KRviator

RAAus BFR = WOFTAM. GA BFR with a decent instructor = good value & worthwhile. I have not done a RAAus BFR that was challenging or from which I took anything significant away. But a GA BFR where you are placed under the hood and have to maintain S&L, execute a level 180 or climbing 180 to a specific heading, go through CTA that you normally wouldn't or properly use the P charts to work out if you can get in or out of a particular strip is good value.

Yes....And no...The Comanche I missed out on was priced very reasonably for what it was - probably why it went in less than a week which surprised even me. The other one I've looked at, is significantly overpriced for what it is. The seller paid $92,500 a year ago, installed a very basic GPS in it, and now wants $105-110K for it - and from what I can tell, it hasn't had the gear SB done on it, which if it fails, is mega $$ (the FAA actually made it an AD, CAsA didn't).

I think @jackc is on point. I've tried to buy the same Comanche - twice - and each time the buyer has pulled it from sale after it being listed for a few days. I missed out on a beautiful Comanche -260C by a weekend last month after the KRviatrix dilly-dallied confirming the $$ would work out, so now to get an equivalent plane to that -C model will likely cost another $50K. Wimmen! 😛 I'm thinking about penning a letter to every Comanche owner on register asking if they want to sell. I CBF importing one from the US with all the extra hassle!

IT always was, and remains, the best option. You might roll your plane up into a ball, but you'll likely survive if you choose what you hit. Once you depart controlled flight, where and what you'll hit - and how hard you hit it - is anyone's guess.

I got hit with a near-$15 landing fee at Scone a couple weeks back, in a <1,000Kg RV-9 - after ironically flying up for an information session (all of 2 hours on the ground) to discuss the airport upgrades. They've also introduced a fee for each T&G now too, asshats. Yet Councillor Ron Campbell in their December meeting wants "the airport to be used much much more in the future" - but they are increasing their landing fees, and introducing additional ones, to deter GA operators from using their airport. Can't remember which document I read it in, but they added (or wanted to add) a 6cpl surcharge on fuel purchases there too, that is, for each litre of fuel dispensed, 6c goes straight to Council.

Just a followup to my "The Scone camera's aren't working..." post above. They are now - courtesy of the folks at Airspeed Aviation & East Coast Aircraft Maintenance. Click HERE. I'll hopefully be able to add a 6th option in the next few weeks from the opposite end that has weather data overlaid on it.

For the moment, I'd avoid Scone like the plague. The availability of fuel is limited and the AD Manager apparently published the incorrect phone number for the on-site refueller now their self-serve bowser has been removed - and she has now got the Council charging for each T&G, instead of a 1-per-session fee like most other places. 🤬 Wait until they get their "upgrade" sorted out before planning a stop over there. I can't even get the RV into my hangar there until the end of January! 🤬 Also bear in mind going coastal through Sydney is likely to be easier than going coastal through Newcastle which you'll also have to negotiate, but if it were me, I'd consider YMRY-YGLB-BTH (fuel)-YWKW-YCMH. The difference is +15 minutes over YMRY-YCMH direct, but that 15 minutes gives you high-altitude, stress free, turbulence free flying, with much better options if the engine stops. I've done Victor-1 multiple times as part of a scenic junket but wouldn't plan it as part of a cross-country flight, a mid-trip descent to low level just to get past Sydney doesn't make sense to me, I'm all for takeoff, climb, cruise, descend, land keeping things as simple and boring as possible! 😛 The other benefit to clipping the southern edge of the 'Tops is both Cessnock and Maitland have weather-cams so you can see the actual weather - as does Goulburn & Bathurst for that matter. Scone doesn't have theirs installed yet, with the only other ones up that end of the Hunter being the ASA cameras at Murrurrundi. For fuel, if you can't or don't want to do YBTH-YCMH-YBTH you also have Taree & Port Macquarie a few minutes away too.

