SportPilot 95 July 2019

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EDITOR

Mark Smith editor@sportpilot.net.au

DEPUTY EDITOR

Michelle Smith

ART DIRECTOR Melinda Vassallo

FROM THE CHAIR: MICHAEL MONCK

SAFETY. MORE THAN JUST A SYSTEM

Safety is a funny thing. Safe operation is something we all strive towards but at the same time it is not an outcome that can be engineered. We can’t simply tell someone to be safe and then expect they will be. It doesn’t work that way. We must have controls. As a result, we end up with a bunch of systems and procedures put in place that are designed to produce safe outcomes.

We have safety equipment like protective clothing and hard hats. These are designed to prevent injuries and make sure people go home to their families at night. We have checklists to make sure we have all the gear. Are you wearing your hard hat? Have you got your safety glasses? And so on. Only when we have completed the checklist can we proceed. We have evolved from a world where we knew that we were safe because we had competent managers and people at the sharp end who knew what they were doing, into one where we know we’re safe because we have the paperwork to prove it.

At this point I can imagine a bunch of readers imagining where this column is going and thinking that I have lost my marbles. Perhaps I have, but that was years ago! Rest assured I am not going nuts though, I am paraphrasing a well-regarded safety expert who is challenging the status quo. These are not my words.

I do a lot of work in the utilities sector and as part of this I was lucky to hear Sidney Dekker from Griffith University speak on safety matters. A few things he said stood out in my mind, one of which I have already paraphrased. Another is that we have traded common sense for hi-vis vests and an obsession with compliance. Instead of putting faith and trust in our people, we make them tick a box on a piece of paper and transfer the responsibility onto the system.

Before anyone jumps the gun and makes another leap of faith and assumes I am sug-

gesting that compliance is rubbish, I’m not. What I am saying is that we need to think about things a bit differently and re-examine how we ‘do safety’. We need to find a good middle ground so that our systems are helping us without taking accountability away from those who should have it.

I was driving past the airport on the way into the office the other day and for some reason my phone didn’t connect to the Bluetooth in my car. I pulled into a carpark next to the airport so I could take the call while being compliant with the road rules and, as I was talking, I saw something amusing.

Some workers on the airport were moving a 737 with a tug. As they towed the aircraft along the taxi way in front of me, I noticed one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen. They were being led by a car with a tiny orange flashing light on the roof. That’s right, this large plane, around 40,000kg empty, was being escorted by a car that weighed in at around 1700kg presumably so everyone could see them coming, as though nobody would have seen the 737 being towed without the escort.

During the course of the phone call I watched the plane go by, get parked up and the ute disappear. A few minutes later the tug scuttled off on its own back across the airport without anyone escorting it. Another small vehicle trundled along shortly after and picked up some other people, I assume those that were onboard the aircraft as it got towed, and then made its way back to the terminal.

What I can glean from this is while the tug didn’t need an escort and nor did the second vehicle, the aircraft did. But when it is under its own power it can taxi around unescorted. It was as though it became invisible when attached to a tug and so we had another layer of protective measures needing to be applied because we couldn’t

trust those on the plane or the tug to make sure everyone was safe. It was perhaps the dumbest thing I have seen all year. I can hear the arguments though, no one got hurt so the safety measures must be working.

To me, this is an area where we have got it all wrong. I’d love to speak to Dekker directly, but I hazard a guess that he would agree with me when I say that we need to stop the silliness and focus on things that will really make a difference.

Instead of putting in place a bunch of silly measures we should be asking what we can take away without making ourselves less safe while looking at the things that we are doing successfully with a view to understanding where we are about to fail.

That escort didn’t need to be there. I’m confident that the people who were towing the aircraft were well trained by Virgin to do the job safely. I am equally confident that they could communicate with the tower to get the necessary clearances to cross active runways and so on without the additional ute because they did so on the way back. I am confident that this was a step too far and that whoever put that requirement in place was looking in the wrong spot.

We know that certain things work in safety. For example, Dekker references a study that reveals airline “carriers with higher rates of nonfatal accidents/incidents had lower mortality risks”. That is, an airline that reports, records and analyses its performance is less likely to have a fatal accident. Listening to other aspects of what Dekker talks about suggests that this is less to do with the underlying stats and more to do with the culture of the airline itself.

A high reporting rate implies a willingness to examine our own actions and be responsible for the outcomes. Our reporting rate at RAAus has gone up in recent years and yet our fatality rate has declined. If we are having more incidents, then surely more

people should be dying right? Wrong. Instead of having more incidents what is actually happening is we are more willing to talk about them. We’re not having more incidents; we’re just telling people about

treasure trove of learning opportunities there. We’ve worked hard for many years now on improving our organisational culture and it appears to be delivering the right results. I would urge caution when linking our efforts

the tools and knowledge they need looks to be working. Our members are, for the most part, accepting accountability for what happens when they go flying and this is a good thing.

EVENTS 2019

NEW SOUTH WALES

TEMORA 31ST AUGUST.

Father’s Day showcase. Come and see Australia’s best collection of WWII aircraft exhibited where they belong – flying. aviationmuseum.com.au

PARKES FRIDAY 20TH TO SUNDAY 22ND SEPTEMBER

Airventure 2019. The event for aviators, by aviators. Come along and camp with your aeroplane. Attend seminars by industry professionals or watch the Global Aviation Bushcat being built over the course of the event. The event is topped off with an airshow on Sunday. airventureaustralia.com.au

VICTORIA

ECHUCA. SUNDAY 21ST JULY

The famous Echuca Aeroclub roast lunch. Enjoy two roast meats, roast pumpkin and potatoes, honeyed carrots, corn, peas, gravy, bread and butter, then a wonderful selection of homemade desserts prepared by club members. All this for only $20 a head, kids eat free if accompanied by an adult. www.echucaaeroclub.com.au

KYNETON. SATURDAY 3RD AUGUST

The Kyneton gourmet hot dog brunch returns for another month. Enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and interesting aeroplanes that are a part of the culture of this lovely country airfield.

SHEPPARTON. SUNDAY 4TH AUGUST

The Great Shepparton pancake breakfast 8am to 11am

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

TRURO FLATS AIRPARK

SUNDAY 7TH JULY

The Barossa Birdmen will host a forum on electric aircraft and canopy maintenance. Local aircraft canopy constructor Ian Linke will give a talk on electric aircraft for about an hour, then a talk on canopy construction followed by a hands on workshop for maintenance and cleaning of canopies which will go as long as attendees require. Due to being hands on, numbers will be limited. Lunch, morning and afternoon tea provided for $10.

Please RSVP Roy royp1948@gmail. com before June 26.

BRISBANE AIRPORT SATURDAY 17TH AUGUST

The Aviation Expo in Brisbane is the largest event of its kind in Queensland and showcases the thriving aerospace industry, with a significant focus on aviation skills development, careers and employment opportunities. www.eventbrite.com.au

AIRLIE BEACH FRIDAY 6TH TO MONDAY 9TH SEPTEMBER

Whitsunday Airport Shute Harbour will host their annual Airlie Beach Fly In. This will also incorporate the renowned runway dinner and airshow.

Aviation enthusiasts are invited to fly into Whitsunday Airport to enjoy a wonderful weekend of aviation in the Whitsundays. www.whitsundayairport.com.au

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

YORK. SAT 21ST TO SUN 22ND SEPTEMBER

Westfly is back by popular demand at White Gum Air Park. Enjoy the Mig 21 and Boeing 737 static displays. Mogas available. Camping and caravan park open. Accommodation cabins available Andrew Cotterell 0400 246 906.

QUEENSLAND

MURGON. SATURDAY 10TH AUGUST

The Burnett Flyers will hold their bi-monthly breakfast fly-in at Angelfield. For $15 you get a hearty country breakfast with fresh coffee and tea, served in a country atmosphere at the airfield’s rustic ops centre.www.burnettflyers.org

WARWICK. SATURDAY 20TH JULY

QRAA Jumpers & Jazz Breakfast Fly-in at Massie Aerodrome. Following a hearty breakfast, transport will be arranged for those wishing to visit Warwick to enjoy some time checking out Warwick’s quirky Jumpers & Jazz festival. www.qraa.info. Graham; 0427 377 603

Our Occurrence Management System (OMS) turns four in a few weeks. If you are wondering what the OMS is you should check it out (oms.raa.asn.au).

In a nutshell it is where our members report aviation relate occurrences, hazards and lodge complaints. These days we get very few complaints from our members, which is a good thing, and even fewer complaints that require resolution using our complaints handling framework.

The same can’t be said for our occurrences, and that is a good thing. Our safety culture at RAAus encourages self-reporting of occurrences and this fits with our open and fair reporting policy which states we don’t punish members for making honest mistakes, but rather we use occurrences as a learning tool.

Now if you are going to deliberately fly upside down or do a beat up and it gets reported, we are going to take a closer look, but at RAAus we accept we all make mistakes and the best way to improve and share the learning with our 10,000 members is to report them.

I’ve been the CEO of RAAus now for almost five years and I have been involved in fewer than five disciplinary investigations, with only one member losing their privilege to fly for an extended period of time. We are walking the walk and we continue to encourage people to report occurrences. As our Chair said in his article, an organisation is likely to be safer, not because of all the safety training and monitoring, but more likely because of the culture of the people involved. We’ve seen a shift in our

culture in the past six years, a positive shift. This shift has allowed us to develop training courses and communication pieces for our members, which in turn informs more people, which in turn improves safety.

Our open and fair reporting policy and culture are also paramount as we progressively introduce our safety management system (SMS) across our school network. As RAAus progresses to CASR Part 149, a SMS will be integral to the success of our flight training schools. We’ve supported them by developing a very simple set of guidelines and templates, yet at the heart of our system is the ability of our flight training school network to solve problems at the local level. As Mick said in his column, real safety comes by competent people talking to each other, sharing experiences and watching out for each other. As a result of our size and diversity of our flight training school network, our SMS can’t be a one size fits all. It must be customisable, scalable and meet the operational requirements of our diverse flight training school network. There must be a level of common sense in it, or as Sidney Dekker says, “competent management”. We trust our CFIs, our competent managers in the field. Therefore, by putting into practice the tools we have developed will help keep our culture evolving and improving, which in turn keeps us all safer.

So next time you have a mishap or simply stuff up, tell us about it. Who knows how many others will learn?

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

GEOFF

NORWOOD

IS NOT IMPRESSED WITH WHAT HE SEES IS A BREACH OF TRUST BY RAA.

Idirect my complaint to those responsible for changing the privacy policy, and the wilful disclosure of my personal information, to a third party, without my knowledge or permission. This being done without any prior consultation with, or even notification to, the members of the organisation you are bound to protect.

Since I joined RAA, I have read the privacy policy carefully, and considered it a reasonable, standard policy. To reinforce that policy, you have repeated your commitment to it on numerous occasions since.

So, what was so valuable, what was the “pot of gold” that made you sell out your own members, those people that put you in place, who trusted you to guide and govern the organisation we are financing? To look after our interests in the flying world, including our privacy; - yes, the same things you have been repeatedly promising over the years.

Or am I wrong? There was no real reason, no big reward, it was simply a total disregard and display of utter contempt for members’ rights to privacy, as per the policy document, as per your repeated promises, that you gave them all away on a whim to please a third party ?

How long is it since you read your own RAA governing policy? Check out sect 2.1 for example. How hypocritical is that now! How can you go out and face the members, and tell us you are looking after our interests and doing what you were voted in to do? You have failed in your duty to all the members of RAA, in the biggest way. To be so cavalier in your handling of member’s privacy is unconscionable.

This is not just a breach of privacy; it is a breach of trust. In doing this you have seriously compromised yourself. Your word is no longer of any value. Who would be foolish enough to believe your promises and statements into the future?

So, I ask you, considering the above, are you now, really fit or even able, to continue in the position you were entrusted with?

This is not just noise, or just one more petty complaint to ignore. Please do not answer with “weenie” statements about being only

a partial disclosure, only to a few parties, and being in our best interest. Please do not muddy the waters with the reason you saw fit to enforce landing fees. That is a totally different issue which is petty and irrelevant to this privacy breach. That issue should have been taken up with members years ago, when you saw a problem looming.

I respectfully request a copy of the minutes of the board meeting at which this decision was discussed and made. I would like to know who proposed it, and who voted for or against it.

I am extremely disappointed. I consider your actions to be morally and ethically indefensible, and legally challengeable

This complaint is a prerequisite to lodging a complaint with the Privacy Commission.

From the CEO:

Thanks Geoff for your letter. For many years RAAus members were criticised for not "paying their way". This criticism manifested itself in the past few years with several airports imposing prior permission required standards for RAAus members.

RAAus worked with the Airports Association on a variety of different solutions and ultimately settled on the current arrangement.

We believe we have struck the right balance which will ensure members of RAAus who use aviation assets where a charge is imposed, will meet the cost of that use.

OWEN BARTROP ASKS THE PERENNIAL QUESTION ABOUT SPIN TRAINING.

There have been several articles written in various flying magazines about spinning and whether pilots should be taught the elements involved in spin recovery. Spinning is an essential part of flying and if recovery from a spin is not part of a flying syllabus then why is flying straight and level part of the syllabus for RPT pilots? They only need to know how to take-off and land; the autopilot does the rest so why teach it? Now we all know that that statement is ridiculous, and so is not teaching spin recovery.

Teaching a pilot to fly should encompass all phases of flying and if the aircraft used is not capable of doing certain manoeuvres then one that can should be used for that part of the syllabus.

I have read that some modern aircraft are built to prevent spins. That may be but the student pilot may go and fly an aircraft that can enter a spin only to find that he, or she, is not equipped to control such a situation.

Alternatively, teach pilots to recover from stabilised spins, not just incipient spins, then at least it gives hope of recovery from the above situation.

If an aircraft does not respond to taught spin recovery procedures, opposite rudder and elevator control full forward, there are other manoeuvres that can be tried to regain straight and level flight.

Editor: Thanks for your letter Owen. I ran a story in November 2018 where several senior instructors gave their opinion about spin training. They all supported the current syllabus. Their opinion is the recognition of the situation where a spin can develop is a more important skill than teaching full recovery since the majority of stall/ spin crashes occur at low level in the circuit.

Ops Comment:

Thanks Owen, the RAAus Syllabus of Flight Training Flight Unit 1.01 (3 axis) Element 7: Stalling currently requires pilots to recognise the approaching and developed stall and recover with minimal height loss, including “when the wing drops” in various configurations and at varied power settings.

Flight Operations are currently engaging with subject matter experts and experienced RAAus instructors to develop a program for management of scenario-based Upset Recovery and Prevention Training. This will become mandatory for all RAAus instructors to complete over two years once implemented. This will include awareness and management of spins for instructors, however as you would be keenly aware, RAAus aircraft are not approved to conduct spins. As a result, this training program will need to be conducted in approved CASA registered aircraft.

As far as RAAus Pilot Certificate (RPC) holders are concerned, RAAus encourages RPC holders to expand their skills by investigating and completing programs delivered by gliding clubs and aerobatic schools to improve competencies in aircraft handling and management. RAAus does not intend to make spin training mandatory for RPC holders at this time.

COLIN

MCKAY AGREES WITH CHAIRMAN MICHAEL MONCK’S COLUMN IN THE JUNE EDITION.

I’m over in Nashville for the Great Tennessee Airshow to see the Blue Angels and have just finished reading your article. I fully agree.

I still maintain my PPL and ASIC at a reasonable cost as you point out. That gives me the privilege of flying my Jabby 230 pretty much anywhere I want to go.

I too am sick of the whingers who moan about a few hundred

dollars a year but are quite happy to fly to Oshkosh at many thousands of dollars. Some of those same people also pay many hundreds of dollars on EFB items and all the other bits and pieces just to do an hour flying or less once a month.

Unfortunately, it seems to be that people have a sense of entitlement for everything, not just flying. In my mind, if you use it you pay for it.

RICHARD SUGDEN GIVES HIS IDEAS ABOUT HOW HISTORICAL ISSUES CAN STILL CAUSE PROBLEMS.

It’s great to see letters coming in and opinions being aired.

In a letter from Ian Shaughnessy a while ago he made a little mistake, I would like corrected.

He stated that 95-10 allowed us to build our own designed aircraft but that they could only be single seat and single engine.

There has never been a restriction on the number of engines on a 95-10 aircraft.

In the early days of the AUF we had twin and even four engine versions flying in public at our fly-ins. They performed really well! If the rules have changed I would be bloody angry, but I don’t think they have.

