APenNameAndThatA

The only things you will ever need are 10 L water per person and 2 EPIRB’s and warm clothes. Other survival gadgets are just toys IMHO.

☹️

As someone else said, turning into the wind won’t keep you aloft longer.

I thought support groups were for when something terrible happened to you?

I though the market would have been flooded. Not so.

What happened to all the Foxbats at Soar Aviation?

I used to fly for an hour and sleep for much of the rest of the day.

Not being able to admit you stuffed up is a big problem in all walks of life. And trying to get people to admit that they are wrong is futile - and dangerous in this case.

One of my gripes about RA-Aus is that their investigations are done by people with zero OH&S, root-cause analysis, legal or natural justice knowledge.

As is consistent with your comment, I was not criticising his performance. I wanted him to know I was there. And *now* I keep a labelled sketch of the runways on my kneeboard.

I just flew straight ahead. I suspect the pawnee pilot had got lazy and was descending on downwind and not really listening or making calls. Apparently, the other pilot had complained that I had made incorrect radio calls. I had made incorrect radio calls. I had about 20 hours and was soloing with an instructor observing me from the ground. I had not been at Caboolture before and was mixing up the runway numbers between Caboolture and Archerfield because they were similar. Of course, that I was messing up the radio calls should have just been a warning that someone was flying who did not know what they were doing and to watch out. It’s all not so good with tug pilots dragging that tow rope behind them. Both out radios were working because I could hear him make other calls and he complained about my calls.

A couple of years ago, I was involved in an incident at Caboolture. I sent RA-Aus a written statement. Later, *without them ever speaking to me at all*, the following turned up in my account when I logged in one day, the following appeared, "Whilst conducting circuits the pilot observed a Piper Pawnee tug about 30 to 50 m to their right and then a couple of meters in front and higher than them. The pilot then made a radio call to the tug saying that they were directly beneath them on downwind. No response was heard. The pilot made a full stop to discuss with their instructor. Investigation revealed poor communication between the two aircraft contributed to the proximity event. Pilots are reminded of CAAP 166 - Operators at non-controlled airports for required procedures, calls and requirements." After I discussed the matter with them, RA-Aus changed the occurrence report to the following. "Whilst downwind the pilot observed a Piper Pawnee tow plane above them. The pilot then made a radio call to the tug saying that they were directly beneath them on downwind. No response was heard. The pilot made a full stop to discuss with their instructor. Review of this occurrence indicated that both pilots reported to make radio calls, however it is unknown why two-way communication was not established. The pilot of the tow plane was briefed to ensure they continue to see and avoid other aircraft when operating." I was prompted to post this because someone on this forum (quite reasonably) posted that a technical person at RA-Aus said that people did not tell RA-Aus about human factors things so it was hard for RA-Aus to deal with them (or words to that effect). My point is that, when it comes to incident investigation, RA-Aus is pure amateur hour. A while ago I think I posted that there had been a year with fewer than average accidents and RA-Aus said in one of their emails how safe how safe flying was. IIRC, I emailed them back to let them know that about random being more irregular than people think and about regression to them mean. They emailed me to say that they would "engage with" me. I left them to it.

No need to apologise.

Deliberately not matching. And heavier fabric for the pants for added contast. Blue pants, brown shirt.

I don’t disagree with you.

I wear a helmet, so that makes the 3/10 a bit hypocritical. Buuuuuut... the flight suit was a military colour and had a badge. People, his flight suit had a badge. I have some Nomex flight pants with lots of pockets. Handy, because hip pockets are hard to access when you are sitting down. I bought pants and shirt to avoid looking like a wanker. I wear my helmet in spite of it making me look like a wanker. ADDITIONAL INFO It turns out that, according to the ABC news, the pilot is an RAAF veteran. So he's got the right to do what he likes. But my own view remains that if you are a retired airline pilot, you don't turn up with gold epaulettes. This makes me look worse that it makes you look Vic, but it's still a 3/10 from me. Soz.

I was planning to fly form Quilpie to Birdsville. The Terminal Area Forecast (TAF) said that the weather at Birdsville would be CAVOK, which meant that it was great weather to go flying. The Graphical Area Forecast (GAF) said that there would be scattered cumulus/stratocumulus clouds from 4000 feet to 7000 feet, which meant that it was very bad weather to go flying. I thought that it was completely reasonable to phone someone up and ask them what was going on. It turns out that there is a phone number at the bottom of the GAF and that if you phone it up, even if it is at 0700, someone will be able to explain what's happening. It seems to me that having someone to talk about weather with would be a good antidote to get home itis. Talking to anyone would be a good substitute to having a dispatcher I guess. Apparently the forecasts around Birdsville are not good because it lies between the radars at Longreach and Woomera (I might be wrong about the locations). The TAF's are usually better than the GAF's. The weather in Birdsville is usually the weather at William Creek and Coober Pedy the day before, and Port Augusta two days before.

I can’t lie. I deduct points for wearing a flight suit. 3/10.

Wyandra, between Quilpie and Birdsville

The people who give out Darwin awards could start providing prospective recipients with certificates of recognition. You can contact them at https://darwinawards.com/

Western Queensland. I included the entire town to make it easy. Answer tomorrow if needs be.

Their land, their rules.

I think a helmet would contribute more to safety, but C182’s are great a carrying loads. Plumbed in for the engine, Halon for the cabin and job done. I’m always more scared collisions, so I’d install a parachute. Parachute will also help move the CofG back. Safety items are for peace of mind as well as actual safety, so if fire is your thing, go for it. Keep us posted.