K-man

Just a question from someone who knows nothing about trikes. It would seem the rate of descent was more than 1000' per minute and the landing speed around 60mph. Would that be optimal in an engine out situation and what would be the rate of descent and approach speed normally? How much control do you have over speed and ROD without power?

Interesting scenario but understandable when we read that the elevator was raised to allow loading, so it wouldn't be pulled right back, just part way. During checks the controls may still have had enough play to be considered 'full and free' which would enable rotation and initial climb. The feeling would then be that the nose needed to be lowered and because the controls felt as if they were fully forward it must be a trim problem. By the time that was worked out the plane has stalled.

Just for interest, I've come across this article detailing crashes of LSA in the US. Health issues don't rate a mention. Mind you, Jabiru had no fatalities in this survey. Perhaps they are all younger Jabi pilots over there. http://jabiru.net.au/images/The%20Aviation%20Consumer%20-%20LSA%20Accidents.pdf

You are making a lot of unsubstantiated statements. Where did you access the age details of Jabiru pilots who have died? The only research I have seen (not Jabiru) was that conducted in the US which showed nothing to substantiate your claim that older pilots are more likely to experience medical issues while flying. In fact very few pilots experience health issues while flying possibly because we are all aware of that danger and would not fly if we thought we were likely to have a heart attack or other problem. You believe Jabiru are the best ultralights and you are entitled to your opinion. I would suggest that Jabiru aircraft are popular because they are affordable, not because they are the best. I have quite a few hours in J160s and never had an issue. I have a number of friends who built their own J160s and again they haven't any problems, except of course they are all 'old' people. Unfortunately for Jabiru and Jabiru owners there have been many documented engine failures and the fallout from that had not been handled well from the manufacturer's end, nothing to do with the age of the pilots.

I think if you look at American statistics which relate to the relevence of flying medicals you might find comparatively few pilots experience medical emergencies while flying. So, unless you are suggesting Jabiru pilots are, as a group, older and more infirm than the general flying population, I would suggest you are way off line. CASA took action against Jabiru because there were a lot of engine failures that may have been preventable if correct action was taken earlier. FWIW I think the Jabiru is safer than a lot of other aircraft out there and hopefully they have addressed the engine issues.

Avplan for me.

According to channel 7 news the pilot was Ian Cook from Mt Evelyn and he had recently bought the trike from Peter McLean. Nothing to say anyone had done anything wrong but did mention that there were dust devils near the strip.

True, but it's not on the current register. http://flysafe.raa.asn.au/admin/aircraft_database_registration.html

Another search shows that number is not currently registered. It was removed from the register in 2010.

Following the posting of the picture above I did a quick search for that rego. It's not the first time that Jabi has had problems. The following was posted nearly 9 years back. RIP.

I didn't bother with an ASIC card until I applied for my RPL about eight months ago. My wife had an ASIC and that was sufficient for both of us. The only place we ever needed to produce it was Ayres Rock. Seriously, the guy there was obviously trained by Hitler's own security personal. Fly there without an ASIC at your peril. Spend more than 30 minutes refuelling and you will be charged. Good grief! They must be expecting terrorists to blow up The Rock.

I think it is not just black and white. The regs state clearly that you must make whatever calls are necessary to ensure safety so as long as a call gives an accurate description of your position and is within the vocabulary of aviation, it's fair game. There are several mandatory calls but common sense dictates when you might add to those. If I were joining downwind from greater than normal distance I would call 'joining long downwind'. At the other end, if more separation was required I would be 'extending downwind'. Several times I've been on final when an aircraft has begun to enter the strip in front of me. On those occasions I have called 'xxx is late final' to warn them to stay where they are. At Lilydale we have parachuting operations so there are no midfield crosswind joins so 'joining crosswind' can be pretty vague. If there is traffic I would normally add 'north (or south) of the strip' to clarify. Now have the option of joining base and the 'turning final' call is no longer mandatory. If that call is not clear and there is downwind traffic there is potential for disaster. Couple this with the fact that many of us are sharing the skies with foreign students with limited English language skills, we need to be very clear when we broadcast our position and intentions.

To be honest, if you just polished our Pioneer 300 and put it under the tree, I'd be more than happy. There are a number of beautiful aircraft out there but nothing I'd swap my 300 for.

I'm saddened by this news. We always expect it to be inexperienced pilots coming down, yet over the last few years we have lost a lot of very experienced people. I think the take home message is, flying is inherently dangerous and we all fly knowing the risks. I'm sure that Ross understood the risks perfectly and as a result flew safely for decades. We don't yet know what went wrong here but it is a salient reminder that we must all be on our best game each time we fly and even then tragedies can still happen. This thread is a great tribute to a top guy. RIP.