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SPORT PILOT | August 2018
CONTENTS
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48
TABLE OF CONTENTS REGULARS 06 08 10 60 70
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From the President Calendar of Events Letters to the Editor Classifieds Final Approach
COLUMNS 20 21 33 56
Maintenance AGM Dalton on Safety News from the Ops team
FEATURES 12 16 38 42 48 52 54
The Sassy Topaz The Sky Dart RV-9A Jim’s Spitfire HypeR Tiger Fun Homebuilding Selling your Aircraft
PROFILES 28 34 36
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Ercoupe Taya’s Pony Youth Take to the Sky SPORT PILOT | August 2018
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CONTACTS
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT HEAD OFFICE PO Box 1265 Fyshwick ACT 2609 Australia Unit 3, 1 Pirie Street Fyshwick ACT 2609 International: +61 (2) 6280 4700 National: (02) 6280 4700 Fax: +61 (2) 6280 4775 Email: admin@raa.asn.au www.raa.asn.au
CEO
Michael Linke ceo@raa.asn.au NATIONAL FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION MANAGER Maxine Milera admin@raa.asn.au NATIONAL OPERATIONS MANAGER Jill Bailey ops@raa.asn.au 0400 280 087 ASSISTANT OPERATIONS MANAGER Neil Schaefer ops@raa.asn.au 0428 282 870 NATIONAL TECHNICAL MANAGER Darren Barnfield techmgr@raa.asn.au 0417 942 977 ASSISTANT TECHNICAL MANAGER Jared Smith jared.smith@raa.asn.au 0418 125 393 NATIONAL SAFETY, RISK AND COMPLIANCE safety@raa.asn.au 0418 445 652 EDITOR Mark Smith editor@sportpilot.net.au.au DEPUTY EDITOR Michelle Smith ART DIRECTOR Melinda Vassallo
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SPORT PILOT | August 2018
ENQUIRIES General Enquires: admin@raa.asn.au Aircraft and Maintenance Enquires: tech@raa.asn.au Pilot and Membership Enquires: members@raa.asn.au ACN 070 931 645 DIRECTORS Michael Monck (Chairman) 0419 244 794 Michael.Monck@raa.asn.au
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Trevor Bange 0429 378 370 Trevor.Bange@raa.asn.au
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Eugene Reid 0428 824 700 Eugine.Reid@raa.asn.au
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Rod Birrell 0422 446 622 Rod.Birrell@raa.asn.au
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Luke Bayly 0421 463 967 Luke.bayly@raa.asn.au L AVIATION
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While every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the content of this magazine, no warrant is given or implied. The content is provided to you on condition that you undertake all responsibility for assessing the accuracy of the content and rely on it at your own risk. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of people named in this magazine. Recreational Aviation Australia Ltd and Stampils Publishing reserve the right to decline any article, letter or comment deemed unacceptable for whatever reason. No endorsement or responsibility is implied or accepted for any product advertised in this magazine. Advertisers and buyers are each responsible for ensuring products advertised and/or purchased via this magazine meet all appropriate Australian certification and registration requirements, especially those pertaining to CASA and RAAus. NOTE: All aircraft featured in the magazine are registered and legally permitted to fly. However, photographs of them may be altered without notice for editorial purposes. The Editor’s Choice column is designed to draw attention to potential safety issues through exaggeration and humour and is not meant to be historically accurate.
SPORT PILOT | August 2018
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COLUMN
FROM THE CHAIR: MICHAEL MONCK LOOKING AHEAD TO A STRONGER FUTURE
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n the past few days some members of your board, the CEO and I have attended the Wagga aviation summit along with around 30 other organisations and individuals. During the two days it became apparent that there are a number of issues facing our industry and there is no silver bullet to fix everything. A lot was talked about and a number of solutions were bandied around. The main focus of the gathering was the reform of the Civil Aviation Act and throughout the discussions, my awareness of the lack of understanding of legislative and regulatory framework that governs aviation increased. In the room it seemed that we had a bunch of very experienced and knowledgeable aviators that are brilliant at flying, but not so strong on how our legislative framework operates. This is understandable as they are trained to maintain and fly aircraft, however it leads to a disconnect between the purpose of the Act and the issues that were being raised. While some parts of the conversation definitely related to the Act and the underlying regulations, other parts were quite removed. We talked about the classification of operations which definitely falls into the realm of CASA and the documents governing its activities. At other times the conversation turned to airports, air space and other pressures that we face as an industry. These things are all covered by other pieces of legislation and associated instruments. In total I identified seven Acts that were discussed without much awareness of which was being talked about at any given time. The core focus of the event was twofold. AOPA proposed some changes that would see other factors considered when making regulations. Namely, the changes centred on the inclusion of economic concerns when CASA makes a regulatory change and also specifically stated that the indus-
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SPORT PILOT | August 2018
try should be supported and promoted. None of this is viewed as a negative by RAAus, in fact quite the opposite, but we do need to be aware of what is already in place. For example, examine the way that CASA operates. They have government who directs CASA by way of a minister, currently the Deputy Prime Minister. The next layer is the board whose responsibilities include ensuring that CASA performs its functions properly. Then we have the Director of Aviation Safety (DAS), also a member of the board, who takes on the day to day responsibility of running the show. That’s the structure, there’s also the functions. Of course the Act is the primary piece of paper that tells CASA what to do but there is a piece of the Act, specifically S12A, which allows the minister to give CASA a notice via the board. This notice may include matters such as the strategic direction of CASA as well as the manner in which CASA must perform its functions. The same section also notes that the board must act in accordance with such a notice. Such a notice has been given in the form of the Statement of Expectations that is regularly revised by the minister. The current statement says the minister expects CASA to “consider the economic and cost impact” of new and amended regulatory changes. So we have already ticked the first box that was highlighted at the summit. The second change, that related to promoting the industry, is also covered. In one of those other Acts I mentioned earlier there is a clause that couldn’t be any clearer in my mind. The objects of the Airports Act are defined in S3A and the very first one says “promote the sound development of civil aviation in Australia”. It doesn’t limit this in any way whatsoever.
To me the question then becomes not one of what changes are necessary, but more about how do we ensure that the various government departments, agencies, authorities and so forth actually carry out their functions as stated in the various legal instruments that outline what they are meant to do in the first place. RAAus has a role to play in this, and a very important one at that. To this end it is worthwhile turning our mind to the immediate future and begin to understand how we might be effective in doing this. Like CASA, RAAus has a board. You, as a member, have the opportunity to influence what this board looks like. I may sound like a scratched record when I say it but the importance of this should not be overlooked. In the past five years or so we have had an effective board that has successfully returned RAAus to a credible organisation in the eyes of policy makers. A while back we stumbled, but now we once again hold a respected position in the industry. We often have discussions with policy makers and those who implement the policy. We play a pivotal role in promoting aviation through participation in major events such as AirVenture, Avalon and so on. We have seats on key industry panels including the Australian Aviation Associations Forum, the Aviation Safety Advisory Panel and the General Aviation Advisory Group. Having said all this, we need people that can effectively leverage this for the benefit of members and the aviation industry as a whole. It is time to vote for the new board, so take a look at the election statements and ask yourself a simple question: does the person I am about to vote for have the skills and expertise to advance the cause of aviation in Australia? We need people that clearly understand their role as a board
To me the question then becomes not one of what changes are necessary but more about how do we ensure that the various government departments, agencies, authorities and so forth actually carry out their functions as stated in the various legal instruments that outline what they are meant to do in the first place.
member. People that understand how the law works and how it affects us. People who are effective at influencing policy and change. Importantly, we need people who can look to the future and understand what it means in terms of affecting your ability to build, buy or fly your plane.
Look for things such as a sound understanding of governance, compliance and regulation - skills that can take us forward and help to consider and also shape the future. Experience in strategy development and an ability to deliver. Someone who can consider these things in the context of
RAAus and your activities. These are the things that will help us remain as a credible organisation and one that protects your ability to fly. As I said earlier, RAAus has an important role to play in aviation. We are the largest member-based aviation body in Australia and we need a sound board made up of quality people so we can, when needed, mobilise those numbers to help our fellow aviators, inside and outside of RAAus, build a better future. The goal is flying safely and as freely as possible from unneeded or unintended government influence. So vote with knowledge, and make sure you show your numbers at AirVenture. That way the message is sent loud and clear - we are a force that deserves the respect born of numbers and AirVenture shows we, as recreational aviators, are a unified movement.
Michael Monck
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EVENTS NEW SOUTH WALES ARMIDALE. SUNDAY 19TH AUGUST. Armidale Aero club monthly morning tea and BBQ lunch. Why not saddle up for a nice excuse to go for a fly? Details: 0428242471 WAGGA. SUNDAY 5TH AUGUST. Looking for a place to fly on a nice Sunday? Wagga Aero Club is hosting its monthly Fly in lunch. $15 buys you a nice feed. Call John Smith on 0408 692929 for information. CESSNOCK. THURSDAY 20TH TO SATURDAY 22ND SEPT. AIRVENTURE 2018. The event you must get to is getting closer. Pre purchase your tickets for a great discount. More details in this issue of Sport Pilot. www.airventureaustralia.com.au TUMUT. SAT 6TH OCTOBER. THE ANNUAL TUMUT VALLEY FLY IN. A seriously beautiful part of Australia. It’s a great two day social event with an all-day BBQ, dinner Sat night. See website for Airport Lodge accommodation.
QUEENSLAND MARYBOROUGH. SATURDAY 11TH AUGUST. Maryborough Aero Club in conjunction with Ford Motor Club will hold a fly-in and motor show for lovers of machines that travel through the air and along the ground. Details: secretary@mayrboroughaeroclub.com or 0417 730 539. MACKAY. SATURDAY 11TH AUGUST. Mechanos is a combination of unique mechanical and technical exhibitions and shows to appeal to all ages. Mechanos has evolved from the previous Wings & Wheels Mackay event and has developed in size and offering. Expect multiple planes and air-related activities. www.mechanos.com.au BIRDSVILLE. 29TH AUGUST TO 1ST SEPTEMBER. The famous Birdsville races and fly-in are on again. It’s a bucket list item for many aviators, so why not make this year the one? Ballina Aero Club will run the airfield. Gary Faulks is the guy to call on 0418663666. Aero Club will run the airfield. Gary Faulks is the guy to call on 0418663666.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. WILLIAM CREEK. SAT 29TH SEPTEMBER TO MONDAY 1ST OCTOBER Come along to the inaugural William Creek Outback Fly-In! It’s all happening over the September long weekend, You can expect zero landing fees, awesome local live music, a flying competition (spot landing, STOL, flour bombing), accommodation and meal packages at the William Creek Hotel, AFL Grand Final screening, Outback Games, OzRunways and RFDS, and a lot more. Please RSVP on their Facebook event page, and email details of your aircraft and number of passengers to wrightsair@bigpond.com.
VICTORIA KYNETON. SATURDAY 1ST SEPTEMBER. The Kyneton gourmet hot dog brunch is on again. Enjoy relaxed atmosphere and interesting aeroplanes that are a part of the culture of this lovely country airfield. SHEPPARTON. SUNDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER. The Goulburn Valley Aero Club’s famous pancake breakfast is enticing you to head up and enjoy all you can eat pancakes for $10 and barista coffee for $5. Join the flock and fly on up. Call Lucy on 0435 885 212 for all the details.
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SPORT PILOT | August 2018
COLUMN
FROM THE CEO: MICHAEL LINKE ITS YOUR TIME TO VOTE From RAAus CEO Michael Linke.
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his issue of Sport Pilot is a very special issue. Each August we get a copy to all of our members, not only subscribers. First and foremost thank you to our subscribers. Your support since 2015 has really allowed Sport Pilot to flourish. We’d love to see more members subscribe and support the magazine. The new format is looking fantastic and soon our companion website will offer a much richer and deeper experience, so get your subscription today. Also contained in this issue are the nomination statements for the eight candidates who would like to serve on our Board. We have two positions that require an election and I urge every member to fully consider the statements and exercise their vote in a way that continues to support RAAus and our ongoing positive progress. RAAus has made significant progress in four key areas since 2014. 1 We have completely overhauled how we govern RAAus. 2 We have developed a safety framework which has allowed us to be safer than
ever before. 3 We have delivered on our strategic plan, with a new forward looking plan about to be introduced 4 We have resolved ongoing financial deficits and are now on solid financial footing. We have much work to do and the Board plays a crucial role in ensuring strategically and policy wise this work is achievable. We need to further progress our push for CTA and increased weight, having made significant progress in the last 12 months. We need to transition to a Part 149 organisation. We need to raise our level of advocacy to ensure our members get the best aviation experience possible. There is so much to do and i look to our members to use their vote and ensure whomever you vote for that you take a diligent and thoughtful approach when voting. Michael Linke
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FEATURE
FIRST SOLOS Kelly Bradkte had the pleasure of enjoying her first solo in one of Stephen Conte’s Hummerchutes. These are amongst the easiest ways known to get airborne and she is to be congratulated, along with Frank Carmeralli who also soloed in July. Kelly was full of praise for her instructor Stephen Conte, writing “My success had a lot more to do with my confidence in you than anything else, so it really should be congratulations and heartfelt thanks to you!”
Leeanne Kaplan and her first Solo flight.
Leo Lin is from Hong Kong. He is a university student and currently working towards his recreational pilot certificate. He has mainly been training to learn to fly during his summer holidays and completed his first solo in July.
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SPORT PILOT | August 2018
Learn to Fly RPC student Leeanne Kaplan won’t be forgetting her 15th birthday in a hurry. She started studying the theory components for her Recreational Pilot Certificate (RPC) at age 13, patiently waiting until she was 14 to be allowed to take the controls of an aircraft in flight under the guidance of her instructor. And then, on the day of her 15th birthday, Leeanne successfully completed her first solo flight. Given that 15 is the minimum legal age at which you are actually allowed to fly solo, Leeanne is surely one of very few people that have actually achieved that milestone so early.
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FLIGHT TEST
TOPAZ. CLASSY, SASSY, INSPIRED Nicholas Christie samples a sleek Pole that flies every bit as well as it looks.
EASTERN EUROPEAN DESIGN.
Having travelled to Poland in 2004 for a few days while living in Europe, I have a great respect for the determination, hard work and tenacious spirit of its people. I also believe their best days are yet to come because, like most of the post-Soviet Union Eastern Bloc states, this is a country that will thrive once access to improved infrastructure and opportunity becomes available to the masses. Poland is one of the emerging centres in Eastern Europe for innovation in design, IT and engineering. And it now produces some fabulous sport aircraft that are as practical as they are gorgeous to the eye.
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The Ekolot KR-030 is one of a few such aircraft and it’s gaining popularity there, the US and in Australia as GA’s otherwise long-flying servants (Cessna, Piper et al) start ‘rusting’ beyond financially viable repair. PPHU Ekolot is responsible for the Topaz and its factory is in the medieval fortified town of Krosno, close to the Slovakian border in Poland’s south east. In my quest to find a flight instructor to finish off my RAAus endorsement (conversion, check, stamp, whatever we want to call it), I was introduced to an experienced GA/RAAus instructor who was smart enough to also take on the distrib-
utorship of this little Polish number. And I was that impressed, I promised myself I’d tell you all about it.
TOPAZ IN AUSTRALIA AND NZ.
I took a drive to Riddells Creek, near Sunbury on Melbourne’s northern fringe, to meet Airsports Flying School chief instructor Rod Birrell. It’s a simple operation with two instructors, a hangar/briefing room setup complete with fridge, coffee, biscuits and a very friendly atmosphere. I often say that you know how a light aircraft will fly by looking at it. While perhaps not entirely true in every sense, the Topaz has a long, thin (10.8m) can-
PHOTOS: NICHOLAS CHRISTIE
tilevered high-wing, three wheels (conventionally positioned, or not, depending on your viewpoint), an empty weight of 290kg and gross weight of just under 500kg. A Rotax 912ULS makes it go about 110kts in the cruise and the iS version gives you another few knots which are more noticeable at higher altitudes. An optional constant speed propeller brings performance up to a cruise speed of 120kts when all equipment is combined. The newest KR-030 Topaz rounds off the range of three aircraft, starting with the JK-01A Elf motor glider, and JK-05L Junior ultralight (20 knots slower than the Topaz with strut-braced wings). All are
Owner Greg Davidson.
SPORT PILOT | August 2018
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sleek, composite, strong and appealing to the eye. The airframe is a carbon-fibre and vinyl-ester resin composite and therefore extremely strong and resistant to high temperatures. I was guessing that because it’s got a high wing loading and it’s composite, it’s going to glide really well, essentially land like a Cessna 152 in the flare, climb adequately, and be fidgety in turbulence. I also thought I’d be cramped in the seat and Rod and I would be ‘well-acquainted’ by the time we landed. It turns out that I was partially right.
TOPAZ STYLING.
It’s like the aerodynamics guys at Ekolot ordered a huge amount of butcher’s paper then flew in designers from Alfa Romeo in Italy to consult for a few days on what it should look like inside and out. In the new Topaz, styling is clearly a top priority. The level of styling and refinement makes a Foxbat look like one of those old boxy 1980s Volvos with cloth trim and an ever-so-square dash. There’s nothing much wrong with the Foxbat as a flying machine, but there’s nowhere near the same sex appeal as the Topaz, which this pilot thinks is important in our otherwise romance-deprived sport aircraft industry.
PRE-FLIGHT AND START.
Rod was very clear with his pre-flight walk-around and explanation of the controls, But there’s nothing to do outside the ordinary. You ‘burp’ the Rotax before checking oil levels, check all the hinges, landing gear and make sure you have enough 95 Mogas. Dual 35 litre tanks are on-board for about 3.5 hours’ endurance with an option to increase to 95 litres which gives 4.75 hours endurance, less your reserves. Inside, it’s a comfortable centre-stick design and the throttles sit on your door side. I would personally prefer it to be a single, centre-mounted throttle lever, but it probably got in the way while they were working out where to put it. Given the number of times I tried to unsuccessfully push a single throttle with the hand of a ‘frozen’ student not letting go, it’s probably best left where it is so each person has their own during training. Electric flaperons, stick-mounted trim and PTT, an electronic EFIS, easy to reach switches and a fuel system selector controlled in front of the pilot rather than behind (like some other sport aircraft)
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makes one feel more secure. I don’t know why having fuel selectors behind me is unnerving, it just is. There’s something nice about being inside the Topaz. It feels like a new sports car rather than a clunky aircraft and that feels comfortable and reassuring. There’s plenty of space for two, with a centre console that actually has capacity to store (small) stuff separating both bodies. The manufacturer claims 1.2m cabin width. I didn’t check, but it feels the design team might have had a touch too many glasses of vino when writing up this part of the technical manual. It’s very spacious nonetheless. The distinct sense is of one of individuality rather than the familiar sardines and tins scenario that we seem to accept in our sport aircraft. It’s no corporate jet, but it’s very comfortable and utterly functional. Use the choke for cold starts like any Rotax 912 and steering is via rudder and a centrally-mounted, hand-operated brake, which works well. The flaperons need to be set to 10 degrees for take-off and there’s no mixture control or carb heat so students need not worry about those two things. I guess this helps them to focus on learning to handle the aircraft rather than manage the engine, which to my mind is a good thing in ab-initio stages of training. For many other reasons, including these, the Topaz is a very effective aircraft for the first 30 (or so) hours of initial flight training.
