BirdDog

Hi Mike, RAA is a great place to start man! Once you get your Nav Endorsement (not very expensive) you can pretty much fly the country (no controlled airspace). I just took the mrs up from south NSW to Mudgee and back for a quick trip! It will get you started! The birds are cheaper to hire, and the cost to get certified is lower than GA. Then, after you are happy and flying, you can then step up to either RPL or PPL with CASA etc to do more things. :) Good luck man and keep us posted. My buddy is learning to fly down your way, I will ask where he is and what his experiences are like. Cheers J

Congrats to you mate! Well done. I am relatively new to X-Endo too, so I know how you feel. My instructor did really put me through the ringer when it came to approaching an AD. He was very anal about not dropping in on the circuit. Stay high and get setup before you join. After all, if you are up high above the AD and above circuit height, you have time to reset and consider your options - Spot the windsock etc. During a training exercise I made the mistake of simply following another bird in. My instructor asked why I had chosen runway 16, and I said, "because he called it, so it must be the active". I soon found out that parachute planes like to get down quick and this guy was landing with 10-12kt tail wind. OK for him - not ok for me! :) So now I overfly every strip and spot that sock before I pick a runway. That said, I make sure I have a good knowledge of the AD I am approaching and play it out in my head before we get there. Of course the weather can swing that around should wind directions etc change. If you can get some time to do some circuits etc at a busy AD, it's really worth it. Dancing around with increased traffic gives you great experience at a familiar site. In regards to altitude/height. I, wherever possible go up! Gets me away from the swirly air, but also, gives me options should the fan stop! The higher you are, the longer you have should you need an emergency out. I just came back from a Nav to Mudgee and sat on 7500 all the way there. Clean smooth air, and the view is not bad either. :) Turbulence is never nice, and it took me a while to get use to it, and like stated earlier, accepting that it's not going to fall out of the sky or rip the wings off. It's pretty easy to descend on the dead side of the AD, and join, rather than spend 10 or 15 minutes getting belted because you dropped altitude to get setup for landing. As you fly more, your confidence will build, and you will soon be doing it like a champ. ALSO - Don't worry that you are nervous or anxious. That can be a good thing, as taking things for granted, or getting too relaxed could also be a detriment. Keep learning bro, and enjoy it! :) Cheers J

I have recently had my aircraft moved to a new hangar! (New for me) and I am renting the space. The hangar is shared between 2 birds, but both have independent access - in that - both birds can get in and out without the other being moved. I am happy to share the space, as it's clean, modern and perfect for me. The key I think is a good relationship with the owner. Communication is the key and respect the property that's not yours. I would love to say I can buy my own, but right now that is not financially viable, so I am happy to have her in a rented space. :)

I can't believe are crying over a fee increase! Surely you can't be serious! The rego on my plane and the membership to RAA are bugger all in the big scheme of things! $230 odd for me, and $165 for my bird. Seriously, if that is a problem for you, then maybe aviation is not where you should have your hobby. Think about it this way.... If not for organisations like RAA, we would all be staring down there barrel of CASA to fly, and let me tell you, the costs would be significantly more. I am new to RAA - about 18 months now, and I am happy as a pig. I own, and now maintain my own aircraft, can take it to all corners of the country (with respect to controlled airspace) and RAA will even give me some insurance too! What the heck more do you guys want for less than $400 a year! Yep... let's kick in the teeth of the very organisation that enables us to do what we do. Fairdinkum! If you think you can do better, I would prefer you get up, and go take a seat on the board, rather than sit in your corner and complain. Sorry guys, this gets my back up! Having started, and volunteered for organisations and associations, there is nothing worse than working your <mod censored> off for the betterment of the member base, only to have sideline warriors throw crap at you, but never want to give their own time to help. Anyways... rant over. EDIT - For the record, I have been in the aviation industry for 12 years! Trust me... it could be a WHOLE lot worse!

According to the radio chatter she ran out of petrol. (sic)

Wow! Awesome job!

I grew up in the shadow of Bankstown. Use to love watching the birds fly over my house. :)

Welcome aboard mate.