After a quick read through the judgement, the thing that struck me was the Judge finding the pilot, in effect, negligent for screwing up the approach resulting in the subsequent go-around. I've lost count of the number of times I've abandoned a landing into Somersby because I didn't like how things were going, but does that make me negligent? I'd argue not at all. Flying visually is purely a seat-of-the-pants judgement exercise. What one person thinks is a mile away might be two, but that difference between two individuals is a 300' difference on the glidepath... There's no argument he royally screwed up the approach, (I think every pilot has done that several times) but he abandoned it and went around, was still within the OLS protected area and hit something that shouldn't have been there. If he were low on the departure profile, ok, he might be negligent, but he was above the protected area and had the right to expect it to be free of obstacles - no matter how good his initial survey of the airport environs was in his overflight.

From the judgement, here is where the court found the Ferris Wheel. IT pokes into the splay a damn sight more than 2m!

I typically don't change tanks regularly. Start & warm up on one, taxi out on the other, take off and climb to altitude and change back to the first one until I run it dry, and only then do I change back. The one exception to this is if I am down to less than 15L or so in it, I'll go for the fuller tank in the circuit to minimize the chance of unporting the outlet due a slip etc.

I don't understand why everyone doesn't have an AH - even one of those little portable jobs like a Dynon D3 - as a "I stuffed up but this can save my life" type of deal. I've lost the horizon when flying before, but wasn't in cloud - surrounded by it yes, but not in it - and I was eternally grateful for that 10" EFIS right in front of me. And that's in a simple VFR RV. Being able to immediately transition to that might have helped these two idiots...

Makes me wonder if they snagged the glider as U/S for an engineering inspection. They pulled enough G's to lose the camera mount - and I know sometimes it doesn't take much to do that - but the G-meter shows nearly 8G's on the recovery and that looks to be over the redline on the G-meter.

Yeah, this'll work.....HHmm, maybe this wasn't such a good idea.....What's that smell?

Must be the Kiwi -GDG, the Aussie one is listed as a single seat. The only other thing I have to say is "WTF were they thinking playing so close to cloud without an AH?" Wonder what a new pair of seat cushions costs for one of those fancy high-performance gliders?

I don't think it's water they're spraying. Maybe CO2? Here's a better video showing the drones up close on the ground, they aren't overly small, but still, there's no chance they can carry a hose filled with any decent amount of water.

If you are going to routinely do over-water flights, I would recommend something like the HEED/SpareAir tiny SCBA systems. They're fairly cheap, relatively small, and could probably be mounted under your knees in most planes and would give you enough time to calm down after the initial oh-shyte moments and avoid the panic of knowing you only have a few seconds to get out before you need to breathe. I've seriously considered getting one for the RV, as if I put it in the water, being a bubble canopy it'd be hard to open if it flipped over in the time I'd likely have available.

The local rag is saying it was a training flight from Bankstown-Orange-Carcoar with FlightAware & FlightRadar showing VH-OIS flew that route, deparing Orange 0537UTC before heading to CarCoar before their return disappeared.

For those that aren't aware, Upper Hunter Shire Council is spending megabucks on an upgrade of their airport to build a new warbird museum & terminal, in addition to a new parallel taxiway & repairing the existing runway. They have decided to close the entire airport for a period of 4 weeks from 09 November until 05 December, assuming the weather cooperates and doesn't delay things further. There will be no fixed wing ops, no helicopter's in support of firebombing, nothing at all will be permitted except ground access to your aircraft if hangared there - not that you can actually go anywhere mind you! Additional works are currently taking place and will continue beyond the closure period, including the new TWY A tie-in to the 29 threshold and adjacent properties, drainage, and a new fencing proposal that will make the picturesque rural views of Scone look like Guantanamo Bay - complete with barbed wire...🤬 I presume the RNAV approach will not be NOTAM'd as not available, but I wouldn't put it past the airport manager to do so, "just in case" someone tries to land off said approach! If you routinely use Scone as part of a Navex or just as stopover for fuel or a piddle, doublecheck your NOTAMs for the next month or two!

If you have the $$, I'd get a small 2 seater over a roomy single seat. Even if its' only somewhere to throw your nav bag & water bottle. There's a couple of Jabiru's for sale on the RAAus classifieds for $26.5 and $27.0 and a GR912 for sale down Tasmania way but both obviously not singles. I saw a Sapphire for sale that I'm thinking about buying if its' still around when I've moved house, for $11.5 but I'm told they aren't that great for taller pilots - and it has a '447 in it, and you said you're after a 4-stroke. Check out Lightwing's page - they look to have a Pocket Rocket with a 582 available now for $12K. That's good value, even if it is a 2 stroke...

