Jerry_Atrick

Out of interest, are gas venting sites not marked on charts in Aus?

Well, so far, not much flying this year.. though the account to fund flying is building - so that is OK, I guess... Just got an email from the paint shop - er.. they forgot to paint the undercarriage - and given the whole reason it is in the paintshop is because someone belly-landed it, seems incredulous. A 4 week paint job in for our 4 months! A non-equity syndicate in a C172 near me has just opened up - min 6 months membership.. may join that for 6 months while waiting for this to get out of the shop.

Hmmm I will relegate myself to WUA..

I am showing my shallow knowledge of aircraft types.. I would have thought a Cessna of some sort - But the cowl, spinner and fin don't look right... Early C150?

4 months in to a 1 month job and it is almost ready to be put back together, My iPad is still in there apparently, but my guess is that it is useless asn I can't remember the passcode..

Bloody miss flying in Oz sometimes.. Here they don't do PAL much at all...

Gawwwd, Peter... When are you going to post a PA28 Warrior?

Hmmm.. Put my hand up.. a confirmation bias thing.. Seeing them instantly shouted non-CoA.

Doing your research is a sure fire way to mitigate the risks/pitfalls a lot of people make. I am not sure about Qantas or other airliyou to have ne sponsorship program in Aus; but over here they don't accept applicants with anything more than a couple of hours in their logbook - guess they want to embedd SOPs from day one or something. Now, if you're like me that had eyes at the time that technically required minor corrective lenses, my understanding is that military aviation as a pilot anyway is off limits in Aus (it was when I went to join the RAAF and becoming what is probably now a defunct role, a weapons officer, was not my idea of fun). At around the time I was thirty, I was in the UK and working on a defence project. I had to get to a meeting PDQ so hired a Warrior from the flight school literally down the road to my office and flew the RAF base the proejct was based at - ahh the good ol; days when yuo could expense almost everything.. Anyway, one of the flight officers walked up to me and asked about my flying credentials.. and then suggested that I may want to join the RAF and although too old for fast jets - could fly Nimrods or such.. When I explained I wore specs (part time, then - mainly for night driving and lectures - where I always sat at the back), he said they got rid of that rule years ago - they wanted to spread their net as wide as possible to get good pilots (not asserting he necessarily thought I was a good pilot). So, come over 'ere and apply to jointhe RAF or Fleet air arm... Now that we have got Brexit upon us and the likelihood is any trade deal with Aus will include movement of people, it is good fun (and the Red Arrows - Roulettes equivalent - still use jets, to boot)

Yes.. I saw it in a Pilot magazine (UK) write up = quite favourable. Unf, a couple of things were conspiring against it.. a) It was released at the height of plastic fantastics being hailed as the panacea to an ageing training fleet, solution to costs of aviation and a fashion statement. The Whitney was solid but old school.. Second, the Aussie Dollar was probably at its all time high (I know it sold in US $, but their costs were ultimately in AUD even if his suppliers billed in USD). I think at the time it was around $1.43 to the £.. And was the Aussie worth more than the USD at the time? I can't recall.. So from memory, a two seat trainer was smething like USD $200K or thereabouts. Compare this to a C150 at the time going for, say, USD $30K with reasonable hours, the extra investment if required meant a scholl had a hardr and proven trainer that would go for many more throusands of hours at, say a quarter of the price. Even though it is out of production and finding spares can be a pain in the proverbial. There;s a reason why Cessna no longer male them.. they made 'em good and as a result even they can't move new ones for the same reasons. Also, with a plentiful C172/PA28 and in Europe, Tecnam fleet now, it is just too tough for a new trainer. Shame.. With respect to comparing Soar to Oxford, I am not sure the photos do Soar justice. When I was out there, the Soar aircraft parked did look impressive for an RAA training fleet and were tidily parked up, even if the colour is a little lacking some class. But that is the point I made some posts ago - it is an RAA fleet, not a GA fleet and given one needs GA licences on their way to an ATPL, why on earth would Soar (or at least an RAA certificate) feature in a commerical training course? The CAA here are doing a consultation about allowing ab initio training for a PPL being conducted in permit/LAA (equivalent of RAA) aircraft.. but it is still for a PPL. Oxford are clearly an outfit to train to ATPL level. Over here, they have three tiers of students - Airline sponsored, Self-Sponsored and those that are just getting a PPL because they are convenient to the student (not even sure they accept the latter anymore). There is apparently a clear distinction amongst the ranks, with the first looking down on both the others, and the second looking down on the third. I think Box Hill (of which I have been a student of) have something to answer to.. Thy seem to have minted a training course with not bothering to unserstand what is entailed to obtain the qualification they coveting (for want of a better word).