FLYING THE TOPAZ.
Take-off was uneventful enough not to elaborate here, and the climb out was normal, with half a boot-full of right rudder needed to kick the ball through the goals. Two people, half tanks, 28C, and we were climbing about 1000 ft/min, from memory. We climbed to 3500ft and did some basic manoeuvres like steep turns, climbs, descents and a stall or two. There is a pronounced wing drop (one way only) without flap in the stall, so the stick needs to sit centrally and you need to dance a little with those feet to get it back straight. Outside of that it’s fairly docile and easily recoverable - certainly worth doing for the practice although, as Rod demonstrated, it’s far more docile in the landing configuration. To say I flew the Topaz particularly well wouldn’t be true. There’s a couple of things that you need to re-adjust to, and most are not because of the type so much as the lightness of the aircraft. I’m the
kind of pilot who gets it wrong and wants to know why, then needs to practice to perfect it. Unfortunately there was no time for perfection, so showing that I could fly safely and competently was the best I could do on this flight. And that’s what most people will find. You need about two hours on it to get it right, particularly in the circuit. As far as I could see, there were three reasons for my average flying in the Topaz. The first is the adverse yaw that the Topaz generates with aileron input. Rod showed me a few times and the aircraft really does yaw the opposite way on initial application of aileron. It requires a significant rudder input to get this right and the coordination is tricky if you’re not used to it’s easy enough to fix with practice or if you’re a seasoned ultra/RA aircraft pilot. The second reason is the fact that the Topaz is mighty slippery and glides very well. The wing design is close to that of a glider (largely from Ekolot’s background in glider wing design) so a forced landing in this thing means picking a field further
away than a conventional RA/GA aircraft and flying a wider circuit, subject to wind conditions. Flaperon really doesn’t help much, so I found myself high on the forced landing approach. Having to side-slip with flap isn’t advised outside of an emergency. I would have made it, but I think I would have provided the cows at the end of the paddock some entertainment and possibly started a fire from my red-hot brakes. The last reason relates to the final (critical) part of the flight. As well as being slippery on approach the Topaz wants to float in the flare. If you’re used to larger aircraft, the flare needs to be down very low (Rod says it’s like landing a flying gokart) to get a good result. I was trying to land the Topaz like it was a light twin so another go made for some improvement, rather than perfection. Speaking to a 16-year-old student pilot over lunch at the field, the Topaz is easy to get used to and really enjoyable to learn on for inexperienced pilots. I agree. I think the aircraft is under-marketed for flight train-
The distinct sense is of one of individuality rather than the familiar sardines and tins scenario that we seem to accept in our sport aircraft. It’s no corporate jet, but it’s very comfortable and utterly functional.
ing and fewer people know about it than it deserves. While ab-initio training is one thing, for the private pilot the Topaz is a solid tourer for two people and light bags, or just a heap of fun. Most importantly, it provides a sense of genuine sporty style, comfort and finish that’s usually found in a far more pricey machine. The Topaz will be an aircraft to watch at an airfield near you. In the meantime,
you can have a go (Rod said he’ll give $50 off if you mention this article) with a half hour dual flight at Riddells Creek. Beware though - most who fly the Topaz smile widely, and many who smile widely will find themselves unable resist ordering one. AirSports is at Riddells Creek Airfield, 280 Websters Road, Clarkefield. Ph: 0422 446 622 or visit www.airsports.net
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FEATURE PHOTOS: MARK SMITH
DARTING THROUGH THE SKY ON THE CHEAP Rob Knight goes back in time with another design that shows how far RAAus has come.
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hirteen years ago Bob Hyam bought his Sky Dart III as a temporary fill-in while his Drifter was being re-sparred and re-bagged, but a love affair developed that burns as bright as ever. It was in 2005 while living in Queensland’s sunny Cawarral that Bob bought a little Australian-designed, single-seat Sky Dart III. He had been enamoured with its elegant lines for some time and when he saw one for sale near Canberra, he made the trek to see it first-hand, have it inspected, and he closed the deal. Bob had flown extensively in Canada where he had already built another ultralight and the 730nm flight to get home didn’t daunt him, even with the Sky Dart’s cruise of 60kts. Eight days after Bob bought the aircraft, the pristine Sky Dart arrived at its new home. The flight was incident free, despite challenging winds. At 60kts even light headwinds are range-inhibiting, and
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on one occasion Bob flew for two hours and only closed the gap to home by 28 miles. Home for the Sky Dart was now McMaster Field, also home to the Central Queensland Gliding Club at Dixalea, and it was here that Bob’s affection for this little gem grew rapidly. Eventually he got the Drifter back into the air and flew both aircraft but he ultimately sold the Drifter: the Sky Dart was too precious and stayed in the hangar. Several years ago Bob and his wife, Grace, moved south, to Minden, west of Brisbane. Bob flew the Sky Dart down and he now keeps it at Kevin Walters’ Airport at Lynfield. This is close and convenient to home, allowing Bob to fly as regularly as he wants. The legendary Steve Cowan, dubbed the father of the AUF movement, designed this example and Anthony Prehnmin built it in Wollongong in 1987.
So what is this Sky Dart? It looks like a white, powered glider with long elegant wings that seem gossamer-thin when the sun shines through them. It is powered by a pusher Rotax 447 mounted above and behind the wing, with its pod streamline-smooth with fibreglass fairings to remove drag’s sticky fingers. Its nose is pointed, an effect enhanced by the pitot tube protruding from its apex. While trim and slim, the pod is still large enough to house a surprisingly comfortable cockpit with a good, basic, VFR instrument panel with only one omission - a balance ball. The seat is semi-reclined to help keep the vertical profile in proportion, and the cockpit hides under a large wrapover wind shield manufactured from a single lexan sheet. The Sky Dart is tailwheel-configured with a small spring-mounted undercarriage and solid tyres. The tail wheel is steerable. The tail surfaces are conventionally wire-
braced as is the main plane, with the upper wires attached to a mast above and ahead of the engine. Start-up is simple; it’s really just mags on, fuel available, prime, then clear prop. Taxiing is easy, provided one is careful with the throttle. The wheels are small and this little aircraft will easily and quickly trip and bruise its nose on the ground in a noseover. Visibility is superb with nothing in the way to obstruct the view. The light aircraft weight makes the 40hp Rotax seems like 170hp, and makes it sensitive to throttle advances. Take-off acceleration is rapid and in no time the tail is rising and the ASI is indicating 30kts. She flies off, tail low, when she’s ready and at about 38 knots the vibration eases and dissipates as the wheels stop rolling. Accelerate to 50kts and the runway disappears below and the initial climb begins. In my opinion, flying to the given best angle of climb this close to the ground would risk the chance of a stall before the pilot got the nose down fast enough. The climb sensation is a little different to most other aircraft. The seat recline angle has an apparent exaggeration when in the climb. Already reclining when in a level attitude, this effect is very noticeable in the climb where one’s heels feel much closer to the horizon than one’s butt. Nevertheless, the seat is very comfortable and the VSI reads a good 700 feet per minute as the ground beneath sinks away. There is only a need for a little right
The Sky Dart’s two-stroke Rotax 447
Bob in his Sky Dart
SPORT PILOT | August 2018
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rudder to make the aeroplane feel right in the climb. The instrument panel is missing a balance ball so you can never be flying out of balance, or indeed in balance. I wish that I’d thought of that – all those years of effort trying to fly with the ball in the middle could have been eased instantly by just removing the ball. Levelling out is ordinary – lower the nose to the level flight attitude and then draw the throttle back to cruise power. Suddenly the seat position feels more normal, but where’s that elusive level flight attitude? That beautifully formed, downward sloping, super-streamlined nose is much lower than one first imagines and a whole vista is visible ahead. The Sky Dart cruises at 60KIAS with the power at around 5500rpm. That’s engine RPM because the engine is coupled to the propeller via a reduction gearbox and the engine will turn about 2.33 times for each propeller revolution. In flight and typical of Rotax two-stroke engines, frequent throttle activity is necessary to maintain an RPM setting. I noticed that the Sky Dart has a longer-than-some throttle lever and this makes for a good reach between throttle closed and fully opened. Precise settings are quite easily achieved with such a good reach. Visibility is great ahead, almost like a helicopter. It’s also very wide and deep compared to other light aircraft because it has no wing above or below to obscure anything. One appears to be sitting in a bubble of blue, gazing around in wondrous awe. Stalls are a non-event and very similar to other ultralight aircraft in this 95-10 genre. With the throttle closed (it has no flaps)
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and maintaining height, at some stage, with the AIS needle wandering around the bottom of the dial, the nose sags and the VSI starts to unwind. The elevator load on the stick is quite light, and plenty of feel is available from the aeroplane to tell the pilot all he/she needs to know. I have been told that the designer did some spinning in this design and I am happy to accept the gossip that they are uneventful. Assessing the wing form, and the power and wing loadings, I see nothing to suggest that the design has any stall issues than might be caused by poor rigging. Turning is the hardest manoeuvre to fly with precision. The Sky Dart has no slip/ skid presentation and a pilot needs to be able to assess this on visual and physiological clues, cues, and interpretation. Nevertheless, without excessive staggering, the Sky Dart can be wheeled around like any soaring bird with a little practice and thought. The ailerons are, perhaps, a little firmer than one would expect from such a light aeroplane, but rudder and elevator pressures are quite normal. The ailerons are full chord so there is plenty of them, all exposed to the airflow, so there will be plenty of air resistance to resist stick movement. The roll rate is not startling, but is about normal for such a light wing loading and large wing area. Although the pod has a sharp point and much effort has been placed on streamlining, there is a lot of drag from the flying wires and the pusher configuration of the power plant. The estimated glide ratio is around 8:1 which means that, in theory, from 1000ft AGL, the aeroplane could glide about 8000ft or 1.3 nm without power. This
is not far, especially when it is remembered that this makes no allowance for turns and possible wind effects over terrain while looking for somewhere to get down. The best lift drag (L/D) glide speed is around 50kts. This is not the approach speed. While gliding, visibility over the nose is even more startling and, in the event of a malfeasant motor, if a landing spot is there it will be easy to see. The control weights on the stick at the best L/D speed are, naturally, lighter but the ailerons are still a fraction heavy to use. Also, at such a low speed, movement rate about the three axis is reduced but is still more than adequate for any task. To approach and land, quite a different airspeed technique is required. If the best L/D speed is used, any headwind will make approach angle judgment very difficult indeed. Also, at this low speed, roll rate is reduced as are the rates of both pitch and roll with control inputs. This best technique is to raise the speed to 65 kts for the approach. This will provide a better controllability and help mitigate any wind gradient effects. At the flare, the higher speed is almost irrelevant because the aircraft has so little mass the excess speed dissipates as if it never existed. All in all, this little aeroplane has a sparkling performance. It has bags of character and even more visibility. As a 95-10 machine, it is economical to operate even though two-stroke engine fuel consumption is higher than four-stroke. The seating is unusual, but comfortable and very practical. I am surprised that there are so few of these little fairy/dragonfly-like crossovers around. They certainly are enjoyable.
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SOLD OUT
airventureaustralia.com.au
SAFETY
THE DAILY DEFENCE TO SAFETY The daily inspection is one of your last lines of defence against a major maintenance issue in flight. Mark Smith reports
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ou’re excited at the prospect of a day’s flying. Like a good pilot, you’ve planned well by reviewing weather, checked for relevant NOTAMS and have prepared a thorough flight plan. You’ve even had a think about emergencies and how you’d handle them. You walk out to the aeroplane, load up, and commence the daily inspection. You’ve done it many times before. If you own the aeroplane you think you are familiar enough with her to basically kick the tyres and light the fires. If you think that you are dead wrong. It’s interesting and instructional to watch pilots daily their allotted aerial steed. Many amble around, wobble a control surface, drain a bit of fuel, and then saddle up. The whole process takes a matter of minutes. Yet the daily inspection is the last line of defence against an unserviceability you probably don’t want to carry airborne. Years ago at the Mangalore Airshow, CASA held a competition where a Piper Warrior was given 10 common faults a pilot should find during a daily inspection. Those who gave it a go weren’t told there were 10, just that there were some problems they should be able to find. The faults included obvious items such as a spanner in the engine bay, a leaking brake line and a deflated oleo, to subtle ones like a missing split pin on the elevator trim tab bolt. There was also a line relating to an AD on the maintenance release that would have effectively grounded the aircraft. Pilots went at it with gusto, subjecting the airframe to what seemed to be an annual inspection. From memory only a couple of people found all 10, the average was around six. Many missed the spanner under the cowl and the leaking brake line. A lot also missed the MR entry. The object of the exercise was twofold. It demonstrated how subtle actual faults can be, but more importantly it forced pilots to ask themselves a simple question: how long do I normally spend on a daily inspection? In this case, knowing there were faults and that a prize was on offer, most spent 15 to 20 minutes going over the old Warrior. Yet when the prize was potentially their lives, many admitted to spending less than a quarter of that time checking out an aeroplane they were about to fly, sometimes with their family. It’s also more important to take a good hard look at an RAAus airframe as many of these are built to our government-mandated weight limit and so don’t handle the occasional hard landing as well as a heavier GA aeroplane. The other problem with the daily inspection comes from ab initio flying training. Students are taught the daily by their instructor, who was taught by his or her instructor. It becomes a routine, and as we know from other areas in aviation when things become routine, mistakes can be made and bad habits form. It’s every pilot’s responsibility to be on their game when it comes to the daily inspection. To perfect a flying technique you learn from an expert, therefore the best way to perfect your daily inspection is to learn from someone who spends their time looking for and finding faults - a licenced aircraft maintenance engineer. A LAME, or L2 maintainer is best equipped to point out the potential problem areas on any particular aeroplane you fly, be it a basic tube and wire machine or a modern composite aeroplane, and can show you what something faulty actually looks like. As was demonstrated in the Mangalore competition, dangerous faults can be incredibly subtle and unless you know what one actually looks like, you may miss it. It’s rare to see anyone using a torch when they perform a daily.
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The human eye isn’t the most efficient device in contrasty light, so extra brightness is needed when you are peering into a wing to properly inspect bellcranks attached to the ailerons. It’s the same with the engine bay on many aircraft. Cessnas give limited access to the engine during the daily, making it even more important to get a good view under the cowls via the front and underneath. A torch is vital to help with this. Some aircraft are much better at allowing access to the engine, yet many pilots don’t lift the cowl before a flight. Why? There’s always a chance something came off during the last flight. A good daily should take at least 10 minutes, and should be undertaken with the attitude that there is a fault and you intend to find it. The first place to start is the maintenance release or the RAAus equivalent. . Few pilots realise this is a legal document, and by signing it they accept certain legal responsibilities. The first thing to check is if the aircraft is within its annual date or time in service. Even if you exercise your right to perform your own maintenance this requirement is still essential. Next, check if there are there any airworthiness directives due or other checks due during the life of the release. Finally, is there anything a previous pilot who flew the aeroplane has written up? Next step is to begin on the airframe. It doesn’t matter if you flew the aeroplane the day before or the week before. Treat every daily as if you and your passenger’s lives depend on it, because they do. Students are usually taught to start at the pilot’s side flaps and work around the airframe clockwise, making sure every bolt has a split pin, there isn’t excessive play with the control surfaces, no rivets seem to be working loose, the pitot is clear, and the wheels and brakes are in good condition. On low wing aeroplanes this means getting down on your knees to have a good look into and below the wings. If I’m flying a high wing aeroplane, make a point of getting up on a ladder and closely looking at the upper surface for any tell-tale signs of overstressing like wrinkling of the skins, especially near the wing root. With quite a few aircraft the only inspection you can make of the engine bay is through the front. This is where your torch is vital. Have a good look, and a good sniff. If you have a fuel leak you just might pick it up. Then look in from the bottom of the cowl. Grab the exhaust pipe and give it a good shake. It shouldn’t budge. Checking the oil is incredibly important. How much should the aeroplane have? How much is in there? When is it due for an oil change? It’s a slow, methodical process that, when done with care and attention to detail, allows a pilot to know they have done their best to keep flying safe for everyone involved.
RAAUS
AGM ELECTION FOR THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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AAus is pleased to invite members to vote for two candidates as part of the 2018 election cycle. To ensure your vote counts, please read these instructions carefully. Sport Pilot magazine has been sent to all members eligible to vote in August. Included with the magazine is a ballot paper and a Reply Paid envelope. On the following pages you will find election statements from the candidates. There are 8 candidates in total, with two Director positions to fill. You should mark your ballot paper with your preferred two candidates by ticking or clearly marking two candidates. The votes will be counted in the simplest method accepted by the Australian
Luke Bayly Having grown up in rural Australia, lived/worked overseas and travelled extensively, I maintain a broad perspective over the differences between us in this world. I have worked as a fast food servant, a laborer, a barman and finally as an Engineer allowing me a broad range of experience in working with people. I have not come from a background of family aviators nor been deeply exposed as a child and hence this pursuit into aviation has been mine alone. For this, it is has become my passion that I wish to support others to follow.
Electoral Commission – most votes win. Those candidates who receive the 1st and 2nd highest number of votes will win the ballot. Candidates receiving the 3rd through 8th highest number of votes will be taken to have not received a vote for the two available seats. All votes are considered equal. The top two candidates will be allocated a threeyear term as a Director of RAAus Ltd.
Key Dates Voting opens 1 August 2018 Voting closes 28 September 2018 The envelope containing the ballot must have a postmark of 28 September 2018 or earlier to count in this ballot.
I have served on the board for the last two years and the experience has both been challenging and rewarding to help further the interests of the organization and its members. I am committed, willing and able to donate my time and professional skills as a Director for Recreational Aviation Australia. I have been acutely involved in key initiatives such as the strategic planning for the next five years and in the guidance of major policy review during this time. In addition, I also have served on the Risk and Audit committee since my joining and in the last year have chaired this role. As a Chartered Mechanical Engineer, I have a unique skill and perspective to my colleagues on the board that has allowed me to work closely with both Operational and Technical Departments to ensure balance between both pilot training and aircraft maintenance. Utilizing my understanding of corporate governance from my MBA, I work hard to fulfil the respon-
Elected Directors will take office immediately following the forthcoming RAAus Ltd AGM to be held in Canberra on 3 November 2018.
Candidates in alphabetical order Luke Bayly Rodney Birrell Scott Bretland Ken Flower Hans Gouws Andrew Schox Barry Windle Philip Yates
The order of candidates on the ballot paper was randomly selected.
sibilities I hold as a Director to the organizations members and take very seriously the time and effort required to complete these tasks. After several years of working towards stability, we are finally in a position to focus on sustainable growth and with the strategic plans that I have helped to shape, I offer my service once again to the members. You deserve a board who are committed to engaging in transparent and positive strategies to sustain the growth of the organization and maintain your ability to pursue your passion in a safe and affordable manner. I once again offer myself to this worthy cause.
