kgwilson

1. Use the xenforo licence. No cost but not as many features. The extra features were hardly used anyway.
    
   
2. Migrate Whats Up into this site.
    
   
3. Run a donation campaign.
    
   

They can???

 

Pilot needs PPL (inc current medical and CTA endorsement),

 

Aircraft needs transponder and approval which RAA can issue

 

Why does a pilot need a PPL? Why does a pilot need a medical? These are just BS excuses. A CTR endorsement & transponder is in reality the only difference. Works fine elsewhere in the world but for some reason it can't possibly work here.

It doesn't matter how experienced a person is, mistakes can always be made. The Coroners report alluded to the differences in characteristics of the 2 Lightwing models and in the few seconds Ross had he may have instinctively flown this aircraft like his own. I don't think he'd have had time to think about trying not to bend someone elses aircraft

I can see no reason at all why RAA aircraft cannot fly into CTR so long as they are trained in CTR and their aircraft has a transponder. The NZ RA has a CTR endorsement so why can't RA-AUS? RA aircraft have been flying in CTR in NZ for at least 20 years with no more issues than with GA aircraft. Weight increase is irrelevant to this. There is only one thing stopping it happen, CASA. What is the perceived problem? The benefits are safer skies for all & isn't this what CASA is supposed to be about

The reality in this case is that there is no public interest in establishing the cause unlike any commercial aircraft crash, so little or no funding is allocated. The result is that all is eventually forgotten except for those close to the person. A sad but true indictment on our society.

Should there be a maximum age for PC and PPL holders?

 

Given there are pilots still flying in their 90s, 110 would probably be reasonable. We are all living longer these days & I'd love to be the first pilot to be still flying at 100.

I wrote to Malcolm Turnbull when he was prime minister and the government was selling off the C130's to Indoneasia for peanuts.

 

Bugger, if I'd known that at the time I would have offered some macadamias, hazelnuts & walnuts. I could've used the C130 as a hangar.

Thread on Victor & transit lanes

https://www.recreationalflying.com/forums/topic/68389-victor-and-transit-lanes/?tab=comments#comment-501299

I have started this thread because it was suggested in the Hunter Valley Crash thread which we now know has nothing to do with Victor or Transit lanes. I heard on the ABC radio news this morning that Dick Smith is calling for action on transit around Coffs Harbour following the Mooney Crash in poor weather to the west on 20 September. For some reason they either would not or could not fly down the coast and chose the inland route with disastrous consequences. RAA aircraft with a RPC pilot  are also forced to take this route which has hills rising to nearly 4000 feet with tops often in cloud and it is all tiger country. At present the only option is not to go or take the risk. Coffs is not a busy airport but the main runway is only a hundred metres from the beach & parallel to it. The threshold of the short runway (28) is also about 100 metres from the beach. It would be easy for controllers to allow RA aircraft past here or get them to orbit if something was due. Nothing has ever been done & CASA seems to be head in the sand over it.

Coffs Aero Club RAA Flying School & another RAA school operate there, I did my RAA conversion there. If you go when it is Class G (before 8am or after 5pm I think) there is no problem, just overfly at 1500 or more. No problem & there are RPTs coming & going then as well. There is no logic other that bureaucracy.

it seems crazy to me that the VFR Coastal route isn’t available. There’s nothing complicated about asking for a clearance and it’s not like you would be asking to enter an incredibly busy CTA like SYDNEY. 

 

I find the Controllers are always lovely and helpful....especially after I’ve told them I’m as old as the aeroplane ?

 

I hear it all the time that Contollers are little hitlers or always grumpy. I have to say that I have never found that to be the case either here or over the ditch. I did my conversion at Coffs & the instructors kept telling me to say things in a particular way because that't what the Controller liked. ATC syntax is pretty universal so I thought why should I change the way I communicate after 30 years so I didn't. I never had an issue with the controllers at any time so I couldn't figure it out until I found that there had been some words between the other parties. Get someones back up & they will return the favour.

