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AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
CONTENTS
34 TABLE OF CONTENTS REGULARS 06
From the Chairman
09 09 10 52 66
Events From the CEO Calendar of Events Classifieds Final Approach
COLUMNS
48
16 20 30 38 62
Call for Board Nominations Safety – What an Idiot Learning to Fly From the Ops Team Milestones
FEATURES 12 22 24 26 32 40 42
The Super Drifter Skywave – China's LSA Momentum Engine Aerochute A pilot in Every Home Flying Competitions Trike Flying
AIRCRAFT REVIEW
42
34 48 3 / SPORT PILOT
RAA Auster SuperStol
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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CONTACTS
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CEO
Michael Linke ceo@raa.asn.au CORPORATE SERVICES EXECUTIVE Maxine Milera admin@raa.asn.au HEAD OF FLIGHT OPERATIONS Jill Bailey ops@raa.asn.au 0400 280 087 INNOVATION & IMPROVEMENT EXECUTIVE Lea Vesic Lea.vesic@raa.asn.au 0418 445 652 HEAD OF AIRWORTHINESS & MAINTENANCE Jared Smith Jared.smith@raa.asn.au 0418 125 393 AVIATION DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR Neil Schaefer Neil.schaefer@raa.asn.au 0428 282 870
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Sport Pilot is published by M&M Aviation Media 12 times a year on behalf of Recreational Aviation Australia
EDITOR Mark Smith editor@sportpilot.net.au
UST 2018
THE MAGIC
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While every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the content of this magazine, no warrant is given or implied. The content is provided to you on condition that you undertake all responsibility for assessing the accuracy of the content and rely on it at your own risk. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of people named in this magazine. Recreational Aviation Australia Ltd and M&M Aviation Media reserve the right to decline any article, letter or comment deemed unacceptable for whatever reason. No endorsement or responsibility is implied or accepted for any product advertised in this magazine. Advertisers and buyers are each responsible for ensuring products advertised and/ or purchased via this magazine meet all appropriate Australian certification and registration requirements, especially those pertaining to CASA and RAAus. NOTE: All aircraft featured in the magazine are registered and legally permitted to fly. However, photographs of them may be altered without notice for editorial purposes. The Editor’s Choice column is designed to draw attention to potential safety issues through exaggeration and humour and is not meant to be historically accurate.
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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COLUMN
FROM THE CHAIR: MICHAEL MONCK
AN INTERESTING TIME TO BE A PART OF RAAus T
he year is shaping up to be one of the most interesting in a while. We have a federal election coming up and are yet to know what that means for aviation. Funding has been announced to provide $100 million for regional airports in the week or so leading up to me writing this. And RAAus has played a critical role within The Australian Aviation Associations’ Forum to increase the amount available through VET Student Loans for aviation training. This ensures pilots will be able to complete their training with not only bare minimum qualifications, but relevant and employable qualifications thereby helping to ease Australia’s pilot shortage. But closer to home there is a lot happening as well. We have recently added some benefits for RAAus members with NRMA waiving their usual $55 joining fee for access to their roadside assistance program. This gives our members up to 5c per litre discounts at participating Caltex locations, 10 per cent discounts off car services with NRMA and a range of other discounts and offers on things such as car hire and accommodation. The Pilot Shop Down Under is offering our members anywhere up to 15 per cent discount on their wares and for some months now you’ve had access to discounts on Avgas from World Fuel Supplies. For RAAus, our key metrics around finance, safety and membership continue to show positive returns on investment. This is visible through the steady year on year surpluses, a continually declining serious accident and fatality rate, and a net growth of one member per day. All of these indicators are in the green and provide us with the stability to invest in the future of our membership and our participation in the aviation sector at large. In order to grow into the future and progress as an organisation, we must also assess how we’ve come to be and where we are today. Towards the latter end of last year we decided to take a good hard look
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AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
at ourselves and see what we can do better internally. In doing so, we are able to understand how best our organisation and internal culture fosters a thriving recreational aviation sector, and ensure that we continue to put the membership at the forefront of decision-making processes. Our decision making has been an area of interest for some board members of late and so we have taken a good look at how we make choices. There is some debate about whether consensus decision-making is best or a simple majority. There are of course pros and cons to each. A consensus means that each individual director essentially has a veto right on all decisions while majority vote means that some people aren’t always going to be happy. How do we balance this? The simple answer is to follow the constitution, but it may require some more complex thinking. Currently, our constitution clearly states that resolutions are passed by a simple majority. Generally speaking, this is an effective and fairly rudimentary process. However, with greater complexities evolving from a changing political landscape and regulatory framework along with cultural and technological changes, decisions may not be as simple as we once thought. Sometimes a simple majority isn’t so simply achieved. Some of the time as the chair, I choose to hold over the decision until more thought can be given and we can arrive at a consensus decision or at least get one that is reflective of a clear majority. The unfortunate thing about this is that sometimes there will be people who don’t agree with the decision and will feel less than happy with the decision but nonetheless, it is the constitution that governs us and so we must abide by it. Having said all of this, the constitution is a composition of fundamental principles to aid in governing the organisation, and like all things in life it comes down to interpretation and relevance. Our organisation,
like many others, allows the membership to shape the approach to governance through special resolutions that amend our constitution. At a time of such profound change within the sector, and despite the need for organisational sustainability, perhaps there is a mood for change? Sometimes change can be subtle but significant. The opportunity to shape the change is as simple as participating in the proverbial polling booth, of which currently only one in 10 members engage in. Is this a reflection of ambivalence? Or is it a matter of getting on with the job and continuing with the status quo? I’ve been here for about six years now. A majority of the board has been here longer, in some cases for decades. Six out of seven people on the board are over 40, and five are over 60. Four are flying instructors, one flies a trike. All are male. So why do we end up with a board such as ours that isn’t representative of our membership whose average age is some 10 years lower than our directors? It is a question that I can’t answer but it is also one that I ponder from time to time. It seems to me that we are faced with a pace of change that we haven’t experienced in the past. We have technological advancements and regulatory changes that are shaking things up. But there is also a significant culture shift in how we engage and interact with aviation and aerospace as a society, and in particular how we diversify and represent the community of aviators. It seems inevitable that to grow, we need to re-assess our community and how it speaks to the broader industry. It isn’t just for the sake of it though, if nothing else it is simply to keep up. Despite this, our board is mostly made up of people like me that have been here for the best part of a decade or even longer and may no longer represent our diverse and progressive membership. I feel as though we are missing out on some great opportunities. We have a
membership that would benefit if we could encourage a representative mix of people from all ages, cultures and demographics to get more involved. When I look at the present-day leadership and see the board comprising of a somewhat legacy culture, it is hard to not to question the ability to keep up with such rapid change and be representative of the depth and breadth of our membership and the dynamic operational environments we found ourselves in today.
