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from the ABC website: Ultralight crash pilot avoids jail over 2013 Bass Strait ordeal -------------------------------- Ultralight crash pilot Shayd Hector avoids jail over 2013 Bass Strait ordeal By Sallese Gibson Updated Tue at 3:59pm PHOTO: The Thruster ultralight that ditched into Bass Strait (Supplied) RELATED STORY: Rescued men 'lucky to survive' crash off Tasmania's north-east MAP: TASuntil they were winched to safety hours later, telling media they had feared shark attacks due to the fact they were bleeding from cuts and abrasions sustained in the crash. The court yesterday heard, at the time of the crash, Hector held a pilot's certificate - and not a pilot's licence - which only permitted him to fly less than 25 nautical miles from his departure point. At today's sentencing, Magistrate Sharon Cure described Hector's approach as "cavalier". "Taking the risk was unjustified," she said. "An extremely high level of responsibility is attached to the right to fly. "It's important a clear message is sent that reckless conduct leads to punishment." Magistrate Cure took into account Hector's guilty plea, his prospect for rehabilitation, the financial burden of the incident, the subsequent court action and his young family in sentencing him to six months' imprisonment, wholly suspended. "[You] only just avoided an actual term of imprisonment," she said. VIDEO: Two rescued after ultralight ditches into Bass Strait (7pm TV News TAS) Novice pilot disregarded expert advice, court told Prosecutors said Hector lied to two aviation experts in Tasmania, who questioned his qualifications for the journey. PHOTO: Shayd Hector said he is still mates with Joel Nelson. (ABC News: Sallese Gibson) The court heard the experts also advised Hector to fly near Tasmania's northern islands, so that if he encountered problems, he would not land in the sea, and that he did not submit a flight path "via the islands" as recommended. The court was also told Hector had to jump start the aeroplane in Bridport and was advised to delay the flight to give the battery time to recharge. He ignored the suggestion and departed soon after. The air speed indicator on the plane was also not working at the time of take-off. Magistrate Cure told the court Hector's dishonesty and recklessness were aggravating factors in the incident. "It's obvious to me that this offence shows a level of dishonesty about what he was doing," she said. "He knew that he shouldn't take the risk but did it anyway. "He didn't tell the truth about his training, and did it nonetheless." PHOTO: Shayd Hector and Joel Nelson clung to air mattresses after ditching their ultralight plane in Bass Strait. (ABC) Pilot, passenger still mates, court told The court heard Hector was extremely distressed when he made the mayday call, and was heard saying he "didn't want to die". Magistrate Cure described the call as "chilling". "He was distressed and didn't want to die but that clearly could have happened," she said. "I doubt they could have lasted much longer." Hector's lawyer Evan Hughes told the court Hector was "extremely grateful" to his rescuers. The court heard the incident and subsequent court case had "drained [him] financially", with debts estimated at more than $30,000. Mr Hughes said Hector and Mr Nelson remained good friends and neither suffered long-term injuries.

Met Gus a few times at Stawell and he seems very knowledgeable. If you listen closely you might detect a very slight Tecnam bias..but maybe that isn't such a bad thing. Enjoy your training.

Happened to visit Windytv, wind forecast just now to try to glean just how cloudy the BOMs 'cloudy' forecast for tomorrow was. In the past windytv gave a prediction of what was called 'low cloud' as well and wind speed, direction rain etc. But now to my delight windytv.com newly gives cloud base, (and medium, high, and total cloud if you care) Also a prediction of VFR, MVFR, IFR. Click on "rules" to change the units. This forecast is available by the hour ten days out. Obviously don't trust any weather that far out and be sure to check the official Air services NAIPS - but this is a great tool for initial planning. ...oh the result was crap until midday then contracting to the coast - all beautifully animated. Windytv, wind forecast

Apparently the Instruction was 20 left. Must have been one wide black strip too far across. Mind you the lack of numbers, piano keys and other markings should have been a clue. Maybe a case of fixation? But then I'll admit to landing on one runway with a white cross at the threshold.

I am curious about mt beauty. Haven't got there myself yet, but it looks like the strip is right next to town and the lake. Maybe a fly-in fishing trip? Also curious about the storch. I have considered them for a potential future purchase but the mtow concerns me. It looks like you can't get much fuel on if you're two up?

I am very interested having some sort of AOA feedback, but I think it would be best if it was audible. Say a slow rate of beep.......... beep........... beep starting as say 60% of critical and increasing to a solid tone just before stall. Think of a vario or reversing sensor type thing. Maybe?

