Happy New year for 2025

[Moneybox]

 

At some point I'm going to have to get back to work. I have hundreds of tonnes of dirt that I know has gold but I have nothing else to use to build the airstrip... 🥴

[Moneybox]

[Moneybox]

 

My only chance to get off the ground is to climb up there and hope I don't fall.

 

 

How could I ever consider building a hanger without giving it a trial run to keep the cook happy.

[rgmwa]

Beach umbrella would look good on the grader (a couple of pages back).

Edited April 3 by rgmwa

[Moneybox]

I looked at the weather on Wednesday and nearly stayed home but in the end decided to bite the bullet and head the 1250km to Esperance to do some flight training. I had to be here to commence training on Saturday.

 

 

The rain came down as expected but we had some gaps between showers on Saturday so we managed three sessions totaling 2.6hrs but by then my fatigue was showing through with some sloppy landings.

 

 

The aircraft is a Jabiru J160, not what I wanted to fly but I don't have a lot of choice. This is a scary little plane especially when it comes to practising stalls. When we did our stall training in the Evektor Harmony it was quite sedate sinking slowly after a slight warning vibration. In one case I had to see the vertical speed indicator to believe we'd already stalled.

 

The little Jabiru doesn't leave you wondering. Within a second or two of the stall you are fully inverted and diving towards mother earth at a massive rate. If I hadn't experienced it I'd never have believed an aircraft could tumble upside down so rapidly. I had to try it another couple of times to see if I could catch the stall before it was out of control, I had no chance. He wants me to practise that until I no longer find it scary. The idea of that is scary on it's own. If this aircraft was to stall at perhaps 200' you'd be done for with little chance of survival. 

 

 

[CT9000]

If you think a Jab stall is a bit aggressive go try a Piper tomahawk, they don't call them a trauma hawk for nothing. I haven't got lots of hours on Jab's but I find it difficult to understand it going fully inverted. My experience is that they will drop a wing fairly quickly but if you step on rudder to stop the yaw all is good. Perhaps someone with heaps of time on these will chime in with more info.

[BurnieM]

If you come over to the east coast Fly Illawarra at Shell Harbour have an Evektor Harmony you can hire solo or dual.

They also have access to an Evektor SportStar.

You need to book about 3 weeks ahead to get a slot.

 

 

Edited April 13 by BurnieM

[sfGnome]

I did all my training on a Jab 160, and I can still remember the near heart failure when it transitioned from nose pointing up and wings level to nose pointing down and me in total panic. However, I think your instructor is right. Do it enough times that it doesn’t stress you any more because you know you can recover (and then keep practicing it - at altitude - for the rest of your flying life), and then you’ll know to keep away from that speed/attitude/power when you’re near terra firma. 
 

p.s. During my last BFR, I was demonstrating a power-off stall recovery, and, just as it was about to stall, the instructor helpfully(?!) blipped the throttle to add some rotational torque. Now *that* flipped it quick smart and pronto! 🫣

[Moneybox]

42 minutes ago, sfGnome said:

I did all my training on a Jab 160, and I can still remember the near heart failure when it transitioned from nose pointing up and wings level to nose pointing down and me in total panic. However, I think your instructor is right. Do it enough times that it doesn’t stress you any more because you know you can recover (and then keep practicing it - at altitude - for the rest of your flying life), and then you’ll know to keep away from that speed/attitude/power when you’re near terra firma. 
 

p.s. During my last BFR, I was demonstrating a power-off stall recovery, and, just as it was about to stall, the instructor helpfully(?!) blipped the throttle to add some rotational torque. Now *that* flipped it quick smart and pronto! 🫣

 

Undoubtedly practice at recovery gives you a better chance but are you going to have the time to implement that procedure? 

My concern is that you are unlikely to stall at 3000'. It's going to happen at a time when you're distracted or there's an engine failure and somewhere near the ground where there is no time to recover. It's not a steady "whoops the right wing is dropping", by the time you sense the stall it's all over.  

[Moneybox]

12 hours ago, BurnieM said:

If you come over to the east coast Fly Illawarra at Shell Harbour have an Evektor Harmony you can hire solo or dual.

They also have access to an Evektor SportStar.

You need to book about 3 weeks ahead to get a slot.