Hmm.. I had a look at the Wagga site just the other day but it looked like it had not been touched since 2016 so I thought the club might be gone! I am looking for a new club now that I have relocated. :)

Hi Adam. Welcome. I will be in Tassie in May. Where abouts are you exactly and what bird are you buying?

I’ve checked mine but it’s not updated yet. Thankfully I have nothing pressing as my L2 just did the 100 on my bird. Anyways. Happy Easter mate. Safe skies. ✈️✈️

A year!!! Jesus!!! i will let you know if I get a response from my last email.

:) Yeah man, I hear ya!. Would be nice to get a KDR though, so at least I know what questions I got wrong. I can't even see that! :(

Hi DU Yep. It is. :). An L2 has been looking after her and he walked me through the last one early this week. But from here on in, I will be looking after her unless something major comes up. I just think the system should not have been rolled out if it was not ready is all.

So... A few weeks later, and nothing has happened. No KDR, no acknowledgement of completion, no update in RAA. I have emailed, but no response, so will have to wait until after Easter. Does anyone know if the system is fully functioning? Or is it still in trail phase etc?

HOW COOL! I would love to build an aircraft! Time, sadly for me, would be the killer.

Oh man! Another one. :( RIP old mate! :(

Bit of a long trip to get that baby from New Mexico to here!! WOW!

Thanks mate! Yep - I am pretty happy. The prop is a woodcomp in flight adjustable. Does a good job to get me cruising up at 120 pretty easily. :) As mentioned above, I also have 3rd party insurance added, which insures the bird and liability etc etc. It can seem costly, but I guess insurance is the game of lotto you never want to win. Not that I have any finance on my plane, but if it gets written off or heavily damaged, I would like to replace it. :) I agree with Jabarte!! A report should be non biased. I was satisfied when my own L2 came up with the same result as the one that did the initial condition report, not that I was expecting any biased on the one organised by the seller. I have a mate in the market now for a bird and my advice will be the same to him. Take your time. Talk to the owner, and don't get attached to it at all. There will always be planes for sale.

For those interested there is a big event coming up at Wangarratta AD next month. Will be epic!!

The above said, would I go down the path of 28 registered LSA again? Probably not. I reckon there are some really nice quality home built machines (19 registered) for a good deal less than that. I know a couple of pilots with some very nice Zeniths etc that are just as good an airplane. My original plans was to have her online in a flight school, where she would pay for herself and I could fly her when I wanted to. BUT.... it's amazing how over protected you get when you see someone jump into your pride and joy and take off into the blue yonder. After about 3 months of that, I pulled the pin and now she is only flown by me. :) I have thought of putting her back online and go off and buy something else, but she is just a lovely plane to fly! :)

Sure man. It had 167 hours on it, and we settled on $68.000. Of course by the time I factored in our flights and accomodation to go get her, plus the L2 full 100 hourly when we got back, the cost realistically hit about $72-$73K Further to this was some minor maintenance that needed doing - that I knew would be a possibility; She needed new tyres (The ones on the plane were original, so 11 years old) She needed new canopy struts. (the stock ones were sagging) She had not had the extra canopy lock fitted as per the SB. Some other minor bits and pieces. So, I have it in my mind that to get the plane to me and be ready to fly all good and proper has made it close to $75K, which, for a bird of this calibre and condition, was still good for the money in my opinion.

PS - I have since added a new big fat Tacho right in front of me with approval from RAA and Evektor

Yeah - I guess they the same thing! :) We organised a full report be done. I was very lucky. My bird is an 06 model that had just over 160 hours and presented as almost new. :) Some pics? Sure. Attached are the pics of 4912. She is an Evektor Sportstar Max, with the Rotax 912 ULS and In Flight Adjustable Prop. These are some of the pics from when we picked her up and on the way home, and then one on final at YWOL. Enjoy!

Thanks OME. I’m pretty happy with the outcome. The previous owner (Chris) was very accommodating. Picked us up from the airport etc etc. so I was very grateful for his assistance.