Some Stunning aerial photography. Rural Australia Like You've Never Seen It Before Be sure to check out the video at the bottom of the page. J430 sans rear door.

Glass..... According to some instructors.

Another vote for the nexus 9 here. Love it. Goldilocks size, 4x3 format, real shame it's discontinued, Although it meant I got a bargain on runout. Also ozrunways for Android, while behind iOS, now has traffic which is very welcome.

And while I'm being honest a bit of confirmation bias was in there too. I expected to see nil wind so guess what I saw...

Yes, paralax can be a problem too. What I thought was limp against the side the other day, actually tuned out to be 5 on the tail. I was working rather hard to get down for a few circuits before a good look from a different angle made the reason all to clear. Fortunately I had plenty of runway length and would have gone round if I got really long. Might have been a good exercise to do on purpose one day - rather than by accident. Ha ha.

Swamp gas. Or a weather balloon..... Or a weather balloon filled with swamp gas. Regardless no cause for alarm. Move along.

Someone on this site recommended "windytv" a while back. I suspect it uses BOM data, but presents in a much better format. For example you can look at the wind direction and speed at different altitudes. You can also 'play' a video over a period and see the wind pick up during the day or a front come through. And you can see the forecast several days ahead. Very, very good. I still check NIAPS first for the official story, but windytv for a more complete picture. Web based: Windytv, wind forecast Android app: Windyty - Android Apps on Google Play

Ok so here's some fun. The centerfold of the recent "clear prop clear mind" contain some interesting statistics. Looking at 2015 for a whole year. - Total hours flown 211431.9 - members 9117 - average hours per member 23.19 So far so good. - Average age of pilot 60 - Average number of hours flying experience 1780. Now to accumulate the average number of hours (1780) at the average rate (23.19) would take 77 years. But the average age is only 60.... lies, damned lies, and statistics!

wow!

I don't know if there are any potential liability issues, but I would suggest a new factory built aircraft is wise. The foxbat A22LS at AUD $99k inc GST flyway is decent value. Aeroprakt A22LS prices and options.

It must take a good bootfull of rudder to keep that straight on throttle up! In fact I image you have to advance it fairly slowly to get some flow over the rudder first?

Thanks Octave - looks like fun. I wend down there last night but didn't hang around and didn't land on this occasion. The Cloud was starting to thicken and drop over the ranges and I got squeezed down more than I liked. Still above my LSALT, but would have certainly put me in the trees if the fan stopped. Additionally was becoming a bit concerned about remaining daylight also due to the cloud. I had a good look at the strip but had trouble gauging how steep it was. The information phone line does recommend a precautionary search. Not sure about wind a ground level, but it was a pretty strong at 2000ft. (I had had 45-60kn from the East) I think it would have been a down hill/ into wind or nothing. Decided to play it safe and came straight home via Anglesea where the cloud-to-hill gap was much bigger. Wye River looks pretty sad from the air.

Awesome thanks guys! I'll check it out.

Just wondering if anyone has some recent information on Apollo Bay/Marengo YAPO? I assume anyone in the area would be on Peterborough CTAF 127.1 Google earth makes it look like it has a reasonable gradient up away from the water. It this correct? I found the post below which as some good info. Any other tips appreciated. http://www.recreationalflying.com/threads/nearest-strip-to-lorne-vic.9748/#post-96557

I wonder if the wings came off due to overload in flight - or on impact where they might have floated off for some distance before sinking?

ATSB Preliminary report: https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2016/aair/ao-2016-006/ The tight turns over Ocean Grove are concerning - and it's hard to image they're sightseeing on a day like that. "Wreckage examination indicated that the aircraft’s fuselage and associated components were subjected to high impact forces and subsequently failed in overload. The aircraft’s wings were not located. A number of aircraft components, including the engine and propeller, were recovered for later technical examination." How sad.

Is this it? "Plane Resurrection" (preview only) Thank god it's not an American psuedomentry the quality of some of those is dreadful.

What a ripper idea. I have been thinking about syndicates lately, but just don't know where to start. It would be great to be able to access some sort of guide with suggestions of what is a fair split of fixed and variable costs as well as a list of "what ifs" for those scenarios you wouldn't necessarily think of up front but could sour the relationship. Maybe a framework agreement that could be customised as required but atleast providesa solid start.

The numbers in the scenario and the conclusion "probably resulted in an accelerated aerodynamic stall" come from the ATSB. In level flight I think the analysis is solid. I am not so sure about the application in a high rate descending turn.