SGM

As at todays date, my local service station has MOGAS U98 at $2.87 c/l.  My iOR app shows the nearest five airports all with AVGAS at $2.63 c/l.  I can use either. 

It would be very helpful if someone with first-hand knowledge of AVGAS could tell us a) how much supply remains (ie how often do these regional airports refill) and b) how difficult it is likely to get more (given it's boutique classification).

 

ok, an update 

1. I double-check online at www.wing.com that I am in range.  It is owned by Google.
2. I go to DoorDash and see the drone icon for my address, so I order drone delivery of 2 Sushi (for my daughter), nominally in 20 mins via doordash.  It's 7km from the shop to my house, and today it's a 15kt headwind.
3. Sushi arrives in a very beat-up Camry about 1 hour later.
4. I end up paying more than I should for 2 pieces of Sushi - but hopefully my daughter is happy

According to "The Australian" : An investigation has been launched into a “near collision” involving a light plane and two of our most advanced combat jets at the Royal Australian Air Force Base Tindal south of Katherine in the Northern Territory.

A Piper Dakota competing in the Outback Air Race, was en route from Daly Waters to Katherine, when it experienced a total electrical failure and diverted to the RAAF base on August 28.

Source: https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2025/report/ao-2025-051

I would agree generally, Telstra (and hence Boost) has more coverage by about 1m sq km than the others

I didn't say Optus/Vodafone was better than Telstra, what I said was it's better than in the past, and there will be (probably a small number of) times when you can get Optus/Vodafone and not Telstra.  Sometimes, this is due to localised congestion on the Telstra network, and sometimes it's just coverage/propagation issues because they will often have differently located base stations/antennas, esp in regional towns.

I am sure 99% of people realise this, but just in case,
- The Optus/Vodafone coverage is now combined - so it's a lot better than in the past.  There are times when my Avplan on Optus/Vodafone has got a connection, but another device using Telstra has not.
- if you see SOS on your phone, it means your carrier (or reseller) has no official coverage, but one of the other carriers does, so a call to 000 will go through, but not a call/sms to your significant other. 

Great minds think alike ; ) 
 

ABC news update: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-08/missing-plane-friends-alerted-lack-of-radio-call-bass-strait/105619942

Based on the track of the AMSA plane, it looks like the flight was filed to fly direct from Georgetown to Leongatha.   I am genuinely curious as to why the pilot chose not to follow the ERSA Special Procedures for crossing Bass Strait (ie via either Flinders or King Islands).  It would have only taken about 30 minutes (and 10 litres) more, and is still shorter than the planned second leg to Hillston.
 

A 28-registered Bristell?  Maybe they meant 23 or 24 registered?
 

Interesting it’s not on the approved Bass Straight crossing routes ie via Flinders or King Islands… and presumably no Scheds?

yes on the 918 form the LAME has written a few things it's subject to including "IAN logbook, schedule 5 and Rotax 912 m/m"

Got some additional info by phone.  Part 43 is not active.  For RAAus part 103 will (eventually) cover this smae space but who knows when that is coming.  For LSA's MOSAIC will change some rules here, but probably not impact existing LSA's.  So it seems zero tolerance.

Hey folks,

An RAAus registered LSA has an annual due on 7 August.  It has done less than 100 hours (so can already make use of the 2 month Rotax tolerance).  A LAME does maintenance to CASA Schedule 5

My question relates to the attached Advisory Circular" ADVISORY CIRCULAR AC 43-02 v1.0 whcih states in part..

"The annual inspection will fall due by the end of the 12th month from when the previous inspection was completed. For example, an aircraft that had an annual inspection and was approved for return to service on 10 January 2020, will have the next inspection fall due on or before 31 January 2021.  However, CASA has provided for a 10-day planning tolerance that may be utilised by the RO, in which case the previously described aircraft would be required to have the next annual inspection commenced by no later than 10 February 2021. The extra days, if used, do not need to be ’paid back’ from the following calendar period"

Anyone have experience in this regard?  This would suggest it would be flyable to 10 September. Is that right?  Anyone have any insight on why is the downloaded document marked "Draft"?

Draft AC 43-02 v1.0.pdf

Ian, will all the old forum content be moved to Aircraft pilots? 

I have noted with the current site that some embedded images from very old posts have been lost to time.

 
On the weekend, I noticed "satellite" appearing on my phone two different ways whilst flying and using Avplan (with SkyEcho + ADSB). 

I thought I would investigate and share the findings here.

The first image at 2:57 pm is my Telstra iPhone indicating I can send SMS by Satellite, albeit with a reasonably weak signal.  After some investigation, this will show when you can't get a connection to the normal Telstra network, but can connect to Starlink, so SMS will work not apps or voice calls



The second image at 3:10pm is my (any-mobile-provider) iPhone indicating I can send Apple emergency 000 messages via their GlobalStar coverage.  This means I was most likely in a gap between Starlink satellites, which is generally only a minute or so, but there was a Globalstar satellite visible to my phone.


