit issues thread) they carefully engage each significant other to obviate ambiguity. If the RF is too chatty for that then the policy seems to be to hold away until it's clear. I often hear them breaking off their preferred straight-ins to join the circuit if they are in any doubt. In other words, it's not just a matter of declaring one's position/intentions and barrelling on in as if 'protected' by having 'followed the rules' ... or even just the recommendations.

Some busy circuit work, Dan Gryder style:

Speaking of exhaust valve failures, Peter Anson, writes here about his Sonex's Jab self-destructing. The outcome, luckily was very similar to that of the VL3's and its Rotax fail. The demise of my engine | Peter Anson – Engineering WWW.ANSONENG.COM

Some great video story-telling, including air-to-air shots from friends flying in company with the crippled VL3. The culprit (on a 750 hour engine):

OzRunways have a great series of videos on YouTube and the online manual is good too. And if you have any questions their support people typically get back to you within the hour. 15. Traffic 15.1. OzRunways Traffic System (in-app) Image 15.1 Left: Standard traffic popup Right: Popup with SkyEcho connected (iOS 13 or above required) The image above shows a typical Traffic Popup as accessed from the Maps page (see Traffic / Timers). OzRunways has implemented a traffic system based on the use of mobile (3G/4G) networks, we call this OzRunways Traffic. This is separate to ADS-B Traffic which is covered below. The way OzRunways Traffic works is as follows. If you opt in and are network connected, the App detects whether you are flying. If you are, it starts sending data packets to the OzRunways server via the mobile network. These packets hold your callsign, your position, heading and climb/descent rate. In addition, if you have an OzRunways plan open, that plan is also relayed to our server. The traffic system data usage is below 1 megabyte per hour (very minimal). The server receives the data and determines whether there are any aircraft in your vicinity and sends those aircraft back to your App, which are then displayed on the Map Page. The traffic displayed is the closest 18 actively flying aircraft to your current location. Each blue traffic icon / traffic bubble displays a callsign as specified in the Callsign field of the Traffic Popup. If no callsign is specified here, it will use the callsign from the aircraft profile in use. If neither of these options are available the dummy callsign ‘Unknown’ will appear. Below the callsign is the altitude relative to your current altitude in 100’s of feet. For example in the image at the top of the page ‘EFB’ is approx. 10,200ft above us, and ‘SYC’ is approx. 900ft below. Additionally, the direction of travel is indicated by an arrow on the circumference of the circular icon. In the figure, ‘EFB’ is tracking west, and ‘SYC’ is tracking northeast. The ‘Ʌ’ and ‘V’ symbols inside the circle indicate climbing or descending respectively. If you tap on a traffic icon it will momentarily enlarge, and if the user has an OzRunways plan active it will display that plan as a purple line. Note Relative traffic height is determined by comparing the reported GPS altitude of each device, therefore some margin of error is possible. This information is for situational awareness and should not be relied upon for traffic avoidance. Setup & Options The first time you start the app you are prompted to enable or disable the traffic system. You can turn the system on or off any time by tapping on the Traffic icon on the Maps page. If you wish to see other OzRunways traffic on the map you must also broadcast your own position. A single tap on the traffic icon reveals the traffic system options as shown above in Image 15.1. A ‘tap and hold’ on the traffic icon will momentarily enlarge all traffic bubbles on the map. Included in the traffic options is a slider to increase or decrease the size of all traffic bubbles. The elements of the traffic icon gives a visual indication of the status of both the OzRunways traffic system, and any connected ADS-B device. Image 15.2 Traffic icon legend Image 15.3 below demonstrates the appearance of the traffic icon under the following conditions: OzRunways traffic broadcasting SkyEcho ADS-B OUT broadcasting using callsign EFB, and squawk code 1200 Image 15.3 OzRunways and ADS-B OUT broadcasting Note The OzRunways traffic system will only broadcast your position to other users when it detects you are flying. I.e. the aeroplane symbol won’t be green unless you are flying. 