Disclaimer: I currently hold no affiliation to any specific interests within the aviation community. I am a recreational pilot who believes in the RAAus organisation’s ability to get people involved in aviation. SPORT PILOT | August 2018
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Rodney Birrell Our organisation has grown a lot since its formation in as the Australian Ultralight Federation (AUF) in 1983. RAAus has become one of the world’s largest sport aviation organisations. We manage more pilots than any other sport aviation organisation in Australia and we fly more aircraft than the combined numbers of all Australian airlines and the Australian Airforce – it’s impressive. My background is very much aviation based, starting as one of the early ultralight aircraft flyers. I built my first ultralight aircraft called a Hang Loose in 1971, after one flight something a little stronger was needed so I built an Icarus 2 swept wing biplane, followed a Mercury, Fledgling, Pterodactyl, and a Cobra. My flying experience includes working an RAAus Chief Flying Instructor with Pilot Examiner qualifications, I work as a Chief Flying Instructor at what I expect is Australia’s oldest sport aviation flying school, Airsports at Riddells Creek Airfield, near Melbourne in Victoria. I also have Level 2 maintainer experience. I was privileged to be one of the founding members of the AUF/RAAus. With my experience I can offer a depth of knowledge of where we have been as an organisation and offer some insight as to where we should be heading in future years. There is more to do for RAAus and if elected, I will act as an advocate for the following policies: • Encourage, promote and further develop RAAus’ prime function of looking after RAAus members. • Improve flying privileges without imposing further restrictions. • Support and promote the sport aviation industry as a whole, the businesses that support our industry such as aircraft manufacturers and importers, flying schools,
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and RAAus maintainers. All need assistance from regulatory reform to promotional support. A viable industry ensures a viable sport. • Support the policy move to increase the maximum take-off weight to allow heavier sport aircraft to fly with RAAus, importantly wile being maintained by RAAus level 1 or higher maintainers. • Support the full introduction of the optional Controlled Airspace endorsement. • Encourage further development the national RAAus AirVenture event. Encourage all sport aviation organisations to participate as equal partners with with RAAus with AirVenture. • Improve our working relationship with other sport aviation organisations, at a particular low at the moment. • Support the further development of Sport Pilot magazine both digitally and in print promoting new technology driven improvements. • Look after our pilots better when they make a mistake, we should be acting as advocates for our members trying to fix problems, punishing and penalising is not a solution. I do not believe we have yet found the right balance in this area. • Further develop and expand our young pilot GYFTS scholarship program and the RAAus aircraft Heritage fund. A six monthly GYFTS award opportunity would be a worthwhile reform. • That RAAus investigate the process to obtain approved training organisation status for more RAAus flying schools to allow an increased number of student commercial pilots to train on sport aircraft. • As RAAus reserve funds grow consider the establishment of public/private funded Sport Aviation Centres to provide facilities for pilots in a number of regional areas. • That RAAus develop and expand its role to become a service provider for other sport aviation bodies. We have the skills, the talent and the capability. Other organisations would benefit from our capabilities and we would benefit from operating our business on a larger, more profitable scale. Strategic Expertise: I was a part of the AUF/RAA team that introduced legal lightweight sport aircraft flying to Australia including sport aviation pilot training. Along with my colleagues we enabled the
legal flying of twin seat ultralight aircraft and the introduction of simplified aviation medical requirements. I negotiated revisions to the aviation orders that cover our sport, wrote one version of our Operations Manual, and with a volunteer team authored and produced the first AUF/RAAus airworthiness certification publication. With team member support introduced the original a Accident and Incident safety system for AUF/RAAus and introduced the AUF/RAAus reserve fund. This fund was designed initially to provide savings to allow RAAus to purchase its own office (completed) and then to provide for future asset purchases while maintaining a financial reserve should CASA decided to withdraw its financial support. Supported the introduction of the GYFTS young pilots training support fund. I introduced and received Board support for the funding of an RAAus aircraft heritage fund. Managing Risk and People: AeroSafe aviation risk management and safety management training courses have been completed. Our financial risks are managed by the Board as a whole, and I regularly give voice to my concerns in this area. At my business I work with my own small aviation team, at the flying school I manage the risks and successfully work with a diverse range of people from many different backgrounds. Board Experience: I offer experience and a depth of corporate knowledge to the Board, that I submit is of value to RAAus. I am a current serving RAAus Board member. Industry Knowledge: My background includes flying, Ultralight, Sport, General Aviation and Commercial airlines, experience gained over 40 years. I have been a member of the current RAAus Board for a number of years. My qualifications also include that of an airline transport licence holder (ATPL). Stakeholder Expectations: The primary stakeholders in RAAus are its members, including pilots, aircraft owners, aircraft manufacturers and importers, flying schools, maintainers, its volunteers and its staff. As stakeholders RAAus also works with, Federal and State governments, the CASA, Airservices Australia, the ATSB as well ass all other sport aviation bodies. After many
RAAUS
AGM years of bloody hard experience I am able to understand the expectations of these stakeholders. Financial Interests: I works as a flight instructor (CFI) at Airsports Flying School (Pty Ltd) at Riddells Creek Airfield in Melbourne, a flying flight training facility I manage and own. Airsports Flying School also imports and distributes light sport aircraft, as well
Scott Bretland I am currently employed as an aviation industry professional; I’m a pilot, business manager, safety and risk advisor, as well as an avid aviation enthusiast. I am also a part-time law student, and I take a very keen interest in all the areas of law which concern RAAus and the role of the RAAus board. In particular I have a strong interest in examining administrative decision making surrounding RAAus, which includes decisions taken by the regulator that affect RAAus (that is, I am concerned with both internal and external policy setting). I intend to use my interest and growing experience in this area to further the interests of RAAus if I am elected to be a board member. The boards role is defined clearly in the board charter – to supervise business per-
Ken Flower
as parts and aviation equipment. I have received no remuneration for my work as a RAAus Board member. My interest remains working for the RAAus to represent you by working for improved flying privileges without additional restrictions. I will continue to work for sound reform and good policies. As a current serving board member of RAAus if you feel the current RAAus Board
is doing an “OK job” I ask for your support
formance and compliance performance of RAAus. I am intrinsically motivated to see these aims of the board not only executed, but not unnecessarily expanded upon – the board must be restrained but deliberate in how it exercises its powers. I feel that the best board for RAAus is one in which empowers but does not usurp the management, who must be able to do their jobs free from undue interference. If this results in ordinary members forgetting who the board members are because; they (the members) are busy safely having fun, whilst management keeps the organisation moving in a responsible manner – the boards job is being done. A board member should be someone who is passionate about furthering the already impressive progress Recreational Aviation is making in the aviation industry, like I am. In my assessment, recreational aviation is a disruptive market which is displacing a large segment of what was ‘traditional VH- registered recreational flying’. I want to see this continue for the betterment of our members and of the industry at large and it is my aim to help develop the strategies of RAAus around this goal. My experience as the CEO of an aviation company has allowed me to develop strategic planning skills which
I intend to apply to this task, and to my role as a board member more generally. I am also intent on making sure members rights and best interests are respected. Whilst we need to safeguard the authority of management to do their jobs in accordance with the rules of organisation, we need make sure the way the organisation is run is fair and just; especially with respect to financial management. I will ensure the board and management behaves ethically and I am unafraid to challenge people and process when I suspect unethical behaviour is occurring. The RAAus membership deserves a board which has a member centric focus. I will bring that focus to the position along with my aviation experience, youth, vigour, a fresh set of eyes, and the agility to move with the times – there is a relative explosion of exciting developments in recreational aviation which the board needs to be able to keep up with and I believe I am well placed to do this on your behalf.
I consider that RAAus has made major steps forward over the past 3 years and the present professionalism is a credit to the boards and staff. My interest in being elected to the board is to contribute to the further development of the professionalism, the financial sustainability, and the expansion of our freedoms to fly heavier aircraft in more places such as control zones. It is important that RAAus achieves these extra
at this election. If you support the proposed policies listed above I also ask for your support. My email is mail@goflying.com.au and phone 0422-446622 if you would like to contact me about any of the issues I have raised.
Declaration of Income
I receive income from the aviation company Forefront Aviation Pty Ltd, a company which I work for as an aviation consultant and contract pilot.
privileges and ensures that it does not mean additional restrictions are placed on existing flying and maintenance categories. Declaration of Aviation Remunerations. I am the owner and CFI of Namoi Aviation which is a Flight training Facility based in Narrabri, NSW, and I do derive income from this. I am also a Regional Operations Coordinator for RAAus and as such in past years have done some work for RAAus. SPORT PILOT | August 2018
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AGM
Hans Gouws Recreational Aviation Australia really says it all. This is an organisation that represents the interests of a large number of individuals who love aviation for aviation’s sake. Aviation as we all know is a big business with billions of dollars at stake. The big end of town naturally dominates the discussions in and around aviation. Add to this a large (and often self serving) bureaucracy that controls the industry and suddenly the voices of the little people (us) often get drowned out in the noise. Having said the above, it is clear that RAAus have come a long way since the ‘dark’ days and good progress has been achieved in many different areas. I need to express my appreciation to all who have worked so hard to achieve this progress. As with any endeavour however, one cannot take the foot off the accelerator and expect the good momentum to continue. Ongoing commitment, effort and focus will be necessary to navigate our organisation through
Philip Yates I have been involved in aviation for over forty years now when I first learned to fly back in 1973 and has always been in training roles from light aircraft to management positions as an airline pilot with two major airline companies and I
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these ever changing and challenging times. I am an enthusiastic aviator and would like the opportunity to give back to the industry that has given me so much pleasure and hopefully will continue giving me much pleasure for many years to come. I hold a PPL as well as an RAAus Pilot Certificate and am fortunate to own and fly both a VH as well as a RAAus registered aircraft – often. If the membership choose to elect me to the RAAus Board of Directors my commitment to the organisation and its members will be as follows: • Bring energy, hard work and above all a great deal of enthusiasm to the table. • Vigorously oppose any additional regulations and restrictions placed on members pursuing their passion of recreational aviation. • Actively seek further reforms that would make RAAus more attractive to a larger audience of aviators. These would be more pragmatic medical requirements, greater access to all appropriate airspaces, less limitation on the MTOW restrictions and simplified maintenance requirements. • Strive for recognition that we are enthusiastic participants in the aviation arena that do not require a bureaucracy to protect us from ourselves. • Promote RAAus as the gateway to cost effective aviation. This applies both to recreational activities but equally to those setting out on a career in aviation.
• Ensure that I use my training, skills and experience to focus inwardly on the organisation’s financial health and review strategies for future and ongoing financial health. • Work collaboratively with the other board members so that members benefit from a strong team of directors, working on their behalf. • Strive for a balance between fun, the lowest cost and safety for all members. I believe I have the skills and experience to add value to the organisation. I hold a B.Com (Hons) degree and was a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants prior to relocating to Australia in 1994. I have held many senior executive and board positions in the corporate world and for the past 18 years I have owned and run my own business in Sydney and Melbourne. I am a high energy 21 year old born in 1960. I am semi-retired and have the time to dedicate to a new challenge in an environment about which I am truly passionate. I ask you to consider giving me your vote so that I may make a meaningful contribution to the RAAus organisation for the benefit of its members I derive no income, remuneration or honoraria from aviation related activities. I can be contacted telephonically on 0448 019 980 or by email at hans@apexleisure.com.au.
still do on a casual basis. But my interest specifically is to make a contribution if I can to RAAus as I have watched the development and growth of RAAus and the developments are exciting. For my own part I am purchasing a Highlander STOL aircraft and that is very exciting for me too. With such growth occurring in RAAus it is important to harness those who can lend a hand in the continuing development of RAAus. With a background of my own flying, training and management skills I am happy to lend a hand with the directors on the board of RAAus and make a contribution for the management skills in all areas
with a willingness to embrace the growth and changing technologies across the board. It is important that we get it right because in RAAus we have been given the opportunities to further expand all areas within our industry. And at the end of the day we are all here because we love flying and why recreational flying is so important to us all.
Aviation Income Related I work as a casual Flight Instructor for the University Of NSW training pilots in the Boeing 737 simulator. I own an aircraft hangar at Mittagong airfield hiring space to the owners of light aircraft.
RAAUS
AGM
Andrew Schox This is the second time I have applied for this role. I am still interested in the position and believe my background and skillset would make me a valuable member of the RAAus board. I have no financial interest (either direct or indirect) in the aviation industry but have followed it for over 30 years. However, as a pilot myself, I understand what motivates people to want to get in the air and enjoy flying safely and with the minimum of fuss. I have a wealth of experience in board governance roles over the last 12 years and am a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. I have been the chairman of a national, federated not-for-profit organisation and am the current chairman of a WA-based organisation. I’ll be stepping down from that role in October, which will free up some time to spend elsewhere. My take on good governance is broadly lumped into two equally important categories:
• Compliance and other things related to staying legal, doing the right thing (RAAus is a public company now, and cannot be run like a club), and keeping an eye on the money; Moving the organisation forward in ac• cordance with its strategy, while being flexible enough to keep an eye on the environment it currently operates in, to get the best outcomes at any given time. I have had direct experience in lobbying for change, both at a state and federal level. I believe I understand the process of getting things done in a regulatory environment (short answer: never as easy as it should be!). I also think that making progress can be a bit of a juggling act: some things you can change quickly, and some goals require you to be in it for the long haul. When you have limited resources for lobbying, you get the best bang for the buck by working out where you can get the most traction right now, but not losing sight of the longer-term goals. I am experienced in strategic planning for organisations, and working to ensure that appropriate policy and oversight is in place to make sure that the strategy can be implemented optimally and within budget. I am very familiar with organisational finances and documents related to this, as well as the other fiduciary responsibilities
of company directors. I have been on the boards of similar-sized organisations to RAAus and understand the challenges of delivering great outcomes without a huge budget and lots of people on the ground to implement them. Members will find me to be a down-toearth, practical kind of guy, who will take each issue on its own merits, and consider the views of members and other stakeholders when trying to work out the best way forward. I’ll form an opinion on any matter based on the facts before me, but I’m always ready to hear what others think and take that into account too. If I am appointed to the board, I will make it a priority to get up to speed with all of its current issues ASAP and make sure I understand what the views of members are on each of these. I am already familiar with CASA and its history and have a working knowledge of the legal framework surrounding aviation in Australia. I would be happy to talk to members at any time about my qualifications and aspirations for this position. My phone number is 0413759721, and my email is andrewschox@ gmail.com.
SPORT PILOT | August 2018
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RAAUS
AGM
Barry Windle I was fortunate to experience the last year of RAAus Inc in 2015 and the first year of RAAus Ltd as one of the three inaugural Directors, prior to losing re-election in 2017. My year of being ‘just a member’ has given me new insights into the way the organisation is perceived by members and some of the frustrations experienced by members in their necessary interactions with RAAus. I have continued active engagement with staff to resolve several member problems and have worked on improving understanding of issues that trike pilots encounter in working with RAAus and HGFA operations manuals. During the year I have also coordinated all of the work to complete a MARAP application for the legal change of engine on the type certified UK Dragonfly aircraft and so now have personal experience with that process and potential for improving it for future applicants. During my first term in addition to Board duties, I contributed to the updating the Operations and Technical manuals, the drafting of the Complaints Handling and Disciplinary Procedures Manual and the development of the Safety Management System which I am pleased to see is rolling out now. I fly an Airborne XT 912 Tourer trike based at Callington near Murray Bridge in SA and started flying like many of my generation, in my early 60s. In recent months I have taken a few 3 axes lessons for fun and to broaden my flying skills and experience, and to keep learning about aviation after flying trikes for the last 6 years. I intend continuing with trikes and adding conventional aircraft to my recreational flying. I’m Secretary of Southern Districts Flying Club and a member of the Sports Aircraft Club of SA and particularly enjoy cross-country flying into the SA and Victorian Mallee, the Riverland and further afield.
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SPORT PILOT | August 2018
I retired from full time employment in 2004 after nearly 40 years in roles from Cadet to Executive Director in the SA Department of Agriculture and its various forms over that period. Since 2004 I have had contract and consultancy roles to several projects including in the South Pacific and have held several Board and Committee positions including 7 years as Deputy Chair of the CRC for National Plant Biosecurity, a national company limited by guarantee. I currently Chair a statutory fishing advisory committee for AFMA and also Chair the Board of the Adelaide Hills International Sculpture Symposium Inc., a not-for-profit community incorporated association. I have had long experience in policy and strategy development particularly in the interface between government, industries, communities and related organisations. I have managed large budgets and programs and the associated accountability for members, government and donor funds. I have worked on development programs in India, Indonesia and the Pacific Islands and have been a member of project development and review panels and missions in Australia and internationally. This time in government, private sector projects, statutory committees, incorporated associations and as a past Director of a company limited by guarantee gives me a solid base of experience to make a worthwhile contribution to RAAus. During my first appointment I initiated a risk aware approach to management of our organisation and was the inaugural chair of the RAAus Board’s Risk and Audit committee. At all times I have emphasised the need to put our members first in any new or updated systems and looked for opportunities to improve efficiency with a strong focus on protecting and delivering benefits to our membership. Clear, unambiguous communication of change ahead, based on solid analysis and with adequate lead time before implementation, is paramount for good relations with our membership and unfortunately, we do not always have that experience from RAAus. There is still much more work to be done. For 2017-2018 we are assured that RAAus will return to a surplus end of year result after several increases in fees. If that is achieved
with a more stable financial outlook for our organisation, my interest is in streamlining the requirements which all pilots are faced with to achieve and remain compliant in their recreational flying. Many rules may have some basis in history but many need re-examining and justifying for a future of simple, safe recreational flying. Understanding what applies to which aircraft and pilots will be increasing important with the expected increase in MTOW for RAAus aircraft and the opportunity for some pilots to access controlled airspace. The simple, straightforward recreational flying which appeals to so many of our members and attracts new members, must be protected with clear differentiation in policy and regulation applying to the various aircraft groups. Similarly costs of administration must be apportioned so that each sector of the increasingly diverse aircraft fleet pays its way based on real needs. As a member, I want my flying organisation to be competent, stable, efficient and highly respected for the work done to protect my enjoyment of the amazing Australian opportunity and freedom we have to fly. Some good progress has been made but some of our rules are overly complex, difficult to understand and apply and very challenging to meet, particularly for the new pilot and the next generation of recreational flyers. There will be significant exodus of our ‘baby boomer’ members from our sport as they age and we must make fun flying more attractive for new participants if our sport is to prosper. All this needs to be done with minimum cost and disruption to our active members and with their full understanding and support. I am committed to being available and taking every opportunity to meet and listen to members and understand their perspectives. As a Board Director, I will maintain a focus on my duty to plan strategically and to responsibly invest member’s funds for the long term, to set the direction and standards for management implementation and reporting, and to evolve the organisation to the most efficient and effective that we can devise to secure our future. Apart from being a member of three flying clubs, I have no other interests, income, remuneration or honoraria related to any aspect of the aviation industry.