There was also mention of our “falling out” with SAAA and others.

I was present at a combined AUF/SAAA fly-in (forget exactly where it was) when one of our members flying put on the most spectacularly dangerous low level sunset aerobatic display I have ever seen. And I have seen many.

I’m talking down amongst the pine trees dangerous. Almost to ground level dangerous.

At the conclusion you could hear the stony silence from SAAA.

Unspoken: “We don’t want ANYTHING to do with these mad bastards”.

Just a little history, helps explain "the why it is today situation". They could hardly be blamed for not wanting to associate with us at that time.

I’m glad things have changed, but it’s worth noting that the bad behaviour of a few can make it hard for the rest of us. We all have the responsibility to call out those who push the envelope.

From the RAAus:

The CAO 95.10 does not limit the number of engines; it limits wing loading and weight. And rather than looking back, today, RAAus looks forward and works to have productive and meaningful relationships with all other aviation bodies. And finally, yes Richard, we are now 11,000 strong and it is important we all look out for each other and hold each other to account.

Often the experience is something you’ll never forget and you have learned from it.

Why not share your story so that others can learn from it too? If we publish it, we’ll give you $500.

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

image: © Civil Aviation Safety Authority

A FAMILY FLYING AFFAIR

Kate Morris and her father Steve are reaching their own new heights. Mark Smith met up with them.

Sixteen-year-old Kate Morris likes to live a little bit on the edge. The self-confessed adrenaline junkie spent her spare time as the flyer in her cheerleading team, a position that saw her thrown high in the air to land on a pyramid of her fellow cheerleaders. Then when she was 13 it was skydiving that caught her eye and she did a tandem jump. Now, it’s learning to fly, along with her father, Steve.

“When I was a flyer at cheerleading, I loved the feeling of being in the air,” she says as she sits next to her father in the briefing room at Lilydale Airfield.

“After my tandem jump when I was 13, I asked my parents if I could get my solo skydiving qualification for my 16th birthday.”

Dad takes up the story.

“We talked about it and instead settled on a trial instructional flight here at Lilydale. Thankfully she was hooked from that point onwards,” Steve says.

“I did a little squeal as we took off,”

says Kate. “And Carl, the instructor said, ‘don’t squeal, just fly the plane.’ From that point on I didn’t want to do anything else.”

Steve had also always wanted to learn to fly and so the intrepid team started lessons.

“I always had a passion for aviation. I am an engineer by training, and I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer originally but for various reasons I didn’t think there was enough of a career path, so I did structural engineering before moving into IT. But I took every opportunity to be involved in aviation in some way, taking Kate and her brother and sister on joyflights on holidays – really any excuse to be around aeroplanes.”

After starting lessons in October last year, they achieved their first solo in April, with Kate getting bragging rights for being first, the day before her father achieved his.

“We both soloed in April, but I soloed first,” she says while giving a wry smile in her father’s direction.

“I feel right through the process of learning to fly there has been a competition going on – who is in front of the other. I know sometimes Dad would book a few sneaky extra lessons for himself to ‘keep up’ with me. That’s okay though. I let him get away with it because I think he needs the extra practice!”

Steve chimes in.

“We’ll often be in the circuit together and it’s very tempting to get on the radio and say ‘tidy your bedroom when you get home’ or something. Then we usually drive home together, and Kate puts the L-plates on the car and I’m in the passenger seat instructing. That’s also a strange reversal of roles,” he says.

“I definitely watch Dad flying and provide constructive criticism,” laughs Kate.

Kate recorded her first solo with an in-cockpit camera and it’s a pleasure to watch this confident young lady take the Jabiru around the circuit with just the right amount of confidence. The joy of being

alone in an aeroplane for the first time is evident on her face as she smiles broadly throughout the flight. She also has a very light touch on the stick, another sign of how comfortable she is in the airborne environment.

“I was weirdly relaxed. It was a really good feeling because it just felt right. On downwind I’d done all my checks and I was sitting there enjoying the view,” she says.

Even though Kate has an outgoing personality, Steve says he’s seen his daughter’s confidence grow even more as she’s learned to fly.

“Kate’s definitely gained confidence as she’s moved through the training. She’s always been an adrenaline junkie but being able to master flying and seeing her progress so well has been really encouraging for the whole family. Everyone in her extended family, as well as her friends, are always asking how it’s going. It’s also been great to see Kate mix with the woman in aviation. She goes to their dinners and they’ve

Photos: Mark Smith

“I was weirdly relaxed. It was a really good feeling because it just felt right. On downwind I’d done all my checks and I was sitting there enjoying the view'

really taken her under their wing.”

Steve says while he has no plans for a career change, he does hope to use his pilot certificate to travel through Australia, possibly after he retires. Kate though isn’t sure whether aviation or medicine will be her career.

“For now, Dad and I are doing it for fun. I would love a career in aviation but I’ve always wanted a medical career as well so possibly I could work in remote areas using my skills as a pilot to get around,” she says.

Steve is adamant they wouldn’t be learning to fly without RAAus.

“When I talk to people, they ask ‘isn’t it expensive and how do you afford to pay for two people to learn?’ When I explain what it’s costing, they are surprised. And now that we are both flying solo there’s nothing better than coming out, doing a few circuits and getting a bill for $30.”

Steve and Kate Morris

Flying her first solo.

Young and already at the controls.

AUTOMATION. HOW WILL IT AFFECT RECREATIONAL FLYING?

Owen Bartrop explores the brave new world of aviation automation.

The world of automation is fast approaching with the continuing development of driverless cars, trucks and trains. Recreational aviation will potentially not be spared as automation spreads from regular public transport to GA and RAAus aircraft.

Currently, recreational aircraft use conventional flight controls and instruments with some fitted with glass cockpits. Some have limited automation in the form of auto pilots, and a few have more automation. The future of these and new aircraft is yet to be determined, although the introduction of airborne taxis in the 2020s will, no doubt, affect how Australian recreation flying matures into the new age.

German air taxi start-up, Lilium, has carried out the first full-scale test flight of its autonomous all-electric five-seater flying taxi. Other companies are striving to build similar vehicles so we can expect the air over our cities to become very crowded.

There is no doubt that air taxis are a fait accompli. New technology is being developed to fly these vehicles as well as synchronising the hive of activity they will cause. The basic technology is already with us, it is just a matter of putting it all together.

To this end, NASA is leading an Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management project to develop a low-altitude traffic management system for drones. Testing this system is in its final phase.

Also, the first trials of the Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research program began in June where seven drone operational scenarios, mixing both manned and unmanned aircraft, were demonstrated, including parcel delivery by drone. Because unmanned aircraft will be cheaper to operate, it is only a matter of time before these unmanned aircraft are cruising skies all over the world.

What effect will this new technology have on recreational flying? Passengers of

these airborne vehicles will experience the joys of flying low level (below 5000ft), a pleasure that is currently the domain of recreational flyers. Will this cause some taxi passengers to say to themselves: “I like this type of flying, it is fun, I think I will learn to fly?”

The question then becomes: will they be willing to go through the extensive training course currently required to become a pilot or will they demand their own fully automated aircraft where they don’t need to learn to fly?

Extrapolating this new autonomous taxi technology into “normal” GA and RAAus registered aircraft will bring change. Some aircraft will have their petrol engines replaced by electric or hybrid systems and some will have fully automated flight systems. Some current aircraft will be able to be retrofitted with this new technology. New aircraft will almost certainly have glass cockpits and a high degree of auto-

mation. In fully automated aircraft, ballistic parachutes will probably be mandatory.

Will the future allow a person wishing to fly to Broken Hill, to walk out to an automated Cessna at Moorabbin, get in, push a button and the aircraft will start, do all the checks, taxi to the duty runway and take off? Will automation and electronic instructions emitted from an Air Traffic Control computer allow this to happen? Will the aircraft’s automation then fly the aircraft to Broken Hill and land the aircraft, all without a qualified pilot in command?

Some Pipistrel aircraft are already capable of doing some of the above. Using glass instruments and the output of an electronic flight bag, these aircraft can navigate to an airfield and land on the runway, hands off. This has been demonstrated in Canada. The Pipistrel has quite a few automated facilities where the aircraft does its own testing and turns on services when they are needed. Pipistrel have de-

veloped an electrically driven aircraft that costs $3 an hour to fly. The indication is that an electric or petrol engine aircraft could be automated to the extent that a pilot is unnecessary.

Basically, there are six services that will be required for a city seeking to begin urban air mobility operations: airspace procedure design, dynamic airspace management, flow management (spacing) of aircraft, an information exchange among system users, conformance monitoring to ensure flights conform to flight plans, and flight authorisations. That is quite a lot of work required before autonomous aircraft can operate in Australia.

Weather will be another factor in flying unmanned aircraft, be it landing vertically or on a runway. Initial investigations on the effect of weather on towns or sections of towns has indicated research is required so that operations of unmanned aircraft can avoid more windy areas for safety reasons.

If future aircraft are fitted with full automation, will people need pilot training, or will they be satisfied to be flown by their aircraft? In fact, would pilot training eventually disappear completely?

Imagine the scenario where recreational aircraft are replaced by automated aeroplanes. Air Traffic Control becomes a computer that ensures aircraft separation. CASA would become a computer where all regulations and safety requirements are fed electronically directly to aircraft. Eventually, this may well happen but where does this leave the pilot that wants to fly, hands on?

Australia seems to have ignored this progression towards automation. Not a word has been heard from CASA or Air Services. This progression would require these services to take action and automated aircraft to be certified. Now is the time for forward thinking because like driverless cars, pilotless aircraft are just over the horizon.

LEARNING TO FLY

RELUCTANT FLYER POINTS

David Bonnici learns the subtle art of coaxing hesitant family members to go for a fly

The product was an easy sell – a flight from Lethbridge to the Mornington Peninsula on a sunny winter’s day. The problem was the getting the customer, my daughter Sarah, through the door.

Since getting my RPC I’ve taken bunch of people, including siblings and friends, for a fly, but a year after getting that stamp in my logbook I had yet to take either of my two daughters.

That changed when I took my youngest, Maddy, 19, for a jaunt across to Port Phillip Heads. I was actually surprised she decided to come up as she’s incredibly anxious when travelling on airliners. But she figured this would be a good way to demystify the miracle of flight.

Apart from a 3000ft cloud base the June 1 weather brought still air and the odd sunbeam breaking through overcast with stunning effect. It all went without a hitch until I found myself a little high on final, necessitating a go-around that alarmed her a little, but didn’t stop her from wanting to go up again – mission accomplished.

My eldest daughter Sarah seemed pleased to be Dad Air’s next passenger. Sarah was always more outgoing than her sister and even though she lacks my avgeek genes I was a little surprised when she texted me a couple of nights before the flight saying: “Hey Dad, I don’t want to be the absolute worst but I just don’t know if I want to fly on Saturday. I think I’m a lot more afraid of flying than I realised because it’s kind of been worrying me”.

I felt a little disappointed, but didn’t want to push her so I suggested she should one day come along to the airfield to check things out. To my surprise she agreed to come along as planned to do just that.

The Saturday brought perfect winter flying weather with barely a cloud and a fresh 10-knot northerly. I was itching to fly but elected not to mention it during the one-hour drive to Lethbridge.

When we arrived Sarah actually looked a little excited to see the Tecnam Echo Super and, to my delight, conceded that she’d probably regret not going up before making a determined beeline for the aircraft.

I was a little worried she might change

her mind as I looked over 4679, but made a point not to rush the pre-flight or become distracted. Thankfully she still seemed relaxed by the time the Rotax roared into life.

Despite the northerly we taxied out to for a crosswind take-off on RWY 28 whose blacktop is a little more undercarriage friendly than 34’s grass. If you’ve ever flown from Lethbridge you’d know it’s a decent trip out to 28’s piano keys – enough time for a nervous flyer to overthink things.

I did well not to hurry to this point, but in my haste to get her in the air I pushed the throttle without another look at the windsock and was caught a little by surprise when a gust pushed us to the left as we lifted off. I managed to contain things quickly enough for her not to notice and as we flew overhead the airfield she declared she felt good to keep going.

It was a little bumpy so I climbed to 4000ft to get above the haze for smoother air. We’re mad Geelong Cats fans so I pointed out the light towers of Kardinia Park football stadium which brought a smile that didn’t go away.

I gave her the option of Great Ocean Road or Mornington Peninsula and she chose the latter, which probably sounded safer. Once above Geelong I slowly descended so we were at 1000ft over Port

Phillip Heads. We flew along the Peninsula’s rugged back beaches to Rye before looping around Arthurs Seat for a 500ft flyby along the bayside beaches – personally I reckon this is even more spectacular than flying along the Great Ocean Road.

By this point she was snapping pics on her phone and even enjoyed some banking turns as we buzzed the Queenscliff ferry and Mud Islands.

We flew back toward Lethbridge along the Bellarine Peninsula keeping to around 1400ft to stay under Avalon Airport’s Class E. I radioed my position on the Barwon Heads CTAF and again to an aircraft in my general vicinity – that communication seemed to comfort Sarah.

A closer look at Kardinia Park from 1000ft AGL was in order before riding a few bumps out to Lethbridge that weren’t even remarked upon.

The windsock was still favouring RWY 34 when we overflew YLED. This wasn’t the time to practice crosswind landings so I set up for 34 for what I’m convinced was the gentlest landing I’ve ever done –talk about the icing on the cake. The only downside was forgetting to put the SD card in the GoPro! I put the aircraft to bed and gave my little girl (ok, she’s a 22-year-old accountant) a hug and told her how pleased

I was that she persisted. She responded by saying how proud she was of me and how my flying made her feel safe.

As well as a massive smile on my face I took a couple of key takeaways from that flight.

The first was to recognise not everyone shares our love of flying and to let them decide when the time is right. They’re more likely to entertain the idea if they didn’t feel obliged to go up just to please us.

The second, which should expedite the first, is to always act professionally regardless who you fly with. Whether you’re their friend, sibling or parent, your passengers will look to you for reassurance. This is where your reputation as a pilot is forged – as it turns out a big reason Sarah had a change of heart was that her sister told her how she felt at ease when seeing me go through all the pre-take off checks.

Now to get my wife to fly with me..

TIPS FOR FLYING WITH NOVICE PASSENGERS:

• Let people take their time to decide if they want to fly

• Don’t be offended if they have second thoughts

• Try and identify any fears they have and work around them

• Always act professionally and relaxed

• Don’t rush, especially when it comes to pre-flight

• Talk calmly when using the radio

• When appropriate chat with your passengers like you normally would, and ask how they’re doing

• Explain different procedures and how things work

• Don’t practice or demonstrate manoeuvres like stalls or forced landings

• And for goodness sake, don’t try stupid jokes to scare your passengers.

HOLIDAY AVIATION

Luke Bayly reminds us a holiday is getting away from work, not flying.

When we get a break from the everyday humdrum of life and head off to some exotic location for some rest or recreation, why not consider the options to commit a little bit of aviation somewhere new.

Last May I planned some time off from work for the first time in 18 months and took the family back to sunny North Queensland to visit some friends for a week. While we managed to pack in several activities such as coffee catch ups, dining out and a little bit of kitesurfing, I wondered what opportunity I might have to get into the air. With a little bit of local knowledge, I got in contact with the local (and only) recreational flying school in Mackay and spoke with Matt Kucks about hiring his plane for a little while.

Matt was only too happy to assist and soon we had discussed some potential breaks in the weather in which I could fly his blue Savannah S from the airfield at Palmyra. A note on this airfield is that it is actually the return road for a drag racing strip and so combines both nitro fuelled speed with aeronautical pursuits into one awesome complex. A simple check of my flying currency coupled with my time spent on aircraft type (as I have flown the Savannah before) meant that all I needed to do was get to the airfield, flip the switches and enjoy the bird’s eye view of the Mackay cane fields.

Unfortunately the weather didn’t get the memo and my plans for flying were stifled with a low cloud base and a 20kt cross wind. Being cautious I remembered that it was better to be on the ground wishing you were flying rather than flying and wishing you were on the ground and so stayed there. I did manage to get out to the airfield to have a chat with Matt and that was sufficient enough as a consolation prize because, as we all know, when pilots are not flying we never miss a chance to

talk about flying

When travelling, aviation is often left to just the flight there and back on one of the big airlines but looking at any map of Australia which has the recreational flying schools marked shows us just how widespread the opportunities are. Sure we may have to learn a new type of aircraft or go up with an instructor for half an hour to prove we can return their aircraft in one piece, but aside from the pleasure of the activity, it also represents an opportunity to try something different that you wouldn’t normally get at home. Seriously, isn’t that the point of travelling in the first place? I often learn at least one new thing when flying with a different instructor and I always improve my skills and experience when flying different aircraft.

