ian00798

No, they aren't been overprotective, they are just been over sensitive really. Like most of the defence establishment, they just really aren't that keen with sharing their assets with the public, who they conveniently forget pay for them. They are two exceptionally well maintained strips and would be wonderful to let aircraft on them. When I was there a few years ago the person in charge of airfield operations at Nowra was trying to make positive steps towards letting the public use military facilities, but he just kept hitting a brick wall. Too many in the military just want to keep the status quo. It's a shame, there are a lot of really smart, talented people who could probably innovate quite well to improve a lot of things. The kangaroos on the strip are pretty bad, and very acclimatised to human activity, so the usual overfly may not get rid of them.

Having been the airfield manager at Jervis Bay a couple of years ago I can tell you that unless it's an emergency the answer will also be no if you ask as well.

That is the one, and not too bad a price. If the aircraft can actually TAS at 130, it would be quite nice

Good afternoon to all, I am considering buying a Morgan Joey that I have seen online and I was wondering if there are any Morgan two seat owners in south east Queensland that would be willing to take me for a demonstration flight? I would happily pay the fuel cost for the flight, it's just really important for me to see what the aircraft feels like in the sky, and that's not something I can get from a brochure. Thanks in advance, Ian

If your are outside surveillance coverage and there are TCAS equipped aircraft around, your transponder will still show interrogations, so this is not the best guide. An aircraft equipped with TCAS will send out interrogations regardless of the surveillance coverage, and your transponder will send a reply. That is why if you are transponder equipped you should have the transponder on and squawking altitude, as this will make you visible to TCAS equipped aircraft.

You can have class c airspace without radar, for example Tamworth has non surveillance class c airspace. The best way to tell is in ERSA, under ATS communications services. If it is a procedural control aerodrome, then the will be a bit in the notes that says TWR provides tower and approach control services within class c and d airspace, for example look at Tamworth, Alice springs etc. Compare this to the similar section for the Gold Coast for example. Another good guide is if there is a seperate departures/ approach frequency that you transfer to after takeoff, it will be a radar aerodrome.

It's not really a case of controllers being gun shy, it's more that they want to know your intentions so if you are seeking a clearance they have adequate time to process the request. Depending on the airspace, there can be a bit involved in giving a clearance. We may have to create a flight plan, assign a squawk code, identify and clear the aircraft, and perhaps coordinate your flight with adjoining air traffic control units. This can take time, so ideally we like to sort this out during low workload situations. Additionally, we have a duty of care for all aircraft in the airspace, that is why if two VFR aircraft start looking like they are going to hit, we will try and alert the pilots. See and avoid is quite poor really, it's not uncommon to see aircraft less than 0.5NM apart and neither pilots ever report a sighting. Same thing with restricted areas, if we are starting to wonder if you know about it, we will try and contact you before it's too late. Don't be shy with responding, you won't be reported for nearly entering a restricted area, you will be given advice on how to avoid it and sent on your way with a g'day. once you enter the area, it is a violation of controlled airspace and must be reported. And my best bit of advice is read your notams properly, including the head office notams. It's not uncommon for temporary restricted areas to be activated and they won't be on charts. Ultimately, if your radio isn't required to be on another frequency for CTAF etc, you should be on the area frequency monitoring, and if you have two radios you should have one on area. We send out all kinds of important information, like hazard alerts, updated met and notams, traffic alerts etc. If ever in doubt just call up centre, ultimately our goal is to get everyone safely through the airspace.

I tend to at least get a traffic statement before I go into high traffic density areas, ie the vicinity of TV towers near Archerfield, because see and avoid is ok, alerted see and avoid is much better. As for the flight following, you are essentially getting the same service as an IFR aircraft gets in class g airspace, ie you will get traffic alerts, restricted area avoidance, updated meteorological information and a hazard alerting service. Initially setting it up can occasionally increase the workload for the controller, but in some ways it will reduce controller workload too, as we have to give IFR aircraft traffic information on known VFR aircraft, however when we know your intentions we can perhaps discount you as traffic, or at least provide much more accurate traffic information. It is really good to use if you are going into controlled airspace, as there is nothing more frustrating for a controller than a VFR aircraft calling up 10nm prior to the boundary wanting a clearance when you are busy. If you are getting a flight following, the controller will already know you want a clearance and will integrate you into their traffic picture, and you are much more likely to get a clearance. Just remember, a flight following on its own is still not a clearance! Don't enter the CTA until you have the clearance, and if you are getting close and still don't have a clearance just give the controller a friendly reminder. As for the logistics of using the flight following, it is only available in class E OR G, in surveillance coverage subject to controller workload. You will need a transponder and vhf radio, and while using the service, you must notify ATC of any intended changes in tracking or altitude prior to doing them, and maintain a listening watch on the centre frequency, ATC will direct any frequency transfers, and the frequency is a read back item. It makes everyone's life much easier if you already have a plan in the system, as there is a bit involved in creating a plan. Suggest reading AIP GEN 3.3 2.16 for all the info. All in all, it is a pretty handy service that is a bit under utilised.