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SPORT PILOT | August 2018
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PILOT PROFILE AIRTEST
WINGS ESSENTIAL FEETBEST OPTIONAL LEARNING FROM–THE
A veteran ag pilot still passing artcar of for aviation to anyone keenSmith to learn There have been manyisaircraft designed on as athe flying the common man. Mark got toits playways. with one. Mark Smith caught up with him.
F
eet and flying tend to go together most of the time. The moment you start the process of learning to fly you begin to relearn the skills you mastered riding a billycart and steering with your feet. Pilots who fly taildraggers are veritable Fred Astaire’s with their clod-hoppers and helicopter pilots - well without feet they are a devil waiting to spin to oblivion. Of course there are disabled people who manage to master flight without feet, or indeed without legs for that matter, but they are using something that links to the rudder pedals to do the job of a pair of size sevens. And then you discover the Ercoupe and all that goes out the window. Climb on board and the floor is devoid of rudder pedals. All you’ll find is a brake pedal sitting on its own. Unusual? You bet it is. The rudders are interconnected with the ailerons meaning you turn the wheel while taxying and the aeroplane turns. This is going to be a fun flight test! Jack Vevers owns his 1946 Ercoupe
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SPORT PILOT | August 2018
which still flies without rudder pedals. There are STCs to have them fitted, but that would be like putting a nose wheel on a J3 Cub; doable but why? There is always a good story behind why a perfectly sensible person goes out and buys an unusual aircraft, and Jack is no different. “I saw an Ercoupe a few years ago, VH-ERC, and I really liked the look of it because it looked like a bit of fun, so I thought I’d find one for myself. It actually took me two years to find one in the US. There are a lot available but they have a lot of corrosion in them due to the way the wings were built, so it took me a while to find a good one that had been rebuilt,” he says. “It’s small and different and takes you into the classic period and I liked the idea of putting it into RAAus because it means I can maintain it myself, which I have for the past eight or nine years. It’s just a lot of fun to fly. Plus other people enjoy it too because it gets lots of attention at all the
fly-ins and airshows I take it to. Everyone is very curious about it not having rudder pedals.” The subject of the rudder pedals is the main quirk of the aircraft and it takes a bit of getting used to not having them there. “It’s all integrated so once it’s in the air it’s very simple to fly, much like a flying car. You turn the yoke and it just banks with your feet flat on the floor. But you have to undo everything you know about flying when you first get into it. “Landing it was a challenge because I didn’t have anyone here to teach me the nuances. In a crosswind you just leave it in the crab and gently touch down and the wheels will pull the aeroplane into line. If you try and turn the yoke to line it up you might lift the wing depending on the speed. You have to get the nosewheel on the ground as quickly as you can because once that’s on the ground the wings are in a negative angle of attack and it’ll stay pinned to the ground.” The negative angle of attack gives the
PHOTOS: MARK SMITH
SPORT PILOT | August 2018
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Ercoupe another one of its quirks, which is against normal flying practice. “Give her full power and with the negative angle of attack it’ll just stay on the ground and accelerate into the fence at the other end of the runway. You have to give it a firm pull back and off she goes.” The twin tails give the Ercoupe its unique look, but there is a design reason for the setup. “When you apply power there’s no prop wash pushing against the vertical tail surfaces so given there are no pedals to put a bit of right rudder in as you would in a conventional aircraft, it just sits there running down the runway.” Fred Weeks, who went on to design many familiar classics for Piper, was the brains behind the design. In 1937 there was a competition to make an unspinnable, unstallable aircraft and while this wasn’t the design, the concept behind it was and he incorporated some of that thinking in to the Ercoupe. That means the aircraft doesn’t stall because the elevator travel doesn’t let you get beyond the 16 degree angle of attack.
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SPORT PILOT | August 2018
It also carries a placard certifying that it’s characteristically incapable of spinning because recovering without rudder pedals could prove interesting. “I’ve certainly tried to stall it but all it does is mush around. You can’t really feel any of the break or buffeting you’d normally associate with a stall,” Jack says. “You can side-slip the aircraft if you like, but it involves sticking your arm out into the airflow and it doesn’t achieve much.” Not every pilot wants to fly the latest and greatest aircraft that sweep on to the market in a flurry of hype and splendour, promising sub-mach speeds on 25 litres per hour. Jack is one of those pilots. “It’s about as simple as it gets. There’s no flaps, no undercarriage to worry about. Someone once said if you own one you’ll never want to sell it. I think John Travolta still has his. He bought it when he first started flying. “I’ve got no intention of selling mine. It’s fun, it’s cheap and I always get out with a smile on my dial.” At the other end of the pilot spectrum is Grace Perrin. She’s a young CPL at Tyabb
Jack Vevers with his Ercoupe.
Not a rudder pedal in sight.
Young commercial pilot Grace Perrin.
SPORT PILOT | August 2018
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who enjoys feet flat to the floor flying. She was the other formation pilot for the Australian Sport Pilot air-to-air session. “I really enjoy the interconnecting ailerons and rudders because they are a special feature and it always makes an interesting lesson with no rudder pedals there. “On a crosswind landing you line up with the runway and it’ll swing around on the ground.” Grace got her start in flying with RAAus as a 14-year-old. No family members were involved in aviation but her mum bought Grace a TIF for Christmas and that cemented the path. “My first aircraft type was a Gazelle in RAAus. I then went to the 152. I was just happy to jump into anything. “Without RAAus to establish myself I would have found learning much more difficult. Kids pick things up earlier and being able to start learning at 14 gave me a head start.”
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SPORT PILOT | August 2018
COLUMN
DALTON ON SAFETY LOOK CLOSELY AT YOURSELF BEFORE YOU FLY By Mike Dalton
I was attending a flight school recently for a theory course to upgrade my flying qualifications and during a break found this great check list on the notice board:
Flight fitness - The IMSAFE Check List: I
Illness:
Do I have an illness or any symptoms of an illness?
M
Medication:
Have I been taking prescription or over-the-counter medication?
S
Stress:
Am I under psychological pressure from the job, worried about financial matters, health problems or family discord?
A
Alcohol:
Have I been drinking within eight hours? Within 24 hours?
F
Fatigue:
Am I tired and not adequately rested?
E
Energy:
Am I adequately nourished?
I imagine many readers will be aware of this and I’m sure you will agree that it’s a fairly simple and worthwhile check list to follow. Let’s face it, as pilots we know checklists and have one for just about every action we perform in and around the cockpit, but how many of us actually use one (like this) before we leave home? An illness as simple as a head cold can seriously degrade our performance in the cockpit, let alone make us feel absolutely miserable, and can produce symptoms that impair our judgment, alertness and ability to make decisions. More complex illnesses that affect our mental health can pose a serious risk to our performance and should be treated by a medical professional. Medications can seriously degrade our performance in the cockpit. Both prescription and over-the-counter medicines can have as negative an impact on our performance as the illness they seek to redress. Common medicines such as pain relievers, sedatives and cough suppressants may affect judgment and coordination as can antihistamines, blood pressure tablets and, importantly for some pilots … motion sickness relievers. Flying itself can be stressful enough with weather challenges, serviceability issues and the like. But stresses associated with everyday life and business can create distractions that occupy our thought
processes. Distractions interfere with judgment and performance and can lead to taking unwarranted risks and, when, combined with fatigue, with result in tragic consequences. Alcohol can have disastrous effects on our ability in the cockpit. Look no further than how it affects us when we get behind the wheel of the car to envisage the results on the air. But the risk from alcohol is much more subtle than flying drunk. It possesses similar risks to medications and fatigue even when consumed in small amounts. Fatigue poses a significant risk to aviation safety. Commercial operations have certain controls aimed at alleviating the risk but for private operations the onus is on the individual. There is nothing that prevents the private pilot from working a long shift at work, then climbing in the plane and heading off on a trip. The checklist says Energy for E and I totally agree we all need adequate nourishment, energy and rest but more often these days I think we need to consider emotion. Our mental health seems to be challenged more and more these days and we really must consider if there is anything bothering us before we fly. Am I feeling angry, sad, impatient or depressed? Negative emotions can lie under the surface and not be obvious to others but can reveal themselves at the worst time and lead to
tragic consequences. It’s difficult for us to take an honest emotional stocktake, but is it worth the risk to not do so? So who is this checklist for? Clearly it’s designed for each of us to apply to ourselves, honestly, every time we intend to fly. But I also think the onus is on each and every one of us to keep an eye out for our fellow aviators and be prepared to challenge them if we think they’re not passing muster. It’s not an easy thing to say to a mate “sorry but I don’t think you should be flying” especially knowing how addicted some people are to flying, but I imagine it’s better than sitting back saying nothing and then thinking after an accident … “if only I had said something”.
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FEATURE PHOTOS: MARK SMITH
TAYA’S BRUMBY IS NO PONY In the battle of the sexes, Taya Vevers has the upper hand from her male school colleagues. Mark Smith caught up with her.
T
aya Vevers is the sort of no-nonsense young lady who doesn’t deviate from what she wants. After enjoying a flight with her grandfather Jack there was no turning back. Her priority became flying. “It’s very different because it sets you apart from a lot of other people. But I love the challenge because it’s so rewarding when you accomplish something properly,” she says. “While I know more girls have taken up flying it’s still different for a young girl to be learning. There are still a lot more men around the airfield, so it’s good to be different.” Taya is the only student from her high school learning to fly and says her school friends don’t really understand just what
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SPORT PILOT | August 2018
is involved.“I don’t think a lot of people understand what goes into it, especially young boys. It can be hard work making sure a skill is learned properly. It’s very different so unless you are involved yourself I imagine it’s hard for someone to relate to the learning experience. But I think everyone thinks it’s pretty cool.” Taya’s first solo happened not long after her 16th birthday and, like many pilots before her, has become a pivotal moment in her young life. “For anyone thinking of learning to fly, go for it. First solo is totally the best feeling you’ll ever have. It’s a bit scary but then after you do it it’s just like ‘Oh my God I can’t believe I did that’ so it’s pretty amazing - one of the best feelings I’ve ever had.” Her grandfather Jack was on hand to witness the big event and offers his own
perspective on it. “Watching her from the ground was an experience, but I was actually quite relaxed until I saw her on final. On her first final she had to do a go-around because the wind had shifted to a touch of a tail wind and she made the right call. “Her next approach was was perfect and then coming around again, I was starting to feel a little bit nervous because I could see there was a gentle crosswind but it was turning into a tailwind every now and again. “It was just fluttering back and forth. So yeah, I was a little bit nervous but then I watched her and she just did everything perfectly and just greased it on. Dave Bell had really trained her well and she was perfectly safe.” It’s fun watching Taya carefully daily
It’s fun watching Taya carefully daily her grandfather’s Brumby that she is learning to fly on. Being on the small side means she has to stretch out her arms to check the ailerons. A pile of cushions are added to the Brumby’s leather seat to allow her to see out, but once that engine starts size no longer matters.
her grandfather’s Brumby that she is learning to fly on. Being on the small side means she has to stretch out her arms to check the ailerons. A pile of cushions are added to the Brumby’s leather seat to allow her to see out, but once that engine starts size no longer matters. One of Taya’s instructors is Nick Cauldwell, a highly-renowned pilot around Tyabb who, despite being a retired 747 captain, still enjoys initiating youngsters like Taya into the ways of flight. “It’s pretty cool to see someone who’s done it for so long and he’s so amazing at what he does,” Taya says. “You feel so confident learning from him because he knows exactly what he’s doing, so he’s a good person to look up to in this industry that seems to be full of young people.
“He loves it so much and it is actually good to see that even if you do it for so long, you can still love it.” The choice of first passenger once a pilot gets their certificate can be a difficult decision, and Taya has a few options. “I’d probably like to take my grandfather, but he can already fly. I’d love to take my mum but she’s a nervous flyer. It might end up being my gran!” Taya is non-committal about what her plans are with aviation once she finishes her initial training. “I may possibly look at commercial in the future, after I finish high school, or maybe I’ll keep it just a hobby, I’m not too sure yet but I am leaning towards commercial. Maybe I’ll fly for Qantas one day, I don’t know. We’ll have to see what happens.” SPORT PILOT | August 2018
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FEATURE
YOUTH TAKE TO THE SKIES
RAAus youth ambassador Michelle O’Hare ponders how to get youth engaged with aviation, which has been a question troubling the industry for years.
W
hat is the simplest way to find out what youth think about flying? How about we just ask them? For several years I have been voluntarily coordinating youth aviation events of various styles including passenger flights, training flights and ground based activities so that I can share my passion and inspire our next generation of pilots. My latest event, held in July involved a family day at Bankstown Helicopters where both kids and their parents had the opportunity to go for a passenger flight in an R22 helicopter. For the majority of the participants, including the adults, this was their first time flying in anything smaller than a large passenger jet. So what was it that made them take that first step to give flying a try? When I asked 10-year-old Amelia she said “I am a little nervous about going for the flight but I want to try a new experience”. This idea of trying something new, even if it scares you, was a common driver among many of the participants. Even for many of the adults the flight was going to be a
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SPORT PILOT | August 2018
new experience with some, like Simon who attended with his son and daughter, noting that “I came along as this was a great opportunity for my son and daughter to do something that I didn’t get to do as a kid”. For this event, as has been the case for all my aviation events, the participants covered the entire cost of their flight. So that may lead you to question well why did they wait until now to try flying if it was just a new experience they were after? Anyone can go to a flying school or company and book in a scenic flight or flying lesson at a time that suits them rather than having to wait and go on a specific day and time organised by someone else. When asked, Genevieve, one of the parents of a youth participant, expressed that “I really enjoyed being able to share the experience with other people, including the build-up of excitement before our first helicopter flight and then the experiences after we landed”. Other participants also shared this value and appreciated the comfort of being in a group when trying something new. Another parent, Brenda, added that
“I appreciated that the activity was well organised by someone else for us”. Personally I have found that even those keen about learning to fly can find it challenging to identify where to start so planning activities well ahead of time so that participants can allow themselves time to lock it in their calendar can be very successful. After their flight each of the participants were asked if they would be interested in learning to fly one day. Amazingly almost all of the participants, even the adults, expressed an interest in learning to fly. Further all of those who were scared or nervous before the flight were no longer worried about flying after their helicopter flight. Before take-off 12 year old Riana was a little nervous about her flight. However, once she landed she shared with the others that “I loved leaving the ground and seeing the views from really high up. I want to learn to fly.” I’m sure that many of us can relate to that first experience of flight that sparked our interest in aviation. So how can we capture this excitement and support
ongoing youth aviation engagement? One simple way is to regularly hold youth aviation activities. A few of the participants at this event had already attended previous flying days. Seventeen-year-old Leah, who had previously attended a flying day where she went for a passenger flight in a Cessna 172, shared that “I would like to learn to fly, so this activity was something I couldn’t miss out on. Getting a different view from up in the air would have to be my favourite thing about flying.” Ongoing engagement doesn’t only maintain the interest of that participant but it can also spread the message. This time Leah brought along her 20-year-old sister Joanna who after her flight said “I would definitely do this again!” When holding frequent aviation youth engagement activities it is important that you include variety. While the very keen will be happy to come back and do the same aviation activity time and time again you will have a much greater chance of maintaining the engagement if you include something new. As the participants indicated, trying a new activity was a key reason they chose to come along. Further, my decision to offer helicopter flights this time was to create a new experience for those who had come to my previous fixed wing activity days. As we are all well aware, aviation can become a costly activity. To keep costs manageable for the participants the flights were kept relatively short, being a return flight from Bankstown Airport to Sydney Olympic Park. Asking participants to come all the way out to the airport to fly for such a short period of time and then go home may not necessarily result in a successful activity. To support my aviation activities I always include a number of simple hands on ground based activities. These include things such as aviation chart reading (from preparing a simplified flight plan to just spotting items on the map), identifying different aircraft and youth pilot hand eye coordination challenges. The size and diversity of RAAus means that it has a great potential to support youth engagement, ongoing involvement and development in the aviation industry. Youth aviation engagement can take many forms but the key to success is to frequently communicate with youth, create a supportive group environment, offer variety/new experiences and keep costs to a minimum. SPORT PILOT | August 2018
37
PHOTOS: MARK SMITH
WEIGHT WATCHERS MEETS AN RV Mark Smith meets a couple who overcame a weight problem to fly their dream machine
S
ince the first tentative steps were taken to leave the ground in heavier-than-air machines, the subject of weight has been front and centre in the process of turning raw materials into man-made birds. In the past 110 or so years not much has changed, especially if an Australian builder wants to take an established design that normally flies in the VH category and bring it into RAAus. Bob and Robyn Dennis faced this problem when they learned to fly and decided the ever popular RV-9A was their dream machine. It all started when they were introduced to flying in RAAus. “My brothers are both pilots dating back to our teenage years,” Bob says. “I got involved in a rock band instead
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of getting into flying. But over the years, I’ve done a lot of flying with them and then decided I wanted to learn to fly when retired”. The couple found Recreational Aviation Australia was a more economical way of getting into aviation after going for a flight with Marty Hone at Gatton. “We both went up in Marty’s RV-6 and on the way home Robyn said ‘I want to learn to fly’ and I said ‘well that makes both of us,’” Bob says. Robyn had wanted to become a pilot as a teenager, and the chance to go for a buzz with Marty brought back that desire to learn, and they’d also met people who were flying affordably in RAAus. “I already had the interest, but I got talked out of it. I never really thought about
it again until we went up for the joy flight and got the buzz again,” Robyn says. “We decided on going the RAAus route because the training was much more affordable as was the cost of owning an aeroplane registered with them. “ The Dennis’ chose renowned local instructor Kevin Walters to teach them, which introduced the couple to the venerable Drifter. Robyn was very enthusiastic about the design. “It’s amazing!” she says. “Look at it; it’s just like a broomstick with wings. You sit with your legs on the either side of it.” “It’s just like riding a motorcycle,” Bob chimes in. “It was pretty daunting but so much fun. And you really learn how to fly a plane. You
FEATURE
“Before I retired my business was building race cars and they need to be both light to win races but they need to be strong to finish races. It’s very similar in aircraft,” says Bob. “So we set about the same using the same set of principles on the RV-9 kit that we used in fabricating a metal racing car. I knew we could cut a lot of weight off but whether we’d get it low enough for RAAus wasn’t something I was too sure about.” Bob’s skills in building strong, light structures left him with a belief that anything can be lightened, even if it’s a couple of grams. They set up to build the aircraft in their racing car workshop and a year later a new RV emerged. “I can’t pick up something without looking very carefully and trimming it to retain the strength but take the excess weight out of it. To me it was just second nature to do that,” he says. After all the work, shaving a bit of metal here, redesigning an internal structure there the results finally came in. “It needed to come in at 415kg dry weight to be eligible and it actually came in at 406kg. I was more than happy because I was expecting to have to go back and try and trim something else but it finished up where it needed it.” One of the downsides of Bob and Robyn’s achievement has been a degree of controversy about the weight they were able to achieve through their engineering-style weight loss program. “To be truthful, we were accused over time of cheating by various people in the SAAA, GA, and even the RAAus boys. They just cannot believe we’ve got it down to that weight.
develop very good stick and rudder skills. The RV9 is so easy to fly that you get lazy but in a Drifter you really have to control it properly,” Robyn says. After getting their pilot certificates and using a Tecnam Sierra for their cross country training, it was time to get an aeroplane of their own. RAAus had restrictive AUW limits at the time, but realistic medical standards for the type of operations their members enjoy. Robyn and Bob had set their hearts on an RV-9A but in 2013 the prospect of a weight increase to allow the design to be registered in the RAAus system seemed a long way away. That’s where the skills forged from years of running a successful business designing and building racing cars came in very handy.