We are perhaps facing the biggest challenges within the life of RAAus and its predecessor, the AUF. Evolving is what we have done in the past and now we need to do it faster and more strategically than ever before. In general, we are doing well; the status quo has enabled us to survive the major blows. The metrics as noted above are headed in the right direction. The member benefits are looking good. Everything
seems ok. But imagine for a moment what it could look like if we had a fresh set of eyes tackling the problems that organisations like ours face. Perhaps a more dynamic and younger, fresher set of eyes. A little less aged than me and a passion for diversity to propel us into the next generation of aviation and aerospace advancement. Just imagine. Michael Monck
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AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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EVENTS 2019 NEW SOUTH WALES WENTWORTH. SATURDAY 8TH JUNE Open day at Wentworth airfield. Talk to pilots, see their aircraft and find out how you can follow your dream to take to the skies. Flying is accessible to everyone. RATHMINES. SUNDAY 19TH MAY The Rathmines Catalina Association will hold its annual festival at Rathmines Park, the site of the WWII Catalina base. The HARS Black Cat will do a flyover subject to weather and maintenance availability. Paul Bennet will perform throughout the day. This community event showcases the history and heritage of the park. Entertainment will have a WWII theme. A Grumman Mallard from the Paspaley group is scheduled to attend and conduct joy flights on the weekend, and the Seaplane Pilots Association will have a static display. Funds raised go towards the restoration of the group’s Catalina. www.rathminescatalinafestival.com CESSNOCK. WEDNESDAY 22ND MAY CASA Safety Seminar - 6 pm at the Hunter Recreational Flying Club's Clubhouse on the western side of Cessnock Airport. CASA will discuss "Enhancing Pilot Skills in a Dynamic Environment" with topics to be covered including communication, situational awareness, and threat and error management. A light supper will be served. GRAFTON. SUNDAY JUNE 23RD Grafton Aero Club will hold its annual Wings and Wheels Open Day at South Grafton Aerodrome (YSGR0. The day runs from 10am until 2pm. The event is sponsored by Clarence Valley Council and is free for all exhibitors and visitors. There will be warbird adventure flights, joy flights and TIFs available and various aircraft on display. All aircraft are welcome to fly in. There are no landing fees. Food and drinks are available as well as morning tea in the clubhouse. graftonaeroclub.com/wings-and-wheels
QUEENSLAND GATTON. SUNDAY 12TH MAY Partake in this Mother’s Day ritual and visit the airfield for a hearty breakfast provided by the Men’s Shed crew, with the best cappuccino in the Lockyer Valley while checking out Australia's most popular air park. The morning kicks off at 0700, so make an early start and get home in time to see your mum, or bring her along! Details in ERSA, or phone 0419 368 696. gattonairpark.com MURGON. SATURDAY 8TH JUNE 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
IS YOUR CLUB HOLDING AN EVENT? Send the details to: editor@sportpilot.net.au
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AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
VICTORIA ECHUCA. SUNDAY 23RD JUNE The famous Echuca Aeroclub roast lunch. Two roast meats, roast pumpkin and potatoes, honeyed carrots, corn, peas, gravy, bread and butter come first 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 1ST JUNE. 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 2ND JUNE The Great Shepparton pancake breakfast 8am to 11am.