I have another potential joy flight available at 10:30 on Tuesday if anyone is interested. This one will be from Archerfield.

That was some beautiful attitude flying on those circuits with the instruments covered, it looked like you really had the hand of it.

I will probably go up around 3pm on Thursday if your interested. I'm an air traffic controller so most of my flights will be mid week. Happy for you to practice DR, the route will probably be YRED YMUB MLY YRED. I will let you know later in the week when I know for sure. Good luck with your solo Nav, they are awesome fun.

All sorts, P208, C172, PA38, C182 and C210. I'm going for my CPL, and need command, but I hate pottering around the countryside solo when there could be someone else up there enjoying it too who would otherwise be stuck on the ground.

For anyone in the Brisbane Area that is interested, I am going for a flight from Redcliffe this afternoon, somewhere around 1-1:30. There is one spare seat available. It would be great to have someone in the right seat so the aircraft is balanced. If you are interested, please message me.

Shags knows Coffs quite well, so if he says it doesn't close for lunch, then I would take that as fact. I think that was a bit personal and harsh, nowhere in shags message did I see him indicate that he is only caring for himself, or that he doesn't support RAA having CTA access, merely that he wants to use CTA and under the current rule set he can only do that with an RPL. from the controllers perspective, we don't care whether the aircraft we are clearing has a CH call sign, RA call sign or an airline call sign, all we want to know is that pilot can comply with the procedures of CTA. Rather than a narrow Lane of entry, I believe it's safer to give a full CTA endorsement which should be feasible for a pilot certificate. If you study thoroughly using all the resources, ie AIP, CASA on track etc then getting a CTA endorsement won't take long, after all it's competency based, whether it takes 2 hours to show competency or 10 is up to you and how much work you want to put in. VFR lanes can be quite troublesome, just look at Bankstown and victor one, especially when you add weather and poor visibility into the mix. You raise some very valid points about the sharing of knowledge and the joy of flight, and I would love to see more of that. Just remember, there is no need to slag off others who also share the same passion for flying.

I may be a bit out of touch here, but I am struggling to understand how CASA is even using the whole different medical standards argument as a justification for keeping RA-AUS pilots out of controlled airspace. My understanding is the argument is that they pose a greater danger to people on the ground due to the supposedly lower medical standard, but as aircraft fly over highly populated areas OCTA this whole line of argument just seems ridiculous. I suspect the main barrier is a lot of the GA (and CASA) community still look at RA as a lower form of aviation that can't be trusted doing "real flying". That will be the hardest part to overcome. If the RPL and pilot certificate a truly equivalent then it makes sense that RAA pilots should be able to get CTA/CTR endorsements as per the RPL. Making this actually happen will not be easy though.

And there are lots of transitions, ie climb to s&l, descent etc, so you get used to all the rudder and power changes. Circuits are basically an entire flight in 6 minutes, from take off to landing. And the give you the opportunity to quickly learn that power + attitude = performance. Set the correct attitude, with the right power and instead of feeling like 30 seconds the 6 minute circuit will seem to be 20 minutes.

Dick seems keen to blame ATC, government, anyone but the pilot for anything that goes wrong. First it was RAAF Williamtown ATC for MDX, then it was the Melbourne centre controller for the Benalla accident, and on another forum he is suggesting that ATC can be held responsible for aircraft running out of fuel due to ADSB mandate preventing aircraft climbing higher. I would suggest Dick refresh himself on civil aviation regulation 233 regarding the roles and responsibilities of the pilot in command. If you are seriously going to let your aircraft run out of fuel because you aren't willing to declare a PAN, climb up then explain your actions to CASA, then you are not a fit person to operate as PIC of any aircraft, let alone something that can climb up to the high flight levels. As for delaying one sky, that would be absurd, it offers many of the civil/military cooperation benefits that Dick seemed to want not that long ago. And given there are still many negative RVSM aircraft operating in Australian airspace despite the RVSM system been around for nearly a decade, I believe CASA made a good choice been strict with the ADSB mandate, industry has already shown that if given an inch they will take several miles.

I believe this whole argument from Dick was triggered as the result of a busy day at Ballina when there were several IFR arrivals into a circuit with a lot of VFR traffic as well. It wasn't really an incident. The U.S. system just had an F16 collide with a VFR aircraft in a similar setup to what Dick wants done at Ballina, so the safety argument doesn't hold up for this proposal. Perhaps a class D tower similar to Camden during busy periods may work, but I don't think the prevailing traffic volume would justify it. I am struggling to understand the insistence on introducing more class E airspace, as far as VFR vs IFR goes, class G and Class E are the same thing. Dicks whole argument seems very inconsistent, and seems more based on causing fear in the general public who don't understand the intricacies of the national airspace system.

I always found flying an accurate by the numbers downwind to be the hardest part. Just remember good landings start from early downwind. If you fly downwind at the right speed and spacing, the base and finals will work out too. Generally a bad landing is just a symptom of an inaccurate circuit. But this will all come as you learn. Enjoy your early circuits.

Well here's my first post. It's a twilight flight in a tecnam over the Redcliffe training area in a tecnam.