“It was pretty daunting but so much fun. And you really learn how to fly a plane. You develop very good stick and rudder skills. The RV9 is so easy to fly that you get lazy but in a Drifter you really have to control it properly,”
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“To settle the matter RAAus sent an independent aircraft weight specialist. He weighed it in at 405kg.” Bob explains the actual technicalities that allowed the aircraft into RAAus “The formula that RAA accepts is, the empty weight, in our case 406kg plus 80 kg per seat = 160kg. And 23% of the engine’s rated horsepower for fuel weight. Our 0-235 is rated at 108 hp = 25kg. That’s 406+160+25 = 591kg. So we were legal for registration. “But the buck doesn’t stop there. It’s up to us to make sure we do not exceed the 600kg MTOW. My wife and I are light at 134kg all up. So in the real world that gives us 66kg for fuel and luggage. “While this may not be acceptable to everyone, we’re more than happy with what we have, and to be able to do it with an RAA licence, enjoying the privileges like the medical rules.” The time and effort Bob and Robyn took to be able to fly an aeroplane not normally found on the RAAus register was enormous. Bob gives one example where many kilograms of weight were saved. “Here’s a simple one. The plans put the battery on the right hand side of the firewall but the starter is on the left. We did a bit of design work with Vans, moved the
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battery to the left and lining it up with the starter motor we achieved a lot of weight savings. The battery is much closer to the starter meaning a much lighter grade of cable can used, as well as a lot less cable anyway. We removed 50% of the battery cable. Plus the battery can be smaller as well. The result is a saving of around 10kg. “When we made the seats Vans just used aluminum tube. In racing cars we have to be mindful that cars crash and an essential safety component is how much load a seat will take, not just the seat mount attach points. Using racing car techniques we drilled lightening holes and then rolled the seat walls. The results? Two seats that weigh the same as one, but are stronger. The weight reduction program even went as far as Bob radiusing the corners on all the sheet stock used to use in the airframe. “People would come in the hangar and laugh at me, claiming it couldn’t possibly make a difference. They’d be laughing ‘it’s not worth it’. “But it is. You make these small changes hundreds of times and they add up. The powerplant is a Lycoming 0-235, a common engine with proven reliability. What isn’t known by many people is that there are large weight variations.
“I did a lot of chasing around because there is about 10kg difference between the various models. I also have a P ignition system and a Rotec throttle body injection.” Bob has touched on using his skills as a car builder to help get his svelte RV into the air but is there any resemblance to building a ground-based speed machine? “It is very similar. We take a design and go over it closely. There are always things you can find to improve weight and increase performance. You have to make it strong where you need it and efficient where you don’t.” One of the final weight saving initiatives was the paint. Normally owners go wild with elaborate personalized schemes that bulk on the kilos. Their colour scheme was designed to be eye-catching but light. “People are surprised at how much paint weighs. Pick up a can of paint and it weighs 10kg. Throw on three cans with different colours and it adds up.” Using a small amount of paint to create a unique design combined with polished bare metal allowed for more weight savings while creating a unique look for their aeroplane. “We ended up using just over 3kg of paint for the whole aeroplane,” says Bob proudly.
The couple has owned their RV since 2011, with Bob taking the honors of the test flight after their instructor couldn’t do the job due to time conflicts. “I actually teed up for Kevin to test fly it. And the day we decided on the test flight I was talking to someone who knew Kev who said he’d gone away. It was such a beautiful day that I decided to do the test flight myself. “It felt great. It’s a very easy aircraft to fly. Prior to the test flight I’d been talking about the RV9 and people said that if you’d ever flown a Sports Star it’s very similar.” After seven years of ownership Bob and Robyn are as just as enthusiastic about the design today as they were when they built it. “It’s simply freedom,” says Robyn. “You lift off and forget the hassles of everyday living. Plus we love to travel so it’s great to get away but know we can get back quickly.” Travel is a big part of the attraction for Bob as well. “With motor racing we’ve travelled to Darwin and to Perth and everywhere in between. But it’s all new seeing it from the air. You head off early when it’s smooth and just sit back and enjoy the scenery in a way few people can.”
Lightweight paint scheme adds to keeping the RV in RAAus
Robyn and Bob Dennis
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JIM’S SPITFIRE: 75% SIZE... 100% FUN
PHOTOS: MARK SMITH
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FEATURE
For some people an RV just doesn’t do it for them. Mark Smith meets one such pilot.
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et’s take a moment and be honest. There isn’t a pilot out there, be they RAAus flying a Thruster or GA in their Cessna 182, who doesn’t dream of taking the stick of a WWII fighter and imagining that behind every cloud is a Hun just waiting to meet his end from the bullets in your Browning machine guns! Pilots who are lucky enough to display real WWII fighters are allowed to look condescendingly at the smaller replicas that have been growing in numbers over the past few years, but for a pilot with enough money to buy one of the many kits out there you can have your own mini Spitfire
or Mustang for not much more than the cost of an RV-8. Well-known Victorian aircraft owner Jim Wickham has a hangar full of replicas that he has constructed over the years, including his 75% Spitfire which was built from a Mike O’Sullivan kit. It was the second aircraft he built, the first being a Fighter Escort Wings Mustang more than 19 years ago. At a time when RV’s were becoming extremely popular as homebuilts Jim’s independent nature made him yearn for something with a bit more character. “I like something a little bit different now, like the warbird type thing if I can. The
RV is a great success story but they just don’t have the presence of a Mustang or a Spitfire. I just always wanted a Spitfire and I always wanted a Mustang. “I’ve always loved the Spitfire but this was the only Spitfire kit I could find. I’d love to build the bigger one that’s available now that’s powered by a V8 but they want too much money for them. I love this one - it’s basically an ultralight with a six-cylinder Jabiru engine. I’ve just put a new engine in, one of the last of the six-cylinder Cammit engines with water cooled heads, electronic ignition on one side and a new Airmaster prop from NZ,” he says. SPORT PILOT | August 2018
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The aircraft easily fits in the RAAus category but when Jim built it 18 years ago he went down the experimental path which was growing in popularity. That said, he’d happily switch it over if he started having medical issues with CASA. Jim’s 75% version is no longer available, with the American company concentrating on larger versions. Interestingly Jim has the ability to make some comparisons between his 75% Spitfire and a full-size WWII fighter, the Yak 9, which he has owned for 14 years. “The Yak 9 was similar in size to a fullsize Spitfire and was a formidable WWII fighter. They built 17,000 of them and the Germans were actually told not to get into a turning fight because the Yak had a shorter wingspan than even the Spitfire and could turn inside very easily. It was a lovely aeroplane to operate and fly.” In warbirds, size does seem to matter and Jim laughs at the thought of any real comparisons between the two aircraft. “This is just a toy compared to the Yak 9 with its Allison V12, but it was just as easy to fly. You just had to know the numbers and learn its characteristics but it was a lot heavier. With the Spitfire it takes about 1000ft to do a loop whereas with the Yak 9 it was 3000ft. “It was fun to own the Yak but with all the changes to the rules and regulations I’m just going back to my smaller experimental
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It was fun to own the Yak but with all the changes to the rules and regulations I’m just going back to my smaller experimental aircraft. I can look after them because I built them.
aircraft. I can look after them because I built them”. Jim recently put radiators underneath the wings of the Spitfire to support the water-cooled heads he installed, and he’s pleased with the temperatures the aircraft is now running. Despite its size, Jim says once he’s flying the Spitfire, all thoughts about it not being a full-sized Spitfire leave his mind. “You can see the distinctive shape of the wing and the long nose. You look all around and you feel like you are in a Spitfire, big or small. It handles like a big Spitfire, though I don’t do many aerobatics in it. “I’ve done memorial flypasts in her. I was asked to do one over Sandown at the Tony Gaze memorial and I told them it’s not a real one but they were keen and the people on the ground thought it was amazing. I suppose when an aeroplane is in the air it’s hard to get a true perspective
of its size unless it’s next to something else, and it does look great when it’s flying. So when they had a memorial to Jack Brabham they got me to do it again!” Flying takes a degree of concentration like any taildragger “It will go off to the left a bit if you let it but the tail comes up and it lifts off at about 60kts. You hold the nose down to build up speed and it has electric retracts.” Landing isn’t the scary experience you’d think would be a part of flying an aeroplane with such small wheels and a narrow track undercarriage. “Landings are always a part of flight. You really have to look out for it but the Spitfire comes down really nicely. It just greases on one wheel, two wheels because it’s just so responsive.” If you are flying around Tyabb on a nice day with puffy clouds and a high sun,
beware! You never know when Jim’s going to appear out of nowhere, rattle the Brownings and head back up. Spitfire pilots tend to enjoy bouncing the odd civilian just to keep in practice, so you have been warned!
Jim and Jenny Wickham
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DON’T BE FLIPPANT WITH FLAPS Rob Knight reminds us flaps can need careful handling.
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laps - the Wright brothers didn’t have them but now all aeroplanes except the most very basic have them fitted. They have become an almost quintessential attachment to aeroplane wings so they must have some purposeful advantage. And they surely do! Regardless of what specific theory of lift production you subscribe to, they all have one thread in common - it is the camber of the upper surface of an aerofoil that gives the great advantage over a flat plate in providing lift. It is also reasonable, therefore, to assume that the greater the camber (curve of the upper surface) the greater will be the lift produced by any given airflow. How ideal is that – have a nice big fat wing and take-off and land really slowly and in very short distances. But there’s a snag (isn’t there always) and thick wings produce a lot more drag than thin ones. Drag rises as the square of the airspeed rises so if we doubled our drag we’d only get one quarter (yes, that’s right, just ¼) of the speed we’d get without that drag. Here we are only discussing trailing edge flaps and to better understand them, first let’s first look at some basic aerofoil definitions so we know that we are talking about the same things.
Note that:
the CL, the lift co-efficient – that part of the total lift provided by the wings through the factors of aerofoil shape and angle of attack. In other words, lowering flaps will provide an increase in lift without requiring an increase in airspeed. or wing area.
Airflow following increased curve over aerofoil with flaps lowered. Increased camber = increased lift at same airspeed
Airflow over aerofoil following camber with flaps raised
It is easy to see that the greater the camber the thicker the aerofoil section will become to the airflow and the greater will be the lift delivered by that airflow at any given speed. Flaps also increase lift because they increaser the angle of attack.
Lowering flaps will increase the angle of attack. 1.
The upper aerofoil surface is cambered.
2.
The lower aerofoil surface is relatively flat.
3. The relative airflow is caused by the aerofoil moving through the air as the aeroplane flies. 4. The angle of attack is the angle between the relative airflow and the aerofoil chord.
As camber gives us lift, a big fat thick wing will get us off the ground very quickly. but when we do so, we ain’t gonna go anywhere because the drag from that big fat wing will rise very quickly and limit the speed we can cruise at. How about, then, we look at making our wing with variable camber? If we do then we can have a fat wing for takeoff and a thinner We need aerofoil A for take-off one for cruise; and and aerofoil B for cruise. Then, when that, my friends is we want to land, we need aerofoil how flaps came to A again so we can land at a slow be. speed and a short runway distance. Flaps, when lowered, increase
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Note the change in chord line. So what’s that down side again? If flaps are that good why don’t we just fly around with them down all the time? The down side is drag as we said earlier. Flaps cause an increase in both form drag and induced drag at any given airspeed and drag will reduce our cruise speed.
Form Drag
Form drag is the resistance created whenever the form of the aeroplane is being moved through the air and part of this is obviously the frontal area of the ‘form’ as presented to the airflow. Check the sketch below and see how lowering flaps increases the frontal area of the aeroplane.
Flap increases frontal area and thus increase form drag.
Form drag rises as the square of the airspeed so, as the airspeed rises, the magnitude of the adverse effects of form drag rise
FEATURE PHOTOS: MARK SMITH
exponentially. Thus the form drag at 20 knots is only ¼ of what it will be at 40 knots. In other words, if the drag value was at 20 knots was 20kg, at 40 knots it would have risen to 80kg.
Induced Drag
Sometimes called the penalty we pay for lift, induced drag is caused by the pressure differential between the upper and lower surfaces of the wing – just the very situation our wing camber is designed to enhance. Therefore, fuelled by one of the most basic tenets of nature that higher pressure gas will ALWAYS flow towards lower pressure gas, , the higher pressure air underneath the wing escapes around the tip to merge with the lower pressure air flowing over the wing. This has the ultimate effect of tilting the total aerodynamic lift force backwards and this rearward tilt provides a force against our direction of motion called Induced Drag.
With flap lowered the pressure differential between upper and lower surfaces is increased. This makes the total reaction lean further rearwards and so act against the direction of flight. Not only do we get more lift from the increase angle of attack but we get more form drag and more induced drag. The amounts of lift and drag generated by lowering flap depends essentially on two factors – the degrees of flap lowered and the type of flap (split, simple, fowler etc.) that the aeroplane has fitted to its wings. However, in general terms it is considered realistic to assume that lowering up to 15° of flap will increase the value of lift produced more than the value of drag developed in producing this extra lift. However, lowering more than 15° will see the amount of drag rise considerably more than the lift. This is perfect! It means the pilot can use a little flap when they want more lift on take-off and a lot of flap when they want more drag to steepen their approach angle and a lower safe landing speed. So what does all this mean to the poor old pilot? It simply means that lowering flaps will allow the wings to generate more lift at any given airspeed so long as they can handle the drag consequences. The Flight Manuals (POH) in most aeroplanes fitted with flaps advise that a small flap setting is advantageous when used for take-off. The use of flaps in this case will tend to shorten the distance required for take-off and make it safer because of the reduced stall speed.
For landing, flaps add drag so their use will steepen the approach angle, a very desirable trait when approaching over obstacles, especially onto a short runway. They reduce the stall speed so make the approach a little safer and allow the use of power which will enhance control effectiveness over all control surfaces exposed to the slipstream. With any reduction of power, lowered flaps will see the aeroplane decelerate more quickly so there will tend to be a shorter ground roll. All in all – flaps are a very useful tool.
THE DANGERS OF USING FLAPS To summarise what we have discussed flaps, when lowered, decrease stall speed and cause an increase in drag. The only dangers associated with flaps relate to when their advantages work in reverse and become liabilities. Because the aerofoil generates more lift at any given airspeed, then it stands to reason that it will generate the same lift at a lower speed. Therefore it is absolutely logical that lowering flaps will reduce the stall speed. It also stands to simple reasoning that, where lowering flaps decreases the stall speed, raising flaps will inevitably increase the stall speed! A situation where this can be hazardous is when doing a touch and go landing. A touch and go is a practice overshoot simulating the pilot actions in the event of realising there is insufficient runway available to land and stop. Who in their right mind would raise the flaps and thus decrease their lift and increase their stall speed in the middle of a take-off run? Flaps should be raised either in a slow and planned retraction at a safe height after take-off, or after leaving the runway on a full stop landing, when the aircraft has been brought to a stop and the after landing checks carried out correctly with the pilot’s full attention. Flaps are a tool in a pilot’s tool box but, like all tools, they should be used correctly. A spanner used as a hammer is ineffective and may result in the spanner being damaged and rendered useless. Flaps mishandled may result in an asset becoming a liability. Happy flying
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FEATURE PHOTOS: MARK SMITH
SAFE FLYING FUN
Trikes, microlights, ultralights, ultraleggero, deltatrikes, motorized deltaplanes, two-axis microlights, ultraligeros, ultralijeros pendulares, pendulares, pendular ultralight. No matter what you call them they mean the same. Peter McLean explains. The HypeR Tiger pulls away
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othing in aviation remains stagnant. The continued development of weight-shift aircraft has seen designs today that are as far removed from the basic powered hang gliders of 30 years ago as modern LSAs are compared to their homebuilt, hardware store-sourced basic flying machines powered by mower engines. They are well made, safe and reliable, which explains the growth in this area of recreational aviation. P&M Aviation is one of the world’s oldest and largest manufacturers of microlights, boasting more than 4000 aircraft that have rolled off the production line since 1983. Today’s incarnation of the company is the result of the 2003 merger of Mainair Sports and Pegasus Aviation. In keeping with the push toward better aircraft, P&M have introduced the HypeR Tiger onto the market. After flying P&M Aviation aircraft for about a year, veteran microlight instructor Peter McLean ordered a number of their designs from the factory. One of these was the PulsR, which he loves flying and describes as a massive leap forward in trike technology. “When we heard that Dr Bill Brooks, technical director at P&M Aviation, was in the loft at the factory designing something
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new, we were very keen to see what he’d come up with,” Peter said. “The prototype was released at the Popham show in May 2016. It looked great in the photos but the aircraft had a chisel nose with landing lights mounted inside. I liked this idea, however the UK pilots didn’t. I told the design team that the UK pilots shouldn’t matter because they probably won’t buy the aircraft anyway. However, the nose was changed to the more traditional rounded nose as we see it today.” When it was sure the aircraft was going to go in to production, Peter placed an order for the first production aircraft in February last year. “We knew the aircraft was still going through more development, but this was not a problem as we knew that with Bill Brooks at the helm, the HypeR, as it had become known, would be an outstanding aircraft.” After a year of continual development, the aircraft was ready for the long trip to Australia. “We watched its progress via ship tracker as it slowly crossed the vast oceans that make Australia such an isolated continent,” Peter said. “More than a month passed before the container arrived in Melbourne. Customs
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and Quarantine did their inspections with efficiency but Border Force were the surprise problem when they discovered the factory test pilot had written MG on some of the paperwork, as a joke to suggest this aircraft was every bit as good as one built for the defence force. “Border Force officers aren’t known for their sense of humour so they spent a week analysing what was in the container to find out exactly what military threat could be about to sneak into Australia!” The container finally arrived at Yarrawonga airfield, where Peter is based. It arrived exactly at the predicted time of 10am and he had exactly half an hour to unload so the truck and container could make its next pick up. “It took me 20 minutes to get three aircraft, numerous bits and pieces and the wings out before the truck blasted off. Everything was moved into hangar one so I could start the process of assembling the aircraft for registration,” Peter said. After removing a veritable acre of bubble wrap, Peter got a glimpse of his aircraft for the first time. “Dr Brooks had designed an aircraft that had to be appreciated in real life. The photos just didn’t do it justice,” he said. A few more days were spent waiting for the registration to come through before
they could finally turn the HypeR Tiger from a three-wheeled propeller-powered buggy to a flying machine. “The seats are the same as the ones in our PulsR which are very comfortable. Overall it feels like a very roomy aircraft,” he said. With no further excuses, the master switch was turned and the dark gauges all sprang into life. Then the Rotax started and the creature was alive. “As I taxied I noticed the wind had begun to rise, with the sock pointing across the strip. But it wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen before and so after lining up and giving a call to probably no one listening, I opened up the power and felt the HypeR lunge forwards. 50kts came quickly and a slight push on the bar had us climbing like a rocket-powered seagull,” he said. “I had the Rotax purring away at 4000rpm with the VSI pegged at 1500fpm. That’s impressive. Levelling at 5000ft and I spent an enjoyable 20 minutes simply throwing the Tiger around. It’s basically one of those designs that’s so well harmonised you think where you want to turn and you’re turning. It’s one hell of a good aircraft.” Landing proved simple enough. “I pulled the power back, and trimmed for a 500fpm descent and slid down
some invisible rails in the sky. With the circuit in sight a further power reduction and retrimming had us set for landing. A slight flare and a smooth landing was my reward,” he said. Peter’s wife Anne, who also likes to be called Pax One, was aboard for the second flight. “She was taken by the adjustable seats, feeling that comfort is very important in such an aircraft. She was also impressed by the rate of climb. It was a case of love at first flight and we’ll be using our Tiger as much as possible to travel around,” Peter said. “Some people say that trikes, in general, are becoming far too expensive, but P&M fully certify their products, which is an extremely expensive task in itself. In the overall picture, we at Yarrawonga Flight Training believe that a fully certified aircraft is a good insurance to help prolong your life expectancy. Expensive cars are considered to be normal, yet many pilots want to short change their life expectancy in a cheap flying machine. Try figuring the logic of that one! “I think that the PulsR is a great aircraft and I find the QuikR is still one of the best training aircraft I have flown. The HypeR is just the next generational change in trikes and I like the direction trikes are taking,” he said. SPORT PILOT | August 2018
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FEATURE
HOMEBUILDING — SLOW AND STEADY IS THE KEY Luke Bayly continues the slow road to having a flying aeroplane.