Some used to have a beer at our Aero club bar & I got to know them, spent time in the tower etc. In pre GPS days I flew in controlled airspace as often as possible. It was the safest place to be. Completely out of the blue they'd call & advise I should steer 2 deg left or whatever to get back on track, always said Cherio when I was leaving their zone & handed me over to the next guy etc. When the airwaves were not busy the banter could be quite amusing.

If it was a structural failure I hope that there is a very thorough investigation as to the cause and full details of the aircraft maintenance history is included, AND that it is published for the benefit of everyone.

There are ways to ensure safety even if the beach is close to the threshold. This can be a controlled lane like I used to use when transiting Auckland in NZ years ago. That was straight up the southern motorway at 500 feet under the approach path to the international airport & once clear climb to 1500 feet & continue straight over the city centre. You did need a squawk code though. If an aircraft was due they'd get you to orbit. The other option was over the top at 9500 feet but this is no good if there is low cloud. I preferred this to the victor lanes as the eastern one especially was pretty busy with all the Ardmore & North Shore training schools coming & going. It was good to have the front seat passenger keeping their eyes peeled as they come up pretty quick when the closing speed is 200 knots or more. On one trip I passed 6 or 7 other aircraft. In those days I was flying GA.

The difference is that Ultralights have always had access to controlled airspace in NZ.

It is about time that our pathetic regulator provided coastal victor lanes here and at Coffs. Both can be extremely dangerous in windy conditions & Coffs is often clouded in making the journey a major detour over mean tiger country. I thought CASA was supposed to be about safety but I guess that is confined to the travelling public.

There are several threads on this topic, at least 2 of them within the last year. Just type in "RAA Weight increase" or something like that in the search box at the top right of the screen & click the magnifying glass.

So that is the demise of Airventure Australia. Interestingly at a RAA seminar it was pointed out that RAA did not organise Airventure but they also did not state that RAA was the sole beneficiary of the Trust. The failure of RAA to provide the shortfall of the Trusts losses, let alone the Bushcat is pretty poor. The event itself was very well set up and well run and I congratulate all of those volunteers that were involved. Weather is always a risk with Aviation events so I would have thought that they may have taken out some sort of insurance to cover that. Perhaps the premium was prohibitive.

I really enjoyed it despite the howling wind, the dust and then mud and the great Sunday and finally a freezing Sunday night and rough ride home. Then of course there was Ausfly a few weeks later. There is no room for 2 events like this here. Everyone needs to get off their high horses & work together for all Australian aviators.

It seems incredible that this was 4 years ago. Seems like only yesterday. I very much enjoyed his knowledge in contributions to discussions of this site. He is missed even by those who never knew him personally.

"I want a permanent site for my remains, and I want that site to contain my bones. Perhaps 100 years after my demise, my descendants might like to have somewhere to go to say, "If not for him, then there would be no me". "

 

That of course is based on the assumption that in 100 years the planet as we know it will still be here.

During the change from Xenforo to IPS, back to Xenforo then finally to IPS all for valid reasons may be why some people moved away. I preferred Xenforo and that seemed to be the view of a lot of people. Now we have been using IPS for some time with the mods made etc, I now think it is better or maybe I've got used to it. Some people struggle with change and having to reset preferences etc may be a bit of a problem for them.

I've had a facebook account for about as long as it has been around. The original concept was great, keeping in touch with friends and family and the old system I used before that called "Old Friends" closed down. Now it has become huge and unwieldy with ever more features and setting up security (after numerous problems had to be fixed and holes repaired) is beyond many people but they don't care and use it. The biggest problem though is trolls and Zuckerbergs crew don't care. Personally I find facebook ridiculously complex with so many options, twists and turns I just can't be bothered with it. I have the security for my page screwed down and all notifications about anything turned off. There is so much rubbish there but it is a free way of getting noticed and advertising without having to create your own web page. As for clubs and interest groups open or closed it does not have the same look, feel or simplicity of a forum like this.

Facebook though has gained so many users that it has surpassed that critical mass where it is now ubiquitous. Younger people though are leaving in droves I think because their attention span is now down to about 15 seconds, hence the popularity of Snapchat & Tik-Tok. I searched recreational Aviation on facebook & it brought up RAA & a few other things but nothing to want to make me join the group or post anything.

facebook sucks but it's what the great unwashed have gotten used to and know how to use, sort of.

