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BurnieM

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Everything posted by BurnieM

  1. BurnieM
    Did anybody see any NOTAMs for this ? https://www.avsef.gov.au/consultations/proposed-gnss-jamming-jervis-bay-airfield-yjby-nowra
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  2. BurnieM
    YEAH BABY Request to Change Cowra (YCWR) CTAF from the MULTICOM (126.7 MHz) to a Discrete CTAF; https://www.avsef.gov.au/consultations/request-change-ycwr-ctaf-multicom-1267-mhz-discrete-ctaf?utm_source=Swift%20Digital&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=AvSafety%20Seminars (It won't happen overnight but it will happen 🙂)
  3. BurnieM
    Yes, Skip is flogging an idea that many in power are ignoring but it does have some merit. Not really about cross country planning and safety tho. The example above was a pilot who was given a cross country endorsement without doing any of the cross country training, exercises or assessment. This was not a pilot who ignored his training. He did ignore some very basic risk factors including low cloud and rain that could be seen before taking off. This was a failure at an organisation level that we have still not seen the end of.
  4. BurnieM
    What if we did not have a very restrictive 'safety' regime that made 60 year old engine designs the only piston engines you can use in certified aircraft ? No logical reason why every engine made since 1980 cannot run on unleaded petrol except supposed 'safety' regulations. This has been obvious for many years but where are the CASA studies and proposed new regulations ?
  5. BurnieM
    <bump>
  6. BurnieM
    Disappointing, no changes to any conditions for Class 5 medical. - https://www.australianflying.com.au/latest/class-5-to-remain-unchanged-despite-twg-recommendations - https://www.casa.gov.au/about-us/news-media-releases-and-speeches/class-5-medicals-remain-unchanged If I was a member of the TWG I would be pretty pissed off and demanding commercial rates for wasting my time for this pseudo consultation.
  7. BurnieM
    Are Lithium batteries actually an advantage in aircraft ? Their lighter weight is often a negative for COG. Why go with them ?
  8. BurnieM
    https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/579607 https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/vh-mpt#418a87c3
  9. BurnieM
    https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/light-aircraft-crashes-in-logan-emergency-services-on-scene-20260907-p60v2s.html Beechcraft A36 Bonanza
  10. BurnieM
    Looks like this is a $50 entry fee. Will be a SAAA dinner at night with additional fee to be announced soon.
  11. BurnieM
    A thing to remember is that RAAus itself justified being in Canberra so that it would be close to CASA to improve communication with them. This does not seem to have occurred. When the class 5 medical was brought in in Feb 2024 RAAus seemed as surprised as everybody else (CASA has never in the past moved this quickly). Group G aircraft was probably a good idea 10 years ago and I acknowledge the significant effort RAAus put in but once class 5 med was announced it became pointless, particularly as you could not maintain group G aircraft yourself. There has been a reluctance for RAAus to acknowledge this or push back on CASA. When controlled airspace was raised with RAAus we got 'we are waiting for CASA'. This did not go down well with some of us. Western Sydney is now open and we still do not have this endorsement. Yes, we can go to RPL but once we go why would we come back ? (unless we had an RAAus registered plane). The quickness that CASA pushed through class 5 med seems to be related to MOSAIC and I doubt RAAus will be allowed to have any significant control of MOSAIC aircraft. I see MOSAIC as an experimental and GA merge rather than something new making RAAus involvement even less unlikely.
  12. BurnieM
    First thing I notice is RAAus have engaged a corporate governance company to run this stream. 3YS OWLS running of the stream appeared rough (both technically and presentation wise) as if this was the first time they had done this. Some questions; - Is RAAus saying they lack the management skillset to run a politically neutral candidate introduction ? - Is RAAus saying they lack the technical expertise to run a live stream ? - How much did RAAus pay this company ? The convenors asked questions of the candidates that were of very little interest to the members listening most of which do not care what the legal requirements of a board member are. I care about strategy, where we are going and how long it will take to get there and I believe others do too. I understand why very few members watched this stream and am questioning why I watched it. I got a basic overview of the candidates but still have no idea of the issues they wish to drive. Final comment; if you are giving contact details for the election then type them on the screen, reading out contact numbers/email addresses show a lack of experience in this type of presentation.
  13. BurnieM
    I do not disagree. One controlling authority would certainly be simpler. If RAAus no longer existed the aircraft registrations would need to go back to CASA. With CASA RPL and class 5 medical now available almost all pilots could now fly CASA registered planes. There appear to be cost and time issues with reverting a RAAus registered plane back to CASA registration and a lack of drive from CASA to make this happen. Group G was a failure (mainly due to ongoing CASA delays and a last minute quick introduction of CASA class 5 medicals). While RAAus put a lot of work into Group G they were very slow to recognise the current pointlessness of it. RAAus not pushing controlled airspace endorsements (which are still not available) is another example of a poor senior management strategy (or lack there of). We need some clear advantages of remaining a RAAus member (apart from it is too hard to revert your plane registration).
  14. BurnieM
    I understand were you are coming from Skip but this is extremely complicated. I recommend that nobody on the RAAus board should be advocating for this as the simplest way to achieve this is to wipe out RAAus registered planes and pilots (and RAAus).