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hen we take on a project we tend to make snap decisions on the required time and investment to get the aircraft up and running again. The repair process can be long and lead down several tangents of unexpected obstacles which can lead to lack of motivation. As the project enters a stall, how do we recover to see that ‘hangar queen’ back where she belongs in the sky? The old saying of “90% done with 40% to go” is more truth than most people believe. When I first took on my Sonerai project back in April 2017, my assessment of the work to be completed was far lacking the reality of the task at hand. The fuel system, electrical system and cooling were the obvious points that needed attention and I estimated that within a matter of months, these minor fixes would be completed. After a year of working on the project, I had completed additional tasks such as a propeller refinish, a new throttle body injector install, replacement of 90% of the fuel lines, re-routed half of the electrical wiring, moved several portions of the avionics panel and sustained a tear in the horizontal stabiliser from hangar rash. Having spent many hours working through these gremlins, I am at the stage where the final touches are being completed such as sealing the cooling plenum, replacing the fabric on the horizontal sta-
bilizer and fixing the brake system. These last few issues however have been the most difficult in terms of available time to complete the repairs and the waning interest in the project itself. I often find myself in the shed ignoring the project because the solution is either too difficult, too big a job to knock off in an afternoon or the parts simply aren’t easily available. This is the point that I feel I have “stalled” and need to regroup before tackling the next step. Identifying when your project has entered a stall is the first step but how do we push the stick forward to get it flying again? RAAus tech manager Darren Barnfield offered some very good advice when I first started this project and said “just go and do one small thing each day”. Even if you step into the workshop and take on one easy step such as remove the cowling or have a little play with a piece of work such as prep for fibreglassing, often this can snowball you into an hour or two of work on the project and little by little, it will get finished. Another good idea is to get a fresh set of eyes to take a look at your project. The interest or ideas from another person are a good way to kick-start a project by either them helping you, or by discussing the difficulty of the task you have in front of you. They may be able to suggest a better way of going about it, relate a story
of their own struggles or simply ask some questions to make you feel like the DIY expert. Organisations such as the Sport Aircraft Association of Australia (SAAA) are a wonderful source of knowledge for builders to engage with and even simply talking with the local club can be a good source of advice and comradery. One final suggestion is to actively track your project. I keep a whiteboard in my shed with all of the outstanding tasks on the board down to even the smallest jobs. Larger tasks are broken down into stages or steps and every time I complete a piece of the puzzle, it get ticked off the list. Friends and family have suggested that I just simply remove the task once it is completed, but I believe that having those little check marks visible against the task to show how much I have done is motivating in itself to get just one more up there. While I may not have much to go on my project before it is up and flying again, these last few obstacles are certainly the most painstaking of the journey. With all the effort expended so far, it would be a waste to simply let the project idle along for another 12 months and so I will require some discipline to finalise the remaining tasks. Hopefully by then the weather will have cleared and after a thorough inspection/test flight by my local CFI, I will get to enjoy the hard work I have poured into this aeroplane.
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FEATURE
THE 12 POINTS OF SELLING YOUR SPORT AIRCRAFT Nicholas Christie gives some insight in to how to effectively market your aeroplane
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e are all relatively experienced at selling, especially if we have a few years behind us. We actually do it every day, in our lives, perhaps even unwittingly. We sell ourselves and ideas and values to our colleagues, friends, families and even to our pets, and it’s for a range of reasons; acceptance, love, self-esteem, or to even influence them in some way. But often when we are consciously engaged in putting ourselves (or a product) forward to sell, we freeze, or we don’t put in the thought and effort that’s required to get a great result. Like anything worthwhile, selling is an art that needs just a bit of practice to get right. At very least, we do need to remind ourselves that we can always do it better, and the difference between a good result and a great one is usually the last 10% of thought. So here’s 12 points as a gentle reminder of what you should be doing, and perhaps how to reflect on whether you need to fine tune your skills to be really effective at selling, in this case your sport aircraft, to
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the marketplace. Anyone who has studied business or marketing will know the 5 Ps of Product, Price, Place, People and Promotion. It’s a very simple way of not forgetting one of the elements that best gets your message across, on behalf of your product, communicated in the right way, to the right people, and matches its perceived value to the asking price. The light sport aircraft segment is growing in Australia, and right now it’s a niche market. What this specialised segment positioning does though, is really makes marketing your aircraft to the sector highly dependent on how well you do it and means your focus must be on the segment and its own prospective buyers. For instance, if you’re targeting the right audience (enthusiasts with cash to spare), and tapping in to the emotional part of a sale by presenting the aircraft well and ensuring its features and benefits are well-communicated, you’re half way there. You see, right in the centre of an ex-
citable and passionate, small (but growing) segment of an otherwise disinterested market is where you need to be and the light needs to shine on you and your aircraft. Get it wrong, and your pride and joy will stay in your hands for years. Get it right, and the buyers will come knocking at your door. Job done! Let’s explore this in more detail and take each of the 5 Ps separately and then add (yes I bet you’re wondering), the last seven to make 12. Don’t worry, this won’t take long - but it is really important! 1. Product. Ask yourself if your aircraft is fit for purpose, ready and right for the sport/ general/commercial aircraft market (whichever it is). Back in the late 18th century, Ralph Emerson said: “(if you) build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door”. Unfortunately this theory doesn’t quite work in modern times. Now, you need to build (have) a great product and make sure it’s absolutely fit for purpose, ready to fly away, and ensure everything is
cared for (like maintenance issues) before the customer takes it away. And you need to ensure that you’ve marketed it to the right buyers, explained the features and benefits, and why their needs are exceeded by your product! Phew... sounds hard, but stick with me here and you’ll be fine. 2. Price. There is a simple fact in a capitalist
economy in the 21st century – everything has a price, from a bag of rice to a used pencil, to a professional service. And of course, you have a fair idea what the asset is worth, right? There is often a significant discrepancy between market value (the value that prospective buyers place on the product or service) and the asking price (the value that vendors want). It’s mainly to do with the economic principle of supply and demand, but also personal circumstances and emotion. The first tip is that your own emotional attachment usually adds significantly to your perception of the right asking price, but unless you market the aircraft perfectly to the right buyer this rarely has any bearing on the buyer’s perception of its value. Secondly, what the asset has cost you or owes you has no consequence to the buyer in real terms. This is frustrating, but just because you paid X for your aircraft and subsequently added to its value with a new interior and paint which cost you Y, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should ask X+Y. It’s a matter of what you did and how much perceived value that Y added. If the upgrades and work added value that’s great, but you need to look at it from the buyer’s perspective. 3. Place. This is where the product is seen, sold and distributed. It’s important that it’s accessible to the market. Being on one general aviation sales website only or telling your friends that the aircraft is available to buy and asking them to pass it on won’t cut it. It needs to be accessible to everyone, ready and available to the marketplace and to be viewed day and night. You also need to be accessible if your broker calls or a prospective buyer needs to see the aircraft. That means you might even offer to fly it to the buyer! It makes such an impression and shows them that it’s airworthy and you’re keen to do business. Offer to bring the broker to the aircraft and to fly it, which can help significantly in the broker’s true appreciation of your aircraft and why he/she needs to sell it quickly (before others) and at the right price
4. People. You may be a fantastic sales-
person and great communicator, but being attached to the sale is usually a huge disadvantage. The bigger the distance that you are from the sale, the more you are likely to get for the asset. That’s why real estate agents are needed in housing and brokers are a genuinely good investment in most high value sales. The fees you pay them reduces the burden on you, but also means that you can step away. Allow a third party to negotiate on your behalf. If you sell to family, for instance, you’ll usually do a better deal for them because you’re so close to the buyer, so sometimes leaving it to a broker makes huge financial sense. Consider taking on a broker that knows your segment and is professional, communicative and is interested in your aircraft. Make them work hard for the sale, and make sure there’s no commission payable unless (and until) they sell it.
5. Promotion. This is self-explanatory but often under-researched and poorly executed. Effective promotion means choosing a few really well-regarded media channels to sell the aircraft. Don’t just choose one and expect miracles. You may, for instance, want to consider print media (specialist aviation magazines are fantastic) and two or more online listings as a must-have. Plus put some stickers on the aircraft (or ask your broker for some). Social media like Instagram and Facebook is ok, and does often net significant activity, but sellers are usually disappointed when nobody seriously calls to enquire. It’s worth a shot, but is usually hit and miss in terms of getting a result. Ask your broker to help design A3 posters for the local aeroclubs in your region and you might be surprised at the calls you get after you pint it up in the club house or reception.
SO, WHAT ARE THE LAST SEVEN PS? It’s an aviation term drummed in to you as a student pilot and one of the most recognised when you’re building an aircraft too. Whether you’re building, flying or selling, the last seven P’s are all the same and very, very important:
PROPER - PRIOR - PLANNING - PREVENTS PATENTLY - POOR - PERFORMANCE! • B e prepared and make certain that you know how to execute the plan above using the 5 P’s before you do anything. • P repare the aircraft correctly, realistically price it with a professional market valuation, ensure easy accessibility, recruit the best aircraft broker for your aircraft type and ensure that you advertise effectively to the people who will buy. • I f you prepare, plan, and execute properly from day one, the aircraft will sell fast, and at a price that pleases you more than you might have first imagined.
SPORT PILOT | August 2018
55
FROM THE OPS TEAM
CONTROLLED AIRSPACE – HELP US TO HELP YOU
A
s a general update, RAAus and CASA are still progressing tirelessly towards access to controlled airspace for all RAAus members (for those who choose to transit or use the airspace regularly). Obviously for those members who have no need to operate in controlled airspace, nothing will change. This is also an important point to remember about our proposal for increased MTOW. If you have no need to fly an aircraft bigger than 600kg, nothing will change for you now or in the future. But we digress, back to controlled airspace. It is worth a quick revisit of the controlled airspace situation as it currently stands, for clarity and to make sure all RAAus members are aware of current limitations for operations in and around controlled airspace and, more specifically, active military restricted airspace. To recap, controlled airspace currently involves three separate requirements for RAAus pilots to legally operate a RAAus aircraft in the airspace.
ENR 1.1 paragraph 4.1.12.
AIP ENR 1.4 paragraph 5.3.2 also states pilots must obtain approval from the controlling authority to obtain access.
1. The pilot must hold a current CASA licence with controlled airspace endorsement (current means a valid flight review, CASA medical and controlled airspace recency); 2. The pilot must hold a current RAAus Pilot Certificate with the appropriate endorsements to operate the aircraft (current flight review, driver’s licence medical or higher and endorsements); 3. The aircraft must meet the controlled airspace requirements (appropriate engine, be either a certified or LSA approved aircraft type, or if amateur built, hold a CAR 262AP5 approval and be maintained appropriately) and if required for the airspace, a calibrated transponder. The other relevant piece of the puzzle for RAAus members are Civil Aviation Orders 95.32 and 95.55, both of which have paragraphs that state: A person must not operate a relevant aeroplane in Class A, C or D airspace, or an active restricted area unless all of the following conditions are complied with:
These conditions go on to list requirements for RAAus members which include using appropriately certified and maintained aircraft (transponder if required), fitted with approved engines or engines which are not limited by any conditions (such as automotive conversion engines or appropriately maintained Jabiru engines), and the pilot must also hold a current CASA issued CAR 5 or Part 61 Licence with valid controlled airspace training, current medical and flight review. Of significant importance for RAAus members is the further information provided in various references in AIP ENR related to active restricted military airspace which is also considered controlled airspace which pilots must not allow the aircraft to enter without an appropriate clearance.
56
SPORT PILOT | August 2018
Finally, AIP ENR 1.4 paragraph 5.3 provides further information relevant to operating in restricted airspace and that is it to be considered a service equivalent to that of Class C unless specified elsewhere in ERSA.
Why is this relevant to RAAus members? A significant number of RAAus pilots have aircraft hangared at airfields, ALAs and private airstrips which are in military restricted airspace. Therefore, when this airspace is active, RAAus pilots are not legally able to operate unless they meet all the requirements noted above. This certainly creates an additional challenge for those RAAus members and it is a situation our final phase of controlled airspace access will correct. Confusingly, Department of Defence controllers may request pilots call them via phone prior to flying to confirm the airspace is available. This has been misinterpreted by many RAAus pilots to think this means they may operate a RAAus aircraft in this airspace when it is active if they simply call via phone first. This process is only correct if the RAAus pilot also meets all the requirements for a current CASA licence as noted above and the aircraft is compliant. Even if the controller at the military base provides pilots with a clearance via phone or over the radio, the responsibility for ensuring the pilot is legal rests with the pilot, not the controller. If RAAus pilots elect to operate in this airspace and are not legal and also do not follow established controlled airspace procedures as noted in the AIP, it creates significant doubt in the minds of the regula-
tor, the military and industry about the conduct of RAAus pilots. It also fosters an impression that RAAus pilots are irresponsible and poorly trained, making our task of gaining controlled airspace access even harder. Recently, some freedoms have been provided in specific areas to assist RAAus pilots to operate at East Sale, with the addition of the new D353 corridor to allow transit through East Sale when active. This doesn’t completely address all the issues related to East Sale as the pilots with aircraft hangared at West Sale cannot fly from West Sale when the airspace around East Sale is activated. RAAus is still actively working with the team at East Sale to try and achieve a solution to this issue. The best solution will be when RAAus achieves the final phase of the controlled airspace proposal and is finally able to issue a controlled airspace endorsement. We know the vast majority of our pilots do the right thing and don’t operate in controlled airspace without meeting the requirements noted above. Only by proving ourselves to be professionally trained and disciplined pilots will we all enjoy eventual access to controlled airspace if we need to. Help us to help you, don’t enter controlled airspace if you don’t belong there.
LOOK FORWARD TO A
BRIGHTER FUTURE
WAI AUSTRALIA 2018 NATIONAL CONFERENCE 28-30 SEPTEMBER 2018 HUNTER VALLEY, NSW
“WAI is dedicated to the encouragement & advancement of women in all aviation & aerospace career fields and interests...”
18jul19
• 3 days of speaker presentations • panels • workshops • networking www.waiaustralia.org | www.facebook.com/waiaustralia.org To register: www.events.humanitix.net/women-in-aviation-national-conference SPORT PILOT | August 2018
57
Now available in Australia in kit build or factory build
Affordable | Simplistic | Rugged | Quality LSA | Fun
Contact: info@gap.aero, t 1300 659 228 / c +61 400 639 388 Join us at the "Oz-Kosh" Aviation airshow in Naromine, 19-21 Oct 2017
Nose Wheel/Tail Wheel VIP Propellor Spacious Cockpit Leather Upholstery . 118 Knot Cruise . 120 L Tanks
Australian LightWing SP2000-S Aircraft $50,000 . Offers Welcome
www.lightwing.com.au . fly@lightwing.com.au . (02) 6686 8658 58
SPORT PILOT | August 2018
DID YOU KNOW? Rotax 912 engine maintenance requirements for RAAus registered aircraft
Who is responsible for the maintenance of an RAAus registered aircraft? The continual airworthiness of an RAAus aircraft is the responsibility of the registration holder. That is you, the member and person who owns, operates and flies the aircraft. The understanding amongst the RAAus membership regarding maintenance and operation of aircraft is varied and appears to be based on some very loose interpretations and urban myths. Must all RAAus registered aircraft comply with manufacturer requirements? When it comes to Rotax 912 engine maintenance the only aircraft that are not required to comply or meet with any known design standards is a 10 or 19 amateur built aircraft. While compliance with the engine manufacturer maintenance requirements is not a requirement it is still highly recommended. However a 10 or 19 registered aircraft with a 262AP(5) approval must maintain the engine in accordance with Rotax requirements to retain the approval. Every other 25, 55 23, 24, 32 registered aircraft must comply with the engine manufacturers maintenance process. The current regulations allow a RAAus member to conduct their own aircraft maintenance if they have completed the L1 accreditation. The Rotax system of maintenance stipulates various inspections and intervals that must be complied with. Items such as the 5 year mandatory hose replacement. This is one item that is currently not complied with across the fleet and is a mandatory requirement. Can I maintain a Rotax engine on airswitch? Rotax state: It is not permissible to run a Rotax 912 on flight switch. Reference: 912 Series Edition 3/Rev. 01 Definition of terms: 1.1) Operating hours: All of the maintenance intervals, such as the 100 hr. inspection and the engine TBO, relate to the number of operating hours of the engine. The operating hours are defined as follows in order to prevent misunderstandings and to ensure safety: • All time during which the engine is running is counted towards the total number of operating hours. • The time is counted irrespective of the load factor of the engine, such as idling or take-off power. NOTES: A mechanical hour meter is directly coupled to the engine speed, the readings may deviate considerably from those given by electronic remitters (e.g. TCU, FlyDat). Maintenance and overhaul intervals are always dictated by the readings of the electronic hour meter. Are there any further requirements? It is a requirement that a logbook for maintenance activities is kept. It is a requirement that a Piston Engine Condition report is completed every annual or 100 hourly inspection is carried out. Can I operate my Rotax engine “On Condition”? Although RAAus recommends that the engine manufacturers’ overhaul schedules be followed, “On Condition” operations may be an option, unless the manufacturer specifically excludes it. “Oncondition” is not available for LSA unless the manufacturer states otherwise. Where can I find more information? http://flyrotax.com https://www.rotax-owner.com/en/support-topmenu/engine-manuals
AVIATION CLASSIFIEDS
5039 RANS COYOTE II S6ES
painted. Will take a Rotax or Jab 100hp. Fully folding wings.
