PaulN

Welcome Dave, good to have you on board. We'll be looking forward to hearing more from you. Hope you find this site helpful and informative. BTW, nice aircraft. Paul

Oops , back to Nav school for me. (Maybe this is why I like flying coastal.) I should have given 128nm on radial 268M from Caboolture for my cryptic answer. Or perhaps I should have been more direct and just said Chinchilla. Paul

Guys, This article makes for an interesting read re composite endurance. (Interesting how the Cirrus ad dominates the news page). http://www.recreationalflying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10401 Paul

G'day Iraj, A big welcome to this great bunch of aviators. You can be sure of plenty of interesting commentary, sound advice, newsy stuff and humour while browsing these posts. Please make sure you don't just read and run, we all want to hear from you too. I was training with Mike at Polo Flat same time as you back in 2004. I've heard you buzzing about over town in your trike from time to time. I thought I saw you at Natfly this year, could this be right? We must catch up sometime. You know the Snowy River Aviators are looking for new members and of course you're welcome to join up . Being in a club environment is a bit like this forum, good communications, sharing experiences, passing on knowledge and good networking ... only face to face and usually over a bbq at Adaminaby Airfield. We have a get together planned for Sunday May 6 with a barbie lunch, why not come along (fly in) and meet the gang? There are quite a few members that come down from ACT and Tumut. I expect Ray will be attending with his pride and joy, the green machine RV4. Hope to see you there, Paul

Which rwy is active? 16LL, 16L, 16R or 16RR? Better go around anyway, too much traffic.

Oops, sorry Cazza. Paul

;) Jack. Otherwise known as YWOL (not Jack, the airport).

Dream machine? Next to the CT the Lancair Columbia 400 has to be my choice. As much as I love this aircraft it falls short ... Low wing (poor views) Small windows (poor views) Too fast (not enough time to enjoy the views) Too much comfort (sleep through the views) Too expensive to run at $175/hr (views cost too much) Oh, almost forgot ... a tad too much to buy at US$500k + second hand (imagine how many flying hours I could get in the CT at $45/hr for that much dosh) Still, she's a lovely machine indeed ... Paul

Hi Di, Carol's contact details are listed on page 4 of this month's RA-Aus magazine as [email protected], also shown are her phone numbers and postal address. When you're talking with her maybe you can repay the encouragement she gave you by encouraging her to join and contribute on this forum. From discussions I've had with her and sitting under her seminar talks I believe she would have much of value and quality to contribute ;). Wouldn't it be great, and appropriate, if all the board members felt at home here as do so many of the RA-Aus members? Cheers, Paul

Here's another taken from 6500' last Wednesday. Paul

No upset Don, indeed it's worth repeating. Thanks mate. Paul

Great post Poteroo. Not at all boring, but very interesting. And it seems you have led a very interesting life too. Thanks for sharing it. Paul

Darren, I recall a discussion elsewhere about those types of landings, didn't realise it was you they were talking about :confused:. Paul

Rob, I reckon your "lovely green" strip is Singleton (10/28) with the army barracks in the background (spent a few days there in a past life). Paul

Camden Haven is it. And what a lovely strip. And a lovely couple who are selling it, Bob and Nellie Furness. Give them a call a negotiate a good price. Hey, here's a thought. Why not all of us forum members chip in to buy this property and as Gwen and I are keen to move into that part of the coast we can be the live-in caretakers. We can call it Recreationalflying.come and visit sometime. Paul

By "all these" do mean your following queries? This limitation comes with exceptions. Fundamentally, if the PIC deems that to fly safely, such as gaining as much alt as necessary to glide to safety when crossing rough country, as we often have to do here in the Snowy Mountains (our airport elev is 3106’), then greater than 5000' but with an absolute limit of 10000' Once every 30 mins ... NO WAY. A VFR flight must not be undertaken above more than 4 oktas (SCT) otherwise VFR navigation is severely impeded by lack of reference to the ground and regular fixes for dead reckoning. I don't know anyone who can adequately navigate by dead reckoning over unfamiliar territory above BKN cloud. This is not only illegal but a dangerous practice. Yes, when in flight it can be difficult to determine what sort of cloud cover is over top of you, as looking along the base it all looks pretty thick and close like BKN or OVC. A neat trick is to look at the cloud shadows on the ground. If there are more shadows than sunny spots then you have BKN cover. However, this trick doesn't work so well if you also have lots of high cloud shielding the sun and dulling the shadow effect. Well you can't stay up there that's for sure . The short answer for this is make sure you remain legal (and safe) and don't get caught above more than SCT cloud. Just make sure you get below the cloud before it closes up, or turn back until you are over less than BKN cover to make your descent. If you can’t fly safely under the cloud then you must change your plans and land at an alternate airfield until safe to proceed to your original destination (If you’ve time to spare, go by air). On the unfortunate occasion that you get caught, due to inattention of your surroundings (situational awareness we call it) DO NOT attempt to descend through just any old hole. First you must be absolutely certain of your position, that is, what is the terrain below the cloud where you intend to descend. Then you have to be absolutely certain of how much clear air you can expect between the cloud and the terrain where you intend to descend. In other words, if you can't be absolutely certain DO NOT attempt to descend through a hole. A further consideration of course is, is there likely to be any other traffic flying about under your cloud ... legally. You wouldn't want to spoil their day with a surprise visit I'm sure. I hate giving this bit of advice as it may be interpreted as saying it’s OK to do, but in the interest of seeing you get down safely, I should add this. The only type of hole any pilot should consider descending through is something like a long, wide gap. This will give you the option of escaping if as you get closer to the ground you see that the cloud is too low. Power on and climb out through the same gap. Obviously your chosen gap needs to be pretty big, unless you have an F111 power plant on board. Never attempt to drop through a small hole as you will have no chance of getting back out, then you become a sad statistic that the rest of mourns over. As I said before, the short answer is DON’T DO IT. Rules governing separation from cloud vary for different classes of air space. As a RA-Aus Pilot Certificate holder you are authorised to fly in class E and G areas only. Given that, below 10000’ you must have no less than 5km horizontal visibility and remain clear of cloud by 1500m on the horizontal plane and 1000ft below and/or above it. If at or below 3000ft AMSL or 1000ft AGL (whichever is higher) then the same 5km horizontal visibility but remain clear of cloud and in sight of the ground or water. Obviously, choosing to skim just under the cloud is risky. What if one of those IFR thingies drop through just as you’re passing by? What if your attention wanders to inside the cockpit for a moment, and it only takes a moment, then when you look back out all has gone sickly white? Trust this helps, Paul