COLUMN
FROM THE CEO: MICHAEL LINKE
HAVE YOUR SAY! A
s CEO my role is essentially to implement the board’s strategy. The 2019 – 2023 Strategic Plan is the document that guides me in this regard. This means my focus is on developing strategies that ensure we are engaging, training, growing and innovating. In doing this I work with the staff team and marry this with our systems and processes. From CASR Part 149 accreditation to audit and assurance of our authority holders; from our national professional development program to social media engagement; from our occurrence management system research and analysis to digital member access – everything we do is tied to our strategic plan. The purpose of the strategic plan is to keep us focused on what is most important to our members. Each year we survey our members to find out their broad interests, needs, wants and requirements. Coupled with this is an annual member’s election of directors. Members have both a direct say in the member survey, but perhaps more importantly, a direct say in the seven people who make the day to day strategic and governance decisions. When it all works well, we end up with great outcomes for our members. And we’ve had a few of those over the last few years, which have set us up for the future. We are safer, financially secure and are growing, all important metrics for looking ahead. The other part of my role is to work with our company secretary and ensure administration of our governance is in order. To this end I monitor director terms of office, declarations of interests by directors, recommendations from board evaluations, board meeting outcomes and decisions. As the chair mentioned in his article he believes we need more members to engage with our elections and that we need more
diversity on our board and renewal, from time to time, of directors is a good thing. As he mentions; one in 10 members voted at our last election. The opportunity for members to vote is upon us again. We are about to call for nominations for directors to fill three, three year terms. The business of RAAus is broad based and far reaching and as such we need a diversity of skills and experience on our board. Some of the issues we will be facing in the next three years include the proliferation of alternate flying machines where a systems management skill base will be required, increased interest in the maintenance of our fleet as it both grows and we add more technologically advanced aircraft, and the need for greater self-awareness of our heightened governance requirements as the governance landscape changes in Australia. We should also explore diversity, both in gender and age. What does the next generation aviator, pilot, engineer or administrator look like? With some 10,000 members to call on, we are looking forward to receiving a host of nominations for this year’s elections. Are you passionate about RAAus and what we represent? Can you bring a diversity of views to the table? Are you skilled in strategy, finance, law, risk, safety, governance, maintenance, communication or business oversight? Let’s all work together and make RAAus stronger, more resilient and more attractive for the wave of aviators joining our sector in the next five or 10 years.
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Michael Linke AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
9
COLUMN
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ED SMITH HAS HIS SAY ABOUT THE COST OF BEING AN RAAus MEMBER.
T
here is a growing discontent within the membership focused around the relative cost of being an RAA pilot member and that of the cost of pilot and aircraft registration compared to the example of a GA pilot/aircraft owner. I was recently in discussion with a fellow ROC in South Australia and he is receiving the same kind of complaint that I hear being voiced by members in Western Australia. Let us look at a simple example for comparison. An RAA pilot pays an annual subscription of $245 to retain his membership and pilot certificate and if he/she is also an aircraft owner, a further $175 for annual aircraft registration, a total of $420. On the other hand a GA pilot has a lifetime licence which is free and if also a plane owner, a permanent registration which is also free. SAAA members enjoy the same privileges and once their aircraft is on the GA register there are no further annual registration fees. There is no disputing the benefits that RAA members receive in return for their membership. The insurance component alone could not be bought for the cost of membership. However, there would be benefit in restructuring the way the fees are applied in order to raise the funds needed to run our organisation for the ongoing support of our members. Currently I believe that we have approximately 9500 members and approximately 3500 aircraft on our register and I am using that as the basis for what I believe would be a better fee structure to support the costs of our organisation into the future, making it more competitive against its peer organisations. My proposal is as follows: 1. The pilot certificate should have lifetime validity subject to the annual payment for membership and the current medical and currency requirements. 2. Aircraft registration should be free for the life of the aircraft in the hands of the original owner. A small fee could apply to transfer of ownership records. 3. A small annual data collection fee could be applied to each aircraft if hours and landings data are required for analysis and reporting purposes. Perhaps $20 if manual entry is needed and free if online entry methods are used. Aircraft registration could be suspended in cases of non-compliance. Our current IT capability should be able to support this. 4. Membership should be raised to $300 per annum and should include the privilege of registration of an unlimited number of aircraft for the member. This alone would raise $2,850,000 to support the costs of running the RAAus with a fair surplus based on the current operating cost which has been stated at $2,300,000 in a recent article by our CEO.
Send your letters to: editor@sportpilot.net.au
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AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
The above proposal would reduce the membership cost of a member owning one aircraft by $145 per annum at the present time and where a member owns more than one aircraft by a much greater amount. This would be of great benefit to members who provide aircraft to others through flying schools or private use arrangements as exist at present. The additional cost of membership for non aircraft owning members is trivial. The privileges and benefits of membership would be well worth the fee. I look forward to your response,
From the CEO: Hi there and thanks for your note. I analysed your proposal and discussed it with the board and staff of RAAus. At this stage RAAus does not believe the changes you suggest are warranted. Point 1: Is already in essence in effect. Point 2 and 4: We hold the view that these changes will in essence mean that non aircraft owners will be burdened with higher costs with no real benefit. RAAus believes in a user pays system and as such aircraft owners should pay their fair share as well as non-aircraft owners. Statistically, of our 9600 pilots, about 3000 own an aircraft. Your proposal would have a saving of $145 to 3000 members and an increased cost of $65 to all members. We don't believe this is to be equitable. Point 3: 98% of RAAus members have access to email and therefore can easily update hours electronically. Charging a fee for this would be counter intuitive and we believe people would simply not bother to report. Thanks for your ideas and I look forward to seeing you in WA when we visit in June.
Kind regards Michael
SEAN GRIFFIN IS CONCERNED ABOUT LANDING FEES
W
ith regard to the recent initiative of RAA management to make our contact details available to airfield operators, to facilitate the recovery of “landing fees”. I have rarely landed at a public airfield that caters to the class of aircraft that are the majority in RAA. Have our generous leaders negotiated better facilities for RAA aircraft landing at the public airfields? Will we once again be paying for a nil service? RAA should be paying much less (possibly zero) than GA and other heavier more complex aircraft, where the airfield does not cater for our class of aircraft. Most RAA aircraft run or prefer to run on premium unleaded motor fuel (PULP). When was the last time you found PULP at a public airfield? No fuel, no payment. Even at full weight (600kg) the wear and tear of a RAA class aircraft is comparable to the wear generated by a bicycle to a car. So surface wear is negligible - we cost less/pay less. RAA (and smaller GA) aircraft are directed to park some distance from facilities such as toilets and refreshments (if accessible at all), unlike larger aircraft who rock up to reserved parking in front of a “flash” terminal. No easily accessible facilities (as a minimum -
shelter, clean toilet and potable water) no payment. Not all public airfields provide tie down facilities - our very light aircraft must be secured against wind damage. Tie down cables must be provided for RAA aircraft where surface conditions preclude anchors. Provide tie downs or no payment. The imposition of ASIC is an insult to all domestic pilot users of minor and some secondary airfields. Where RPT is infrequent, low weight, absent all together and no Border Force operates, ASIC requirements provides no discernible benefit to RAA pilots or the public. Remove ASIC or no payment. Lastly, these are public facilities, built, maintained and payed for by the Australian public. Why are RAA users being asked to make additional payment for access, when they are for the benefit of all? From the CEO: Thanks Sean for your comments and question. RAAus pilots are not being asked to pay more. We’ve simply modernised a system that has been in place for many years. RAAus pilots have always been expected to pay fees where the airport operator has imposed fees. This hasn’t changed. We’ve simply put in place a simpler system for both airports and our members.
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$130 hour wet to Club members. Join Gympie Aero Club, email robertfraser11@bigpond.com AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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Photos: Mark Smith
DRIFTING AROUND IN THE ‘SUPER’ DRIFTER How do you make an iconic aircraft better? Add more power! Mark Smith got to fly a Drifter with grunt.
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AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
FEATURE
F
ifteen horsepower doesn’t sound much in aviation terms, so you’d think the jump from a 65hp Rotax 582 to an 80hp 912 wouldn’t make a huge difference to the performance of an aircraft. But, if you believe that I can tell you after flying the 912 powered Drifter at Gympie how wrong such thinking is. I’ve only recently been back flying a Drifter after a break of 23 years and I always found the acceleration with the 582 quite brisk, even two up. But applying power on the 912-powered beast, owned by Robert Fraser, Rob Golden and Allan Griffith was a whole new experience. Drifters are aeroplanes you experience as much as you fly. From the front seat the world stretches out in a wide panorama, with your legs and lower body protected from the airflow by a fibreglass pod and your upper body by a low windscreen. Goggles with your helmet are highly recommended, as much as a safety concern as to keep the wind out of your eyes. A fly hitting your Mk1 eyeball at 65kts could do a lot of damage. With Rob in the back, the acceleration pushed me back into my seat a touch and the whole take off roll was about 100 metres. It could have been shorter but the initial acceleration left my brain at the threshold while the aeroplane zoomed away! Climb speed was about the same as normal at around 50kts but the VSI showed a healthy 1100fpm with the outside air temp sitting around 34, way better than the 500fpm I used to see two up in a 582 powered Drifter. I noticed the noise level was lower with the big four stroke as well. Levelling at 2500 and with the throttle back to 5000rpm she settled at 65kts. With the power back the noise level was even lower than the high pitched ‘hive of bees’ sound of the 582. At that power setting fuel burn is about the same as the 582. 4800rpm produced 60kts, which Rob told me is their normal power setting for any trips they make. Once set up in straight and level it became pretty much like any other Drifter I’ve flown. No matter how much power you’d put in one, the drag is always going to defeat any attempt to improve the speed, so even pushing the 912 up to full power and trimming it level only saw the speed increase to 70kts. But that’s not the point of Drifter flying – it’s in the senses, as it is in any open cockpit aeroplane, just more so. Look straight down and there’s the ground way below. Rotate your head and the vista runs beyond 180 degrees with almost nothing in the way. What makes the Drifter such a great trainer is the need to fly it properly. Turns require accurate rudder input and you soon AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
13
Robert Fraser (left) and Rob Golden
learn if you are skidding or slipping by the feel of the wind on your face. With the engine at the back you have fewer visual cues to set attitude with. But get that right and it’ll reward a pilot with the best view in the world. Power back to idle, keep the speed trimmed for 60kts and like all Drifters it comes down, fast. Again drag wins. I find 4800 on down wind and base, then slowly reduce on final to allow for 50kts over the fence which produces an acceptable touchdown. Again, this is an aeroplane that needs to be flown. How the 912 Drifter came into being in Australia is a story worth telling. Along with Rob Golden, co-owner Robert Fraser, president of Gympie Aero Club, explains what led to the conversion. “We bought the Drifter 11 years ago in a fairly rundown condition. It had a Rotax 582 grey top in it. We took it to Wayne Fischer to have the grey top changed to a blue top and then flew it for six years. Then I had an engine failure with the 582 and we thought four strokes were a much safer option. It would also give a bit more power. We didn’t want extra speed but a
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AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
better climb,” says Robert. Rob chimes in. “I got out over the back here in a valley on a really hot day. I slid into the valley quite nicely but do you think I could climb out? It took me 15 minutes to get out of there. It was a hot day and with the 582 it just would not climb. I thought this is ridiculous. People can get in trouble doing that. That was one of the reasons that when Robert suggested the 912 I went yep, no worries.” The owners contacted then-RAAus technical manager Darren Barnfield for guidance in how to go about converting the aircraft. Robert takes up the story again. “We had a chat to Darren and he said it hadn’t been done before and it would be very difficult, but there was a new certification process coming along and he might be able to put it through that process and that’s what we did. Part of that was we had to employ an aeronautical engineer. Darren and I were corresponding on an almost weekly basis. The paperwork file is an inch thick. “It cost us about $7000 for the aeronautical report and the last fee from RAAus was about $3000 so all told we spent around $12,000 on the engineering and regulatory
paperwork side of things, plus the cost of the engine plus the huge number of man hours. Rob and I built it ourselves. It was nearly a three year operation if you include the flight testing. While the engine was off we took the aeroplane back to bare metal and replaced every screw, nut and bolt in it. Anything we could make better while putting it back together we did.” Both are true Drifter enthusiasts, whose passion for the open cockpit experience is what led them to invest so much time and money in the upgrade. Robert actually learned to fly specifically so he could fly Drifters, after a long career as an endurance dirt bike rider. “As I got older I realised I was going to have to give motorbike racing away because it’s not a sport you can do when you are a bit older. “I always thought I’d like to get involved with ultralight flying when I finished riding which is what I did. The last race I did was the Finke desert race about 12 years ago and after that race I decided to give it away and wanted to something as exciting and I found that with flying a Drifter. I learned on a SportStar here at Gympie and then
A 912 on a drifter. Such a good combination.
did some time on a Drifter at Boonah and also with Kevin Walters after that. Then I bought into this aircraft,” he says. Rob learned on GA before giving up flying for a number of years. A chance encounter with a Drifter brought him back into the fold. “I had moved to Darwin and as I was driving home from work one day a Drifter flew over me and I thought it looked interesting so I followed it all the way into the bush and there is an airfield called ‘MKT’. It’s quite a thriving little aerodrome and they had a flying school with two Drifters, so I did a conversion. I actually bought that Drifter up there. It’s fair to say RAAus got me back into aviation.” The group have created a unique aircraft that enhances the safety of a great design. While some people would question why they put so much time, effort and money into an aeroplane like a Drifter, a flight at sunset in the front seat would answer all those questions and then some. The Drifter is all about the journey, never the destination. AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS Recreational Aviation Australia is pleased to invite members to nominate for election to the board. With almost ten thousand members, we are the fastest growing group of aviators in Australia, and the role of our Board is to supervise overall business and compliance performance. There are three director positions available and nominations are called for from the membership to fill these vacancies. Directors required to stand down are eligible to renominate. All candidates must ensure they are available to attend Canberra on the weekend of 9th and 10th of November for a Board meeting and the AGM.
Nominations open 3 June 2019 and close 5 July 2019, 5:00pm EST. Members are invited to attend the 2019 Annual General Meeting to be held in Canberra on the 9th of November at 2:00pm. The AGM will be held at the RAAus Office: Unit 3, 1 Pirie Street Fyshwick ACT. Please visit www.raaus.com.au and log in to your member’s portal to download the information pack for the 2019 Board Director Nominations. For more information please email maarit.maher@raa.asn.au
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SO YOU’VE HAD A CLOSE CALL? 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 do not submit articles regarding events that are the subject of a current official investigation. Submissions may be edited for clarity, length and reader focus. image: © Civil Aviation Safety Authority
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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COLUMN
RAAUS SCHOLARSHIP WHY I STARTED FLYING: MY AVIATION ADVENTURE
RAAus scholarship winner Kate Cooke tells of her personal aviation journey.
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t’s exhilarating, flying above the clouds. It would have been quite a shock to me a few years ago, that I can now say such a sentence, having seen it with my own eyes. The prospect of flying, of being a pilot, was something that dropped into my life about three years ago. I was in year nine, a fresh student at a new school and trying to do something different from the masses. I had never considered the idea of flying a plane, nor being taught how to handle a complex and confusing machine – heck, I wasn’t even old enough to get my learners permit! The idea of flying a machine, that was completely in my control, into the sky safely, securely and with a regard for passengers at my side was alien. And I was expected to land it too? Well, that seemed simply ludicrous. I’ll dial it back for a moment. I attend a high school in Berwick, about 25 minutes away from the Tooradin Flying School. Three years ago I attended a seminar after class where an instructor from Tooradin (now my instructor of three years) was giving a talk about a partnership between the school I had just moved to and the flying school. Let me paint you this picture: There were two people conducting the seminar with him, one, a past student from Nossal High School, a woman in her early 20s, and a boy who was at the senior levels at the school. Sitting in the audience was a bunch of eager year nine students, mostly boys. There were two things that stand out to me from that day. One, Ian, the instructor told me that the age required to fly solo was 15. The second thing was a video of one of the students’ first solo flights. I remember quite vividly the broad, toothy grin that stretched to either side of her cheeks and I remember admiring her achievement and being inspired by her. She was 15 when she’d made that flight, alone. I remember setting my jaw and telling myself firmly that if she can do it, I will too. I have to admit, things ran a little slower than expected. For one thing, the pressure of going to a new school and the sudden swamp of homework (which now I see to be quite small compared to year 12) seemed to drown me and it wasn’t until I was beginning of year 10 that I had my first lesson. I remember walking up to my teacher, whose name I didn’t remember, then walking up to the aeroplane, though I didn’t know what it was a Jabiru at the time. Needless to say, I was feeling very out of my element. It did not help me that my dad, who’d come with me for my first flight, kept on psyching me out (thanks dad). Having never been in two-seater plane, I’d assumed it would be bumpy, violent and somewhat terrifying. I remember having a rush of adrenaline as I felt the wheels take off from the ground and I soared up and up and up … it was, as I have mentioned, exhilarating. I wanted to fly that plane and I wanted to do it well.