5285 JABIRU J230
PRICE: $18500 CONTACT: Brian Howard 0401 060 613
5140 PARADISE P-1
280 Airframe Hours, 270 Engine Hours, S-6ES Coyote II. Registered till June 2017. Rotax 582 UL engine 260hrs. New BRS recovery chute installed December 2015. Large roomy cockpit with sliding seats. Folding wings for easy storage/trailering. All VFR instruments. Search Youtube for “Tuflux RANS Coyote”. PRICE: $22000 CONTACT: Gordon James Bailey 0409 348 293
5057 RV-3
286 Airframe Hours, 286 Engine Hours, P-1 PARADISE P-1 PRICE: $85000 CONTACT: John Darby 0402 210 913
5164 JABIRU UL6
380 Airframe Hours, 28 Engine Hours, J 230 c 2007 J230 with Factory zero timed engine and Jabiru warranty. Airframe 380 hours. EMS with egt - cht on all cylinders, Garmin colour gps 296, Icom 210 vhf radio with dual stations, Garmin GMA 340, GarminTransponder, new 10 ply tyres, Sensenich prop. PRICE: $58000 CONTACT: James Geale 0418 449 856
5309 SHARE IN AEROPRAKT A32 VIXXEN AT CABOOLTURE QLD
286 Airframe Hours, 626 Engine Hours, RV-3A RV performance with Lycoming reliability. Lycoming O-320-A2B 150HP,150-160kt TAS cruise @32lph. New prop, instruments & paint. A/C can be registered VH if aerobatics required, and can be delivered anywhere in Australia. PRICE: $55000 CONTACT: Peter Gilbert 0428 719 639
540 Airframe Hours, 150 Engine Hours, UL6 Jabiru UL6 (6 cyl, 3300, Camit engine, 3yo), Good Condition Extended wings. Frame: 540 hrs. approx; Engine: 270 hrs approx. Upgraded brakes, larger wheels. Climbs exceptionally well. Take-off and landing within 400m possible. Fuel: 14 l/hr @ 100Kn.
5088 FLIGHT DESIGN CTLS
PRICE: $32000 Johannes Luthy 0402 443 635
5224 BRUMBY LOW WING
400 Airframe Hours, 400 Engine Hours, A32 Vixxen A share is available in The Davewood Syndicate Vixxen based at Caboolture. Long running syndicate dedicated to providing a low hour high (currently 150) standard machine at reasonable rates of $85 per hour wet and $100 per month fixed. PRICE: $10000 CONTACT: Ian McDonell (07) 3886 5828
5326 JABIRU J230C (24-5013) 732 Airframe Hours, 732 Engine Hours, CTLS 732 airframe and engine hours. 130L fuel giving over 6 hours endurance at 110-115 TAS. Empty weight of 329kg giving useful load of 271kg.Always hangared and L2 maintained.No accident history. Immaculate condition inside and out. PRICE: $115,000 CONTACT: William Davison 0419 632 477
5139 DAKOTA HAWK
715 Airframe Hours, 650 Engine Hours, 600 low wing. Brumby 600 low wing. Rotax 912ULS with Sensinich 3-blade composite prop. 2-seat leather interior.. Dynon EFIS and Garmin avionics with Autopilot. Low time and great condition. PRICE: $82500 CONTACT: Sheldon Jones 0427 102 540
5225 THATCHER CX4 FOR SALE
575.6 Airframe Hours, 575.6 Engine Hours, J230C Factory built 2007. Excellent condition. All AD’s up-to-date. Glass cockpit: Dynon D100 EFIS, AvMap EKP IV, GPS, Sentient AirNav GPS touch screen. Lots of extras. Hangered at Warwick (Qld). $69,000 or nearest offer. Phone (after-hours) 0438 66 3371. PRICE: $69000 CONTACT: Gwenith Tyburczy 0421 322 618
5334 JABIRU J200 19-5073
0 Airframe Hours, N/A Engine Hours, Dakota Hawk Dakota Hawk $18,500 All controls complete. A/C is fitted with Matco wheels and brakes. A/C is fully covered and
60
SPORT PILOT | August 2018
45 Airframe Hours, 500 Engine Hours, XC4 Airframe hours 60, Jabiru engine 500 hours, cruse 110 knots. Lovely aircraft to fly. I’m just too old to get in and out of it. PRICE: $20000 CONTACT: John Edwards 0408 891 159
664 Airframe Hours, 260 Engine Hours, J200 Build 2003, Owner purchased 2010, Airframe TTIS 644 Hrs, nil accidents, repainted at Factory 2013, GA analogue instruments, vacuum pump, A/H, D/G,
Electric T&B, voltmeter, keyed ignition, Microair radio, dual headsets and 2 x GPS’s, 140 lit fuel PRICE: $50000 CONTACT: Jeff Nott 0418 843 954
5335 TYRO MK 2
J230D. Excellent Condition, true 120kt cruise,Nil Accidents, Autopilot, plus many more, All AD,s current, 545H Airframe and Engine, Factory built, Customised Leather Seats, great for touring, Located GCSFS Jacobswell Qld PRICE: $69500 CONTACT: Colin Worthy 0403 669 564
5428 CESSNA SKYCATCHER 162
60 Airframe Hours, 40 Engine Hours, Tyro MK 2 Tyro MK 2 fully refurbished 4 years ago with stits polyfibre. VW 1600 twin port aero engine (40 hours) with new Ark Tech propeller. Holds 50L of fuel, with a burn of 7-10L/hour in cruise. Call Les 0438 017 256. Located in South East Tasmania. PRICE: $7500 CONTACT: Les Skinner 0438 017 256
98 Airframe Hours, 98 Engine Hours, 162 CESSNA SKYCATCHER 162 2011 TT 98 hrs. Australian delivery. One owner. Dual screens PFD and EGT, all options. Currently registered GA but can be registered RA. 10/10 $87,000 plus GST ONO Contact Alan 0439 805 540, alank454@ hotmail.com PRICE: $95700 CONTACT: Alan Kirwan 0439 805 540
5458 HANGARS HOLBROOK AIRFIELD
nil Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, nil Hangars at Holbrook Airpark. Freehold Title blocks (18m X 18m) or new Hangar and blocks available. Serviced by sealed taxiways. Blocks only available from $25,000. Phone 0413990400. PRICE: $25000 CONTACT: John Ferguson 0413 990 400
5462 AIRBORNE MICROLIGHT
5435 AIRCRAFT 24-5195
5397 BUCCANEER2 ULTRALIGHT FOR SALE
342 Airframe Hours, 342 Engine Hours, 1996 Updated electric actuators and Tundra wheels and tyres. Brand new icon A210. Needs some work on the tail-wheel for water landings. Condition report included. Registered until September 2018 Contact: Evan 0409 660 716 Email: bluepeace24@yahoo.com.au PRICE: $29000 CONTACT: Ivan Lizarralde 0409 660 716
401.8 Airframe Hours, 401.8 120 since Overhaul Engine Hours, J230D Dec 07 Jabiru J230D Only 400 TTIS Excellent Condition Always Hangared Will sell with fresh Annual PRICE: $65000 CONTACT: James Robert Rodgers 0457 054 123
20 Airframe Hours, 20 Engine Hours, Classic Microlight for sale. New engine, just run in 20 hours old. Upgraded wing from original wizard wing to Streak 1. Many extras. Includes travel fuel panieres, helmets, radio. Log books available. Excellent condition. PRICE: $15000 CONTACT: Martin Braatz 0417 896 342
5468 TECNAM BRAVO WITH LEASE ON HANGAR
5436 AIRCRAFT 24-8373
5415 HANGAR FOR SALE - HUNTER VALLEY
nil Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, nil Near New, fully-enclosed steel hangar at Scone Airport. 12m x 12m concrete floor. Full width 3.6m high doors on rollers. Bitumen-sealed apron and taxiway to 1400m bitumen runway. FREEHOLD (Torrens) Land Title - no annual lease payments. PRICE: $0 CONTACT: Geoffrey Pinfold 0429 810 008
850 Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, KP-5 2013 Skyleader KP5. 850 TTIS. Empty 304kgs. MTOW 580kgs. Fuel 64Lt Total Both. Cruise 105kt Stall full flaps 35kt. Electric Fowler Flaps and trim. Very easy to fly. PRICE: $70000 CONTACT: James Robert Rodgers 0457 054 123
5486 PIONEER 300 KITE
5454 WANTED - WIZARD 3 HANG GLIDER WING FOR TRIKE, ANY CONDITION
5422 JABIRU 230D $69,500
545 Airframe Hours, 545 Engine Hours, J230D
1199.8 Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, Bravo Tecnam Bravo with low hours,(maintained by LAME and L2). We also have a 3 x 3 x3 lease on a hangar with Office area and accommodation all renovated. Additional we are also selling our family home. PRICE: $219000 CONTACT: Wayne Dillon 0438 551 198
nil Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, nil Wanted - Wizard 3 hang glider wing for trike, any condition. PRICE: $123,4567 CONTACT: Glenn Stallard 0434 558 038
890 Airframe Hours, 890 Engine Hours, 300 Kite A Pioneer 300 Kite available for sale. The aircraft is in excellent condition with only 890 hours since new. It has dual Eclipse IFIS system; 110L fuel capacity (3 tanks); Garmin Transponder & Radio; AV MAP EXP V 7” GPS. New DUC prop; factory built. PRICE: $95000 CONTACT: David Mackay 0419 859 085 SPORT PILOT | August 2018
61
AVIATION CLASSIFIEDS
5491 AIRCRAFT FOR SALE
140 Airframe Hours, 140 Engine Hours, Vm1 Esqual Vm1 PRICE: $65000 CONTACT: Walter Hudson 0428 469 416
5493 XT 912 MICROLIGHT TRIKE
5506 SAPHIRE
755 Airframe Hours, 30 Engine Hours, Saphire Number 5 Build.First Reg 1985.KFM powered.Still full flying order and condition.Low hours air frame and current engine.Delight to Fly.Sale is age related. Three spare KFM motors and components included. Engine tool dismantle and rebuild Kit. PRICE: $7000 CONTACT: Hayden Macaulay 0439 093 289
5524 JABIRU SP-T 3300
773.1 Hours Airframe Hours, 773.1 Hours Engine Hours, SP-T 3300 Unique SP-T 3300 Tail wheel Jabiru. Very well presented. Pocket Rocket! 2004 build to meticulous standards. 770 total time on airframe and engine. Solid lifter 3300 with fine finned heads. Factory extractors. No CASA restrictions on engine. PRICE: $40000 CONTACT: Rory Hicks 0411 769 244
5528 AIRBORNE XT-912, ARROW S WING LSA
5519 ROTAX ENGINES
476 Airframe Hours, 476 Engine Hours, XT912 Tundra. For sale 2009 Airborne XT912 Tundra with Arrow K wing with only 71 hrs on wing. Excellent condition. Includes Flycom Helmets, Training bars, bar mits, wing & trike covers & trike trolley. PRICE: $25950 CONTACT: Paul Cesnik 0418 114 443
nil Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, nil Rotax engines (3) for sale to realistic offers: (1). Rotax 447 - 100 hrs TSOH. “B” gearbox, single carb. Requires service, exhaust, spark plugs & few minor parts. Sold “as is”. Note: engines (2) and (3) are now on hold pending sale. Brand new exhausts (straight or 180 degrees) and carbies available at additional cost. Purchaser to pay ... PRICE: $0 CONTACT: Mustafa Bozkurt 0408 516 816
5521 FLIGHTSTAR II-SC
5494 J6C KARATOO
550 Airframe Hours, 550 Engine Hours, XT-912 AIRBORNE XT-912 ARROW S WING LSA PRICE: $33000 CONTACT: Bob Thiemann (07) 5481 2025 / 0418776116
5536 FOR SALE - JABIRU J230. PRICE: NEGOTIABLE. PRICE REDUCED BY $10000 149 Airframe Hours, 149 Engine Hours, J6C Home built Karatoo, side-by-side 2 seater, 149 hours total air frame, Subaru EA81 engine. Always hangered. Not currently registered. Must be sold Dad’s no longer able to fly it. All reasonable offers considered, located at Forbes NSW. PRICE: $23000 CONTACT: David Dent 0413 243 243
5502 2014 WEDGETAIL AIRCRAFT COUGAR (FORMALLY MORGAN AEROWORKS)
62 Airframe Hours, 62hrs Engine Hours, Cougar This aircraft is one of very few kit built aircraft of it’s class antwhere in Australia. It is equipped with everything that you could imagine: Honda Viking Engine 110Hp (Uses between 18-20LPH of 98 Fuel) 110L Fuel Capacity with 8 hrs Endurance PRICE: $82000 CONTACT: Frankie Bailey 0468 713 545
62
SPORT PILOT | August 2018
0 Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, II-SC Brand new Flightstar IISC. Fully enclosed cabin, dual controls, custom carpet interior, Falcon instruments, in-flight trim, brakes, mylar coverings. excellent attention to detail. Plane not fitted with an engine, sold as is. $16000. Phone: 0412506242 PRICE: $16000 CONTACT: Adam Pasqualotto 0412 506 242
5523 RAND X-AIR
350 Airframe Hours, 350 Engine Hours, J230 Kit built, approx 350 trouble-free hrs. 3 stage electric flaps, Xcom radio, Narco transponder, Garmin 295 GPS, vertical card compass, Whelan beacon and wingtip strobes, Trutrak ADI, alternate flashing landing lights, cabin heater, carby preheater for cold starts, CHT monitored on all cylinders. Also comes with a 12 volt refueling pump on trolley. PRICE: $50000 CONTACT: Graham Barrington 0400 144 282
5539 AIRBORNE EDGE X 216 Airframe Hours, 216 Engine Hours, X-air Australian. Rand X-Air Rotax 618 216hrs Good condition full instrumentation ballistic parachute 3blade brolga prop. PRICE: $12000 CONTACT: David Murray Kille 0402 401 566
642.0 Airframe Hours, 30 Engine Hours, Edge X Classic New engine and prop always kept in hangar PRICE: $10000 CONTACT: Andrew Richard Foster 0404 236 067/0439073091
MTOW 600Kg Empty Weight 300-305Kg Cruise 90 Kts Stall 26Kts Take Off/Land 45m Photo shows some options
Australian Agent: Peter Mob 0408 376 540
Aeroprakt A32 Vixxen www.foxbat.com.au
When you are up here you need to know what is happening at a glance.
