Having an autopilot (one on button for alt hold and wings level) must be a major safety benefit for those caught in IMC. BTW a friend flew for nearly 30 minutes in IMC on a six pack (instruments, not beer) with no IFR training and he survived. But his wife refused to ever get in a plane with him again.
Pilots refused to use enclosed cockpits. The sound of the engine, the wind on one side of their face, and so on were essential for good aircraft control (they said).
Saw on the news today a blue Foxbat made an emergency landing in Russian occupied territory. Seems it was doing air obs and should have stayed over Ukrainin territory. It threw a prop blade hence the landing. The pilot has been detained. This answered my wondering why the Ukrainians were not using Foxbats. Seems that are.
I just sold a BMW boxer that was 38 years old. I never changed the carby diaphragms in all that time. Basically the same ones in a Rotax have to be changed every five years. So the level of caution is quite high.
At each renewal CASA require me to do a heap of tests that my cardiologist says are not necessary. And he would not ask for them, but they insist, and cost a lot. Just for a class 2, and I fly RAA now, so only needed to enter controlled airspace.
The Vic emergency app reported a plane on the road at Harcourt, a busy road near a roundabout. Local gossip is that it was from Bendigo, landed briefly and took off again. No further information.
Had that today. We were tracking about 090 and someone was tracking 010 across us at same altitude. They crossed our path about 10 mile ahead. Thanks Ozrunaways.