KRviator

FWIW, if it's one or two of you, I'd seriously consider a portable oxy concentrator, such as one of those from Innodyn Inogen, because it'll never run out. They're (comparatively) cheap on Marketplace or Gumtree, and once you know you have essentially unlimited O2, you'll use it. Most of them are good to the high teens and don't draw much power if you choose to run them from the aircraft supply, though they do need a little space.

I don't even pay the legitimate charges listed anymore. If an airport wants to outsource their invoicing to a company that can't generate a true and correct invoice - and then refuses to remove the BS charges - they won't get paid, simple as that. I'm done dealing with the parasites at Avdata and having to argue the point about where I have landed and where I haven't. Avdata themselves appear to indicate they have no power to actually enforce the collection - instead inferring 'airport owners may deny you use of the facilities'. That'd be an interesting argument with my local as I'm entitled to an annual landing fee there as a grandfathered clause from way-back-when, yet AvData insist on charging for every landing. Now, if an individual airport *cough* Gladstone *cough* wants to reach out and ask "Hey, KR, you gonna pay your landing fees?" and I explain why I haven't, but will happily do so if they invoice me directly and they do then they get paid that afternoon. I've no problems with legitimate charges, even if I firmly believe Council-run airports shouldn't charge private flyers landing fees at all. Last I looked, there's no toll booth into most towns... Till then? Sorry, not sorry...

Almost but not quite... There are several limitations on the Class 5 medical that, if you have them, require you to either hold a full C1[2] or fly under RAAus. Which is ridiculous - because the medical condition doesn't care what rego is on the side...

Pretty sure I had to replace one of my Dynon EGT probes early in the piece, was reading off-scale-high at times. Easiest way to test to do is swap #1 + #3 probes to see if the problem follows the probe to #3. If yes, replace the probe. If the problem stays and stays at #1, run, do not walk, to your nearest pharmacy and purchase a tube of KY because it'll lessen the pain that's about to come.

Why would you stay with RAAus though? Annual membership fees, annual aircraft rego. If you're flying GA why suffer the expense of doubling-up? RAAus' only practical advantage over GA is the medical aspect if you can't hold - or don't want to deal with Avmed for - a GA medical. SAAA has the non-builder maintenance scheme on the boil, the CAsA Instrument allowing that should be signed off shortly and when it does, it opens up a whole swag of Experimental aircraft to new owners who previously couldn't do their own annuals and were restricted to RAAus if they wanted to own an aircraft they could maintain themselves.

Plus ASIC, plus insurance, plus landing fees. Even RAAus is becoming cost-prohibitive for a lot of people.

Similar in concept to the Seabird Seeker - but I fear the rise of drones will ultimately replace these aircraft for visual-observation-type missions.

If you're in Newy, you won't go wrong with the crew down at Warnervale. I do my BFR's there, and training over the lake is enjoyable. Close to Bankstown too for your CTA stuff. You have the option of the underpowered C150, a 150 with 150HP (better) or an RV12 with the G3X system for basic stuff and a Tecnam Twin for your MEA rating. I've also heard good things about Phil Unicomb too. Avoid anything at Bankstown - you'll waste thousands of dollars taxiing and simply transiting to/from the training area. By all means do your CPL - but, depending what you do for a crust now - be aware you're going to spend north of $100K on training to earn bugger-all in the short to medium term. I earn more than pretty much every QLink, Rex, Link or Ruffdus pilot just playing trains, that funds my flying and I'm not in debt for it. If you want to fly for fun, don't fly for work. If I CBF flying today, I don't have to - the RV stays in the hangar. Be wary of turning a hobby into a job...

The protections of the Australian Consumer Law may come into play here - just because something is outside a manufacturers or statutory warranty doesn't mean your SOL. We're going through that kerfuffle now with our pool - turns out the builder we used wasn't licensed to actually do pool installs and royally phucked the pavers and fencing which is now failing. His response? "Not my problem, it's non-structural and only has a 2 year warranty!" - so we're pursuing him under the "Not done with due care and skill;.." section of the ACL rather than the Home Building Act.

Just pointing out the discrepancy in logic. Landing fees aren't always in ERSA but can be found "elsewhere". Airport conditions of use documents definitely aren't in the ERSA but are often found "elsewhere" and they occasionally have ridiculous requirements in them. Such as the extra $150 fee for "refueling on council land" (Warnervale) or requirement to wear a plane-proof vest when refueling your RV at the bowser (Cessnock) - or the requirement for stupid insurance coverage (Goldy, Townsville, Isa , Longreach, Launceston...)

The landing fees may be shown in OzR but are the other conditions of operating at the airfields? For example - anyone lobbed into Longreach or the Gold Coast lately? Launceston? Have you checked your insurance policy to make sure you have the requisite $50M (USD) insurance coverage?

If you can tolerate the Council, Scone now has the Kittyhawk Cafe in their WOFTAM Warbirds museum. Good tucker, reasonable prices and good people. You can park on the apron right outside and the gate code is the CTAF.

A slight correction - they gave access to AvData (and individual Council's as well) - and then they told their members it was happening and updated their privacy policy after I called them out on their existing PP not allowing such use. I - and a few other members - lodged formal complaints to the OAIC about that, but it went nowhere.

Of course it is... Come back to me when you get stung paying a toll to drive through the Dubbo CBD. That's not a valid comparison. Paid parking - particularly in regional centers - is to encourage turnover of vehicles in the limited amount of parking spaces they have, thus preventing office lackeys and workers simply parking out the front of a business for the day and preventing actual shoppers from being able to park.

I "owe" hundreds of dollars to AvData in landing fees after they've tried to charge me for landing at places I've never been, or the asshats charging for individual landings at my local, when I'm entitled to an 'annual' landing fee and they consistently refuse to remove the bull$hit charges. So their invoices line my cats litter tray. AIUI from letters they've repeatedly sent, they don't have the authority to involve a collection agency as the debt is not with them, but with the individual airports. Anyway, some of the overdue charges go back years. And on that note, I've had one of the airports legitimately owed some coin ring me up - after getting my contact details from AvData mind you - asking when I'll pay it, and when I said "When AvData stop sending me fraudulent invoices - but if you want to send me one of yours [invoices] to pay, I'll pay it this afternoon". They did, I did and everyone lived happily ever after. Though the cost for the "Business services manager" at the large Queensland Council to find my phone number, make contact, listen to my spiel, generate an invoice and email it would have in fact cost more than the paltry amount they actually received for my single landing at their airport...