BurnieM

That is pretty disappointing 18-20 amps for a 912 ULS. But still should probably be 'enough'. Do you have an ammeter ? What is it putting out in flight ? Note max output is at 5,000 rpm. Normally we cruise cross country at 5,200. You probably do not want to be puttering around in the circuit at 4,500 with a low battery. The 912Is comes with 2 alternators; 16A for the engine and 30A for the avionics/battery charging.

I had a few motorcycles (20-25?) and after the first one I never replaced the crush washer just keep reusing it. Never had a leak. The main thing is not to overtighten the drain plug.

For the blind people; When undertaking a flight more than 50 NM radius from the aerodrome of departure, you must carry a serviceable ELT. If the ELT is installed on the aircraft, it must be armed before flight. If it is a survival (portable) ELT it must be carried in a readily accessible place.

Yeah, everything can fail. I bought an iPad mini 6 256GB cellular when they were the latest. I think I paid $1200ish. Now replaced by the mini 7 (also called A17). Garmin Pilot comes with 3 licenses so I decided to buy a backup. Bought a iPad (standard) gen 9 64GB cellular. I bought this new for $650ish just after the gen 10 was released. It is a little slower but the battery lasts longer. I now believe you can run all of the Australian EFBs on 64GB or less so if this is your main use save your money. If I was buying now I would buy a second hand iPad mini 6 64GB cellular from one of the resellers who offers a 3 month warranty.

PLBs are required to transmitt for 24 hours and GME PLBs have shelf battery life of 7 years. EPIRBs (as well as floating) have a transmitt time of 48 hours. While they would know where to recover your body from within 2 hours I would not rely on being picked up in less than 6 hours if you are close to a metro area.

Just noticed my 2 litre milk container is HDPE#2 plastic. This may be a good cheap water storage container. Probably want to secure to stop leaks from bouncing around as the plastic is not the thickest.

You need to think about both coverage and what would survive a crash. Most mobile phones are likely to fail on both counts. Starlink may help you avoid weather via internet updates to your EFB but would fail on survivability. As well as your ELT/PLB a Garmin Inreach mini 2 may be useful. Note the Inreach mini 2 requires a subscription.

But not that different. Does show how critical carrying water is in almost all parts of Australia when you are not close to a town/major road. Some water needs to always be in the plane.

https://aircraft.e-props.fr/MPD.php

As well as Ozrunways having this view I believe Avplan has something similar. Garmin Pilot gives you a satellite photo similar to above but only around an airfield and you can scroll it around. GP does not let you display this as your map layer with flightplan on top. GP gives you Openstreetmaps as a map layer with detailed airfields, airspaces and topo shading (but not heights). GP also gives you a Terrain height database. This is used for flight profiles and also to overlay on a map Red (within 500ft) and yellow (within 1000ft) I generally plan on Openstreetmaps, check my profile for MSA and switch to VFR charts for flight. What EFB do you have ?

"16. DESIGNATED REMOTE AREAS <maps of 3 areas> Notes: 1. ACFT planned to operate within or through the designated remote area shown in this section are required to carry survival equipment suitable for sustaining life in the area over which the flight is planned as per the civil aviation legislation relevant to their operation. 2. Flight through corridors must be made within sight of and not more than five miles from the highway concerned. 3. Australian administered islands adjacent to the Remote Area between Anna Plains and Cairns are part of the Designated Remote Area. 4. Mainland within 50NM of Darwin excluded from Designated Remote Area." Apart from the maps this is literally not worth the paper it is written on. I stand by my previous comment "A lot of this thread is about powers that be reverting to generic wellness statements and not providing requirements/recommendations to traverse DRAs"

Are you referring to the antenna you linked to ? If so then NO you do not need a ground plane as it is a dipole.

I would love to know what the specific requirements are to transit DRA but I cannot find them. If you have links/references please point them out. A lot of this thread is about powers that be reverting to generic wellness statements and not providing requirements/recommendations to traverse DRAs. If this is wrong please point out where I can locate these requirements.

plus GST

Poor Rex. I remember Rex used to be the only airline flying into Broken Hill and they were pricey. Then Qantas also flew there and suddenly both airlines were much cheaper. And Rex was still making profit so what were they making before ? Only reason Rex went broke is because they tried to play with the big boys on the east coast routes.