To find these opportunities, the first place to start is the RAAus website which

lists the different schools all over Australia.

If this is too formal an approach, there are many online options such as Facebook groups (eg. Pilot Lounge Australia, Bush Flyers Down Under) which, with one post, can link you into a network of like-minded pilots in the area that can point you to a suitable option or give advice on what is available. Keeping your ear to the ground for local contacts and your head turned skywards to see what is flying around could always be your last resort and if you get the chance to do something different (eg, take a lesson in a Pitts Special or fly a glider) you will always be a better pilot for the experience.

And if you are ever visiting the Whitsundays and wish to see tropical Mackay from the air, give to Matt Kucks a call on 0437 833 752 and check out the awesome Savannah S!

Matt Kucks.

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THE AEROPUP IS BACK!

Mark Smith reports on an Aussie designed LSA that’s back in production.

To an aeroplane enthusiast, closed hangars are mysterious buildings filled with potential wonder because you never know what’s lurking behind the doors. Is it a dust-covered Drifter that hasn’t felt air beneath its fading wing for years, or the latest and greatest LSA that seems to be surging against its chocks? Is it a lovingly constructed homebuilt?

Gympie airfield has quite a few hangars and behind the doors of one is the rebirth of an Australian designed LSA that its backers hope will offer owners a safe aircraft that’s affordable and full of character.

The basic design by John Cotton began life as a single seater and was built in Hahndorf, SA, as a kit for homebuilders in the 1980s. It went through various model changes before John decided to perform a redesign and create a two seat, side by side, version which became the Aeropup.

Rollo McKinley, is now manufacturing

the Aeropup at Gympie, under licence to Aeropup Aircraft, a Spanish company that bought the rights in 2004.

He knows a thing or two about building things after retiring from a career in manufacturing and mass production.

“The Aeropup came into my life when I retired in 2000. I wanted to get involved in building recreational aircraft and I approached John Cotton, who wasn’t in good health at that stage, with the idea of breathing new life into the design,” he says.

“We entered into a contract to build kits for him and then the design was sold to a Spanish company with the intention of that company issuing licences. We’ve provided the first four aircraft to date to other licence holders. We provided a complete aeroplane and manuals to each licenseethere’s one in Spain, one in France, one in Romania and one in America.”

With his extensive experience in de-

signing mass production systems, Rollo has been able to create efficiencies in the build process that help bring the product to market at a lower cost.

“Aircraft historically have been built in the old-fashioned way, but you can’t do that today. If you aren’t savvy with CNC and embracing the computer age you probably won’t be that successful. Many manufacturers take around 400hrs to go from scratch to a complete aeroplane, but we think we can do that quicker.

“I know the volume won’t be there if I were to only build for Australia but by amortising the costs over a wider market area, for example selling into America, we can do a higher volume and lower cost.”

In the 1980s the Supa Pup used a variety of different powerplants including the Rotax 582 and the VW. Today’s fleet of Aeropups will favour either the Jabiru 2200 or the Rotax 80 or 100hp. Rollo says

the performance with the 80hp Rotax will be a good match of economy and speed with the airspeed indicator showing high eighties at economical cruise settings.

Rollo says one of the keys to John Cotton’s design is the structural integrity of the welded tube frame.

“It was originally tested in the 600kg category but there won’t be any problem taking the weight up to 700kg when RAA get their weight increase.”

The price of any aeroplane is always going to determine its success in the tough new aircraft marketplace, though Rollo in confident the company has that under control.

“We are aiming for a retail price for an aircraft, without avionics or engine, to be around $25,000 and we believe we can be competitive at that. That’s a kit, with all the hardware, but no covering. We think you’ll be able to get one flying with a

Photos: Mark Smith

Rotax 100hp and basic avionics for around $70,000. If you go to the Jabiru, you are in the $60,000 range.”

One of the new local dealers is Ben Jones from Western Australia, a second-generation pilot who first flew gliders at a young age. His entry into the world of selling new aircraft came after he bought an Aeropup project to replace a C172 that was sold after his partner in the aircraft decided he didn’t want his share. He has spent the past 16 months rebuilding the aircraft and installing a 100hp Rotax engine.

“After the 172 sold I put the word out via social media that I was looking for a rag and tube tail wheel aircraft registered with RAAus. A friend rang me about someone he knew who had an Aeropup in his barn. He’d just finished building a Sonex and only had hangar space for one aircraft, so he folded the wings on the pup and towed it home,”

he says. “I had no previous knowledge of the aircraft and I’d never seen inside of one. But having one now has given me a chance to go right through the machine. It’s really well designed and built.”

It’s through this chance encounter buying an Aeropup and replacing the original VW engine with a Rotax 912 100hp that Ben has now become a dealer.

“I’d been getting advice about fitting the Rotax from Rollo, as well as buying parts and he asked if I wanted to take on a dealership. Of course I said yes, so, I’ll be selling kits and spare parts, as well as offering support to builders.”

“No one gets rich as an aircraft dealer in Australia and I certainly won’t be giving up my day job, but it is a great chance to help support a good local design. I think that’s important.”

Rollo McKinley

RAAUS AT WORK

MTOW INCREASE AND CTA ACCESS PROPOSALS

– an update

RAAus continues to work behind the scenes on these important changes. The key thing for many members to remember is that these changes will have no effect on existing operations. The changes are an add-on and entirely optional for any member. Existing aircraft on the RAAus register will be able to operate as they do today. Pilots will continue to be able to fly exactly where they fly now. If you want to take advantage of the changes when they come in you will of course be required to meet the requirements attached to heavier aircraft and access to CTA.

MTOW

Progress continues on this important proposal to increase the Maximum Take Off Weight (MTOW) of aircraft available to RAAus members to operate. This proposal received agreement in principle from CASA Director of Aviation Safety Shane Carmody in May 2018. Since that time RAAus and CASA staff have been regularly meeting to cover key areas since the original proposal was provided to CASA in September 2016.

One of CASA’s requirements was that RAAus be CASR Part 149 ready. RAAus has undertaken a review of internal and external documentation, including internal administrative manuals (“the how to” of RAAus management for pilots, aircraft and safety), creation of a number of other manuals and policies, including an Audit and Assurance Manual, various internal and external policies and external manuals. The Flight Operations and Technical Manuals will be reviewed in mid-2020, although it has been determined both manuals as they stand are “fit for purpose” for Part 149 now.

During meetings with CASA and RAAus, staff have focused on key targeted outcomes and actions working towards the MTOW increase in aircraft operated by RAAus members. Key deliverables included:

• Practical L1 training delivered and available for RAAus members (already in RAAus planned scope of projects)

• A robust audit and assurance program for RAAus Flight Training Schools (already in RAAus planned scope of projects)

• A standard document to be made available for RAAus members to record

scheduled and continued maintenance for RAAus aircraft (Hours and Maintenance record HAM)

• RAAus to provide CASA with the outcomes of fatal accidents investigated by Police and the Coroner on an ongoing basis

• CASA Sport Team audited the delivery of the initial RAAus L1 practical training –with positive outcomes

• Determination of minimum instructor and PIC hours to be approved to deliver flight training in Group G aircraft (+600kg MTOW)

• Creation of an RAAus Examiner theory and practical standardization program (already in RAAus planned scope of projects)

• Public register of RAAus aircraft – preparatory to Part 149 implementation (already in RAAus planned scope of projects)

• CASA to provide Part 149 education to RAAus staff and managers

• Completion of the CASA Flight Examiner Rating Course (FERC) by RAAus Operational managers

• CASA to supply FERC materials for RAAus use

• Written commitment by RAAus to transition to Part 149 within 18 months of the regulation being made (already in RAAus planned scope of projects)

• RAAus to develop and deliver spin awareness training for all Instructors (this has evolved into Upset Recovery and Prevention Training with spin awareness within 3 years from the introduction of the proposed changes)

• The MTOW specified by the manufacturer will be the determining factor for acceptance by RAAus for registration

Key points for members to consider include:

• MTOW

- RAAus has no intention or plans to change the existing requirements of flight operation, maintenance or training for pilots electing to operate aircraft up to 600kg MTOW

- A maximum of two people aboard aircraft operating at +600kg and above

- Interim approval for 760kg, with CASA

planning to release industry and public consultation on this proposal by the end of July

- The same maintenance regime the aircraft currently operates under in the CASA world (for FTS a LAME/L4 will be required, for amateur built aircraft, the builder/owner can maintain if they have completed a recognised and approved maintenance course)

- All outstanding AD/SB and other maintenance stipulations will be required to be completed prior to acceptance of registration by RAAus

- The initial weight will be implemented at 760kg MTOW and after two years of continued safe operations, approval will be considered for 1500kg MTOW (still limited to twu people aboard)

• CTA

- Controlled airspace access Phase 2 has been implemented, allowing RAAus members to not only train for issue of RAAus Pilot Certificate in controlled airspace but also allow private hire of RAAus FTS aircraft

- Proposed Phase 3 and 4 of the Controlled Airspace access will be implemented once the 760 kg MTOW proposal is active

So what can RAAus members do right now to assist in gaining this increase in MTOW and eventual access to Controlled Airspace for all RAAus members who are appropriately trained and current?

Keep operating as compliantly as you have been, keep reporting accidents and incidents, keep interacting professionally with other pilots and airports as you have been, keep doing all the good work RAAus pilots have been doing.

Finally, when the CASA MTOW increase consultation is released, don’t be passive. Open the link RAAus will provide, complete the consultation and answer honestly and completely.

TWO OLD BLOKES ON A TRIKE

A pilot and a photographer get together in the most open of aircraft. The results are beautiful. Barry Windle is the pilot.

Flying is different things to different people. Some of you enjoy the speed of getting to a destination and back. Some, the latest, newest in our amazing fleet of recreational aircraft. Many weekend pilots enjoy the coffee or lunch flight and socialising with other aviators. I enjoy all of that but recreational flying fun for me is more about the exhilaration and sensations of flying which come from exposure to the elements, and the views of our glorious countryside, its topography and vegetation.

I fly an Airborne 912 trike and love it. I started late at 62 and still have lots of catching up to do. I’m the stereotypical baby boomer having fun in my retirement, but unlike many pilots in not having a serious interest in aviation until I discovered a trike (without the wing) parked in the main street of Bright, Victoria. My curiosity got the better of me because I couldn’t work out what this machine with a propeller and three wheels was supposed to do (remember – no wing!).

Lined up on the runway.

A call to the phone number on the trike soon got me hooked (very clever marketing) and I was booked for a flight experience with the late Steve Ruffles of Eagle Flying School at nearby Porepunkah. During the flight I soon realised that this was something that I could and must do while I was able, and the rest is history. More recently I have been flying a Jabiru 160 and look forward to adding more of that type of flying to my aviation adventures.

My trike experience has been augment-

Photos: Peter Knights

ed by having a neighbour and mate, Peter Knights, as my passenger occasionally because, apart from being good company, he is a very accomplished photographer. The joy I experience flying, mostly early mornings or late afternoon, low and slow, is captured by Peter in his wonderful images and soon after our flights I get to revisit the sights again.

Peter in recent years has expanded his lifelong interest in photography to include classic motor sport photography and he travels to events to shoot the action around classic race cars. After a successful career developing and marketing his software systems, he has retired to pursue his hobby more professionally but at this stage, not commercially.

Lucky for me he loves flying as a passenger in my trike! Peter and I are both 70 going on 50 and don’t intend slowing down any time soon. We fly as far afield as a couple of hours will take us, which gives us opportunities through the Adelaide Hills and as far as the Riverland and the Mallee regions.

Peter’s recollections about his first experience flying in my trike give an insight into why he’s adapted well to a new photographic platform.

“As an early adopter of drone photography, I loved the new perspective it provided, so when Barry offered to take me for a flight in the microlight, I had to ‘challenge’ my comfort zone to find out what new opportunities this could offer. I enjoyed the first

Hudson at sunset

flight and decided to take up further flights as they were offered.

“As with anything new, there was a lot of experimenting required, trying different camera systems from compact cameras to full frame DSLRs and working out practical camera tethers to ensure that nothing falls from the aircraft. My favourite combination came down to using a full frame Sony A7R3 Mirrorless camera with a 42-megapixel sensor and a 12mm to 24mm, wide angle zoom lens.”

On a recent flight we were intending to photograph a motor racing circuit in the same way that we had about 12 months previously. The owners appreciated the photos and were interested in seeing some updates. This was the second attempt to do that and apart from being very cold with

a white frost at the airstrip, the weather at dawn was looking very suitable for our flight. But on approaching the Murray River plains, we encountered thick fog as far as we could see to the east.

So, changing plans, we headed for Lake Alexandrina in dawn sunlight and skirted the northern lake shore admiring the amazing patterns produced in the morning light from the colours and textures of the lake edge vegetation. With no lifting of fog evident, the original mission was abandoned and we just enjoyed a scenic flight along the lake and returned home following the eastern escarpment of the southern Mount Lofty Ranges. All up, about 1.5 hours of just enjoying the scenery and smooth morning air.

So, if like me you enjoy the scenery as much as any other aspect of flying, should

you find a photographer brave enough to be your passenger?

I believe there are upsides and downsides to this arrangement.

On the upside, you get to see great images after the flight without the hassle of trying to take your own photos. And you have company to share the flying experiences with, and maybe you are flying more safely if you don’t have to worry about your own camera equipment.

On the downside, having a passenger on board can add to the risk of flying. How so you say? I’m even more careful with a passenger on board!

In my view, carrying a passenger adds a little rigour to the checks and briefings to ensure the passenger doesn’t cause a problem in flight and you may fly more care-

fully because of the added responsibility for someone else on board. There are obvious precautions like tethering all equipment and checking coms and helmets are good. Both Peter and I are well over the old 6 feet so by the time we are loaded and ready to roll, it’s pretty tight on board. I usually remember to install the high cross-country screen to provide more wind protection for my passenger but on one trip I forgot and the buffeting sitting high in the back seat meant that Peter had little chance of getting sharp photos! We don’t forget now.

So, having a passenger on board usually adds to the fun of a flight but, this is no ordinary passenger – he is a photographer!

The temptation to please the photographer by flying just that little bit lower or closer, or to roll more steeply to get that

award-winning shot is always present. Being quite interested in photography myself, I fly with the aim of positioning our aircraft for great photos. We fly low 500ft and we fly high 2000-3000ft just for the different views. I fly into the sun and away from the sun at various angles to see the shadows and minimise the sun glare. I particularly enjoy the long shadows we get early and late in the day and watch for topography and features that benefit from the low sun angle. Our eastern hills get some great light late in the day and as the sun sets, the colours and shadows change rapidly and spectacularly from the air. Peter is mostly quietly shooting photos during my manoeuvres and I never know what he has captured until well after the flight has finished.

I know of two accidents, which included

fatalities, which were possibly contributed to by wanting to get a better photo and the inevitable distraction to the pilot safely flying the aircraft. What’s the most common cause of accidents? Pilot distraction and loss of control of the aircraft.

Peter and I have a very clear understanding. I fly the aircraft – he takes photos. The photography is secondary to having a safe and enjoyable flight and he understands that I don’t take direction on where or how to fly the aircraft – ever.

Providing it’s non commercial and there is a clear understanding about who does what on board, having a photographer aboard to get some great shots of my flights adds another very enjoyable dimension to my fun flying.

WHAT YOUR EXECUTIVE HAVE BEEN DOING ON YOUR BEHALF RAAUS AT WORK

A board meeting was held at the end of May.

• Chair Michael Monck attended Rylstone for the fly-in and to meet with members, and May also saw a number of meetings with industry to discuss future youth programs.

• The Chair, and Innovation and Improvement executive (I&I) Lea Vesic, also attended a meeting of the Australian Aviation Associations Forum (TAAAF) to discuss the various state and federal election outcomes and work out future aviation policies.

• CEO Michael Linke met with IT service providers to develop enhanced member experiences within our digital ecosystem.

• The CEO and I&I executive attended an international conference in Brisbane on practical safety management development within the aviation sector.

• The I&I executive met with Airservices Australia and the ATSB to discuss several topics.