Totally agree @facthunter, I didn't articulate it clearly, but I'd meant that example to be in the context of planning, not actually flying it. If I've read the AIP right and there's no other clause hidden away, then I'd need to plan to Cessnock, and have enough fuel to divert to Taree/Bankstown if necessary. IF you're only TAS'ing 120KTAS that's another 45 minutes or so of fuel you'll need to carry just because you can't use the GAF.🤬 Same for Bankstown itself if it were below the Alternate Minima, you could consider an alternate as Sydney, Maitland or Wollongong, there aren't a lot of options, even though you might be able to use Wedderburn, Warnervale, Katoomba, Somersby yadda yadda, they don't have a TAF so you need one that does...

@facthunter I don't think anyone's suggesting flying VFR into IMC, rather, your departure point can go IMC immediately after you've left and, so long as you won't need to return (because you've got a known-good forecast) that's fine. I can't recall specifically planning a destination alternate in any of my XC flights since training, but have always thought about "where can I go if...." when airborne. Though in re-reading the AIP it looks like I've been a naughty boy, as I've relied on the GAF for assessing whether the destination is above the VFR alternate minima, simply due to the fact most of my flying is to airports that don't have a TAF service. I'm just thinking from the point of flying around the Newcastle area, if you are planned to arrive at Cessnock, there's no TAF, so you have to hold Maitland as your alternate. But hang on, Maitland is below the VFR Alternate Minima right now, so you can't hold Maitland. Williamtown is out lest an F18 rise and smite thee, so that leaves Bankstown or Taree as the only two options! I'm sure there would be dozens more examples like that Australia wide which makes me wonder if I am actually wrong with that AIP reference and there's another reference tucked away somewhere, but if there is, I haven't found it yet!!

There's actually a really interesting discussion going on over at PPRune at the moment regarding alternates and the question "Do you need an alternate if your destination does not have a TAF?" My reading of the AIP is "yes, you do", but it's a ridiculous proposition - how many of us fly to airfields that no longer - or have never had - a TAF service? CAVU weather and you need an alternate - and that alternate cannot be an airport that itself requires an alternate, so you need to plan to somewhere that does have a TAF. WTF?!? The kicker is the word "aerodrome" forecast. A GAF is not an aerodrome forecast, so we would, appear, to not be able to rely on the visibility or weather in the GAF when it comes to considering whether or not our destination is above the VFR Alternate Minima.

I've either misinterpreted that bit, or completely forgotten it. The only 60 minute "requirement" for departure I can recall is if you do not hold a current forecast for your destination and you intend to obtain that in flight, which you can do for upto 30 minutes after departure. So takeoff, fly 30 min out, get forecast - it's crap - return to origin = need 60 mins good weather. But if you have a known-good forecast for your destination, you can depart if you can maintain VMC and your departure point can immediately go IMC, with not a care in the world. What's the reference in the VFRG? I might need to hit the books again!

Centaurus over at PPrune mentioned a similar accident at Camden around a decade earlier. A MECIR checkride was underway and as part of the briefing, the checkee, a current airline pilot, refused to accept an EFATO below 500AGL at night. The ATO agreed to this. They flew Bankstown-Wollongong-Camden and almost immediately on rotation at Camden - at night, remember - what does the ATO do? Fail an engine, with predictable results. The ATO received serious, ultimately fatal, injuries and the checkee serious injuries.

That AirNorth one was downright stupid - and almost a carbon copy of a B1900 that lost control at Williamtown a year or so earlier doing the exact same thing! If you go to Flight Idle on your typical auto-feather equipped engine, you are no longer simulating "just" an engine failure. You are simulating an engine failure and the failure of the autofeather system. And as has been found many times over, almost all light piston and an awful lot of turbine twins will not accelerate yet alone climb away like that. We will continue to have accidents until people want to learn from the mistakes of others.