  15. BurnieM
    Has he acted against the interests of the membership in the past while he has been a board member ? Surely Andrew Scheiffers having general aviation and industry experience is a good thing ?
  16. BurnieM
    So Andrew Scheiffers is the owner of Learn2Fly Canberra a RAAus/CASA flight school and charter operation and is a current board member. Overview of others ?
  17. BurnieM
    Yes it is a big problem. If you read my old posts I several times said we needed 2 years to bed this down after it was finalised (ie 2 years before Western Sydney opened). This was not rocket science. Western Sydney is open and the controlled airspace endorsement is still not finalised. This problem exists today for all Illawarra, Sydney metropolitan and Hunter pilots. Exactly what is RAAus doing today ? At my field one of the two RAAus instructors is a PPL. I understand he will automatically get the controlled airspace endorsement on his RPC without further training or exam. He could easily teach controlled airspace today but he has no training plan or exam requirements to work with. The separation of GA/RAA instructors is likely to continue as I believe you need a CPL for GA instructor and many RAAus instructors are not interested in going this route. I prefer an experienced instructor rather that a 25 year old building hours before he goes to the airlines.
  18. BurnieM
    I believe controlled airspace on a RPC is worth pursuing. RAAus put a huge amount of effort into Group G and then CASA introduced Class 5 medical shortly before Group G was complete. I believe RAAus management should have seen the writing on the wall and abandoned Group G and started immediately working on controlled airspace. This did not happen. Now Western Sydney is open and still we do not have controlled airspace. In the next 10 years I see a lot of GA in the US moving to MOSAIC aircraft. I see it as the merging and future development of GA. I do not see CASA allowing RAAus to have significant control of these aircraft or their pilots. You are probably right suggesting that RPL is the way to go in the current environment. RAAus keep talking about their dreams but are still not reading the room. It is a pity that AOPA appears to have zero presence.
  19. BurnieM
    I thought this article was quite poorly written. Some of the statements about sources of non-government weather info were just wrong. You need to understand sources, forecast windows and know that all sources of weather info have potential errors on a daily basis. You should understand your legal requirements for trip planning. You should frequently review updated forecasts as well as current observations during your trip. I find one of the most useful sources of current weather information is the radar overlay in my EFB. As long as you understand the constraints (only updated every 5 mins and always a little behind) replaying the last 5 radar images (last 25 minutes) is very useful. This information is not from an official source and I am not required to review it before flight but I suggest it has high value for every pilot.
  20. BurnieM
    I have always thought these sort of statements from Air Services and BOM were plain bullshit. Saying it is for legal reasons does not cover it. The current observations and forecasts are produced by BOM who forward them to Air Services who are the 'official source'. The information on the BOM website (old version - https://www.bom.gov.au/aviation/forecasts/taf/) is identical and has a much more readable layout than NAIPS. You also need to check NOTAMs (available on most EFBs).
  21. BurnieM
    https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/577402
  22. BurnieM
    If you can add the gear for less than $200 to an existing PC then it is worth a try. If you are paying $2000+ for a new PC and gear then I think it is more worthwhile to spend the money on additional lessons. The top end sims give you a feel for the plane but desktop sims only give you a mental exercise without developing much of a feel for the plane.
  23. BurnieM
    Kade has arrived back home at Albury. He should be able to release a few more vids shortly.
  24. BurnieM
    Skyecho uses the RAM twist suction cup mount. They are a very reliable mount if used within their design criteria. They are not a permanent or semi-permanent mount. They are designed to be attached before use and then removed after use. With Skyecho people attach the suction cup mount to a side window and then remove the Skyecho leaving the suction cup in place. So in the month between aircraft usage the window goes thru 30 heat cycles. As I have said before this eventually causes it to fall off and also shortens the cups life. This will happen faster in summer. Skyecho do not tell you to use it this way but they do not discourage it either. I have never seen a RAM twist suction mount fall off if newly attached at the beginning of the day. If you want a permanent mount then create one or hassle Skyecho to create one. RAM make hundred of mounts. I used to sell RAM mounts. I have dozens of misuse stories.
  25. BurnieM
    I was using Tumut and even after a big resealing project with new aprons and taxiways (which you would expect to reduce costs for the next few years) the council are still budgeting $150,000 per year for maintenance. Fortunately Tumut has the forestry industry driving the ongoing maintenance of this airfield (even tho they seem to be reluctant to put any of their own money into it). Ratepayers tend to go with councils that say this is a cost we cannot afford right up until they need the airport but this 'essential community asset' driver does not last for more than a year or two. A landing fee of $15-20 would be reasonable for most small regional airports. My understanding is if you do touch and goes for up to 30 minutes this counts as 1 landing at most airfields. Special fees and inconsistencies across different airfields cause confusion and animosity between airfield owners and the GA community. I do not know how to solve this as some (many?) airfield owners do not seem to be interested in talking with other airfield owners. NOTE THIS IS A LANDING FEE POST IN THE LANDING FEE THREAD. Anything else does not belong here.
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