Mathew Ker

Llew and thank you for your friendly invitation to use your property. I'm based in FNQ, have recently completed my flying training with nav and pax endorsements. Working on how I can find a plane to fly now! Hope these forums help with information and contacts. Cheers, Mathew

Bilby54, My initial response to Bigglesworth is that once more he seems only interested in cutting corners, at the expense of being responsible to himself and to others who may become involved in his (or anyone else's accident). Certainly equipment may have changed over the years, and we may go close to being over regulated in some areas, but when I read the posts Bigglesworth has put here and in other areas including the test flying of his newly finished Cheetah, I'm concerned for what seems to be his lack of care to anyone's safety, including his own. I don't think its appropriate to advocate an attitude of being intentionally unsafe so you know where you think the danger is coming from. That doesn't make sense at all. Surely good airmanship is about knowing what the risks are and mitigating against those risks. To fly in the face of the regulations or to just give them 'lip service' would seem to bring Recreational Flying as a whole into disrepute. If anyone disagrees with the regulations in place, wouldn't we be better to try and change them, rather than just doing our own thing. Having said all of this, I've not met Biggleworth and he's probably a great guy face to face. I said in other posts I'm envious of the fact he's actually got off his butt to build his plane in the first place. Murphy's Law being what it is, Biggleworth will probably being flying for the next 50 years, incident free, and it will be me who ends up on the incident and accident pages of our magazine! :black_eye: It may be that he's really just sitting back having a laugh at people like me who take his posts seriously - I just can't shake a sense of foreboding when I read some of his comments though. Bottom line for me - please keep safe. Follow the regulations that are put in place for everyone's safety. No, we can't legislate against stupidity, but if you don't agree with regulations, lobby to have them changed. Cheers, Mathew

I've received my passenger endorsement earlier this year and to date have taken my best mate for a fly. Before we got into the aircraft I gave him a brief as to the nature of the aircraft (a Jabiru UL/D), and how he should get in and out in a safe manner. Once seated, I explained the layout of the aircraft, where he should put his feet, what to touch and what not to touch. I also explained what he should do and not do if an emergency should unfold. I then told him what we do during the flight and where we would be going. My aim was to make him comfortable with the experience so it would be enjoyable without nasty surprises. End result, a happy passenger who would readily go up again. My next passenger is hoping to be an 87 year old lady who has been pestering me to finish my license so I can take her for a fly before she shuffles off this mortal coil. She told her doctor she was going for a fly and he told her to enjoy herself for whatever remaining time she has to live. :thumb_up: Cheers, Mathew

Bigglesworth, I'll bite. :raise_eyebrow: You wrote, "I did mention I only wanted to be legal and wasn't too worried there even." To only do something 'to be legal' sort of seems to be missing the safety point as to why any safety regulations are put in place at all. I must sound like a stick in the mud, but it seems the very reason why such regulations get foisted upon us is when we don't care enough about our own lives, those we fly with, share the skies, or who might be humping through the scrub when we do spear in. I don't know what else to say other than to express my disappointment at your approach to safety from what you have posted here and elsewhere. I think it sends a very poor message to other who might follow your example. Personally I'd much rather be reading about your trips and how your Cheetah is flying now that it is complete. to be such a spoil sport. Mathew

Good one!

Craig, Enjoy the milder weather whilst it still lasts. February will probably be about the worst for humidity. At least you'll have some spectacular thunder and lightning storms to ease the humidity each evening. Here in Cairns, we can expect humidity around 95% from December to February/March ! It's so hot, even your hair sweats! Cheers, Mathew

Nigel, Welcome to the forums. We are getting to be quite an international group now with members from many parts of the globe joining in. You are right about Far North Queensland being a beautiful place in which to live. I drive past Frank's place to fly out of Innisfail. It's tough flying to Dunk Island for coffee as part of our navigational flying . We often hear the guys preparing to release canopies at either Innisfail or Mission Beach. Look forward to hearing more Spanish adventures in your Tecnam. Regards, Mathew

Unfortunately no aircraft as yet. I'm waiting for Ron to sell his Jabiru, but I suspect even then it would be a pipedream. A friend of mine in Chinchilla has ordered a Skyranger and I'm keen to see how this comes together, especially after I convinced him to have a look at this aircraft in the first place. Cheers, Mathew

Welcome to the forums Scott. I began my flying with Ron just over a year ago and recently completed my passenger endorsement. Innisfail is a great location to fly out of and FNQ provides endless opportunities to 'see the sites'. I'm based out of Cairns and look forward to catching up at some point in time. Regards, Mathew

Good post Mark, :thumb_up: Regards, Mathew

Just brilliant. Well done.