• Head of Flight Operations (HFO) Jill Bailey gave a video presentation to

Seaplane Pilot Association of Australia (SPAA) conference at Rathmines.

• Along with the I&I executive, the HFO also attended the Australian Strategic Air Traffic Management Group (ASTRA) Future Air Traffic Working Group (FAR-WG).

• Aviation development coordinator Neil Schaefer oversaw a new flight school setup at Heck Field - Gold Coast Sports Flying Training.

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Vanessa flies for Qantaslink

SOLOMON PROVES HE’S KING OF THE SKIES

Take a 15-year-old, add an addiction to aviation and watch what can be achieved. Mark Smith reports.

We all know Australia is a big country, though there aren’t to many 15-year old’s who have experienced exactly how big it really is, especially solo from the air.

Solomon Cameron from Bendigo is one of the plucky few who gained his RAAus pilot certificate six days after achieving his first solo flight and then set his sights on a bigger goal – circumnavigating Australia following the coast to raise much needed funds for Angel Flight. Oh, and to cap it all off he’s the youngest pilot to ever achieve it.

While he was able to take to the skies at 15, his mode of transport to the airfield was much less modern, with pedal power being his main way of getting to his lessons when his mother was unavailable to drive him.

His dream of flight started at an early age.“I have always had a passion for aviation. Growing up I spent hours playing on a flight simulator, dreaming of the day I could take to the skies for real. Every time a plane flew over, I would rush outside and frantically look for the source of the sound.

“Then when I was 11, I started riding my bike to Bendigo airport where I would sit on a bench and watch, as the planes took off and landed. Every time I saw someone walk past, I wished they would notice me, sitting on that bench, desperate to go flying. After sitting on the bench every weekend for a year, I swore to myself that if I ever saw someone like me when I was a pilot, I would take them flying and share the gift of aviation.”

Over time his trips to Bendigo airfield began to pay off as members of the aeroclub took him under their wing. When he was 12 he had his first flying lesson. Any chance of leaving flying behind was lost.

His dedication led to club members taking him flying, as well as giving him work cleaning their aircraft, as well as other part time jobs cutting lawns paid, washing aeroplanes and cleaning offices This work ethic helped build the money required to begin learning to fly in earnest.

Milly Formby, ornithologist.

“I am very proud to be able to say I funded my pilot certificate myself and a part of my goal with this trip was to show that with hard work anybody can achieve the dream of flight.”

Solomon left on his expedition in early May, after spending the better part of a year planning the trip. His aircraft was a Jabiru 230, owned by his father. The help and encouragement of flying clubs across Australia proved vital to the trip, with families offering him accommodation and experienced pilots offering advice in some of the more remote areas.

“There was a lot of safety planning involved – risk assessments, mapping out fuel stops and where I would be staying. My biggest challenge was minimising the risk of fatigue. Flying over the ocean and some parts of Australia where landing options are less adequate also carried risk, so I tried to avoid the more dangerous places to fly over.”

Bob Bramley

The trip took seven weeks and covered

15,000km. He says the trip has changed his perspective of Australia.

“Just seeing some of the places I'd never seen before and finding out how different they are to what I expected was a highlight. Especially up north in Queensland," Solomon said."I learnt quite a bit about being independent and overcoming challenges. Being by myself and having to problem solve when there were a few issues. For example, in Forest It was a bit cold I was having trouble starting. I found another battery and was able to get it warmed up.”

One of the other important aspects of the trip was to spend time with people of his age was to encourage them that flying is accessible to anyone with the will to get airborne.

“I like promoting aviation to 15-year old’s, and even younger that it’s not impossible to achieve great things at a young age.

Now the trip is over the year ten student has set his sights on another challenge.

“I want to get my commercial licence and maybe go into flight training before trying to get into Qantas.”

THREE’S A CROWD? NOT WITH A TRIPLANE

Renni Forbes is no stranger to hard work. Here he describes building his own Sopwith Triplane.

Ihave always liked WWI aircraft and have various books, DVDs and magazines on the subject. One day at the newsagents I picked up Kitplanes, flicked it open and there were plans for sale. My eyes saw WWI aircraft, silver and camo green and I settled on one in particular - a Sopwith Triplane with a steel tube fuse. I thought that this might be the go.

So, I bought the Kitplane magazine, devoured that and then started studying aircraft engines, aerodynamics, weight and balance, anything and everything I could find, from early aviation to early jets.

As time went on, I started to lean towards a Fokker D.VII, for my project because it

would take a regular flat aircraft engine, but then the seven-cylinder Rotec radial engine was released. This would be a great substitute given I couldn’t afford a real rotary engine, even if I could have found one.

So I again started looking at aircraft originally powered by a rotary engine and seeing that a 130hp Clerget is about 165kg, I thought I would scale the aircraft down to account for the 100hp of the Rotec, or look for kits that fitted this amount of hp.

In the end, I decided to go with the Sopwith Triplane. I knew the Sopwith Pup was a gem to fly and the triplane wasn’t that different. I bought the Replicraft plans from Jim Kiger and the steel tube plans

from Chad Wille in the US.

Chad also had control stick mods, a push-pull tube running under the seat and a rocker tube in the second bay back from the cockpit and then cables to the tail and other useful info as well. However, the plans had the tubes only, not the mounts, brackets, that sort of thing.

I also received from the UK (after a disclaimer letter was sent to me and signed and mailed back), the rigging notes which stated that the trailing edge of the six ailerons are set 12mm low on the full-size

aircraft. I thought initially that I’d set mine at 10 mm lower, or later on just work out the angle it needs to be. I haven’t checked that yet. It is probably near the same anyway.

After poking around on the web I had mostly drawn up the wings but you can only pick up so much from photos and magazine articles, so I had to get my novice head around getting the wings and flying struts attached to the tube fuse using the original

wood and wire braced plans, but scaled down. Keeping the same scale wing gap, stagger, angle of incidence and dihedral, I just kept looking at the plan sets and began to work out what to do.

I found it hard at first to go over the Replicraft plans, which is in inches and fractions of inches of every description, convert to metric and scale down. They are six sheets about 1.8m long, with many parts to work out, but as time went on it became more familiar and much easier.

I was trying to keep it to scale as far as practical, with the shortest cowl I could get with mostly steel tube tail feathers. A screwjack for the adjustable tail plane

Photos: Mark Smith

FLYING THE TRIPLANE

After Andrew Carter from TAVAS did the initial test flying it was time for me to take the controls.

On the first take-off I was nervous, and my overriding memory is thinking ‘don’t stuff it up and spear off the runway.’

But I’ve found it’s easy to fly for a novice like me, with little more than 100hrs all up.

On that first flight, once the tail came up, almost immediately after applying full power, I could keep it straight and then it was off the ground. I’ve timed Andrew's take offs and from full power to wheels off is about six seconds.

The middle wing is slightly above my eye line, so I have a pretty good view forward in level flight, though in the climb I find myself dropping the nose so I can see traffic ahead. Turns require rudder, as is to be expected with six ailerons, though the stick is nice and light, compared to the control forces on the Cessna 140 I did my tail wheel endorsement on.

At 3200rpm we’re doing 78kts and flat out the ASI said 92kts.

Andrew says it doesn’t actually stall, just mushes. The best glide speed is about 50kts.

Landings are also easy, but I haven’t done any crosswinds yet. I think they’ll be a challenge.

added 1.4kg extra to the weight at the tail. Even though it's not a real tripe, I wanted it to at least look as close to one as I could, says me the plane shrinker. It was difficult to scale things down and still have room for everything. It drove me crazy, but I liked the challenge!

At 24kg the fuselage is not super light, but it is quite sturdy. Earlier on I had drawn the fuse plus the tail feathers on the shed floor so I could measure the tubes and work out their lengths and weight, and from there draw up the engine, battery and oil tanks. After juggling with it all I came to the realisation that it was still tail heavy (as they were in the day) by a long way.

I also got the aircraft design DVDs and notes from Bill Whitney and compared it with how the tailplane size, elevator hinge line, fin/rudder size and hinge position, to the wing area and distance apart, and it was all more or less spot-on which shows that it was designed well back then, more than a century ago. Only the fin and rudder had to be enlarged to compensate for the shorter fuselage, which in my opinion spoils the look a bit but I could always make another set slightly smaller later.

Having ordered a seven cylinder Rotec radial engine, I was on their website one day and saw that they were looking for five people who were willing to throw in a 25% deposit on a nine cylinder, 150hp version, with a weight of 120kg or so. This would go a long way toward the balance problem, but it seemed like a lot of engine for a little amateur aeroplane. Going through the design notes again, the horsepower, wing area, and tail volume was all good so I cancelled the R2800 and was the fifth person to place a deposit for the larger R3600 radial.

The landing gear is made of streamline molly tube as original but scale size, with

the standard split axle. It has speedway bike hubs and steel 457mm rims. I also rigged up some hydraulic disc brakes for it.

The wings are two spar 6061 T-6 tube. The top wing has tubes next size down slipped inside. The ribs are 12.7mm by .08mm tube from the leading edge to the rear spar, with a .063mm sheet rib to the trailing edge. Leading and trailing edge is 1/2 .035 tube with .016 sheet brackets the plans had 11 ribs and a generic wing tip, so I changed it to 12 and made the tips shape as original, which I like the look of.

The aerofoil is a modified RAF15 which differs from the original as it has round leading edges, instead of sharp, and the underside is flat, not concave.

The big flying struts are made of three laminations of slightly oversize hoop pine from Graham Lees plans, and a somewhat different shape from original.

I used Polyfiber to cover the triplane70 wing ribs and six wing panels took some work to finish for a beginner but was good to see it as it all took shape.

Searching the web for colours, it became apparent that there was a lot of discussion

about this and there is reference to colours from a chart that is out of print and very expensive. I thought of painting it PC 12 brown but in the end I used camo green, mainly because I saw a Camel being built in the US, painted with the Polyfiber colours and thought ‘that will do’.

I looked forward to when I got to the engine bay, but the space problem was there hiding, and it was too difficult to remove the engine every time so it mostly had to be installed while I made everything fit in there. It wasn’t as much fun to do because of that; also the balance was still not plain sailing. I mounted the battery and oil tanks, yes two of, as there was so little room so it had a four litre header tank as well, mounted forward of the firewall.

I used car builder's zero clearance stickon insulation on the tanks and battery shield, as they are all very close to the exhaust. The header tank has strips of aerospace foam to create tracks around the tank that is fed cold air from a cylinder baffle to keep everything cooler if needed. Likewise, the battery, coils and the electric fuel pump as well.

During this time, I sent the engine back

to Rotec to have all the latest parts fitted and an exhaust made. In the end they swapped my heads for the sandcast heads, but they have a rear spark plug instead of the two front plugs and the exhaust sat back further which then made it closer to the oil tank. I also got the deal of a lifetime as I received a Rotec Throttle Body Injection (TBI) as a bonus thanks to Paul Chernikeeff.

When I got the engine back from Rotec, I had to modify the throttle to suit the TBI with mixture and primer. I also had to modify the main tank to clear the exhaust.

The reason I made the cylinder head and rocker baffles was because the top of the engine might not cool properly given that the engine bay is very tight, plus I really like the look of the baffles anyway and I wanted to make them.

I wanted to incorporate some features I had seen on some WWI aircraft to really

make this one look great. I decided I had to have a fully burnished cowl. To make the cowl I laminated a heap of 19mm ply sheets together, then cut them in half, drilled a hole in the centre, and with a square tube clamped under my bandsaw deck, I cut the round shape of the cowl and finished up with a basic wooden plug.

I took the plug down to Queensland metal spinners, who machined it to size900mm diameter with a 150 radius, 370 long with a 640 opening. They got in an extra wide sheet of 5000 grade x 2mm and made the cowl in one piece.

Once I got the finished cowI home, I set about giving it the burnished finish I had always admired. I had to scale down the diameter of burnishing swirls that Sopwith used, to make them look right on my scaled cowl. However, this means, the smaller you make them the more you must do.

Builder Renni Forbes with his Triplane

Beautifully turned cowl.

GRIFFITH AERO CLUB – A GROWING CENTRE FOR RECREATIONAL FLYING

The country aero club movement has always been a mainstay of flying training. Mark Smith headed to Griffith to see how their club is going.

Griffith is a town that has had its ups and downs. The name is still associated with an infamous murder many years ago and there are still rumours the beautiful art deco buildings in the main street hide a seedy undercurrent.

Like many country aero clubs, Griffith has also had its share of problems. But, thanks to a committee that wouldn’t quit and an experienced ag pilot who stepped up to be CFI, membership is stable and student numbers are rising on the back of their RAAus-only flight school.

Rob Robilliard is the local ag pilot who made the new RAA school his own.

“Griffith Aero Club used to run a GA flying school and what happened to it is common with many country clubs. It was pressure, pressure, pressure, the costs kept going up and no one wanted to learn to fly.

Then they lost all their instructors and that’s when they approached me in 2007. I own an ag business here and I run a 450 Ag cat and 300 Brave. I used to employ seven

pilots, but the 10-year drought stuffed that up,” he says.

“So now I contract as the CFI for the club and I only do RAAus. Initially we started with a Tecnam Golf, which was a good trainer but possibly a little too easy to fly, and now we have two J230s. The Jabirus are good trainers because they must be flown properly. They are halfway between a Chipmunk and Tecnam Golf.”

The club has nicely appointed clubrooms with lots of pictures of past club activities and interesting aircraft that have been a part of the aviation history of the area. The club was founded in 1946, just after WWII and has been in continuous operation ever since.

Rob’s flying career goes back to the early 1960s, with a logbook that shows a huge number of hours.

“I had CASA going through my logbook the other day and I have a 30 then a dash and 950. He said what’s this 30. I said that’s how many hours I’ve got. I passed 30,000

a while ago. When I started doing ag work there was no restriction to how much you could fly, so I’d be doing 1400 to 1500 hours a year.”

Rob has 22 students on the books, a healthy number given the size of the town. Given his extensive experience in the agricultural flying world he tries to give his students a taste of what to do and not to do, low to the ground.

“I do a little bit of low-level work, not below 500ft, to show just how dangerous flying low is. I also do a bit of work around hills, demonstrating why you don’t fly along the lee side of a hill and never approach a ridge at 90 degrees. The sort of things that help a pilot survive.

“I do nav and met face to face over a weekend. I start at 9am on Saturday morning and we go to 5pm and then Sunday 9am to 3pm and then they do the exam.”

Lawrence Salvestrin is a committee member who is enthusiastic about the club’s future with the RAAus flying school.

“It’s working. We are getting lots of people flying and that’s a good thing. CASA registered flying training has gone out the window here – we don’t even own a VH-registered plane anymore. The Jabirus fill that role. If I was learning again, I’d be learning in one of those,” he says.

“What we are trying to do in the club is get young people involved in flying. If you turn up for drinks here at the club and you’re 50 you’ve lowered the average age by 20 years! We try and get the young people out here on a Friday night, have a drink and hopefully keep them enthused about flying.”

Rob is also optimistic about RAAus training.

“I think flying training is in a very good position right now. RAA has a pretty good curriculum. It educates in aviation basics and we get them up to a standard where they are going to survive.”

Photos: Mark Smith

CFI

Rob Robilliard

Lawrence Salvestrin

FLYING THE OLD FASHIONED WAY AT ECHUCA

The sound of an aeroplane engine being started by hand is something most people think has been consigned to history, yet at the Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia’s national fly in at Echuca airfield it was the order of the day for many aircraft.

Pilots brought their aircraft, including one that is 94 years old, from across Australia to celebrate the joy of owning and flying old aeroplanes. Normally Echuca is a typical country airfield, with a few take offs and landings by members of the local aero club as well as the odd visit by the Air Ambulance.

Yet for this one weekend the normally empty surrounds became the nesting sites for classic flying machines made from wood and fabric. Keeping these aeroplanes flying requires true enthusiasm and Dr Tim Brownridge is an example of just such an enthusiast. He flies a 1937 Stinson SR9, and made the trip from his home in South Australia in three hours.

“This is the highlight of my year and if

the old girl lets me get here and doesn’t break down, I’ll always be here. Last year I had a flat battery and had to drive, the year before I flew over and the year before that I drove. That’s how it is with antique aeroplanes. Thankfully today she wanted to go flying."

Tim’s day job is as an anaesthetist and he says flying relieves a lot of the pressure from his profession.