Since I also have a PLB in the aircraft, and a Zoleo (mostly used by my daughter for hiking), I thought I would put all four options in a table.

00AD270A-D18D-498B-8BD4-F65C4730A9F7.SNAG

I'm told it was a "Crane".   These seem to be in the 4-8kg range.

Looks like it's not the first time a bird has brought down Bell 206L Longranger.  https://www.australianflying.com.au/helicopters/bird-strike-suspected-in-long-ranger-crash

I was once told landing lights "on" help birds avoid you... seems plausible.  Where I fly we have birds and roos. 

I sometimes wonder if $20 mini signal airhorn (the type used on boats) would be handy - but it would have to be mounted in a way that would be quick to activate perhaps with a pull cable for use on runway incursion or on final etc. 

One passenger fatality.  A telecommunications technician.  Tragic.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-14/nt-police-investigating-fatal-helicopter-incident-in-gapuwiyak/105531216

5 minutes ago, BrendAn said:

What country is this chart for

Australia (per ChatGPT) - but AI can make mistakes

6 minutes ago, BrendAn said:

How does hiking have 15 deaths a year and zero fatality rate.

The rate would be 0.43 fatalities per 100k participants, which in the case of my XLS formatting, rounds down to zero.

I don't want to spoil everyone's fun, but here is what ChatGPT came up with. 



I have checked a few sources, and they all seem ok.  I can supply them if people are really keen.

Hi Alan

I was motivated to get one after seeing an aircraft cross my path at Carrum (near busy Moorabbin airport in Victoria) quite a bit earlier than Avplan (via internet mobile connection) had indicated.

Since then, I use it pretty much all of the time.  I have spotted many nearby aircraft cross-country that would have escaped my visual scanning.  Even in circuits when I am a bit unclear from others radio calls about where exactly they are, I can have a quick peek at the iPhone or iPad because the location is very accurate.

For me it just gives me comfort knowing it's probably going to show me 80% of all other aircraft, to at least 20nm (more like 40nm at altitude). And even if I'm not looking at my phone or iPad, there is a good chance they will notice me on their display.
 

Personally, I think any flight school passing on a $15,000 excess to a student should be publicly named here (and shamed).  It's not defamation just the reality of how they are doing business.

If you bought a ticket in Angel Flight's Lottery and have concerns about the individuals listed above..

"Information regarding the status of the police investigation, can only be sought by contacting Bankstown Police Area Command on (02) 9783 2199 and quoting the related event number E96124930."

Yes charging from radio is what I understand.  Once I announced I was taxiing at Murwillumbah (YMUR), but after run ups, I looked aTt rain developing, so taxied back to the clubhouse and waited for an hour before departing.  I got charged twice for that.  Potentially, this would demotivate people from providing full registration in radio calls?  I would be intrigued to know how they record  and process CTAF and why CTAF recordings never seem to emerge in accident investigations.

As a generalisation, the lower frequencies (700mhz, 850mhz) penetrate structures further and tend to wrap around obstacles better. They tend to dominate in regional and remote areas (4G), whereas 3500mhz is more useful for high-demand city environments (5G). 

Sometimes when flying I historically got Telstra 3G coverage.  This is maybe enough for a text but rarely enough to use webpage to get METAR etc.  Those 3G sites are now progressively shifting to 4G so it will be interesting to see if the transition (and the corresponding change in user demand) gives any better coverage.  

Some other random thoughts
1. All three mobile network providers are trialling SMS via Low Earth Orbit satellite - handy for letting someone know where you are, not so handy for contacting CENSAR or getting weather.

2. It will be interesting to see how TPG's(Vodafone) network sharing deal with Optus changes narrows coverage gap - that's due to go live in 2025. I can think of times when I have had Voda coverage but not Telstra.  And getting 4 bars on your display from anyone does not guarantee mean you can make a call or download data - just ask people who went to "Beyond the Valley" music festival.

3. The only Telstra reseller that has access to the full Telstra network is Boost (others like Aldi, Belong etc just get access to parts of the network). To see the difference go the map with the slider about halfway down this page https://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones/Guides/Telstra-mobile-network-coverage.  Note Boost has now been fully acquired by Telstra.
4. Phones that Telstra rates as "Blue Tick" or with a "Regional" have been tested in low coverage scenarios... you can find them on the Telstra website.

Unfortunately, that is almost certainly the Sting.  It is from the facebook page of the other instructor who is named in the 9news article.

Yep typo.  Definitely a Sting.