There have been some creative and useful suggestions for providing extra endurance to aircraft with limited fuel tanks. What are the regulations or legalities for adding extra 'ferry' tanks for occasional flights, especially with an aircraft like the J120? By adding quick release points for fuel, does this change the aircraft's registration requirements. Regards, Mathew

Interesting idea but I'd be more interested to hear about the mid to longer term efforts on the rubber. I thought rubber is pretty sensitive to degradation and putting any sort of solvents on tyres doesn't sound like a great idea. I'd be concerned that the tyres might fail unexpectedly rather than wear consistently. Regards, Mathew

John, thank you for the feedback. :thumb_up: Will draft a letter to local Nth Queensland rep. Suggest others do likewise if the delivery times for our magazine is an issue for you. Regards, Mathew

Still waiting for mine . Maybe if I just think of it coming early for next month - it'll be an unexpected surprise Cheers, Mathew

Is anyone asking RAA, where is the mag? Am I right in assuming that someone, maybe lots of people have actually asked RAA why we are constantly getting the RAA magazine much later than it is available from the newsagents. We rightly so have been bellyaching to each other, but has someone shared this with the people who have the ability to change the delivery schedule? If anyone has written to RAA and received a reply, please let us know. If no one has yet done this, would anyone like to draft a letter / e-mail to let RAA know of our frustration and disappointment that its members are the ones who are last in the distribution of the magazine which is supposed to be supporting this same membership. I suggest this be made available so we as members can copy the letter and send our collective thoughts to RAA. Perhaps with several dozen / hundreds / thousands of letters, they might take corrective action. I would be happy to draft a letter, but I don't want to reinvent the wheel (wing ) if someone else has already done this. I'm not as peeved off as some have indicated, but I do think it's rude that RAA seem to ignore their own promotion that subscribers will receive the magazine 'direct to your mailbox every month ahead of the newsstands!' Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Regard, Mathew

With tongue firmly planted in cheek - They might be holding off deliveries of the magazine so they can send out the new ops manual with latest amendments! :black_eye: Actually I want to thank JohnMcK and those involved with the distribution. I applaud them for including additional bonus material that will help many members in their flying safety. This is an unexpected bonus. Cheers, Mathew :thumb_up:

Congratulations on going solo again after a long absence :thumb_up:. If you've been a member on these forums for a while without posting, you'll know that there are many who are only too willing to share an opinion (even their own! ;)) regarding training, flying, buying etc. Great to hear some older people taking up the wings again. Regards, Mathew

Airsick, I agree that terrain clearance shouldn't be a problem if proper planning had taken place. In the original scenario given, a longer flight surely allows for more opportunity to give tiger country a wide berth without adding significantly to the trip time. My point was that if you've not flown over terrain before, what you anticipate on the map, may not unfold as expected on the ground. Certainly turning back should be one of the possible courses of action (probably the most appropriate) if things are marginal. Forgive me if my original post implied poor or lazy planning. :big_grin: Regards, Mathew

Brent, Your hypothetical implies that the pilot has knowingly broken a clearly defined airspace restriction and your wording suggests that he was 'caught' after the fact. Like previous respondents, I suggest some sort of fine/restriction/retraining would be appropriate. On the other hand, I don't think it's unreasonable to enter restricted airspace if other safety issues come into play, issues you may not have been aware of prior to your flight. In spite of sound planning, the terrain may not unfold exactly as you imagined it to be and therefore a rational and sound diversion could be appropriate. I would think if the ensuing problems then encounted could be relatively easily negotiated along the lines of Mozartmerv's comments. Talk to people once you have your amended plan, then follow instructions given. If clearance is not given, you will then have to make another amendment as appropriate. If for whatever reason, you haven't asked for clearance, surely it wouldn't hurt to initiate an explanation after the event rather than waiting to be 'caught out'. I'm still learning, so happy for rules and regulations to override commonsense. Regards, Mathew

to the forums Lurch. There are plenty of stories where people like you have wanted to fly for many years and now find themselves in a position to do so. Enjoy the experience and fire away with any questions you might have. I began my training last year in a Jabiru and am now working towards my nav endorsement. Each flight gets better all the time. Regards, Mathew

Thank you to everyone who has submitted their thoughts. I've just placed an order with "Clear Prop" for an E6-B Nav Computer. My rationale is based on using a very similar computer with my instructor. I particularly find it easy to use for calculating drift and speed for each leg. I'm sure the CR series would be just as easy, but you often feel most comfortable with what you trained on. The other thing in its favour is the all metal construction. This appealed to me more than the plastic CR. Looking forward to its arrival, together with the Townsville WAC and protractor so I can start planning a bunch of flights (just got to work out where to get a plane! ). Cheers, Mathew

Marius, sorry not to get in touch beforehand. I was in town only for a couple of hours and time was limited. I look forward to it when you fly your Jabiru to FNQ and I can show you around. Cheers and good luck with your lessons. Mathew

Congratulations Marius on your first solo - one to remember. :thumb_up: How did you go with having your UL-D balanced? I saw it on the scale when I was briefly in Chinchilla earlier this month. Regards, Mathew

Go Badger. :thumb_up: We can now add flying badgers to flying foxes! :confused: Congratulations on a great acheivement and enjoy the rest of your training. Mathew Ker