“I get to meet people from all walks of life coming to these events, which gets me away from the doctor set, which is why I smile a lot. It’s definitely not the drugs in the operating theatre. Flying is a chance to use your brain in a different way.”

Not all pilots of antique aeroplanes are men. Emma Taberner was there proudly showing off her recently purchased Piper Cub.

“This is my little 1952 PA 18 Super Cub,” she says proudly.

“But I’ve only had it for a short period, so I don’t know much about the history of it. Apparently, it was the base ‘hack’ at

Nowra, so it does have a military history.” Emma came into aviation after marrying her husband Scott, who has been involved in aircraft for most of his life and is now a 737 captain with Tigerair.

“Until I met Scott 25 years ago aviation definitely wasn’t in my future. I told my mother when I was seven that I was never getting into a light plane again after we did a flight around Mt Cook.”

Neil and Deb Williams own an Auster. It’s a bit rough around the edges but it’s theirs, it’s perfectly maintained, and they love it. Deb has her own theory as to why the association is so successful.

“It’s a great group of people and we have a lot of fun together. No one’s worried about keeping their aeroplane clean and flash, or even what sort you are flying. We simply fly and enjoy our aeroplanes,” she says.

The happy couple have owned their Auster for 15 years and say their involvement has opened doors to destinations they probably wouldn’t have flown to.

Mark Smith attends his favourite fly in of the year.

Emma Taberner with her Cub.

Neil and Deb Williams

Tim Brownridge in his Stinson SR9

Clin Ashton Martin.

“It’s a major part of our flying that has got us to places we wouldn’t have thought of flying to, like Ayers Rock and Kings Canyon,” Deb says.

“We’ve also flown across to Perth twice with the group as well as up to fly-ins at Caboolture. We’ve even been to the Flinders Ranges quite a few times. It gives us some aim to our flying.”

Clin Ashton Martin flew his 1933 Avro Cadet in from Temora, as he has done for more than 10 years.

“It’s something that persuades me to get the old aeroplane out and go through the rigours of open cockpit flying and come and spend time with similar fools.”

Clin proves that age is no barrier when it comes to flying vintage aircraft considering he’s two years older than his aeroplane.

“I learned to fly in 1952 as a volunteer reservist with the RAF.

“The Cadet flies very nicely, with a great

roll rate because this has four ailerons while the Tiger Moth has two. But the Tiger cost about half of what this cost to build at the time. A restorer in Australia who has rebuilt two Cadets says they can rebuild three Tiger Moths in the time it takes to rebuild one Cadet.”

Rod Luke is another member who loves getting together with the tribe at the many fly ins. He enjoys the slow pace of his J-5 Auster after a distinguished career in the RAAF during which he flew Canberra bombers before retiring as an Air Commodore.“The aeroplanes are just wonderful. I’ve always loved older aeroplanes,” he says.

“Everybody is always happy to see you. It’s just a great big family. It’s not dependent on what aeroplane you fly or what level of experience you have as a pilot. It’s a very encouraging organisation. There are always people who an owner can turn to and get answers to their questions.”

The AAAA was formed in 1974 when a group of owners and enthusiasts felt the need for an association to represent the interests of owners of old aeroplanes as heavy government charges and regulations were forcing many aircraft out of the air or to be exported.

The most important role of the AAAA has been to give owners and enthusiasts a unified voice with which to speak to government aviation authorities. It is the recognised organisation that speaks for Australia's restorers, maintainers, owners and operators of old aeroplanes.

AAAA president Matt Henderson says it’s a great organisation for anyone who enjoys aeroplanes of any type.

“One of the reasons we got involved with the Antiquers is that it’s just a big social fun flying community. Regardless of what you own, the passion among everyone is a love of old aeroplanes. We were welcomed

into the association despite not owning an antique aeroplane and in the seven years we’ve been involved we’ve been on the committee the whole time. You could say I was ‘volunteered’ on to it," he says.

“They are a great bunch of people. There’s no politics, no egos, just a general passion for old aeroplanes and flying.”

After a weekend filled with long conversations about the relative merits of the various aircraft gathered, with friendships made and renewed, Sunday sees the exodus begin. Those travelling the furthest are usually airborne at first light while owners who live closer linger just a bit longer before saddling up and heading into the limitless sky they love so much. By lunchtime the airfield is almost deserted. But next year, with luck and good weather, the old aeroplanes will return. And so, a tradition of keeping aviation history alive will continue.

Peter (right) training

Tim with his Stinson.

Ian Harvie in his Aeronca Champ.

Stinson L-5

A REMINDER ABOUT LANDINGS

From the ATSB archives comes an article that’s as true today as it was in 1983.

Landing a light sport aircraft can demand quite some skill. Lacking the higher approach speed and inertia of heavier machines, light aircraft tend to be more affected by factors such as wind gusts and turbulence. The Bureau of Air Safety Investigation's files contain many reports of aircraft damage arising from improper recovery from a bounced landing. This article discusses bounced landings in tricycle undercarriage light aircraft, which constitute most of the reported cases of aircraft damage. Typical occurrences include:

• The aircraft bounced on touchdown following a full flap approach. The pilot eased off back pressure on the control column, causing the aircraft to pitch down onto its nose landing gear, which then collapsed.

• Directional control of the aircraft was lost due to improper recovery from a slightly bounced landing. In the ensuing ground loop, the right-hand wingtip struck the ground.

• During a crosswind landing a wind gust caused the aircraft to bounce. Improper recovery by the pilot caused the propeller to hit the ground.

• An ex-ATPL holder lacking recent experience on light aircraft overshot his intended landing point and bounced several times while trying to get the aircraft to stay on the ground. A propeller ground-strike resulted.

Ideally, when the correct landing technique is applied to a light aircraft with a tricycle undercarriage, the hold-off is sustained to the point where the aircraft is in a slight tail down attitude. It is then permitted to settle gently on the ground so that touchdown is made on the mainwheels first as intended by the manufacturer. Because

the centre of gravity is forward of the mainwheels the aircraft will pitch slightly forward at touchdown, thereby reducing the angle of incidence (and the lift) of the mainplane, and the aircraft stays on the ground. It is when the correct technique is not observed that problems can arise.

Before discussing the problems of bounced landings in detail it is worth stating at this point that the best way to avoid occurrences of this sort is to maintain your flying skill at a safe level by frequent and properly conducted practice. Otherwise, the best insurance is to take a check flight with your instructor and ensure your flying skill is still at a safe level. If you have not been subject to any official flight tests in the previous 24 months you will also be due for a flight review, and this can be used to brush up your technique, so helping you to prevent accidents rather than cure them.

Mislandings: cause and effect

There are four basic causes of mislandings, and each is likely to have predictable consequences:

• No roundout or insufficient roundout. The aircraft will either touch down on the nosewheel or on all three wheels simultaneously. Since the speed will be high the aircraft will bounce, becoming airborne again. Unless corrective action is taken by the pilot the nose will begin to drop as the airspeed decays at the top of the bounce, causing the aircraft to pitch down heavily on to the nosewheel. If excess flying speed still exists this motion may be repeated several times with each oscillation becoming shorter, steeper and less controllable. This motion is called porpoising and can cause serious damage to the undercarriage, propeller and airframe, not to mention the hapless pilot and passengers. Worse, this oscillatory motion can be aggravated by the pilot if his reactions are slow or ill -timed. The instinctive reaction to a bounced landing is to relax back pressure or move the control column forward to reduce the height of the bounce. However, if the control input is delayed it may not take effect until the aircraft has already begun to descend, thereby increasing the rate of descent and steepening the angle of the already down pitching nose. The result is an even heavier impact on the nosewheel and perhaps propeller.

• Roundout too large. The aircraft will balloon, lose airspeed rapidly and then possibly sink at a high rate causing a heavy landing and damage to the undercarriage and airframe.

• Insufficient hold-off or landing before the correct attitude has been reached. This can lead to porpoising if the nosewheel touches first, or a series of skips if all three wheels touch together. The undamped porpoise can cause severe damage. Further, a ground loop may also occur if there is a loss of directional control.

• Holding off too long and landing with little or no control over the aircraft attitude or rate of descent. If a hold-off is continued for too long, so that the airspeed is at or near the stalling speed and the aircraft is then allowed to balloon or is lifted by an unexpected gust, the consequent high sink rate and/or stall may be impossible to control because of the lack of airspeed. Once again, undercarriage and propeller damage are likely, while the consequences of a wing drop during the stall need no elaboration.

Corrective actions

In most cases the best cure is to go around as soon as a mislanding is recognised. If the landing has initiated a porpoise, hold the control column slightly aft of neutral and apply full power. This will dampen the porpoise and the aircraft will eventually climb away. Opposing the porpoise pitching action by use of elevator almost invariably accentuates the problem. If circumstances are against a go-around, for example a damaged aircraft, bad weather or similar, then a mislanding can be recovered by skilful use of power to reduce the descent rate and to fly the aircraft into a second flare and holdoff. However, this technique requires practice and skill. If not familiar with it you should ask your instructor to teach you during your next

check flight. The following pointers, applicable to any landing, are all indicative of a sound flying technique and should be borne in mind when thinking about this article.

• A gentle flare started early is better than a violent flare at the last moment.

• Know the landing attitude of your aircraft. Do not let the aircraft touch down until you achieve the landing attitude and do not attempt to hold-off by raising the nose above the landing attitude. If you have reached the landing attitude during the holdoff, maintain that attitude with the elevators and, if necessary, control the sink rate with power until the aircraft touches down.

• Pick a point on the runway at which you will go around if the aircraft has not touched down. An old definition of a good pilot is one who has an equal number of take-offs and landings ... think about it! Think about this article too, especially in relation to your flying technique right throughout the approach and landing phases; perhaps there may be some points which would lead to a worthwhile discussion with your local flying instructors on this fundamental aspect of flying. If out of practice or still inexperienced, have your instructor give you a lesson on recovering from mislandings, perhaps during your next check flight.

FROM THE OPS TEAM

WEATHER TO FLY – LOCAL PRE-FLIGHT PLANNING

All pilots know the requirements for pre-flight planning before that big trip around Australia. But what about local flying? Should pilots apply the same principles if planning to fly around their local aerodrome? Are NOTAMs relevant every day when nothing ever seems to change?

Yes, is the short answer.

If you are an instructor planning circuit flying with students, a solo student planning circuit departure and entry practice or a private pilot flying to a local farm strip for the day, referencing the winds aloft and expected weather conditions can make a significant difference to the safe completion and conduct of the flight.

RAAus has received a number of recent reports relevant to students or pilots losing control of aircraft while landing, overshooting runways and trying to force the aircraft down, or conducting repeated go-arounds until a change of runway direction is made.

Let’s consider the effect of a 20+ knot wind at 1000ftAGL in the opposite direction to the indications of the windsock at ground level.

Firstly, there is no indication to pilots of this wind just from watching the windsock. If there are no clouds at altitude, there are no other indications of this wind. The trees aren’t moving, the birds are chirping and all seems well.

The aircraft lines up and takes off normally. Once airborne an alert pilot may notice a reduced climb angle, extended climb path and the impression of greater speed over the ground, even though the airspeed indicator confirms the usual climb speed is being maintained.

While processing these sensations, the aircraft is turned onto crosswind and is further away from the runway than usual. The downwind leg seems to take forever.

Once the turn onto base is made, the runway threshold seems to come up in a hurry and on final the aircraft is too high,

so the pilot forces the nose down to aim for the threshold point, resulting in a significantly increased approach speed. Once the aircraft cuts through the wind gradient at lower levels, the descent rate increases significantly, but with the higher airspeed of the approach, the aircraft now seems to float forever.

The pilot may be tempted to force the aircraft to land and suddenly there is an event which requires a report because the aircraft ran off the runway, either because of a wheelbarrow event, a diversion off the side of the runway due to landing too fast or a late go-around to avoid obstacles. Another Runway – Loss of Control event has just occurred.

If the pilot, student or instructor is not thoughtful about the sequence of events and considers other possible factors, it may simply be written up as a momentary lapse of judgement, concentration or even on occasions, blamed on the aircraft.

Alternatively, let’s consider a wind aloft which is significantly higher than the ground indications, but in the same direction as the intended runway.

On takeoff, the aircraft appears to be climbing like a rocket, with a significantly higher climb angle than usual. The aircraft doesn’t seem to be tracking over the ground at the usual speed and the turn onto crosswind occurs earlier than usual. Once again, our pilot is distracted by this unexpected turn of events.

Flying the crosswind leg as usual results in a significantly different position for the turn to downwind, but the pilot is focussed on completing the pre-landing checks. As a result, the downwind leg seems to rocket past and the turn onto base is delayed. While the base turn is made, the aircraft has drifted away from the aiming point and is now a long way from the ideal position for the turn onto final, resulting in a need for additional power.

Turning onto final the airport seems to be a lot further away than usual and it seems to take forever to get to the usual threshold picture. If the pilot only adds enough power to maintain the usual picture, the approach will be significantly flatter than usual. As a result, when the power is reduced to land, when over the runway, the aircraft sinks like a rock, bounces and the pilot manages to respond with control movements which are exactly too late, timing the actions unintentionally to result in a pilot induced oscillation.

If the pilot is thinking not reacting, power will be applied and the aircraft may climb safely away after one or two oscillations to try again. On upwind, the pilot will be thinking “what the hell just happened” and either be so distracted that the whole cycle happens again, or will think it through and realise the strong winds aloft have resulted in these changes.

Or if the pilot is slow in applying power to conduct the go-around the next noise is the sound of the nose wheel breaking and the propeller impacting the ground.

How do we avoid these scenarios? Simply by checking the weather, recognising the effect of a significant wind at altitude and being mentally prepared for the differences in circuit shape, apparent drift or illusions of reduced or increased speed over the ground. The thoughtful pilot will adapt and overcome these changes by adjusting circuit shapes, flying attitudes and standard procedures and being prepared to go-around if the circuit is not going to plan.

If pilots, students and instructors make it a habit to check the weather using NAIPS for the area, even for a local flight, a clear picture of what the pilot may expect at altitude will emerge which for a thoughtful pilot will provide a heads up of differences to the usual flight paths and management.

Regarding NOTAMs for local airport, while a local pilot may not see a need to

obtain NOTAM information when intending to fly locally, airport NOTAM information may include vital notices about wet grass, maintenance works, unusual operations like military parachute operations, drone flights or non-aviation uses of the airport, like car races, etc.

Most pilots, students and instructors have some sort of flight planning software on an electronic device, and the programmers of most of this software make it possible to easily obtain weather and NOTAM

info, so there really isn’t any excuse for not at least glancing over the informationeven for a local jolly around the area.

We used to hear pilots complain about the cost of keeping their charts and ERSA up to date, but now an annual subscription to the flight planning software allows pilot to keep all charts and information current at the push of a button.

Instructors should be routinely checking weather every day they plan to fly with students, particularly if solo flights are ex-

pected. This check is not just for the effect of wind, but also to be aware of changes from cold fronts, dust devils, cloud and rain, thunderstorms and other weather phenomena. Leading by example, these instructors will educate by their actions, not only for students, but also local pilots.

As always the 5 P principle applies, even when flying locally, Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance.

Safe Flying, the Flight Operations team.

Stans Gazelle

MUCH MORE THAN SIMPLY A LOT OF HOT AIR

Mark Smith enjoys the simple pleasure of a form of flying that dates to the 18th century.

They gather on an empty airfield an hour before dawn. It’s cold and calm, which is how they like the weather to be. The mood is festive and gives the impression they have joined together to worship the sunrise. But that impression is wrong, for this group is made up of pilots and their crew and they have come to worship the joy of flight in its oldest and simplest form. Welcome to the world of hot air ballooning.

They unload their craft from small trailers towed behind family cars as the first light from the false dawn begins to light the thin mist covering the ground. The traditional wicker basket is made ready by mounting the burners and attaching them to the gas bottles that provide the fuel to heat the air inside the balloon in order to fly. Then it’s unloaded and laid on its side, before the balloon is unravelled in a long line. From preparation

to flying, there is nothing fast about ballooning. Gretta Menzies has been involved in the sport since she was 13, though waited until she was 33 before finally getting her private licence. Eleven years later she has 420hrs and tries to fly whenever she can.

“My parents had friends who were into ballooning and I got into it through them. I started when I was 13 and just kind of carried on,” she says as we float over green fields

Photos: Mark Smith

south of the Victorian town of Milawa.

Gretta was in Milawa, along with more than 20 other balloons from south eastern Australia, as part of the King Valley Balloon Festival over the June long weekend.