Using the VET scheme, I would think there would be a good income (not going to make $66M; maybe just $33M) if one acted with integrity and didn't accept any old bozo who walked through the door... Can you imagine if you were offering instruction through the VET scheme.. Can charge $50/hr more than regular schools - have a steady stream of students while the so-called pilot shortage is around.. Good pass rate - more people want to go through you.. You then hit critical mass where you can be very selective an your pass rate rockets up to 99%... They are on loans, you are getting a darned good rate and you are at capacity (inc spare planes for when one goes U/S). We have an ex stude who has paid.. ahem.. $80K for a sub ICAO ticket.. I think tis time to look at the Upper Cumbucta West TAFE college to deliver the theory, grab a couple of well proven (aka used) PA28s/C172s, establish an operation at Numurkah airstrip (it will have a certificate to say it's licenced) charge $250/hr for the privilege and sip pina coladas on the way to the bank (leaving enough to bribe the plod with the breathalizer). Seriously, there is a good living to be had.. if one doesn't become too greedy... I may have to see if I can entice my old instructor/examoner out of retirement...

I would call that precision flying - look how well it is parked...

I occasionally fly from Dunks when I need a hit in the Warrior.... Good aerodrome by UK standards. and only 20 mins from my real house.. Booker is great (esp when it was British Airways FC - as it was a real FC). WHite Waltham is the home of the only real flying club anywhere near London - the West London Aero Club.. but the runways are.. bumpy... Dunsfold - would love to get it in my logbook, but if onew is not home based, it has a terrible reputation for allowing others to arrive... They tried to turn it into a housing estate. I actually have not looked at Dunsfold for ages... There are a couple of private strips south of Fairoaks.. .and then there is.. Fairoaks (my fave airfield around that side of town - I am at the Bushe (EGLK), but it is too namby pamby for me.. @derekliston, does Phil fly his own or rent from DSFT (or privately). If there is a private rental there, would love to know.

@kaz3g, dafrned good point - they want to get a lien on those a/c ASAP... Re selling them and being desparate (from our man with a suspended sentence ?) - well, my guess is their income stream is expected to rapidly dry up and that $66M valuation will probably plummet to the ground faster than his studes have.. I was going to say, mind you they are probably high time and have been beaten aruond a bit, but from the looks of it, only a few studes got up (in the air, fellas) and when they did, the outcome was less than impressive (for the purposes of liability, that was a joke - no libel intended). In that colour, I may buy them and satrt a complany - Yellow Cabs...

Take it easy squire.. health is more important than anything.... I understand the frustration of not being able to fly for a long time.. When I was waiting to do my qualifying x-country in the UK, every day I had booked was unflyable - let every day (and I do mean every day) it wasn't booked there was gloriour flying weather.. Even the flight instructors couldn't believe it. Well, I learned something about press-on-itis about that... (I wrote a readers experience that was in the back page of Aussie Flying about it). The TB20 I bought into went into the paint shop at the beginning of October for a repsray.. "Ahh mate. may take around a month if you're unlucky..." The photo below came on Friday.. With any luck, next week they will start putting it together.. And for this time of year, we have had wonderful flying weather.. right up until about now... I have a theory.. My father hated my flying with a passion... I think after he passed away, he just scraped past the pearly gates and now every time I am about to do something, he bigs the old fella until he caves in and sends bad weather, faulty paint or something down to stop me flying ?

Isn't the drunken frivolity the whole reason to go.. I hear one has to camp as they don't take accommodation bookings at the hotel these days...

A very enterprising young man - so good on him for that.... Selling to PEs probably not the best way to go.. because they, like VCs want to see very good returns and growth... and unless he was in cash flow drought territory, the services of a board of directors or business mentors may have been a better approach...

Things have obviosuly moved on in Australia since I had emigrated, but why on earth would one do a recreational licence on the way to a CPL? Wouldn't it be better to go straight tfor the PPL? And back to the students, even with fee assistance, if one is going to depart with c. 80K of their money, even at the age of 17 or so, surely it wouldn't be beyond the realms of logic to darned well do some research before committing that cash. Expensive lesson for them (that they should not have had to learn). I remember when I started to learn to fly, back before the days of the WWW, when a PPL costs something like $4K from memory (of one did the course in average time), it was straight to the newsagent and copies of Aussie Aviation and Aussie Flying for a couple of months, visited every school at Moorabbin, as well as Baccus Marsh (TVSA where there at the time) and other schools/instructors at other airfields before making a decision. Most students at the time went through much the same process. Also, it was common that one used the same insructor all the way through (not sure about now)... When I realised the one I settled on was not quite up to the standard I expected, I ditched him for another, which worked like a charm. Now with the intersplodge, it is so much easier to access unbiased/independent information - many mag sites put their articles online for free these days.. There are always bumps along the way that can't be controlled or just happen due to circumstances, slip ups, etc, but the above student's write up does ring of intentional fraud... which may mean the stuents can personally go after the CEO and directors rather than a $2 company.