Glance EFIS
Search for Aeroprakt A32
Cruise 115+ knots Stall 27 knots Carry 210+ kgs after full fuel Average under 20 litres an hour Believe it! SPORT PILOT | August 2018
63
AVIATION CLASSIFIEDS
5545 FOXBAT 22LS
700.0 Airframe Hours, 700.0 Engine Hours, A22LS Foxbat 22LS . 2012 model. 700 hours . All Ads. and S/B. complied with. 5 year hose & rubber completed. Comes with fresh annual inspection. Based at South Grafton. $72,000. Ph. 02 6644 8110. email : andyski@antmail.com.au PRICE: $72000
5554 JABIRU 230 D
5567 EUROPA 19-7903
465 Airframe Hours, 465 Engine Hours, 230 D Jabiru 230 D 2009 24 7202 All engine up dates done 70 000 ono reason for sale no longer flying 465hrs PRICE: $70000 CONTACT: Rowan Murphy 0428 388 244
246.6 Airframe Hours, 5 Engine Hours, XS Europa xs-914. Great Cruiser Selling due to New aircraft 110 knots cruise. PRICE: $50000 CONTACT: Jonathan Scott Clark 0400 133 686 / 0427 248 511
5559 TECNAM 24-4651
5568 WANTED
CONTACT: Andrew Sieczkowski (02) 6644 8110
5546 JODEL D-18 (2-SEATER)
136 Airframe Hours, 136 Engine Hours, D-18 GENUINELY SELLING FOR HEALTH REASON. Built 2005. TT 136hrs. SUBARU EA-81 ENGINE. Gearbox (not belt-drive). Warpdrive 3-blade prop. As new instruments, Microair Radio, GPS, Emergency Beacon. Aircraft will be trailerable. PRICE: $19500
1896.9 Airframe Hours, 258.4 Engine Hours, P2002 Sierra Tecnam Sierra P2002 PRICE: $115000 CONTACT: Douglas Mervyn McCullough 0403 255 575
123 Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, Amphibious Wanted Amphibious Aircraft, 2 or 4 Stroke engine. Minimum 2 seater. Consider any make. PRICE: Up to $60000 CONTACT: Margaret 0401 365 989
5569 ZENAIR 750
5563 2015 FOXBAT A22LS
CONTACT: Morris Beattie 0409 540 180
5547 GT PROPELLER (ITALIAN BUILT-WOOD/ COMPOSITE)
nil Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, nil TT 24 hrs. Cruise prop, fits 3300 Jabaru engine. As new Have receipt for $1500. Sell for $850. 0409 540180 morrisbeattie@bigpond.com PRICE: $850 CONTACT: Morris Beattie 0409 540 180
1066.6 Airframe Hours, 1050 Engine Hours, A22LS Foxbat. Foxbat A22LS 2015-model with 1050hrs total time. Yoke control and center throttle, with optional Hand-control rudder. Certified for Premium unleaded fuel or AVGAS. Dynon 10” Skyview touch with ADSB transponder and backup Airspeed and Altimeter PRICE: $88500 CONTACT: Sheldon Jones 0427 102 540
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SPORT PILOT | August 2018
5580 JABIRU J200 + 1/2 HANGER AT HECK FIELD
5564 DRIFTER WB 503 19-3763
5553 AVID FLYER MK IV
110 Airframe Hours, 120 Engine Hours, Avid Flyer Mk iv. Avid Flyer for sale. STOL Wing. 120 hours engine, air frame and Warp drive (3 blade). Excellent entry into Recreational Flying. Custom made trailer available at additional cost of $2,000 PRICE: $25000 CONTACT: Tony Sagnelli 0437 002 416
0 Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, 750 ZenAir750 130hrs Rotax914Turbo widebody bubledoors tundra tyres 10”Dynon Skyview 100ltr fuel Amazing short field take off. PRICE: $95000 CONTACT: Nat Jaques 0417 073 046
469 Airframe Hours, 344 SMOH Engine Hours, Mk 1 “Lightweight Drifter”, good performer, dual control, Rotax 503 DCDI with B reduction box, ground adjustable Ivo “quick adjust” prop, Microair radio, headsets, fresh annual, always hangered, well maintained and regularly flown, spares, freezer suits.. PRICE: $13500 CONTACT: Michael Bruce Holloway 0402 935 017
480 Airframe Hours, 480 Engine Hours, J200 480 hours, 6Cyd, 3.3Ltr, 120 HP, Solid valve lifter, head done at 450hrs, Temperature gauges, GPS, Transponder, Auto Pilot, Disc Brakes, Fuel Filter, Radio, comes with ½ hanger at Heck Field QLD. $50,000-plane $40,000-1/2 Hanger. Bruce 0410 524 040 PRICE: $90000 CONTACT: Bruce Smallacombe 0410 524 040
5588 PACIFIC IBIS
900 Airframe Hours, 900 Engine Hours, GS700 magic Pacific Ibis GS 700 for sale
PRICE: $55000 CONTACT: Craig Hardy 0409 581 278
5590 WANTED - RA-AUS CHIEF FLYING INSTRUCTOR
5611 AVID STOL 120 Airframe Hours, 0 Engine Hours, STOL Ex GA, Rotax 582 (rebuild-zero hours) C-box, airframe 120hrs, full instrumentation panel. Last flown 2013. PRICE: $17500 CONTACT: Ben Reddall phone number not provided
5620 2004 AIRBORNE EDGE X CLASSIC TUNDRA
5614 JABIRU FOR SALE
nil Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, nil Join the team at the Sunshine Coast’s fastest growing flight training facility. We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced CFI, or Snr. Instructor. Please apply to: colin@sunshinecoastaeroclub. com.au For more info call 0414430647 PRICE: $0 CONTACT: Colin Appleton 0414 430 647
5593 MTO SPORTS GYROCOPTER
530 Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, SPUL Jabiru ul long wings and winglets. Longrange fuel tanks (120lts) 2200 motor. T end done 100 hours ago. Cht and egt fitted. 92 knot cruize. Big main wheels. Very tidy aircraft. PRICE: $23800 CONTACT: David Snell 0414 496 696
60 Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, Home built Converted airborn edge rotax 582. Fully certified ph Dave 0414496696 PRICE: $10800 CONTACT: David Snell 0414 496 696
5596 WHEELS AND TYRES
5617 AIRBOURNE EDGE TRIKE
5597 JABIRU J230C
605.9 Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, J230C Jabiru J230C. 2008. 605.9 Airframe & engine hrs. Engine overhauled at 403 hrs. Wooden Jabiru propeller. Garmin GPS 296. Microair Txpdr. Hangared at Rockhampton. Deceased Estate. $51,000 +GST if applic. PRICE: $51,000 CONTACT: Lyn Finney 0428 788 910
5621 JABIRU J400 (19-2019)
5615 POWERD PARACHUTE
170 Airframe Hours, 170 Engine Hours, MTO SPORTS. Services and Log Books Complete, ASRA Certified. Always hangered, comes with Garmin 695 PRICE: $65000 CONTACT: Gregory Sikkens No Phone
nil Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, nil Matco MH6B rims,disc brakes,axles,upright master cyl.,all fittings. 2 x 800-6 8 ply condor tyres near new. PRICE: $900 Rodney O’Garey 0421 679 651
292 Airframe Hours, 292 Engine Hours, Edge X In excellent condition. Comes with full set of pumpkin head covers, fuel gauge, microair 760 radio, garmin 196 gps, 2 x helmets and headsets, intake silencer, and after muffler. Streak 2 wing, Rego until Jan 2019. PRICE: $10500 CONTACT: David Mudie (02) 6947 1707 / 0414643368
300 Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, Edge Airbourne edge trike 582 rotax blue motor. streack 1b wing.ph dave 0414496696 PRICE: $4950 CONTACT: David Snell 0414 496 696
598 Airframe Hours, 598 Engine Hours, J400 598 hrs TTIS, 4 Seats (if you change to VH). Re-Painted in 2010. Custom Interior (Done in 2016), Scimitar Composite Prop (2016), Top End Overhaul 2012, Upgraded brakes, , All AD’s current. Low PRICE: for Quick Sale! Ph: 0403955231 PRICE: $46000 CONTACT: Ryan Mollaun NoPhone
5623 AVIONICS FOR SALE
0 Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, kt-70 Dynon D1 efis $800 used becker ar3201 in good working order $425 used PRICE: $725 CONTACT: Stephen Cardwell 0478 769 786
5625 TANARG 912 ES MICROLIGHT (TRIKE)
5618 KITFOX IV CLASSIC
360 Airframe Hours, 80hrs Engine Hours, Kitfox iv Classic. Kitfox iv Classic. No time to fly. Airframe 360hrs. Subaru EA81 100hp, Autoflight gearbox 80hrs since rebuild 3 Blade Bolly Optima Grove Aluminium undercarriage. 100ltrs fuel. Garmin GPS aera500 PRICE: $28000 CONTACT: Peter 0467 091 714
377.1 Airframe Hours, 377.1 Engine Hours, Tanarg 912 ES. Tanarg 912 ES with Bionix 13 Wing. TT Engine, Base and Wing 377.1. Rotax 912 ULS 100 hp Engine. Airplast 3 Blade Propeller. Stratomaster Enigma EFIS – Flight Instruments, engine monitoring, fuel quantity and management, nav and GPS. Microair VHF. “Quiet Kit” Muffler and Propeller Factory Fitted. 65 Litre Fuel Capacity (Approx 3.5 hours plus 45 minutes reserve). Three Wheel. PRICE: $48000 CONTACT: Glenn Wilson No Phone SPORT PILOT | August 2018
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AVIATION CLASSIFIEDS 5629 ZENITH ZODIAC 601XL-B
130 hours Airframe Hours, 130 hours Engine Hours, 601 XL-B Zenith Zodiac 601 XL-B, TTIS 130 hours, fitted with Jabiru 3300, solid lifter, 3 blade prop ground adjustable, Dynon EFIS- EMF. Award winning aircraft, 9.5 out of 10 inside and out. PRICE: $58000 CONTACT: Gordon Burgess 0428 261 402
5634 CESSNA 150
8728 Airframe Hours, 900 Engine Hours, C150 Cessna150M - 1975 model Total time 8728hrs. Engine 900hrsTSO SIDS and cable replacement completed in 2016 ADs up to date, fresh annual completed Icom VHF, Mode C transponder White/burgundy paint 7/10. Grey Interior 6/10 PRICE: $46000 CONTACT: Sheldon Jones 0427 102 540
Stacked_CMYK 5636 PIONEER 300
5630 COBRAM COBRA
653 Airframe Hours, 118 Engine Hours, Cobra Single seater, very nice to fly. Very light and responsive controls. Cruises at 75-85kts burning 11-12 litres per hour. Fuel capacity 48 litres. Engine is points ignition, and requires hand starting.
317.2 Airframe Hours, 43.9 Engine Hours, Pioneer 300 Pioneer 300 six cylinder Jabiru powered , new engine and propeller 43.8 hours, airframe 317.2 hours, retractable 125 knots, condition 9 out of 10, comes with fresh 100 hourly. PRICE: $85000 CONTACT: Mark Preston 0448 387 828
CONTACT: Tony Meggs No Phone
5631 SAVANNAH VG
Savannah VG 19-7575, 250hrs Engine/Airframe. Rotax 912ULS, Warp Drive Nickel prop. XCOM Radio. 4 Tanks 144ltr with fuel flow meter. Electric
5642 ARION LIGHTNING 3.3FI
740 Airframe Hours, 655 Engine Hours, Lightning Owner builder,740AF & 655 eng hrs, FI 3.3 Jab eng powered by Haltec FX10 computer. Eng never pulled down. Cruise 140kts @ 2800, 19 lts per hr. Thompson prop 61x60. Lowrance 2000C GPS slaved to Dynon 180 .ASI, PRICE: $69990 ONO CONTACT: Steve Biele 0407 218 2035645 JABIRU
SP470 - 19-3897
450 Airframe Hours, 320 Engine Hours, Dragonfly Viking Dragonfly. 1 Airline Pilot owner last 9 years, VGC, engine 320 hours just had rings, new throughbolts and valves seated. Flies beautifully 113kts at 3000rpm, no adverse yaw. Offers Invited https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_Dragonfly. PRICE: $25000 Hugh 0428 400 737
291.9 Airframe Hours, 85.4 Engine Hours, SP470 2002 model SP470, TTIS 291hrs, solid lifter engine 291hrs, 85.4hrs since top overhaul at Jabiru with all current upgrades incl. fine finned heads, valve relief pistons, double valve springs etc. Complete CHT/ EGT monitoring, MGL VHF & fuel flow meter. Full logbook & history available. Long list upgrades/ replacements following period of storage. 470... PRICE: $24500 CONTACT: Sebastian Pollock 0427 703 702
5646 SAVANNAH S FOR SALE
Sta S
Stacked_804C 5641 SLIPSTREAM GENESIS AIRCRAFT
Trim, Garmin 695, carpeted cockpit - very quiet. Nil accidents, full service history, excellent condition, k PRICE: $57800 CONTACT: Rodney Kinnish 0411 378 998
105 Airframe Hours, 1650 Engine Hours, Genesis Aircraft rebuilt by current owners and has currently
HorsHam aviation services ABN: 65 007 339 451
Now Importing the eurofox AircrAft:
Aft:
• • • •
Quality Factory Built Quick folding wing design Glider Tow certified to 750Kg Short take-off & landing
And Dynon Avionics Products:
• Now with Autopilot capability • Solid state sensors • Checklists • Audible alarm capability PH: 03 5381 1727 Email: info@horshamaviation.com.au
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SPORT PILOT | August 2018
Sta S
5640 VIKING DRAGONFLY
PRICE: $9000
250 Airframe Hours, 250 Engine Hours, VG
been deregistered and disassembled for storage. Rotax 912 80hp engine and accessories including instruments and is currently fitted to mainframe and in running condition for inspection. PRICE: $8000 CONTACT: Clyde Howard No Phone
206 Airframe Hours, 206 Engine Hours, SAVANNAH S 2012 Savannah S for sale . Serious cross country STOL aircraft with long range tanks Low 206 hours only, very well equipped and looked after. Please ring George on 0427 490 442 for more details and photos. Could be delivered (flown) anywhere in Australia. PRICE: $64000 CONTACT: Jerzy Calka 0427 490 442
TO ADVERTISE IN SPORT PILOT Contact the Editor Email: editor@sportpilot.net.au
SPORT PILOT | August 2018
67
COLUMN
INSTRUCTING INSTRUCTING GURU PROFESSOR AVIUS DISPENSES HIS WISDOM. Pilot Development Program (PDP) I’m hoping that all instructors (and many pilots) had the available time and made the effort to attend an RAAus Professional Development Program (PDP) in your area. There were some interesting snippets shared, the scariest one being from the Ops Manager where, during school inspections, it was identified that students were being sent solo before being deemed competent in stalls and stall recovery. It is understood that nearly 500 people attended the 13 PDP seminars – that’s an average of more than 30 per seminar. However 500 from a membership of more 10,000 is an attendance of just under 5%, so perhaps there is room for more participation into the future. A somewhat concerning statistic at the PDP I attended was the demographic of the attendees – only a few under 60 and a couple under 50. It reminded me of a site visit by the board of directors many years ago. One director asked the school’s operations manager “how many on staff are approaching retirement age?” The response: “there are none going the other way.”Allowing for the fact it was a weekday and some members may not have been able to attend (work commitments etc), it is of concern as to where the membership is trending (and this is not just limited to RAA). If those who are retiring aren’t continually being replaced with new young blood then the future won’t be that stimulating. The PDP is about informing and communicating change and learning from the past. Sometimes it is that reluctance to change that is the influencing factor. Living in the past and resisting change may well finish up with a similar situation – it will all have been something in the past. Aviation has been good to me and for me. I learnt to fly at the same time I was completing engineering, and the disciplines complemented each other in differing ways. In the modern era we refer to it as risk and human factors.
Fatigue and Flying Never a good mix! Indeed fatigue and
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any activity is never a good mix. Fatigue and trying to learn a new skill is pretty much a disaster. Over the years, having experienced several slow learners, we can get a little frustrated. But as instructors we need to find the tenacity to persevere. But is slow learning really the issue? Often there are references to flight schools who promote along the lines of “specialising in providing the skills for students experiencing learning difficulties”. So perhaps we should drill down. Any instructor who has been in this game for any length of time has experienced the student who is struggling with some aspect of the training syllabus and in our kit of experience if something is not working they need another option (plan B). When we experience a new problem and we cannot get a resolution we need to share and consult with others. I’ve never been afraid to consult with others in the network including the Ops Manager. More recently I encountered a new (at least to me and our flying school) problem. We had a student who was having extreme difficulty with balanced flight. Cover all the reference instruments – perfect balance; uncover the instruments – straight back to the problem; didn’t matter which instructor, same outcome. I discussed with other instructors, with the Ops Manager, but came up with no ready suggestions as a potential solution. I do admit it was really bugging me, struggling to find a solution but I knew that something had to be changed. During an instructor discussion we attempted to flesh out what might be changed: you cannot keep doing the same things and expect a different outcome! This student always flew on Saturdays, so we decided to see if the student could fly on Sundays. That change was implemented. What a difference! It turns out the student was exhausted after the working week (aside of flying there were career aspirations) and the nett result was simply fatigue. It is not my first experience with fatigue and persons learning to fly but if you don’t
NOW PAY ATTENTION! know the student outside of them presenting for a flying lesson, how do you know what is normal and what are the symptoms of fatigue? We are getting better at asking the fatigue-related questions when learning difficulties are encountered and stress the F in IMSAFE. So back to the flying school “specialising in providing the skills for students experiencing learning difficulties”. My guess is it wasn’t the instructing method at either school that stood out, bur rather the situational changes and the human factors.
Safety Management Systems (SMS) The time is near – October 1, 2018. Flying schools have three options from Tier/s 1, 2 or 3 but it is dependent on the size and throughput of your school as to where you fit. Flight Training School Categorisation: • Tier 1 ≤ 5 BFR/RPCs per year, • Tier 2 >5 and ≤ 15 BFR/RPCs per year, • Tier 3 >15 BFR/RPCs per year. The SMS should not be feared: take the positive ground and think of it as a process of improvement. If you are a small operation or a one person establishment, consider other schools within your immediate location. Maybe take time out, set up a meeting, pool resources and compare notes. Seldom are hazards truly new, just newly-identified in our environment. With a new perspective comes new ideas. If you’re currently a school equivalent to Tier 1, my guess is that your aspirations are to be Tier 2, and if you’re Tier 2 aspire to be Tier 3: When you are establishing your SMS look to the future, don’t aim for the minimum, be progressive and look to the future step up a tier. Remember, flying is not inherently dangerous – just terribly unforgiving! Identify the hazards, then manage the risks. Safe Flying.
SO YOU’VE HAD A CLOSE CALL? Why not share your story so that others can learn from it too? If we publish it, we’ll give you $500. Email us at fsa@casa.gov.au Articles should be between 450 and 1000 words. If preferred, your identity will be kept confidential. If you have video footage, feel free to submit this with your close call.
Please do not submit articles regarding events that are the subject of a current official investigation. Submissions may be edited for clarity, length and reader focus.
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COLUMN
FINAL APPROACH AIRVENTURE IS NEARLY HERE From the editor Mark Smith
B
y the time this magazine graces your letter box, Oshkosh will have been and gone. I won’t have coverage of the event until September because of deadlines mostly involving Australia Post’s total lack of interest in providing a timely service for the public. For the record the July magazine, my first as editor, was presented to the postie on July 2. It would have been earlier but we had a printing problem given we changed printers which has saved RAAus around $1.10 per edition while increasing the quality of printing. Trust me, the printers worked through the weekend to fix the problem. But that’s trivial stuff. Oshkosh happens every year and Aussies flock to be a part of it. Why wouldn’t they? The biggest general aviation event in the world, not so much an airshow as a celebration of the movement started by the Wrights in 1903. Get your feet off the ground, safely, and realise what you are doing is special. For the record, I haven’t made the pilgrimage. I’m flat out running your magazine and making the commitment to provide a large part of the content you are hopefully enjoying leaves little time to disappear for a couple of weeks unless it generates a couple of stories a day that are relevant to Australian sport pilots. I don’t feel that’s the case visiting Oshkosh so I’ll stay in Australia, travelling around the country seeing what interesting stories I can find. I’ll run coverage of Oshkosh but I’m about running stories Australian pilots can relate to. I have my chance to do that. It’s called AirVenture and the number of aviation recreational organisations that make the effort to attend the better. The discount available if you pre-purchase your ticket is only available before the event so make the commitment and buy now. I’ve been playing with flying machines for 33 years. I was involved with the Mangalore Airshow in the days when it was a big deal and domestic airlines displayed their jets. In that time there were fewer special interest groups. Warbirds didn’t exist, the AUF was a group of blokes experimenting in paddocks away from the regulator’s gaze and Mangalore was all about homebuilding,
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which was the inexpensive way to get into flying, unless you counted your time. The average ‘simple’ aircraft like a Corby Starlet took a persistent builder around five years. That’s changed now and homebuilt means an RV most of the time. That doesn’t mean the social aspect of a large group of pilots and aircraft enthusiasts gathering at one place is any less important, educational and above all, fun. The thing missing in recreational aviation to a large extent is unity. Many pilots of VH registered aircraft look down their noses at RAAus sometimes because they’ve heard from a bloke, who got told by a mate that there was this RAA aeroplane that flew into an airfield making no radio calls, landed downwind and the pilot didn’t know what an ERSA was. Possibly the story has a grain of truth but I can recall incidents involving so called ‘real’ pilots in VH machines making all sorts of mistakes. We’re all human and we all occasionally stuff up. An event like AirVenture gives pilots of all persuasions a chance to meet, look at aeroplanes and learn from each other. Some people say they wouldn’t go near a gyrocopter no matter how many horses were dragging them. They’d be surprised at the development that has occurred in that area of sport aviation. Modern gyros are fully certified aircraft in Europe and enjoy the same safety record as GA. AirVenture is a great chance to chat to the owners and pilots of these aircraft in order to break down prejudice. Trikes have also developed into 100kt transport aircraft and in answer to the cynics, no that’s not 100kts with the aircraft on its trailer! There are far more aspects of aviation that unite us, yet for the past few years all I’ve seen is division. Attending AirVenture, enjoying being at Australia’s biggest celebration of all that is good with recreational aviation and meeting pilots of so many different aircraft just might start the process of reconciliation our passion so desperately needs. The message is clear - buy your tickets early, enjoy the discount, and then worry about how you’ll get there. Clear Prop
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