15.2. tx.ozrunways.com (traffic wesbite) OzRunways traffic is also displayed on the website https://tx.ozrunways.com This is displayed on a normal web browser (not the app) and there is no restriction to the number of traffic displayed. Aircraft are illustrated on the map as blue traffic bubbles. Tap on any of these bubbles for more information. If a plan is available for the selected aircraft it is displayed in blue. Use the menu bar on the left of the page to access more options such as restricted area overlays and and various map overlays. The traffic website keeps a history previous flights you have completed (provided you had the traffic system switched on and working). Tap on ‘My Flights’ at the top of the website and log in with your OzRunways username to see your flight history. A list of flights is presented with some icons to the right of each entry. You have the option to share your flight via Twitter or Facebook, or you can preview the flight on the map or download it as a KML or GPX file. 15.3. ADS-B Traffic OzRunways supports ABS-B receivers that connect via WiFi and use the GDL90 protocol. ADS-B Receiver Setup Connect your iPad or iPhone to the ADS-B receiver in iPad Settings → WiFi. (Note: The ‘No Internet Connection’ warning is normal) The receiver should now be sending information to OzRunways. Check that the receiver appears in OzRunways → Settings. Own Ship If you are using an ADS-B receiver in an ADS-B OUT equipped aircraft, OzRunways can use the information from your ADS-B OUT signal for more accurate traffic height comparisons. OzRunways will first try to detect your ‘own ship’ signal by using the ICAO address entered in your aircraft profile. If this is not available then some logic is applied to nearby traffic to try and determine a match. When OzRunways identifies a suitable match it will indicate this by turning the traffic bubble green as shown in Image 15.4. ADS-B Receiver Troubleshooting If you have confirmed that you are connected to the ADS-B receiver via WiFi and it is still not working follow these steps: Open OzRunways and go to Settings → Device Options. Ensure that ‘Enable GDL90’ is switched on. The receiver should appear as a menu item in the Settings menu underneath ‘Device Options’. Tap to view device statistics including the number of currently visible ADS-B aircraft. Your iDevice can only be connected to one WiFi network at a time. If you usually ‘hotspot’ internet from another source (such as a phone) you may not be able to do this concurrently, unless you can connect to the hotspot using Bluetooth instead. Check that you are using the latest version of OzRunways in the App Store app. OzRunways receives regular updates with new features, improvements, and bug fixes. On the map page, ADS-B traffic is displayed just like regular OzRunways traffic but in a darker shade of blue (Image 15.4) Image 15.4 Traffic bubbles 15.4. Portable ADS-B Out Low cost, portable ADS-B OUT devices are coming to VFR aircraft in Australia! These portable devices allow all pilots to enjoy the benefits of increased situational awareness, with ADS-B IN receiver functionality to see other aircraft on your EFB, and ADS-B OUT functionality so these aircraft can now see you too. For comprehensive information on ADS-B Out devices and how they work with OzRunways, see this article on our knowledgebase: https://support.ozrunways.com/kb/en-gb/2-3rd-party-hardware-integrations The traffic system, including SkyEcho settings, can be configured directly on the Map Page as demonstrated above in Setup & Options.

The snappy little cartoons, below, from CASA are, I reckon, very effective in getting useful messages across. They're far more bang for the buck than, say, the webinar series also to be found on the CASA Briefing website. For example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUpU9ikmeEc&t=411s To me, even actual real-world seminars, more often than not, fall short of expectations. In any case, the usual 'house-keeping', fumbling, waffling etc. is not, any longer, acceptable in any kind of screen format. If the information in those webinar presentations is worth telling it should be re-purposed for publication on-line, i.e, professionally 'produced'. It wouldn't take much. Most of the resources are already in place. They'd end up a tenth of the length and ten times more effective. Production values - and educational outcomes - can't just be left to chance. The internet won't take it anymore. Still and all, there's lots of very good stuff on the CASA site: https://www.youtube.com/@CASABriefing/videos And these little cartoons are, IMHO, definitely on the right track.

Jabiru_UL-450_G-CDFK_08-24.pdf Probable culprit: As mentioned by The Flying Reporter here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA0W0YHwdyY

DA strikes again ... but this young couple lives to tell the tale: