Admin

Left - first thing in the morning

 

Right - at the end of the day

 

 

Unfortunately I will not be at Natfly soooooooo how about a photo????Alan.

 

 

Got to echo #2, good move Ian. I thought you were trying to take one step too far by going international.

Yeah, I think I was going too fast for everyone which has caused a bit of loss of the "community" aspects so that is what I am going to focus on now...getting the Australian "Community" going again...perhaps it's time to have another one of our own Flyins again (Queens Birthday weekend), start some competitions again, throw some more money at promotion etc and yes, apologise for some of my actions whilst I was ill last year and under the influence of drugs

I hope many of you that are going to NatFly will drop in to our tent and have a chat...some feedback from you is what the site needs now...the free tea and coffee will be on for all

 

 

and for $50 per year, you can set up a web page where anyone can watch your progress as when turned on, it transmits your GPS position every 10 minutes.

Must get one for my 14yo daughter

 

 

The Kannad is the better brand, and not only are their ELBs the choice in large aircraft, but their PLB is the only one that works properly in water, if you end up in a lake or the sea...all the others float on their side so for them to transmit properly you have to hold them up while treading water, however the Kannad floats vertically thus transmitting properly and with the lanyard around your neck you don't have to worry about anything as it just floats 18" away from you transmitting away...that is why they are the choice of PLB that the shop here stocks and currently has them on special at $395.

 

 

Buying maps as maptrax has closed it's door , can we buy single digital mapsThanks

Tony

Tony, I don't know if I will be doing single charts yet but will let you know

 

Is an external antenna available thus allowing the unit to be mounted out of the sunlight where unfortunetely it may also be out of view of the satelites?

I had the internal antenna beefed up when I first spec'd the units including replacing a part of the metal case where the internal antenna is located for even better reception. The answer to your question is no, there isn't any way to have an external antenna however you will probably find that they work just about anywhere in the cockpit...they work inside my office here at home

 

 

Creating the charts is simply labour intensive and requires no financial outlay other then the software to create them which I have already purchased. The exact parameters will not be known until I have created a complete set on my own without Neil helping me to ascertain the time taken and how the updating can be incorporated into this site.

 

In regards of formats I will first do OziExplorer and then go from there. The focus on doing them wasn't needed until Air Services were going to update their WACs but I knew that when they did, I had to do something so I spoke to Neil from MapTrax and together, came up with a solution that would continue into the future. I have nearly 3 months to have it all done however I anticipate with Neil and I getting together just after Easter that I should be starting to release aviation charts in about a month

 

 

Hi All

 

This is more for those that have a Recreational Flying GPS unit or are thinking of purchasing one at NatFly or one in the future...some great news!

 

In June, Air Services is expected to be updating their WAC Charts...which ones I don't know at this stage however as you know the Recreational Flying GPS Units use the MapTrax WAC Charts with OziExplorer but the problem is MapTrax have ceased to trade.

 

The good news is we will be producing our own charts here at Aircraft Pilots. The charts will be more detailed, include airspace boundaries, 2,500 waypoints/airfields and be Australia wide at extremely low update prices. I have purchased the software to create them and Neil, from MapTrax, will get together with me just after Easter to assist in teaching me how to keep creating them for you. The software that I have purchased will also allow the importing of Google Earth overlays onto the charts as well.

 

The complete Australia wide "Test" chart pack is just over 4gig of data so we will be breaking it up possibly into East, South and West Australia with extensive overlaps (the units have 4gig of inbuilt storage) however, the remaining 1 gig can be stored on an SD card as an option that plugs into the unit if ever needed (i.e. Eastern States can have Broome etc on the SD card, NT users can have Tasmania on the SD card).

 

 

Update...in just over 3 weeks the site has continued to climb in a dramatic way compared to other sites, who I may add have actually gone backwards in the millions. As you climb higher in the ranking it gets harder and harder compared to being way down in the ranks however in just over 3 weeks we have broken through the millionth and climbed an extra nearly 250k places to now being ranked at the 896k website in the world (ranked 422k in the US):

 

 

This is an extraordinary achievement and why this site gets thousands of visitors every single day and continues to grow...also a direct result of 8 years of hard work, performed all day nearly every single day of the year by some great people who know their stuff...I would like to say thanks to not only them but all of you users who contribute, helping each other out, helping to make this site the most popular and resourceful home of pilots, aircraft and aviation

 

 

That must have hurt, I wonder what happened

 

 

The other thing as well is as I am getting everything ready for NatFly, there are all the Recreational Flying key chains, mouse pads, stubby holders, shirts, iron on transfers, flags, signs etc etc etc

 

 

Unfortunately those names are taken by someone that tried to mimic our site and pinch our name years ago so I had to retaliate and protect our name as much as I could...he even registered "Australian Recreational Flying" and "Recreational Flying Australia"...but he didn't stop there, he even registered "Recreational Aviation Australia", yes that's right, even the full name of RAAus...he sold the RAAus name to RAAus just recently though

 

So, we have available Recreational Flying with either .com.au, .com, .net, .org, .co, .us, .co.nz, .co.uk, .ca, .co.za etc

 

Or Aircraft Pilots with .com.au, .com, .net etc etc etc

 

Hopefully I will get feedback from you guys/gals going to NatFly and I will do as instructed and leave it at that for good...the name "Recreational" Flying is only relevant in Australia as everywhere else it is still Ultralights, Microlights or Sport...the name Aircraft Pilots was suppose to help break down the barriers between the aviation segments as we are all Aircraft Pilots...that was the thinking.

 

 

I suppose that no one can tell if someone is really hurt or not...I suppose there has been cases where someone has walked away from something only to find a day or 2 later they are in hospital in a serious condition from a simple bump on the head...perhaps this may be the reason

 

 

I wonder why it was left there as a Gazelle is very easy to flip back over again...perhaps they were waiting for a crane to do it properly either way hope the occupants came out ok

 

 

Congratulations Mate!

 

 

The downloading of many files sounds like a cache issue however, I received this email from the network company that houses our server in the US:

 

"Recently it has come to our attention that some clients are having performance issues due to poor routing of upstream providers. As these issues have caused severe degradation of service for some clients we're unfortunately forced to push up the time table for our network upgrades. We will be scheduling a 4 hour window starting at Saturday 11PM PST to Sunday 3AM PST. Projected impact on network connectivity is minimal but as such major upgrades don't always go according to plan we wish to give network admins time to back out the changes. The new network will be based around multiple redundant Cisco ASR 9000's and performance optimized by Internap FCP hardware. We apologize for the short notice but we firmly believe this action is needed to keep the WebNX network at peek performance, we appreciate your understanding."

 

If it is not a cache issue then it could be a performance issue of the network and this is causing you to now actually see the files being downloaded due to it being slower...remember the files are just all the files that are displayed on your screen like every image, every block etc, they are not files that you consider as "Downloads" in the traditional sense.

 

Off course the whole question of the server could be considered again due to me abandoning the International focus. An Australian located server might be a better option down the track if we want to make the site extremely fast again as the need to have a server in the US as a world wide centralised location would no longer be needed.

 

Lets see what happens after the network upgrade happens our Aust Sunday morning

 

 

Hi All

 

As you may have noticed over the last couple of weeks there have been some subtle changes made to the site which shows that I have abandoned my quest to take the site International but rather take the site back to being an Australian focused community and resource.

 

You can now see that Australian upcoming events are displayed, our local clubs and schools will be created in their own section and I have engaged a graphic designer who will be creating a new header for us that really indicates that we are an Australian community of pilots helping each other out.

 

Moderation has been relaxed, all bans and restraints (except for 2 users) were lifted and the site will get back to being all about what is happening in recreational aviation in Australia.

 

This has been the result of asking many of you, that I have spoken to on the phone over the last few weeks, what you really would like as this site is yours, it is your community and I have been told to butt out so your wish is my command. But, in doing so, the site has to pay for itself so as you have seen, some advertising is coming back to help pay the costs. The shop is coming back to within the site and as you have seen, the International forums have been removed.

 

The only thing left is the name and I have received mixed responses on Aircraft Pilots or Recreational Flying so that is 50/50 at the moment. Hopefully those that go to NatFly will be able to spend a moment and have a chat with me so we can resolve these types of things once and for all...I still like the Aircraft Pilots name but that is up to you.

 

If you are going to NatFly, please get there safely and those that are staying home with their loved ones...I hope you have a fantastic break and a fun filled Easter

 

 

Guernsey, you've gotta make it Mate...with a didge it would be fantastic!

 

 

Thanks Linda...it can get really busy and I will be the only one there doing it...thanks and will see you up there

 

 

How is the term "Kid" defined...mentally or physically?

 

 

Hiya Ian...Jack is coming and looking forward to hanging with Lachlan. Hes hoping Performance Metals have the big bucket of Cupa Chups there again...lol.Scotty

Lachlan is also looking forward to creating havoc with Jack again, riding around in the train...if there is anyone else coming to NatFly with kids, drop by the Aircraft Pilots Stand and they can meet up with Jack (age 12?) and Lachlan (age 10) and lets start the "Young Aircraft Pilots Group" seeing the RAAus now prevents young people from learning to fly and has ignored them at NatFly...our kids of today really are suppose to be the pilots of tomorrow

 

 

GG...this was bought up after last NATFLY and I offered to organise a full 3 day childrens program which was never taken up! I had jumping castles, play on wheels and glider building and flying comp provisionally organised just waiting for the go ahead but it never came. Its a shame as it is the one thing that NATFLY lacks. Although I am extremely excited about the grass roots that will be there this year. Not many sleeps left now!Scotty

Hi Scotty, Lachlan will be there again this year so let's start an "unofficial" kids group going out of the Aircraft Pilots stand

 

 

Hi All

 

Everyone that is going to NatFly this year don't forget to drop in at the Aircraft Pilots Stand (No 78):

 

 

Drop in and have a chat, make a time to meet up with others at the Aircraft Pilots Stand, have a cup of coffee, give me feedback on the site and how it can be made to better suit your needs, use it as a base point to leave bags etc till later, charge up your mobile phones etc etc etc.

 

We will have loads of discounted pilot supply products from the shop all available to get on the spot like our famous headsets, PLBs, GPS units, Radios, Books and Manuals, Navigation Tools, etc etc etc...in fact if there is anything you need and want to pick up at NatFly, let me know ASAP and i will bring it with me.

 

Also, my father who always comes and helps is unable to make it this year so is there any volunteers who can spend an hour or two helping out...I would very much appreciate it if you could.

 

Finally, after NatFly last year a lot of you got together in a thread here and said you wanted to bring your music instruments and have a night time jam for fun...anyone want to organise this by starting a thread and get others to join in?

 

Hope to see you all there at NatFly 2012

 

 

Tumut Aero Club's Famous BBQ Breakfast. Starting at 8 am, come along to the club's main monthly event.

 

For more details contact President Simon Smith [email protected] or 0428 472349.

 

 

First Sunday of each month at 12 Noon - Fly-in BBQ lunch near the GA parking area. All welcome. Contact Andy Irvine Mobile: 0437 694 010