Jaycee

I was also born here. I have also paid taxes all of my working life, and my parents for 40 years before me. I'm a proud Australian who knows that he lives in the best country in the world. Comments and opinions like yours make me despair for this great country sometimes. What do you think would drive a family who may take a lifetime to save $10,000 to give it all away for a chance to risk all their lives on a rusty, leaky boat for weeks and to give up their freedom, dignity and heritage? I guess they're faking and just after a free ride? I would imagine most of them ARE legitimate assylum seekers, who deserve our empathy, compassion and help, and some others are gullible dreamers who are swindled by corrupt lechers selling a dream - either way it's their basic human right to be treated with dignity, and I disagree strongly with anyone who argues that there is any dignity in being detained for years in a prison camp while papers are shuffled in Canberra. Compassion is about as common as common sense now days I guess.

It's definitely not a crime to seek asylum in a foreign country. Look here for some basic information - http://humanrights.gov.au/human_rights/immigration/asylum_seekers.html As the son of immigrants who came to Australia looking for and finding a better life than they had available to them in their home country at the time, and who went on to work hard and contribute greatly to this, their new country, and helped to make it what it is today, I have immense compassion and empathy for people who continue to look to us to help them survive poverty, torture and prosecution in their home countries. Obviously we can't open our doors to everyone, but treating people with respect and dignity while their claims are being evaluated is not optional! Detaining people for years while bureaucrats shuffle paper is not acceptable! Splitting up families while they are in detention is not acceptable! It's only the selfish and illinformed (and sometimes rascist) views of the Australian public that allows our Government to treat our fellow humans in this way. As for our pensioners - I agree they should be treated better and their minimum payments increased, but claiming that refugees in asylum centres have a better deal is ignorant. How much do you value freedom? I'm not sure how my original question turned into this discussion. Perhaps someone should start a new thread.

Thanks Joe. I'm sure I'll take much longer than you, as i only had about 30 hours experience when I gave it away. It will be great to get back in the air eventually. I hope you're enjoying it. Cheers, John

I found him to be excellent too - exactly the sort of teacher i need for such an important subject. I'd love to go back to him, but penfield is too far or me now. Hopefully i find an instructor at Tyabb that I click with. Cheers, John

Thanks very much Neil and Joe. I'll definitely visit the airfield at Tyabb and chat to them about getting started again. It probably won't be until the new year now though. Joe - how difficult did you find it after a 10 year break? Was it like starting again, or did you get your skills back relatively quickly? Cheers, John

I've seen the term Human Factors mentioned on this forum, but don't know what it is. Is it difficult? Complicated? Expensive? Do i also need an ASIC card for Tyabb? Cheers, John

Thanks Neil. What a small world! Did you train with Terry? I'll definitely go and speak with an instructor at Tyabb. Is there anyone there who is particularly good? Cheers, John

Thanks. Obviously I will need to speak to an instructor. I'm not sure whether membership of RAAus is something I can do before I get the chance to speak to an instructor (I know I won't be able to fly until I've retrained, nor would I want to, but it would be nice to start receiving the magazines again and have everything ready to go when I do start lessons again). Thanks again. John

Hi all, I went through my initial raa training around 8 years ago, getting as far as my pilot's certificate with passenger endorsement, but short of my navs, at which point life and a mortgage got in the way of my flying and i had to give it up. I've since let my raa membership lapse and haven't really thought about flying much until recently. The bug has rebitten with a vengeance! Can anyone give me some idea of what would be involved in getting recertified and getting back up to speed? I originally learned on a Flysynthesis Texan out of Sunbury (vic), but now live on the Mornington Peninsula so would most likely fly out of Tyabb as it is 10 minutes down the road. I'm not sure if they have anything similar to the Texan (fiberglass low wing tricycle gear with a rotax engine) at Tyab? Cheers, John