“I learned at a training camp that’s held at Lake Culleraine. I went down there with an instructor who brought his own balloon and I did 14 hours in one week. You need 16 hours for a private balloon licence, so I went

back two years later and finished my hours and my exams. I was lucky to be able to do it that way as it can take many years to get the hours you need.”

Gretta’s first solo was very different to what pilots from other aviation disciplines experience. “First solo was very interesting. My instructor, Phil, said do a touch and go in a paddock. So, we landed, and he got out and said off you go and walked away. So, I

Paul and Karen Strike

LEARNING TO FLY

It takes 16 hours of flying to gain your PPL (B) and you must be a member of the Australian Ballooning Federation (ABF) as this is the self-administrative body that regulates ballooning in Australia.

The theory of ballooning is relatively simple and for the private pilot certificate there are six exams; Air Law, Navigation, Meteorology, Aerostatics and Airmanship, Landowner Code of Conduct and Radio Operator.

Ballooning is a team sport as you need at least one other crew member to help set up the aircraft for flight and then follow in the recovery vehicle to pick up the pilot and help pack up the balloon. A first step into the sport for many people is to work as crew. When you join the ABF as a student pilot you receive a list of instructors as well as a training pack This includes the issue of your Student Pilot Certificate, a certificate wallet, ABF operations manual, pilots circulars, and a safety manual. A pilot training manual is included which gives most of the theory information you will need to achieve the standard required along with various other associated documents.

Balloon pilots can participate in competitions and this is a great way to improve pilot skills in a fun way.

The competitive events in a balloon competition are called tasks. Several tasks can be specified for each flight. The tasks for a competition flight are determined before the flight commences, after assessment of the weather and other factors. Most tasks do not involve a competition based purely on maximum time, distance, or altitude as record flights do. Rather competition flights require pilots to exercise skill in manoeuvring their balloons over a set course with goals, targets, scoring areas, time and distance limits.

Good results in competition tasks are achieved using a combination of winds at various altitudes to fly in the direction of a goal and accurately approach the target within the designated competition area. Balloons do not land on the target itself. Crew members aboard the balloons drop markers onto or as close to the target as they can fly. The markers are small sandbags with streamers attached. Some balloons will skim just above the ground, while others may be thousands of feet in the sky when they release their marker. The straight-line distance between the spot where the marker lands and the target itself is the measured result. The balloonist whose marker lands the shortest distance from the target is awarded the most points. Other tasks involve flying the minimum or maximum distance in a set time, achieving the greatest change in direction and other demonstrations of flying skill.

did the rest of the flight, another 40 minutes on my own. That was my first solo at five hours. And the instructor just walked out of the field to wait for the retrieve car.”

Flying in a balloon is like no other aviation activity. The noise of the burner punctuates the silence as we drift across the landscape. It’s a multi-sensory experience where you not only enjoy a great view, but you feel the change in temperature at different heights, hear animals on the ground below and smell the trees as you fly over them.

Balloons have very simple controls. The burners heat up the air inside the envelope and cause the craft to rise. The pilot can rotate left and right by pulling on ropes linked to vents on the side of the balloon. Not using the burner for a length of time causes the air inside the balloon to cool and the craft to descend. A vent at the very top of balloon can be opened, again via a rope, to expedite descent. The rest is up to the skill of the pilot in reading the microclimate of winds at various levels.

“It’s good today because we have lots of balloons around us, which means we can

see which way the air is moving by watching which way they are going,” she says.

“This morning our weatherman gave us a rundown of the wind direction at various altitudes, which we look at as different layers. We look at that list and go up and down to those different heights depending on where we want to go.”

It’s a strange feeling to watch a balloon pass below moving at right angles to the direction of travel to the balloon you are in is going. Balloons pilots prefer colder conditions which is why early mornings are the preferred take off time. This is as much to do with the physics behind why a hot air balloon flies as it is with seeking calm conditions. Balloons work on the principal that hot air rises and so need a temperature differential between the inside of the envelope and the outside. The colder it is outside the easier it is to get lift from the heat on the inside.

The four gas tanks on Gretta’s balloon allow for around two hours of flying.

“When I lived in Canberra, I could fly 50 hours a year which was almost every weekend,” Gretta says.

“It’s harder to fly as often living in country areas where I do now because it’s hotter over the warmer months of the year and that stops us from flying. In summer you get thermals from the air mass heating up and balloons don’t like thermals because we are just a bag of air and we tend to get thrown around very badly. We are also badly affected by storms so it’s easier to just avoid them by not flying.”

However, there is an upside to flying in country areas.“Flying in Canberra involved a lot more planning. You tend to have to look at the winds and work out where you want to land and change the launch site to match. In the country it’s a bit more relaxed because we have a lot of open fields and lots more friendly farmers who don’t mind a balloon or two landing in their paddock.”

After watching two other balloons touch down in a wide field near a dirt road, Gretta decides it’s time to land. At 500 feet, on a slow descent, we are tracking south west but as we pass slightly south of the balloons on the ground descending through 300 feet the balloon starts tracking more to the west

Heating the air in the Van Gogh ballon

north west. The descent is quite steep with what seems to be about five knots of ground speed. In the final stages of the landing, close to the ground Gretta has the burner on, heating the air to cushion the touchdown and just before landing the burner and pilot lights are turned off. We bump along, upright and then stop. In the background a herd of cattle are serenading the other two balloons, obviously thinking these intruders from the sky bring food.

Packing up takes a fair bit less time than set up, and after getting permission from the land owner to drive the pickup car onto the field, the balloon is deflated by opening the top vent and the whole aircraft is put back on its seven by five trailer.

As we pack up, Gretta give a short insight into why she loves the sport.

“It’s calm, you get the best part of the day in the early morning and you get a view of the world few people get to see, at a pace even fewer get to see because you get to do it at slow speeds.

“Flying doesn’t get much better than that.”

Student pilot Josie White prepares for liftoff.

Gretta Menzies.

AVIATION CLASSIFIEDS

5164 JABIRU UL3300 (6CYL)

610 Airframe Hours, 351 Engine Hours, UL3300 (6Cyl). Jabiru UL3300 (6Cyl, 3300, Camit engine, 4yo), Good Condition Extended wings. Frame: 610 hrs. Engine: 364 hrs (1/4/19). Engine top overhaul just done. Upgraded brakes, larger wheels. Climbs exceptionally well. Ideal for short take-off and landing.. Fuel: 14-15 l/hr @ 105Kn. Will consider delivery. PRICE: $29000

CONTACT: Johannes Luthy 0402 443 635

5189 SAVANNAH S PRICE REDUCED

82 Airframe Hours, 70 Engine Hours, Savannah S Savannah S.Rotax 912iS 100 HP Fuel Injected Eng. 45TTIS. Factory built. No Accident. 144L Fuel. Garmin G3X 10.6" Touch Screen & GTX23 Mode S ES Xponder.Garmin GMC305 Auto Pilot & GTR200 Radio. AOA. DUC Prop.

PRICE: $119000 ONO

CONTACT: Lance Weller 0407 229 495

5300 33 TIGERMOTH AVE, PRICE DROPPED

Freehold hangar at Temora Airpark. 2yr old 15x15x6m high hangar on a 50 x 25m freehold block, it has unrestricted views across the entire northern side of the airport. Power, water, gas & sewer avail. Due to shiftwork, email KRviators@ bigpond.com

PRICE: $180000

CONTACT: Robin Wills 0401 023 271

5335 TYRO MK 2

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 (60 hours). Holds 50L of fuel, with a burn of 7-10L/hour in cruise. Fully enclosed trailer included. Located in South East Tasmania.

PRICE: $7000

CONTACT: Les Skinner 0437 616 135

5439 SECURE HANGAR SPACE FOR RENT

Secure Hangar space for rent in Central QLD 50min from Rockhampton. $1330 Per Year 1700m Grass AirStrip.

PRICE: $1330 P/Y

CONTACT: Adrian Paine 0400 157 833

5458 HANGARS HOLBROOK AIRFIELD

Hangars blocks 18m x 18m freehold titles at Holbrook Airpark from $25,000 or land and new Hangars 15m x 12m available from $78,000.

PRICE: Available from: $25000

CONTACT: John Ferguson 0413 990 400

5482 SKYFOX GAZELLE

1418.9 Airframe Hours, 1146.2 Engine Hours, Gazelle SKYFOX GAZELLE for sale. I am off around the country soon so don't be afraid, make me an offer I cant refuse LOL! Great aircraft with nothing to spend G/BOX overhauled, New tyres, perspex roof replaced, Upholstery recovered. New 2 blade Bolly Prop fitted 1402 Hrs. Airframe 1418.9 Hrs. Engine done 1146 Hrs. Manufactured 1997 by SKYFOX AVIATION. Serial Number CA25N074. Engine is Rotax 912 80hp. Reg Number 24-3432 (expires Oct 2019). Interior and... Price: $29000

CONTACT: Brian Stott 0410 401 139

5501 AIRCRAFT 23-8806

550 Airframe Hours, 550 Engine Hours, J230D For Sale Jabiru J-230D

PRICE: $88000

CONTACT: Bill Haynes 0429 054 205

5528 AIRBORNE XT-912, TRIKE/ MICROLIGHT ARROW S WING LSA

156 Airframe Hours, 556 Engine Hours, XT-912 Airborne xt-912 trike; arrow s wing only 156 hours, winglets factory fitted 16/3/18, engine & base 556 hours, converted to LSA, fully factory performance tuned. All services done, always hangared. New bolley prop, tall screen, engine cowl, headsets.

PRICE: $25000

CONTACT: Bob Thiemann (07) 5481 2025/0418 776 116

5569 ZENAIR 750

ZenAir 750 130hrs Rotax914Turbo widebody bubbledoors tundra tyres 10" Dynon Skyview. 100ltr fuel. Amazing short field take off.

PRICE: $95000

CONTACT: Nat Jaques 0417 073 046

5580 JABIRU J200 + 1/2 HANGER AT HECK FIELD

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 - ½ Hanger.

PRICE: $90000

CONTACT: Bruce Smallacombe 0410 524 040

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.

PRICE: $7500

CONTACT: Tony Meggs (02) 6689 1009

5631 SAVANNAH VG

250 Airframe Hours, 250 Engine Hours, VG Savannah VG 19-7575, 250hrs Engine/Airframe. Rotax 912ULS, Warp Drive Nickel prop. XCOM Radio. 4 Tanks 144ltr with fuel flow meter. Electric Trim, Garmin 695, carpeted cockpit - very quiet. Nil accidents, full service history, excellent condition.

PRICE: $56800

CONTACT: Rodney Kinnish 0411 378 998

5642 ARION LIGHTNING 3.3FI

775 Airframe Hours, 683 Engine Hours, Lightning Owner builder, FI 3.3 Jab eng powered by Haltec F10X computer. Eng never pulled down. Cruise 140kts @ 2800, 19 lts per hr. Thompson prop 61x60. Lowrance 2000C GPS slaved to Dynon 180.ASI. Always hangared at Goolwa.

PRICE: $59000 ONO

CONTACT: Steve Biele 0407 218 203

5653 RANS S6ES

624 Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, Rans S6ES Coyote II. 624TT Powered by Jabiru 2200 Fantastic Aircraft to fly, plenty of room for two large people. Two GPS units one Portable and one in dash, ballistic chute, full deluxe interior, Dual controls inc toe brakes, 2 noise reduction headsets.

PRICE: $38000

CONTACT: Peter Tapp 0403 116 690

5672 JABIRU 170C 24-5398

370 Airframe Hours, 370 Engine Hours, J170C For sale Due to present health issues Jabiru 170C 24-5398, aircraft hangared at Wynyard Approx 370 hours on both engine and airframe. In top condition. Maintained by John McBryde who is happy for calls 0427 757 922.

PRICE: $56500

CONTACT: John Heidenreich 0419 324 250

5690 WYREEMA AIRFIELD HANGAR SPACE/ STORAGE

Hangar Space/Storage for light aircraft, boats, caravans. Airfield is at Wyreema appr 15 minutes south of Toowoomba QLD. Water, electricity, toilet & avgas available. Prices start from $100 per calendar month.

PRICE: $100 p/m

CONTACT: Daniel King 0409 465 812

5703 BANTAM B 22S

414 Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, Bantam B 22S 414 engine and airframe hours located YCAB Brolga prop, 582 Blue head motor. New skins, detailed log book and flight manual. A new motor still in crate is available, but is NOT included in this price.

PRICE: $12500

CONTACT: Kyle 0415 858 869

5730 AIRCRAFT 19-8492

85.5 Airframe Hours, 25 Engine Hours, PT-2 Protec PT2 STOL Aircraft for sale,912s 100hp. PRICE: $40000 CONTACT: Neal Livingstone 0407 347 255 5731 JABIRU SPT-6

78 Airframe Hours, 78 Engine Hours, SPT-6 PRICE: $45000 CONTACT: Neal Livingstone 0407 347 255 5737 JABIRU J200B 19-4922

73 Airframe Hours, 73 Engine Hours, J200 B Jabiru J200 B 19-4922. Low hours TTIS 73 hrs. Jabiru 3300 engine solid lifters. ICOM radio with David Clark headsets. Garmin 296 GPS. 2 pack paint always hangared. Excellent condition inside and out.

PRICE: $52000

CONTACT: Graham Moller 0458 785 035

5751 TECNAM P92-2000RG

708 Airframe Hours, 708 Engine Hours, P922000RG. Tecnam P92-2000RG. 2006 model 707 hours since new, Rotax 912 ULS, retractable undercarriage, new leather seats, Trio Ezypilot A/P coupled to Garmin 195 GPS, Microair Transponder, Icom A200 VHF.

PRICE: $79000

CONTACT: Merv Hargraves 0429 003 112

5763 JABIRU 24-4681 J-160C

2164 Airframe Hours, 266 Engine Hours, J-160C

Certified Aircraft – Approved for flight training Airframe 2164 hrs, Engine 266 HTR to 500 HRS when through bolt replacement required. Annual Registration paid EXP 06/19. Full service history. Wood Prop. Located Launceston Tas.

PRICE: $34000 + GST

CONTACT: Tasmanian Aero Club 0418 500 111

5779 STORCH BY FLY SYNTHESIS

1000 Airframe Hours, Zero Hours Engine Hours, Fly Synthesis. Re-engined with Mercedes Smart car engine. TT Zero hours. Comes in a roadworthy, registered tandem axle enclosed trailer. The wings fold and the whole aircraft can be loaded into the trailer by one person.

PRICE: $52000

CONTACT: Frank Shrenk

AVIATION CLASSIFIEDS

5783 SKYFOX CA21 AND TRAILER

847.8 Airframe Hours, 325.8 Engine Hours, CA21. CA21 TAILDRAGGER with recent new rotax 80HP fitted. I am off around OZ soon so don't be afraid to make me an offer I cant refuse LOL! Engine only done 325.8 hours. Airframe only 847.8 hrs. The trailer was custom made for this aircraft and has electric winch and internal lighting etc.

PRICE: $39000

CONTACT: Brian Stott 0410 401 139

5827 SYNDICATE SHARE A32 VIXXEN AT CABOOLTURE

600 Airframe Hours, 600 Engine Hours, A32 Vixxen A share is available to a suitably experienced pilot. Long running syndicate based at Caboolture Queensland. Has full Dynon avionics including autopilot. Professionally maintained.

PRICE: $9000

CONTACT: Ian McDonell (07) 3886 5828

5837 AIRCRAFT 32-7042

97.6 Airframe Hours, 97.6 Engine Hours, Outback Airborne Outback trike in excellent condition only 98hrs and always hangered.

PRICE: $17000

CONTACT: Richard Perrett 0407 454 809

5842 JABIRU FOR SALE

347 Airframe Hours, 347 Engine Hours, J160 Jabiru J160. 347 engine & airframe hrs, Sensenich ground adj prop. 2 spare blades & angle adj meter. Flys hands off , 65lt wing tanks. Satalite airmaps built into panel, microair & intercom 2 headsets. + extras $45,000.

PRICE: $38500

CONTACT: Brad Salter 0417 385 250

5849 SAVANNAH

70 Airframe Hours, 70 Engine Hours, Savannah XL Savannah XL 70 hrs airframe 70 hrs engine luggage barrier upgraded door latch Xcom vhf uhf tundra tyres upgrade to 600 kgs owner reluctanly given up flying.