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Unfortunately things got off to a rocky start. I was not quick at picking things up, the slight movement and feel of the plane was foreign to me, the radio calls seemed to be in another language and by my 13th or 14th lesson I was exhausted mentally. It seemed so simple, so effortless when my instructor took the controls away from me for a moment and showed me, casually, how to concentrate on multiple things at once, like I was riding a bike, rather than being 2000ft up in the air, trying to fly a plane. I wasn’t very good at the tests either. I spent nights poring over the manual they had given me and trying to figure out when I’d schedule the tests I would have to do, the lessons I had to put around my schedule, the school homework I wanted on multiple occasions to ignore (and possibly might have on several occasions). Yet once I had finally passed my solo exam, the new problem became making it to solo standard. I was 15 and determined to fly solo before my 16th birthday. I wasn’t thinking of flying, I was thinking about how I could say ‘I could fly a plane at 15’ and how, for some quizzical reason, it seemed less impressive to say ‘I could fly a plane at 16’. Looking back now I realise the problem instantly, but back then I took until I had finally done my first solo to realise why it had taken me so long to get that click in my head. I had forgotten about the flying aspect of it, I had forgotten the beauty, the unique insanity of what I was doing and I’d forgotten I was doing it for fun, rather than doing it for the story. Thankfully, I remembered the passion I possessed for flying when the day of solo arrived. It was a Saturday morning. No wind. Bright. Perfect. After weeks of miserable winter weather, the beams of spring were peeking out through the clouds as I took to the skies in the same plane, my Jabiru. I remember taking off the ground, grinning in absolute fear and adrenaline. I remember looking down the runway, seeing that I was too high and adjusting the plane. Lowering the flaps, tilting the nose, flying as if I were in a crosswind. I remember the absolute concentration as the plane descended to the ground and the broad toothy grin and stretched to either side of my cheeks. It’s hard to just live in the moment, but that is what flying allows you to do. I stopped thinking about the ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’ and I reminded myself that flying was fun and I enjoy it. I love it and that’s enough. I received a scholarship a few months later and I got invited to an air show. I also received a new headset in the mail. Now, I’m three exams away from getting my passengers license and I love every second of it, out there, above the clouds.
Kate Cooke
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AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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COLUMN
SAFETY
WHAT AN IDIOT!
Luke Bayly teaches us all a lesson about care around aircraft.
A
s the stick left my hand, I immediately regretted my action as the three of us watched it hang in the air before decisively landing on the trailing edge of the propeller with a clear “whack” and corresponding mark. The worst part was, it wasn’t even my aeroplane that took the hit. It was a cool Sunday morning when I decided to head out to the airfield at Brooklands in South Australia to complete a minor electrical repair on my plane. A wire had shorted while running the engine the previous day and hence required replacement as well as rectification that it wouldn’t happen again. I had just finished recovering the propeller as some of the paint had flaked on the polyurethane finish and was just testing everything out to make sure all was well before the next flight. As I arrived at the airfield, I spotted a pristine white gyrocopter sitting on the taxiway outside the hangar and two gentlemen chatting nearby. Being fairly new to the airfield, I decided to go and introduce myself. The first person was Larry Jones of Adelaide Airsports (based at Strathalbyn SA) who had just flown in on his 100Hp Rotax powered Magni Gyrocopter to await the arrival of a fellow aviator (in a trike) before continuing on their journey for the morning. The other person was a Brooklands local Chris who had seen the
gyro land and wandered over for a chat with his German shepherd. I immediately started asking questions about the gyro as I have very little experience with any of these type aircraft and was impressed by this little machine. As pilots do, we then got to talking all things aviation including Rotax, the 915 sodium filled valves etc. while also discussing some of the local airfield politics. Throughout the discussion however, the dog had carried with him a stick no more than a foot long and was laying it at my feet to be thrown. I tossed the stick for the dog a couple of times (being a dog owner myself) and it wasn’t until the third time that I went to throw the stick that I must have held on a fraction longer than intended and it arced around 20 degrees past the point of aim straight towards the Magni gyro. The three of us watched the stick as if hanging in the air, all hoping that it would find its way through the neutral space of the frame rather than impacting the gleaming white machine. “Thwack” it announced as it bounced off the rear of the machine and onto the ground. “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry” is all that I could say as I contemplated just how inattentive and stupid I had been. For all my training of being mindful around aircraft, I had allowed myself to brain fade and ignore the seriousness of being airside of
The damage of one stick.