OOPS ... CAVOK is the one, thanks Ian.

Here's another. In fact this strip and property is up for sale. The grass rwy is so well manicured it's like a bowling green. Paul

Hi David, Your second pic is a wee bit hard to pick at such low alt (not enough visual cues) but I figure your first one is located 128nm from YCAB on a bearing of 088M :;)5:. From what I've seen of the J430 she's a nice aircraft. Is your reg'd RA-Aus or VH? What's she like on a long haul? Paul

Further to David C's post, and in the hope of adding clarity and not confusion, the following are the officially recognised cloud descriptions and abbreviations one is likely to encounter when reading TAFs and ARFORs and when listening to an ATIS report. SKC (clear sky) 0 okcta FEW (few) 1-2 oktas SCT (scattered) 3-4 oktas BKN (broken) 5-7 oktas OVC (overcast) 8 oktas So, when you see/hear stuff like this for a TAF, SCT015 BKN030, you will know that the lower level of cloud over the said airfield is 3-4 oktas with a base of 1500' and there is another level of cloud sitting above that of 5-7 oktas with a base of 3000'. Another term we'll come across is CAVOC. Some translate that as Clear And Visibility OK. It's actually Ceiling And Visibility OK meaning ... - visibility 10km or more; - no cloud below 5000' or below the highest minimum sector alt (whichever is the greater) and no Cb; and - no precipitation, TS, shallow fog, low drifting snow or dust devils. Hope this helps, Paul

G'day Dianne From me too, a warm welcome. Please pass on my greetings to Graham White. He kindly made the accommodation facilities at the Moruya Aero Club available to me (and our cute little CT) at very short notice a couple of weeks ago. I'll have to get over there again during hours of activity one day soon to say "hello". All the best with your flying adventure. And a great adventure it is. Keep a clear mind and a sharp eye. Regards, Paul

For anyone following Cessna's entry into the LSA category this video clip may be interesting. http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/avflash/851-full.html#195015 Paul

Thanks Ross, Seeing the fog here in Cooma that morning I thought for sure you'd have to abort. It obviously cleared at the airport earlier than in town, as it often does. Adrian is a good mate isn't he! That's a great piece of editorial. Methinks you should send this off to the Editor of the RA-Aus mag for inclusion in an upcoming issue, it's a better read than some of the stories we see there. Seriously, do it ;). And ... make sure you give the forum a plug in the copy. Paul

Hi Paul, Many of us on this forum enjoy your articles in the Aust Flying mag, including the regular "Backlash". I have taken the liberty of copying your post onto a couple of other locations on this forum where it should get better exposure. Hope this helps. Keep up the good copy , Paul

Hi gang, Paul Phelan, editorial writer for Australian Flying has posted the following elsewhere on this forum. Here's your chance to contribute to a popular and credible publication, and maybe get some more publicity for this forum site we all love to visit ;). Paul Paul Phelan wrote ... Hi folks, being new to this forum I may or may not be filing this in the wrong place. I'm an aviation writer who's also done a lot of commercial GA and regional airline flying. At the moment I'm preparing a feature for Australian Flying on what home building an aeroplane is all about, and would welcome hearing from anyone who is currently involved in such a project, whom I can quote as an example. It will cover: Kit planes: the various options to build your own aircraft;build options – from plans and raw materials to bolt-together kits; How much do they cost?How easy/complicated does it need to be?How long does it take? What tooling and expertise you need? Regulatory issues; And everything else you need to know to get started and eventually get airborne. An e-mail to [email protected] with your phone number would bring a prompt phone response. I already have lots of notes but it would help to refer to some current projects that people are actually working on. However I need to file the copy this week.