PRICE: $69000

CONTACT: James Jardine 02 6454 6210/0408 167 863

5855 JABIRU SP FOR SALE

755 Airframe Hours, 374 Engine Hours, SP Jabiru Aircraft SP 19-3253 For Sale.

PRICE: $34500

CONTACT: James Robert Rodgers 0457 054 123

5865 MICRO AVIATION - BAT HAWK

80 hours TTSN Airframe Hours, 80 hours TTSN Engine Hours, Bat Hawk

The Bat Hawk is widely used as a surveillance and anti-poaching platform. It is manufactured to comply with the ASTM2245 Build Rules as well as South African Civil Aviation Type Approval. This is a true 'bush aircraft', easy to fly and cheap to run.

PRICE: $39500

CONTACT: Johannes Gouws 0448 019 980

5878 ZLIN SAVAGE SHOCK CUB AIRCRAFT FOR SALE

90 Airframe Hours, 90 Engine Hours, Shock Cub $150,000 (inc. GST) AUD (approx. $108,000 USD) - will assist with export/import. Rotax 100 HP 912 ULS - 90 TTSN. Factory Built registered S-LSA. TK1 Shock Monster & tailwheel. 26" Alaskan Bush Wheels. Dual Caliper Beringer Brakes & park brake. Immaculate logbooks & maintenance. DUC Helices Flash 3 blade ground adjustable prop. Long range fuel tanks (105L capacity).

PRICE: $150000

CONTACT: Damien Soward 0412 578 693

5893 XAIR HANUMAN

175 Airframe Hours, 1750 Engine Hours, HANUMAN Beautiful XAIR HANUMAN 912 ULS 100 HP aera

500 GPS, XCOM VHF. Folding Wings. 92 knot cruise. Always hangared. Great fun plane priced to sell.

PRICE: $32000

CONTACT: Jason Bruce King 0418 986 609

5897 BANTAM ROTAX 582

602 Airframe Hours, 100 Engine Hours, B22s

This aircraft is in good order and maintained by an L2. The motor was rebuilt by Bert Floods and only has 100 hours on it. The aircraft is now surplus to requirements and is ready to find a new home.

PRICE: $16000

CONTACT: Mark Gentry 0481 309 222

5903 DUEL SEAT AREOCHUTE

131 Airframe Hours, 131 Engine Hours, Aerochute Good Condition. 503 Rotax engine. Electric start. 58" IVO propeller. Standard prop guard for 58" prop. Tacho, hour meter, altimeter. 2 Flight suits. 2 Helmets with passenger intercom. VHF and UHF radio ready. Fuel funnel and 2 Jerry cans. Maintenance records. Operator and maintenance manuals.

PRICE: $13500

CONTACT: Peter Oliver 0447 466 319

299.0 Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, P92 Echo Classic. Tecnam P92 Echo Classic 8236. Hours- 298 Will sell with fresh 100 hourly. Always Hangered and Level 2 Maintained. Garmin GTX 327 Transponder Mode S. Garmin 695 moving map GPS. Trutrak Digiflight IIVS Autopilot 2 Axis. Oversize Main Wheels.

PRICE: $100000

CONTACT: Stuart Reseck 0434 645 439

1059 Airframe Hours, 1725 SOH Engine Hours, 100 Piel Emerald Model 100, Built 1974. Continental 0-200, 100hp. McCauley alum prop. TTIS 1059 hrs. Toe operated hyd disc brakes. VH reg until 2018, now RAAus. 100 knot cruise, 84 ltrs fuel. Good condition for it's age.Fun and affordable flying.

PRICE: $24500

CONTACT: John Kelly 0428 516 485

5912 JABIRU J160 - D FACTORY 9/10 PERTH

490 Airframe Hours, 490 Engine Hours, J160D Beautiful and ready to tour. It is just back from a trip through NT & SA where it behaved brilliantly. One owner 2009 to 2019 who maintained it to the highest standards. 95 Kts cruise, fully laden for touring (without spats) 80-90 knots 15-18 LPH.

PRICE: $51000

CONTACT: Angus Macaskill (+4) 4796 7805059

5917 TEXAN 600

890 Airframe Hours, 890 Engine Hours, Texan 600 890 Engine and Airframe. AV-Map GPS coupled to auto pilot, 3 blade constant speed prop, BRS, Nav Lights, Mode S Transponder, I-Com radio, Excellent condition inside and out.

PRICE: $100000

EMAIL: buildmac@bigpond.com

CONTACT: Bruce McGill 0418 713 267

5924 JABIRU 160-C

559 Airframe Hours, 559 Engine Hours, 160-C

This is a good clean low hours aircraft with a full suite of avionics. Flies beautifully with economical cruise. Fitted with Jabiru double brakes. All in good condition and always hangared. 100 hourly is due and will be completed prior to sale.

PRICE: $51500

CONTACT: Malcolm Dow 0400 482 206

5927 XT-912 TOURER - LOW HRS - 156 HRS SST WING

326 Airframe Hours, 326 Engine Hours, XT-912 Tourer. Excellent condition, always hangared fully maintained by LAME, full log books. 2000hr TBO engine. Includes brand new travel covers and trailer.

PRICE: $25000

CONTACT: Jeffrey Thompson 0406 621 202

5928 HUGHES LIGHTWING WITH JABIRU 2200 ENGINE

2060 Airframe Hours, 360 Engine Hours, LW 1 Not flown since complete airframe rebuild. Jab 2.2 @ 360hrs, 60 hrs since overhaul. New fabric, paint, upholstery etc. Spare complete engine (condition NK). Hangered at Innisfail. Ex the late Carlo Prete CFI/L2.

PRICE: $20000

CONTACT: Alan Yarrow 0407 961 055

5933 LIGHTWING GR582

500 Airframe Hours, 100 Engine Hours, GR582 Good reliable aeroplane always hangered and well maintained, low hours on air frame and Rotax 582 blue head.

PRICE: $16990 NEG

CONTACT: Phillip Ensabella 0468 464 101

5934 FLIGHT DESIGN

1125 Airframe Hours, 1070 Engine Hours, CTLS CTLS for sale. Excellent condition. New Odyssey battery just installed. Great aircraft to fly and own.

PRICE $97500

CONTACT: David 0419 343 544

5935 AIRBORNE TUNDRA XT 912, MICROLIGHT, ULTRALIGHT, TRIKE

307 Airframe Hours, 307 Engine Hours, Tundra. Date of manufacture: 2014; Rotax 4 strokes engine 80HP, Engine hours 307; brand new Merlin wing 0 hour, upgrade to cross country add 1000 AUD. You can choice any kind of new sail the airborne Factory set up instant. With all logbooks. Radio, wate.

PRICE: $29999

CONTACT: Feng Zhai

5938 SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE 2/3 SCALE REPLICA

120 Airframe Hours, 120 Engine Hours, 2/3 scale Supermarine Spitfire 2/3 scale replica.

PRICE: $118000

CONTACT: Karl Schultz

5942 DYNAERO MCR 01 VLA SPORTSTER

440 Airframe Hours, 440 Engine Hours, MCR -01 VLA Sportster. Fast, Efficient 2 seat aircraft, that will TAS @ 145kts at around 17 LPH. Climbs fast at 1750 fpm. Superb direct stick handling and easy to fly. Privately Owned. Built by John ChesbroughMechanical Engineer. Always hangared.

PRICE: $83000

CONTACT: Stuart Norman 0438 196 010

5944 P&M AVIATION GT-LITE

60.2 Airframe Hours, 60.2 Engine Hours, GT-Lite This GT-Lite comes with Radio, Covers, oil injection, and carbie de-icing. It's a dream to fly. The GT-450 with is one tof the best wings on the market. TTIS is 60.2 hours. http://pmaviation.com.au/inventory.

PRICE: $35000

CONTACT: Peter McLean 0415 406 413

AVIATION CLASSIFIEDS

5945 2 PLACE LOW WING

Partly finished 2 Place ultralight, one wing needs the "D" aluminium attached, tail group is complete, Under-carriage needs two main wheels.

PRICE: $750

CONTACT: Paul Badcock 0417 513 414

5946 SUPERCAT

287.3 Airframe Hours, 88.25 Engine Hours, bobcat mkII. Genuine sale of my supercat (bobcat mkII).

PRICE: $14000 ONO

CONTACT: Marcus Legg 0428 834 314

5947 SG AVIATION STORM 300

657 Airframe Hours, 657 Engine Hours, Storm 300 Storm 300. 2003. 600kg max weight. 360kg empty. Max baggage compartment weight 20kg. 110kt cruise at 5000rpm 18lt/hour. 80lt fuel tank. Very nice aircraft and in great condition, adjustable rudder pedals, 5 year rubber replacement done 3 months ago. Willing to deliver. Has prop and canopy cover. We have purchased a Cherokee so.

PRICE: $49500

CONTACT: Chris Hayhoe 0417 535 832

5949 WANTED - KIT PROJECT

If you have a kit (happy to look at any type) that isn't working out then please let me know. Partially completed or still in the crate - I'm looking for the next project.

CONTACT: David Vaughan 0478 188 348 5952 MORGAN SIERRA 200

Airframe Hours,

country aircraft. Buying a four seat aircraft for family travelling. $68,000 serious offers considered. PRICE: $68000

CONTACT: Glenn wilcox

5955 MICROLIGHT TRIKE

383 Airframe Hours, 383 Engine Hours, Edge X Edge X classic 2002. Instrument data - air speed, EGT, ALT, Tacho, HR meter, water temp. After muffler. REGO - 8/09/2019. 383 Hours. Wing- streak 2B. Trailer included. Always stored in garage. 2 flying suits large and medium and 2 helmets with mic.

PRICE: $12500

CONTACT: Peter Koch 0409 566 389

5957 PETREL AMPHIBIOUS

195 Airframe Hours, 195 Engine Hours, PETREL Wings easy removed and refitted in under 1/2 hour making it trailer-able to take on holidays or be kept at home in your garage or hangar. New tyres, new Bolly propeller.

PRICE: $35000

CONTACT: Margaret 0401 365 989

5958 X-AIR 618 ROTAX

Airframe Hours, 4 Engine

aircraft and was rebuilt from the ground up. New Skins, Engine overhauled in USA, dyno

data available. new suspension, wing ribs, pod repainted and vinyl wrapped. Efis included not yet fitted. Decea

PRICE: $17500

CONTACT: Andrew Twigg

5959 SAVANNAH XL

269.0 Airframe Hours, 269.0 Engine Hours, XL 2016 3 Blade Bolly Prop. 100 HP Rotax 912 Engine. Long range fuel tanks. 269 Hrs. TalosavionicsA-3FIS. No beach landings. 6.006 Tyres. Maintenance release forms, extensive maintenance log by L.A.M.E. Upgrade to 600 kgs.

PRICE: $68000

CONTACT: Colin Wood 0427 543 593

5961 SONEX TRI-GEAR FOR SALE

0 Airframe Hours, 2 Engine Hours, Tri-gear 3300 Completed Sonex Tri-gear 3300 for sale - forced sale due to ill health. Aircraft is complete but has not flown. Jabiru 3300 engine and Prince Propeller with test hours only.

PRICE: $30000

CONTACT: Greg McCarthy 0428 569 712

5964 CUMULUS COURT - VACANT LAND IN AIRPARK ESTATE

The freedom to fly has never been so close to home with this opportunity to join an aviation community and build your dream home. Lots in Cumulus Airpark start at 3000sqm. Custom build a house and hanger with stunning Mary Valley views. Sealed strip.

PRICE: $280000

CONTACT: Dianne Gresham 0428 835 451

157

75 Engine Hours, Sierra 200 Morgan Sierra 200. All metal, factory built by Gary Morgan, Jabiru 6 cylinder, good comfortable cross

298

Hours, X-air. Fully overhauled X-Air with 618 Rotax. this project

17 Continental Court, Gatton

MASTER BUILT HOME IN PRESTIGE ESTATE

Block Size – 2,345m2 Bedrooms – 4 all built in Bathrooms – 3

– main + en suite + one in shed Cool/Heat – Ducted air-conditioning + ceiling fans Car Space – 10 – double remote in house garage + powered 17m x 12m hanger to accommodate at least 8 cars or an aircraft Located in the prestigious airpark estate with direct access to the taxiway and runway, north eastern veranda perfect for relaxing and entertaining, hangar with shelving and mini kitchen toilet and shower. Located in an elevated cul de sac position with beautiful rural views over farmland, town water connected, 3 x 6000 gallon. Rainwater tanks and 1.3KW solar power system. If you are dreaming of living a lifestyle that includes access to a private community runway with an exclusive lifestyle or perhaps a shed big enough for all your toys and hobbies, then this property will impress. Built by master builder with no expense spared. Its practical design and open plan living spaces include a huge family and dining area of the spacious granite kitchen. Great sized formal lounge room and multipurpose media room or 4th bedroom or hobby room. The elevation of the property provides views from nearly every window of the Lockyer Valley rim. When you step out to the rear wrap around veranda you have the aspect of the airfield. The 17m x 12m aircraft hangar is impressive, with shelving, mini kitchen, shower and toilet. It can accommodate up to 8 vehicles. So, if you are looking to call Gatton’s unique Airpark Estate home, call the team at Gatton Real Estate 07 5462 1311 to arrange your own private viewing of this incredible property.

AVIATION CLASSIFIEDS

5965 ZODIAC 601HD

250 Airframe Hours, 250 Engine Hours, 601HD

Previously VH-CCY, now RAA registered, built 1999, 250hrs tt, Aeropower 76-80hp, spare prop (new). Corrosion painted. Full build plans, engine logs, history. A22 radio with new intercom. Electric trim. Cabin heat. Carbie heat. Basic instruments. Flys great. Paint 9/10 Interior 9/10. MTOW 545 kgs. Flown regularly. Can deliver to SA or VIC.

PRICE: $29000

CONTACT: Andrew Niblett 0408 801 900

5966 LOT 13 WHITSUNDAY AVIATION VILLAGE ESTATE $249K

Lot 13 Whitsunday Aviation Estate Village. Large square 1054m2 block at $249 000. Eastern side of runway, backs on to Conway National Park, direct taxiway access, soil test included. All ready to build your hangar home. Call Simon on 0400 799 788.

PRICE: $249000

CONTACT: Gary Hughes 0428 124 470

5967 JODEL D11

1800 Airframe Hours, 1800 Engine Hours, D11 Jodel D11, 19-7519 Cont. O-200, 1800hrs, always hangered, radio & basic instruments.

PRICE: $20000

CONTACT: Mark Tait 0413 289 604

5971 RURAL LIFESTYLE PROPERTY

Lifestyle property complete with 15 m x 12 m hanger and 600 metre airstrip. 100 year old restored stone cottage shearing shed and numerous out buildings. Contact Greg 0419 836754 for more photos and details. Could be set up as fly in fly out B&B.

PRICE: $480000

CONTACT: Gregory Moore 0419 836 754

5973 MORGAN SIERRA 100 2012

227 Airframe Hours, 227 Engine Hours, Sierra 100 Morgan Sierra 100 2012 build with 227 hours. Jabiru 3300 hydraulic lifter. Dual controls, Electric flaps, Matco wheels and brakes . Leather seating, Adjustable oil cooler airflow, LAME built with many improvements. Garmin 295 GPS Icom 210 radio. PRICE: $50000

CONTACT: Dave Henty-Wilson 0411 066 135

5975 2005 MK26 SPITFIRE

305 Airframe Hours, 305 Engine Hours, MK26 Reg 19-4104, with 8cyl Inj. Jabiru eng. 305 TT, cruises 150kn@29L/hr. Electric flaps& retract. gear, Sensenich FP prop. VHF, Garmin 176C, TC, VSI, G Meter & full MGI monitor. Genuine RAAus aircraft located in SA, no accidents. Cost > $200K. Bargain! PRICE: $85000

CONTACT: Geoff Eastwood 0427 812 422

5977 JABIRU J160D

585.7 Airframe Hours, 585.7 Engine Hours, J160D For sale , owner has to a GA aircraft PRICE: $48000

CONTACT: Kerry Fennamore 0409 342 501

5981 A32 VIXXEN IN A STUNNING SPECIAL ORDER "TRUE RED"

35 Airframe Hours, 35 Engine Hours, A32 Vixxen Practically new A32 Vixxen in a stunning special order " True Red" paint. TT 35 hours. extremely lightweight at 317.4 kg - MTOW of 600kg. Yoke controls with TRIG VHF and Transponder. Stall at 27kts, climb at over 1,000 fpm. cruise at 100 knots on 16l.