 

 

 

I can go back to Cloud Dancer where the Harmony is fully booked a lot of the time. Times like this when the weather is bad and it strikes right on my flight time then I sit in my camper and wait to see what tomorrow brings. I just don't get enough time in the air to cover the cost of days sitting around. Here in Esperance it's fully overcast with showers coming through. We went up this morning between showers, had to remain at 600' maximum height to avoid the clouds but we were the only plane in the sky so performed low level circuits with touch and go for 0.8 hr in dead calm conditions before the next shower sent us back for the hanger. Now it's too gusty to go out but it could have blown over before my next booking at 12:00.

 

Yesterday was a wipeout with thunder, lightening and rain but I sat all the theory tests and passed BAK, Air Legislation and Human Factors. I've already done Radio so for now all my theory is out of the way.

Edited April 14 by Moneybox

[BrendAn]

3 minutes ago, Moneybox said:

 

I can go back to Cloud Dancer where the Harmony is fully booked a lot of the time. Times like this when the weather is bad and it strikes right on my flight time then I sit in my camper and wait to see what tomorrow brings. I just don't get enough time in the air to cover the cost of days sitting around. Here in Esperance it's fully overcast with showers coming through. We went up this morning between showers, had to remain at 600' maximum height to avoid the clouds but we were the only plane in the sky so performed low level circuits with touch and go for 0.8 hr in dead calm conditions before the next shower sent us back for the hanger. Now it's too gusty to go out but it could have blown over before my next booking at 12:00.

 

Yesterday was a wipeout with thunder, lightening and rain but I sat all the theory tests and passed BAK, Air Legislation and Human Factors. I've already done Radio so for now all my theory is out of the way.

if you wait til late may / june the weather is nice there.

[Moneybox]

Just now, BrendAn said:

if you wait til late may / june the weather is nice there.

Yes I was hoping to leave here with my RPC but I can' see that happening now. As soon as I'm home we're off to the goldfields prospecting until late may, then off to China until the end of the first week in June. Perhaps I'll get another go then.

[spacesailor]

Any chance of " flight training " in China .

Just a thought of keeping your training current .

spacesailor

[Moneybox]

2 hours ago, spacesailor said:

Any chance of " flight training " in China .

Just a thought of keeping your training current .

spacesailor

 

Maybe

 

https://youtu.be/exD-ZrG1XTA?si=IqkT5eAUhZtfewUB

[Moneybox]

Well that's prospecting out of the way for a bit.

 

 

This lot took three and a half weeks then we had to return for a couple of weeks on an organised tour of China.

 

All that climbing hundreds of steps, all I could think of is I could be doing this at home and there'd be a gold nugget waiting for me at the top.

 

 

This is the result of our last two and half weeks out and about.

 

 

That's taken care of my training fees for a few more weeks 😅

[Moneybox]

I called my trainer tonight to try to get back to lessons. He was still talking a couple of months away but after an extended conversation he said he'll try to get something organised for a weekend at the start of September.

 

I'm not too sure of his situation since going back to his trade and giving up full time training. I last flew his J170 out of Myrup but now he suggests he hires a Jabiru locally and we do a weekend out of Northam. That will suit me because it's only a six hour drive from here and after finishing my Solo and achieving RPC we can jump into my plane there for a few familiarisation flights. 

 

I have a friend who'll bring my plane up here if I want to practice before my cross country but one step at a time. I've started on my solo so hopefully I can knock that off in one decent weekend.

 

I did like landing on the gravel strip at Myrup. It's a lot more forgiving than the bitumen if you don't get the landing quite right.

[Moneybox]

Response today from CASA....

 

Thank you for contacting us with your enquiry.

 

Enquiry number **********

 

 

Question: I am planning on constructing a 500m private airstrip on my mining lease in Cue, Western Australia. I just wanted to reach out to CASA to be sure I'm not contravening and regulations in doing so.

Answer: Aircraft landing areas (ALA) and are not oversighted or approved by CASA. Airstrips can be constructed at the landowner's discretion, though a pilot must only use a place to land or take off if they determine it is appropriate for that purpose. Likewise, the landowner may choose a surface that is appropriate for the intended types of operation/aircraft.

CASA has produced some guidance on the use of ALAs. This guidance is aimed primarily at pilots to assist with the assessment of a location for landing or taking off, however may be useful as general information for the operator of an ALA. Please see advisory circular AC 91-02 v1.1 Guidelines for aeroplanes with MTOW not exceeding 5 700 kg - suitable places to take off and land.