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AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
Painting the repair.
an airfield. We continued on the conversation for a while longer and during that time the dog laid the stick at my feet a couple more times but I dared not touch it now. As the conversation wound up, I started to head back to my own airplane when I thought to just check to make sure no damage had occurred to the gyrocopter. Given that it was such a small stick, I didn’t think there would be much if just a small smudge however in reaching the propeller, to my horror I found a small dent about 8mm in length along the trailing edge of the razor sharp propeller. What are the odds of throwing such a small stick to hit not only the aircraft in the first place but land almost perpendicular to the trailing edge of the propeller blade? I again apologised immediately for the damage that had occurred and offered that if there was any significant impacts that I would of course replace the propeller. Luckily for me, Larry was a great sport about it and although disappointed that he now had a damaged propeller that would need to be fixed, accepted that accidents happen and there was no mal-intent. As the CFI for Adelaide Airsports, Larry’s only stipulation was that I write up an article for Australian Sport Pilot to identify the lesson I learned around maintaining a focus on the professionalism required while airside and the responsibility that it places on
us to be able to walk through the gates labelled “Authorised Persons Only”. This keeps not only ourselves safe, but ensure silly accidents like this do not occur in future interactions. I suppose looking back on it now, the amount of time we spend on the airside of the fence causes a certain complacency in how we approach aviation activities. Given enough time, we become comfortable with the hazards and operations around aviation and this means we need to be reminded from time to time that the activities we conduct are to always be taken with professionalism for our chosen sport. If the question is raised for hazards such as having animals at your airfield to serving alcohol at the fly-in barbecues, these decisions must be made with the thought on how it impacts the safety and operations at each particular field. No one is here to say that either are acceptable or not, however be mindful of the impact they may have to your local operations when coupled with absent mindedness such as I had displayed. And for goodness sake, always make sure you give yourself enough margin for error before you damage something. Had I been facing the opposite way, I wouldn’t be the idiot writing about this or having to say “I’m very sorry that I damaged your aircraft”.
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AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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SKYWAVE – CHINA’S FORAY IN LSA Mark Smith looks at a new aircraft from one of the world’s biggest economies.
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viation is the next growth area for China, at least if Toby Li and the Oxai company has their way. A bright red amphibious LSA caught people’s eye at this year’s Avalon Airshow taking pride of place not far from the front gate. It has now taken up residence at Tyabb for its flight testing which will hopefully lead to Australian certification. With a name like Skywave it certainly looks like an aeroplane straight from the set of a James Bond film, but the all-composite construction is fairly common for this class of aircraft. The choice of Australia as a test flying location was an easy one to make for the team. “The reason we’ve chosen to do the test flying in Australia is that most of the airspace is class G with not many restrictions whereas in China we have to apply every time we fly and then we have severe time limitations. We just want to finish the certification as quickly as possible. “Plus we also wanted to attend the Avalon Airshow. We felt it was a good place
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to start to test the waters given we are a Chinese company and we see Australia as our first overseas market. The response was really good. Everyone we spoke to was very surprised a Chinese company would make such a great aircraft,” says Toby. Oxai, the company behind the Skywave, began as a designer and builder of high-end radio control models, specifically F3A class which are the pinnacle of development for competition aerobatics. “Our CEO, Roger, has always been interested in aviation and he decided to look at aircraft manufacture. He travelled a lot and visited many aircraft factories and decided companies weren’t using the modern technologies and materials as well as they could. He decided with his knowledge of new materials they use in the production of the F3A models the company could create a really good unique aircraft.” Toby says with a loosening of some of the old restrictions relating to private flying, GA is set to grow in China where a growing middle class see aviation as an exciting new pastime.
“There is a growing market in China for general aviation. The CAAC has changed all the regulations for general aviation. It is now possible to get a recreational licence with no medical. Much like LSAs here, if you have a driver’s licence you can fly. The weight limit is 600kg for land planes, with 650 for amphibians, just like here and the CAAC is planning on lifting that to 1000kg. The Skywave has been in development for eight to 10 years and the new regulations give us a chance to start our own production line.” The choice of an amphibian shows China still isn’t as friendly to private aircraft as other countries. “There aren’t many class G airports In China but there are lots of water regions so if you have good relations with the government you’ll have plenty of places to operate from. Plus Oxai is a new company and we decided to design an aircraft different to everybody else.” The Skywave is powered by the Rotax 912 rated at 100hp. The side pods can
FEATURE
be removed, adding about five knots to the speed should the pilot anticipate not landing on water. While the Skywave is seeking certification in Australia it already holds the equivalent of LSA certification in China. The Oxai company’s credentials in aerospace aren’t just with the Skywave and top end model aircraft. Founded in 2008, they succeeded in building the MOZI, a human powered aircraft that then gave them the technical expertise to build a long endurance solar powered aircraft, also called the MOZI.
Photos: Mark Smith
The M2 Skywave was launched in 2014 and has won many design and innovation awards in China. For test pilot Toby, the attraction of the Skywave lies in the versatility found with all amphibians. “It flies just like a normal LSA just a bit slower. But it’s fun to fly off the water. There are landing areas everywhere and you can just pull up on a beach. If you carry a fishing rod you can catch your lunch. “I also think amphibious aircraft are safer because you can just keep the gear up and land on any water.”
Toby in the Skywave over French Island.
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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FEATURE
AEROMOMENTUM – NEW POWER TO THE MARKET New engines for LSAs are rare. Mark Smith meets the creator of one that’s a new player in the market.