Welcome, Lee... I used to live in Surrey - now Somerset.. Used to fly from Fairoaks and now a bit closer to Somerset... The 'Bushe... And occasionally Dunkeswell... Hope to see you around some time... Cheers, JA

I do tend to take marked up paper maps and track progress on them and a PLOG. I have had two handheld GPS failures - one lost signal (although there was no NOTAM of GPS signal jamming, one can't discount it) and one where for some reason, I could fly @ 180 degrees from the course and it was still showing me tracking along the magenta line (in the right direction). I sort of like navigating the old way (how many VORs and NDBs are left in Aus.. there are fewer and fewer left in the UK) amd still manually mark up my map and measure track direction, use a whizzwheel (that I bought from La Trobe Valley flying club back in '96 which is metal and built to last) to calculate deviation ad headings and compare to the flight planning software version. Where controlled airspace is not an issue (and I mean like the one in South East England - not a few steps around Tullamarine), I often don't even bother with the GPS and only use the flight planning software for easy integration of information such as weather, NOTAMs, terrain and the like. In my first GPS failure, I was relying on th GPS and found my actual track was pretty horrid, oscillating about the magenta line like a muted radio/sine wave. When I lost signal, I used the old trick of pointing at a land mark in the distance and suddenly I was flying much more accurately in the horizontal plane. I now have another adventure in the calendar - June 9 - 13... An Italian member of the UK flyer forums organises a forum flyout to Italy every couple of years or so. It happens he is doing it this year. I have missed the last three and intend to do this.. It is usually is to an airfield in Northern Italy. The routing will be south along the east of the Alps, across Southern France and into Italy.

You are not wrong, sir... We also have the concept of non-equity syndicates, which are basically private rental agreements where those renting pay a fixed monthly fee in return for rentl rates substantially cheaper than the local flight school. Often, people think it is the renter who can't afford flying.. I had a look at a couple of these and in both cases it was exactly as Spacey described...

@skippydiesel, agree the problems are usually the entry of a third party and I think it will test the syndicate agreement, written or not. In the first syndicate, we had a new member who was a pain.. He didn't do anything terribly wrong, but kept on doing minor things wrong to the point where it was just frustrating.. Things like overtightening the dipstick all the time or forgetting to lock the doors; not properly stowing stuff afterwards, etc. Not stuff that would compromise the safety of the flight, but after a while, the other syndicate members were getting mightilly peeved. In the end, a meeting was called in which he was invited and it was discussed. It was agreed that he would either shape up or the syndicate would use the engine fund to purchase back his share at a slight depreciation and then on-sell to someone else. Never needed to withdraw a penny - magically he tidied up his act. In the same syndicate, there were a two members who were peeved.. We found some skin corrosion in a 100 hourly and some of the syndicate wanted to simply have it patched (at a cost of c. £2k from memory), while others wanted to do a full bare metal respray (at £17k). Now, the only rule that would be in a written agreement about this sort of stuff would be that it would be put to a vote and a majority (or possibly qualified majority) would decide. From memory, 6 of the 8 voted for a full bare metal respray (I was in the 6). One of those vented their frustration quite robustly. So even existing members that have different outlooks will occasionally clash.. I am not saying no to central written rules for syndicates - of course they work. I am just saying it doesn't necessarily have to be written - it will depend on one's comfort zone. As an FYI, here is a share for sale: https://afors.com/aircraftView/48214 It should be perfect for me as it is at the local airfield and would make an ideal second shareoplane or even the main one,, But after 5 minutes talking to a previous share seller, I decided the syndicate was not for me,.. too many rules...

@onetrack, I get your point and if it were a syndicate of 2 or 3, I would probably want something in writing. But I woud find it difficult to believe that say 6 of 8 would lie or deny a rule if it came to it. Most of the stuff is covered by law, anyway and it is the things like does one have to clean the plane afterwards, the costs/charges, the exit process, etc that are pretty variable. For example, if you lose your job and can't pay the monthlies, etc.. It all changes by vote, anyway... Changes are usually confirmed in email, so I supppse this is a form of written agreement, but there is no central documented agreement. I think the other thing is syndicates have bee a common way of owning planes here for a very long time that it has matured a bit