I am pretty sure that there are apps for deaf people so when their smartphone rings & vibrates the voice from the other end is converted to text so they can have a fairly normal phone discussion.

As for burial, there is a small problem - burial takes space & the body tends to leach "stuff" into the subsoil.

 

I reckon it depends upon what stuff you have put into your body when alive. The amount of medication some people take to stay alive is frightening so the body may not be particularly organic. Pehaps if I drink enough I will be preserved so embalming is unnecessary. I'm not sure how I'd achieve that but it would be interesting to try & that would kill me anyway.

Yes low flying was part of my PPL and was there to help you deal with a situation where you may find for various reasons you may need to put down so it was about checking an area for a suitable landing that would hopefullly be survivable and the go around with appropriate use of flaps (if working) airspeed etc in close proximity to the ground.

The person whose ashes they are couldn't care as they are dead. It is only the living that worry about these things. I'd like to be of some use as fertiliser & want to be put there like I have buried my dogs, just me with nothing else, not even clothes. Coffins & flash handles etc are a massive waste of resources & don't readily break down. The funeral industry wouldn't like it though as there'd be less to profit from but no doubt they would find something else to gouge from your estate.

Reminds me. check the seat runners for condition on the Cessna.  2 door is good in case you can't get out one side. Nev

 

Brings back a memory I wish I didn't have. A bloke I knew went to the States & bought a C172, 180 hp from the DEA. It'd been sitting in the Desert for 5 or 6 years after being confiscated as a drug runner aircraft. Got it for $5K US. Shipped it back to NZ & offered it for hire (cheap) before restoration. It was pretty rough. Interior, windows, stuffed upholstery showed that time outside in super hot dry conditions, peeling paint etc had taken its toll. He said to me "Goes like the clappers, coarse prop heaps of grunt 1 up, 60 bucks an hour.

He was right. I thought I did it all right. All the checks OK. Adjusted the seat. Wiggled & rocked back & forth to make sure it was locked & took off. Wow did this thing climb, 1000 fpm, then bang the seat runners let go. I flew backwards along with the yoke. How I did it I don't know but I managed to grab the top of the  panel with my right hand which a millisecond before had the throttle at full power. The whole panel top & the plastic cover over the instruments came adrift & ended up on my chest. Somehow I managed to get the yoke forward to avoid death, got back in control & returned for an uneventful landing & lots of abuse served on the owner. Needless to say I did not pay for the hire.

The only disadvantage of a Cherokee is the single door & having to stand on the seat getting in. Not good if the ground outside is wet or muddy. Otherwise comfort is way better than a 172 with a more laid back seating position rather than the kitchen chair upright seat of the 172 & the high panel to try & look over. The Cherokee also has a much quieter cabin as well. The only other thing is you have to remember to change fuel tanks in the Cherokee & you don't in the 172 if you choose to select both.

Yes he was well known to CASA and ignored all of the restrictions placed on him. Someone else in the business was supposed to be taking the passengers. The paying passengers had no inkling of his history or they would have avoided his business like the plague. At the time I think that CASA was of the opinion that once they had decided he should not personally be allowed to carry on commercial flying operations he would not and therefore no oversight was required. Wrong and with the reputation he had they should have known it. Most of the pilots in Australia knew.

Ok, out of left field, but I tried this the other day and it works.

 

Like sweetcorn?

 

Buy it on the cob (NOT wrapped in plastic, still in the leaf thingys over the cob).

 

Bung it in the microwave.

 

4 minutes.  (5 for 2 cobs).

 

When you pull it out, the leaves protect your hand.

 

Peel, butter salt pepper, serve.

 

No plastic anywhere near it!

 

We've been cooking sweetcorn like this for years & it always tastes far better than the pre peeled plastic wrapped stuff. Often though you find that they don't have any corn straight of the plant. If that is the case I don't buy it. With improving awareness of the polluting waste of plastic the wrapping of everything in plastic is slowly reducing.