PRICE: $138050

CONTACT: Ido Segev 0413 900 892

5989 ROTAX 503 + INSTRUMENTS

0 Airframe Hours, 4 Engine Hours, 503 Very good condition Rotax 503 with E type Gear box (pull start), only been used for approximately 4 Hours (Basically brand new). Would suit new aircraft owner or builder, great back up for parts also. Instruments sold seperatly or together (CHT).

PRICE: $5000

CONTACT: Jacob Potts 0426 877 791

5994 2008 RANS S-6ES WITH ROTAX 912 ULS

400 Airframe Hours, 400 Engine Hours, S-6ES 380hrs airframe/engine, Cruise 90kn at 5200 RPM, MTOW-544kg, BEW-290kg, 93L fuel capacity, VHF radio with 2 place intercom, VG's installed, 8.00-6 tyres and hydraulic disc brakes, rubber replacement completed June 2018, take-off/landing roll 50m 1-up.

PRICE: $36000

CONTACT: Cameron Obst 0427 616 945

5996 JABIRU

570 Airframe Hours, 170 Engine Hours, J400 For Sale – JABIRU J230. Jabiru – J400/230 –Amateur Built – serial 162. VH-IHS – 1st Reg 2007. Air Frame – 570 hours – 2+2 seating – MTOW 700 kg / Empty 385 kg. Engine – TTIS 170.

PH: 0428 471 848

PRICE: $55000

CONTACT: Steven Drage 0412 621 212

5997 RANS S6

295 Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, S-6 3283 RANS S6 295 hrs airframe and engine, Airmaster in flight adjustable prop, new Matco

brakes and hub, new tyres, Garman 196 GPS, TAS 90kts, always hangared, located YBLN. Owner retiring from flying.

PRICE: $40000

CONTACT: Michael Tonks 0427 693 395

5999 SABRE LSA

380 Hours Total Airframe Hours, 380 Engine Hours, KP-2U Sova. 2005 Sabre Factory built light aircraft low hours, many extras.

PRICE: $85000

CONTACT: Rod Waldon 0404 170 039

6000 LUSCOMBE 8E SILVAIRE

3841.02 Airframe Hours, 172.2 hrs (TSOH) Engine Hours, 8E Silvaire. Recent annual and CAO 100.5 instrument tests. New wheels and main wheel bearings. ICOM IC-A200 and Bendix-King KT76 transponder. Cessna seats, 25 gallon wing tanks, and disc brakes. Regularly flown and always hangared. May deliver (within reason).

PRICE: $39000

CONTACT: Mark Clayton 0415 900 554

400 Airframe Hours, 400 Engine Hours, Mk3 extra Kolb mk3 extra. Up for regrettable sale is my very capable little bush plane, it has a stall of 23 knts and a cruise of 65/70 knts @17 ltrs ph out of a 68ltr tank.

PRICE: $25000

CONTACT: Mick Horvat 0414 404 012

6007 GRT EFIS HORIZON AND AR4201 BECKER AIR BAND RADIO

AR4201 BECKER AIR BAND RADIO. 12V OPERATION. COMES WITH MANUAL AND WIRING DETAILS. NO HARNESS

PRICE: $1350

CONTACT: Stephen cardwell 0478 769 786

6008 TL 2000 STING CARBON ULTRALIGHT

990 Airframe Hours, 990 Engine Hours, 2006 TL 2000 Sting Carbon Ultralight. 2006 model. Factory built. Rotex 912 motor. Ballistic shute. Inflight adjustable prop. True track Auto pilot. 1000 hour service, all new hoses gear box serviced. Updates all completed. Transponder.

PRICE: $72000

CONTACT: Angus McLean 0427 004 656 6009

150 Airframe Hours, 150 Engine Hours, Savannah VG. The time has come to sell "The Girlfiend". This aircraft is well known as she is the aircraft built and featured in my blog on the Recreational Flying Forumhttps://www.recreationalflying.com/threads/ another-new-savannah-xl-on-its-way.9712/ PRICE: $74000

CONTACT: Mark Kyle 0408 724 272

6010 FLYING INSTRUCTOR WANTED

Moruya Aero Club is looking for a pilot to carry out ultralight flying training and TIF's. The ideal person is someone looking for a sea change to south coast NSW and want PT work in the flying training field. Call Club President John on 0403 031 392.

PRICE: $66

CONTACT: Sarah Gordon 0403 031 392

6011 EUROFOX 3K LSA, 100 HP ROTAX 912ULS – EU FACTORY BUILT

353 Airframe Hours, 353 Engine Hours, 3k 100 hp Pristine & always LAME maintained, this all-round performer has 10” Dynon Skyview avionics, autopilot, and ADSB transponder. 110+ KTAS cruise @18LPH, yet it has STOL characteristics. Can sell with custom-built enclosing trailer, single handed stowing.

PRICE: $89500

CONTACT: David Samulenok 0425 723 367

6001 KOLB MK3 EXTRA

SUNDOWNER OF THE SKIES

Ienterprises, and the places where they took place, I would be pre-empting the pleasure you will have by reading it yourself. He was a troubled character, possibly arising from

boss. He retired and after his very full flying career never flew an aeroplane again. He entered into aviation obscurity. He did wish for some unique recognition of his significant 1930s achievements. His achievements were in a period of giants and he found one small satisfaction in having outlived them all, except for Arthur Butler

n her book Sundowner of the Skies, author Mary Garden has dealt with a most difficult subject: her father, a man at once an incredible achiever and a very troubled and troubling fellow.

Oscar Garden’s 17 years in aviation needed to be recorded as his was a significant contribution and, as the book points out, his safety record and long-term survival conspired to make him unspectacular and historically invisible.

In 17 short years he progressed from leaning to fly to commanding large international flying boats as chief pilot and operations manager of Air New Zealand’s forerunner, Tasman Empire Air Lines (TEAL). Were I to discuss his many and varied aviation

his early childhood years in cold, remote, windy far north Scotland, exacerbated by austere Calvinistic parents and their failing marriage, in addition to banishment by them to an uncompromising school. His older family history is one of considerable enterprise and great financial success yet great partiality and discrimination in the handing down of that fortune.

In the 1930s Oscar was the recipient of huge amounts of publicity and recognition in NZ, Australia, the UK and Scotland. Later, when ANZ evolved from TEAL, Oscar was replaced by a corporate appointee. Oscar was hurt and disgusted as he knew he was respected by his pilots as a tough but efficient

Admitting my inexperience in matters psychological and reading of Oscar’s almost total lack of concern for the feelings of others and his reluctance to have physical contact, I began to think of him as having sociopathic tendencies. In her concluding summary, Mary discusses the possibility of him having a mental disorder. She also mentions his battle with the black dog of depression.

Mary says the black dog also visited her however she grasped the nettle and sought a varied range of treatments including psychotherapy and counselling, about which she has written elsewhere. Given her personal experience and the scars she has from having a non-caring father who did not respond to her reaching out to him, I can’t help but hope writing this book has been cathartic for her. In her own words and at her mother’s behest the story is told ‘warts and all’.

Mary is easy to read, and her research is impressive, producing a book that should take its place on the aviation history shelf

Hans Gouws in the 120hp Bathawk.

ASIA PACIFIC LIGHT FLYING

MILESTONES

Ben Swart (BELOW) Despite at times struggling to fit into the compact cockpit of Alpine Aviation Australia’s J120, Ben Swart flew his first solo on a perfect Sunday afternoon in mid-May. Ben has been learning to fly with the aim of securing a position in the Rex Pilot Cadet Programme and achieving his long-held ambition of becoming an airline pilot. His first solo circuit was closely watched by his instructor, Martin Hughes, and members of the Jindabyne Aero Club.

Josiah Collins (LEFT) achieved his first solo in April in the Foxbat.

Eli Huisman (BOTTOM LEFT) CFI of Bell Sport Aviation in Tasmania, Lloyd Kay had the pleasure of training his grandson, Eli Huisman. He has achieved his RPC and passenger endorsement in the Alpha and then took his mum for a flight on Mother’s Day as his first passenger.

Jake Holness (BELOW) who started learning to fly on April 6th and passed his RPC flight test on June 7th , a great effort.

Murry Booth (ABOVE) Recently went solo in a J170 at Coffs Harbour Aero Club under the instruction of Simon Peutrill.

BELL SPORT AVIATION

Alex White (RIGHT) has achieved his Pilot Certificate with Dan Compton at Wings out West. In the background of the picture is his C150 registered as a single seater with RAAus. Ryan Potts has also achieved his Pilot Certificate and is ready to fly far and wide.

Kiara Vandersee (ABOVE) Aged 15 she is our Lone Eagle Flying School 2018 scholarship winner going solo last Saturday 15th June.

Below is a copy of Kiara's first solo log book entry: "FIRST SOLO. Holy Moly!!!. This is quite possibly the greatest thing that's ever happened to me!. That was such an exciting, amazing, exhilarating experience. (smiley face caption). Nothing can top that. The first person I told was my best friend Diahn and my closest friend at Lone Eagle Flying School, Luke".

Rob Bigg (LEFT) was a maintainer in the RAAF for 13 years who always wanted to fly. He started about two years ago with GambiAir Flying School but had an almost 12 month no flying period. When he started back he describes his first solo as ‘awesome’.

Jack Benney (BELOW) is 15 and has made his first solo with Golden Plains Aviation at Lethbridge. He’s an outstanding young man who is passionate about international causes. Apart from his flying, he’s travelled to Spain to walk the El Camino from Astorga to Santiago, about 260 km, to raise money for two charities: To provide water in developing countries (Walk4Water), and brain research (NeuRA).

MAINTENANCE

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A LAME

Rob Scott sees everything from basic ultralights to high end CASA registered workhorses. This is just one of his work days.

It’s been an interesting time in the hangar with a client’s Corby Starlet project coming under my care to have the engine re-installed after a rebuild.

This Starlet has been around since 1988, though it hadn’t flown for a few years and the new owner decided the only way forwards was a complete engine overhaul, which was done up at Coffs Harbour by VW specialist Stan Pobjoy.

The engine had already been test run on a stand so it seemed like a simple job to bolt it in, and install the electronic secondary ignition system the owner had obtained from another VW expert, Sig Munniger from WA. The thing I’ve learned over the years, and what was a lesson to the owner, is that nothing is simple with homebuilts, especially when they have been originally built by someone else a long time ago.

The magneto had been installed at the wrong angle to fit in its recess in the firewall. Time to think this through, given simply turning the unit would alter the magneto timing. This engine is set up to fire 1,2,3,4 so a lot of head scratching ensued as we had to consider how to reset the timing, and get the magneto to slip into position. I worked out that the simplest way was to move the magneto drive on the back of the flywheel around while keeping the number 1 cylinder at top dead centre.

After much fiddling and finessing the magneto we were able to get a spark at the right point, and it fitted into the firewall. Problem one solved.

Once mounted it was time to set up the electronic ignition. There isn’t a lot of room in a Corby’s cowl so again there was a fair bit of trial and error finding where I could mount the ignition unit and the coils where they would get a cooling airflow, while still allowing access to the mounting bolts. Thankfully it all fitted neatly off the firewall. The moment of truth arrived for the first start on the aeroplane.

A bit of fuel on the air cleaner and few pulls forwards and it started on the fourth blade. There was a bit of tweaking with the carby and that was it. A great result from a fun job that really had me using the old grey matter.

I have a client who owns a Searey. He was showing me the new torque wrench he had bought to check the tightness of various bolts on his aircraft and it brought up the subject of calibration. This was a mid-priced tool that hadn’t come with a certificate attesting to its accuracy. My torque wrench cost about $500 15 years ago and as per CASA guidelines is checked for accuracy regularly. It hasn’t fallen out of tolerance in all that time.

A lot of people maintain their Jabirus under RAA, and an essential part of their engine maintenance regime is to have the bolts accurately torqued. This is one of the factors that led to the engine problems experienced with the type. If the torque wrench used isn’t properly calibrated then the torque values can be out by quite a bit. I’ve had owners check their tools with mine and seen variations as much as 50%, which is totally unacceptable. If you own a torque wrench and use it in anger I suggest you see your friendly LAME and check its accuracy, or better still, get it calibrated. This applies to all tools being used for return to service measurements.

Finally I’ve had an old Cessna 205 in for

the dreaded SIDS inspection. This aeroplane has around 4,500 hours, which isn’t a lot for that type of Cessna. The owners were inclined to try and sell it on without doing the inspections and find something else. My argument was that buying something that isn’t compliant is putting them back in the situation they are in now and buying an aeroplane that has had SIDS would probably be more costly than just doing their own aeroplane. After I had a good look at the airframe I convinced them to work with the aeroplane they knew. After they put the money into this airframe, completing SIDS and putting a new paint job on, they’ll have an asset worth more than $100,000 that is a known quantity.

They’d looked after it well and after disassembly I didn’t find anything that would have led to the aeroplane falling out of the sky any time soon. There were no deal breakers in the form of cracking of major structures but there was some reasonably serious corrosion in places you don’t normally get to that in years to come would have led to substantial damage.

It’s part way back together now and will end up being a great result.

FINAL APPROACH

MARK SMITH EDITOR

WHEN IT’S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE

There are cynics who say the best two days of your life are when you buy an aeroplane, and when you sell it.

I’ve owned four flying machines over the years, beginning with VH-HVU, a 1977 C-150 with a good paint job and pretty good performance. Due to having a cruise prop she was a genuine 90kt aeroplane. Then came VH – PRZ, a C172M. I ran both online with a flying club and that’s all I’m going to say about that.

They were sold when my marriage went south, and I stepped away from flying for a while. But, as they say, you can’t keep a good man down. Second marriage to a fellow pilot meant the prospects of owning something started to look up, though with wife V2.0 happily with child the decision was made to look for an aeroplane after the bairn had arrived and the bride was back at work.

The best laid plans of mice and men as they say. New daughter, Amy, was nine weeks old and an ad in Trader caught my eye. 1967 A23-24 Musketeer, 200hp and so the ad went. I was intrigued. The price was what we’d have been paying for a 145hp C172, with much less room and load carrying capacity. I made the call, without the wife’s knowledge, and then started the real work. She was dubious at first but came around. So, we bought Delta Yankee Alpha.

That was 12 years ago. I know because Amy is now 12. In that time Michelle, Amy and I have flown about 800 hours in The Mouse across much of Australia. She’s always performed brilliantly, has ridden the turbulence in outback Australia like one is sitting in an armchair and won an award at the Antique Aircraft Association of Australia’s annual fly in.

But changes in circumstances are a big part of life. Where once flying somewhere on a weekend in the Mouse was just a part of our lifestyle, it’s no longer our go to recreation. My wife works some weekends, I travel some weekends for

this magazine and our daughter isn’t aeroplane mad but horse mad, so some of our weekends are spent at horse events.

Plus, medical issues mean I can’t fly The Mouse and Michelle enjoys PIC duties.

Given I keep mentioning it, most of the readers will know about my Piel Emeraude, registered in RAA. That’s my go-to aeroplane to get around and last year it flew around 40 hours. This year it’ll be more as I travel for the magazine. So, it means decisions must be made. It costs a lot in maintenance and insurance to own a flying machine and to have it sitting on the ground, flying a handful of hours, breaks my heart. But the thought of selling her on also hurts. When we do go flying the memories of our trips come flooding back. The approach into Uluru, the difficult crosswind landing at Blackall and the magic of Victor 1 are all still there, etched into the aluminium, cloth and steel that an aeroplane is built from, along with many more memories. I took

a picture at, Coober Pedy, of the luggage we used to carry when Amy was 18 months old, including porta cot, folding pram and a huge collection of soft toys. In later years we have it down to two suitcases which neatly stacked in the boot. So, it’s probably time to say goodbye. It’s the practical, sensible decision. Owning an aeroplane and being a pilot involves logical decision making processes. But that’s the duality of being involved in aviation, especially recreational aviation. There is emotion involved. An aeroplane stops being a collection of parts and assumes the status of something more. I’ve cursed and stressed at maintenance bills then a few weeks later rejoiced in the view flying over the Flinders Ranges, and any worries are flung away. Maybe I shouldn’t be hasty? Possibly I do need to think this through a bit more. I don’t think the day I sell DYA will be one of the best in my life. Far, far from it! Clear Prop.

Mark, Amy and Michelle Smith with The Mouse