There are no specific regulatory requirements relating to the operation of an ALA. The responsibility for safe operations at an ALA lies with the pilot in command and operator under the conditions of subregulation 91.410 (2) (a) (iv) of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 (CASR). 

For an ALA, Chapter 6 of the Part 139 (Aerodromes) Manual of Standards 2019 may be used as guidance.

 

Your enquiry will close automatically after 5 days. If you have any follow-up questions or have been asked to provide more information, you can access your enquiry and send us a message here.

 

If you have more questions after your enquiry has closed, please send us a new enquiry here.

 

Regards,

CASA\Regulatory Guidance

[skippydiesel]

As several said - CASA not intersted in private strips. For the most part, nor are Councils (as long as not within town boundary or neighbours complain).😈

[Moneybox]

1 minute ago, skippydiesel said:

As several said - CASA not intersted in private strips. For the most part, nor are Councils (as long as not within town boundary or neighbours complain).😈

I just needed to see it in writing...

[skippydiesel]

2 minutes ago, Moneybox said:

I just needed to see it in writing...

Your desire to have approval from the authorities, should be tempered by the knowledge of their need to avoided any level of risk to themselves ie refuse any /all request where there may be the perception of immediate/ future accountability.

 

In line with the above, is the oft stated; "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to get permission".

 

Bureaucrats, at all levels, try to avoid making decisions, especially those that they may have to account for at some time in the future.😈

 

 

[onetrack]

Moneybox, your local Shire Planning Scheme is the primary legal document governing virtually any type of development within the Shire. In your case, it's the Shire of Cue, Local Planning Scheme No. 2.

 

Amazingly, neither the word "aircraft", nor the word, "aviation" appear in the document, essentially meaning the Shire has no interest or control over airstrips within its boundaries.

 

https://www.wa.gov.au/system/files/2022-05/LPSC_Cue2-schemetext.pdf

 

What I find even more amazing, is that the above Scheme text document, should have a Planning Scheme Map associated with it. It doesn't, and the only Town Planning Map for Cue that I can find is their "Town Planning Schematic, 1993" map, which is tied in with TP Scheme No. 1, which is now obsolete - and it's likely this 1993 Schematic Map is also obsolete, due to its age and the fact that TP Scheme No. 2. has superseded all previous Schemes.

 

https://www.cue.wa.gov.au/documents/plans-and-policies

 

 

Edited October 29 by onetrack

[Moneybox]

2 hours ago, onetrack said:

Moneybox, your local Shire Planning Scheme is the primary legal document governing virtually any type of development within the Shire. In your case, it's the Shire of Cue, Local Planning Scheme No. 2.

 

Amazingly, neither the word "aircraft", nor the word, "aviation" appear in the document, essentially meaning the Shire has no interest or control over airstrips within its boundaries.

 

https://www.wa.gov.au/system/files/2022-05/LPSC_Cue2-schemetext.pdf

 

What I find even more amazing, is that the above Scheme text document, should have a Planning Scheme Map associated with it. It doesn't, and the only Town Planning Map for Cue that I can find is their "Town Planning Schematic, 1993" map, which is tied in with TP Scheme No. 1, which is now obsolete - and it's likely this 1993 Schematic Map is also obsolete, due to its age and the fact that TP Scheme No. 2. has superseded all previous Schemes.

 

https://www.cue.wa.gov.au/documents/plans-and-policies

 

 

 

Nice bit of research, thank you. I think they've left this little bit to catch me out.

 

 

I've asked for an appointment with the shire CEO but he's on holidays until the 18th Nov. Hopefully they are too busy backbiting each other to be bothered with my affairs.

[Moneybox]

We're doing a little work on a local station for a few days.

 

 

Just a couple of hours morning and night, three airstrips and I can't fly.😒

[Moneybox]

A bird’s eye view,

 

 

well, you know, if you’re an emu. The observant would’ve seen this in the photo above. 👀

[onetrack]

Moneybox, you mean those with the vision of a 16 yr old? I'm struggling to see the airstrips, let alone the name spelt out in tyres!!

 

But a low pass does help a bit! .....

 

 

Edited Saturday at 08:04 AM by onetrack