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he leading player in the supply of engines for the light sport market started building power plants for a completely different use. So it’s interesting that a new entrant in the area also started building engines for a different mode of transport. It’s well known Rotax started as a builder of engines for snow mobiles and personal water craft and that they moved into engines specifically for aircraft after people started using the two stroke engines from other craft for their ultralight aircraft. A new company, AeroMomentum, seeks to challenge the dominance of Rotax with a range of four stroke engines that started life in the marine industry. Mark Kettering, the founder of AeroMomentum, is also the engine’s designer. In Melbourne for the Avalon Airshow, his background is in aerospace engineering and he
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AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
holds a master’s degree in the subject from California Polytechnic. “We started doing the AeroMomentum engines for jet boats, not for aircraft. We had a contract to build large jet boats for a tourist operation in Malaysia so we designed our own engine to put in and delivered more than 100. They are also being used in airboats. All together there are about 25,000 hours on these engines driving propellers and impellers through the gearbox,” he says as he leans on the shiny new AM 15 on display. “The first aircraft use was in weight-shift trikes here in Australia. After that I saw a potential market so I started concentrating on aircraft. We’ve found that manufacturers and homebuilders are looking for an alternative to Rotax and that’s the market we are aiming for. ”The engines are based on the popular Suzuki G series, a power plant well
proven, but built up from all new parts in the factory at Stuart, Florida. Each engine is test run with a propeller before shipping to the customer. The AM 13 and 15 engines use four inline cylinders with a precision cast aluminium block and head with steel cylinder sleeves. There are four valves per cylinder driven by a single overhead cam and a toothed belt cam drive. A Bosch FADEC engine control system and dual coil ignition and sequential fuel injection adds to the package. While Mark acknowledges his competitor’s market dominance, he says the success he’s enjoying is proof the market is looking for other options. “Our problem isn’t sales and marketing but keeping up with orders. We have a backlog of a few months. We’ve doubled our production rate in the past year but our backlog has also doubled.
FACT BOX AM 10. A three cylinder, one litre, 75hp engine aimed at being a replacement for the Rotax 582. It has full FADEC and fuel injection. Weight is 63kg.
AM 13. Four cylinder 1.3 litre engine developing 100hp and built as a replacement for the 912 or 0-200 engines. Built in both upright and low profile slant versions. The upright version is mostly used in trikes, light twins and replica aircraft that require a narrow engine package. The low profile slant version places the engine at 70 degrees from vertical to fit more conventional cowlings. The low profile version is internally designed from the factory to be mounted at an angle and is not an aftermarket modification that may affect reliability. Weight is 77kg.
AM 15. Four cylinder 1.5 lire developing 117hp. Another contender to replace the 912 or 0-200. Weight is 83kg.
AM 20T. Four cylinder, 2.0 litre developing 230/260hp and aimed at replacing the Lycoming IO-360 and 390, and the Lycoming IO-540 or the Continental IO-520. Weight is 130kg. www.aeromomentum.com.au aeromomentum.com
“We’ve delivered more than 100 for aircraft with at least 30 flying now in the experimental category.” Australian distributor Nicholas Christie from MAN Aerospace, embraced the engine while building an RV-12. He was drawn to the engine after originally considering a Rotax for his project. “I am building my own experimental aircraft and I was going to install a Rotax. However my business partner said I should think about using an AeroMomentum engine. I knew what I was going to spend on a 912 and I looked at the price of the AeroMomentum GM 15. Then I started to look for reasons not to go with AeroMomentum. For a start it came standard with fuel injection, had more horsepower for the same weight, reliability is the same but the cost is different, about 30% less expensive,” he says. “For a homebuilder that’s im-
portant. If we can supply a $30,000 engine for $20,000 and give them more power it makes economic sense.” Nicholas sees his biggest challenge in building the market for AeroMomentum engines is actually getting the brand out there in front of homebuilders and those seeking to replace their engines in existing aircraft. “We are working to establish a network of AeroMomentum users, people who are happy to be flying behind the brand so to that end we are working to establish a tight knit social network community talking to one another. Whether they are flying a Savanah, an RV, or a Zenith, we want owners of these engines to be talking to their friends in the homebuilding community. “Once we do that, confidence will grow with the engine and as everyone knows confidence is everything in aviation.” AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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Ben flies the old Fairchild.
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AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
Catwalk's Jenny Fransson and Elisabeth Pedersen wingwalking flown by pilot Sus Jan Heden
FEATURE
FROM A GAZELLE TO AN AEROCHUTE, FLYING IS FLYING
W
e all love to fly. John Kearney gets to fly on gliders when he was 17 and then years later did his RAAus certificate in a Gazelle. But flying entered his life much earlier. His father had half share in a Tiger Moth so from the age of six he was exposed to flying from the front cockpit of the war year’s iconic trainer. “I always enjoyed the open cockpit feel of the Tiger. I guess it’s fair to say flying was in my genes,” he says. “I went straight from gliding into my RAAus pilot certificate in around 2004, and didn’t have any trouble with the transition. I own a Gazelle, which I’ve had for 14 years, but I wanted something a bit different which is why I tried paragliding. But living in Rockhampton we don’t have the conditions to fly paragliders. So I thought that aerochutes would be a way to fly in a simple way.” Enter Steve Conte and his company Aerochute. The Victorian-based pioneer of the powered parachute industry was just the bloke to teach John to fly one of his machines. “I came down to Victoria to have a trial with Steve, and given it was a long way I took some holidays so if I enjoyed it I’d just complete my endorsement. I really enjoyed it and then placed an order for an Aerochute. “I had no problems at all with the conversion. Once the controls were explained to me and I worked with Steve to consolidate that knowledge, even though there wasn’t a stick or a control yoke, the same principles applied. It was just a matter of learning how to use the controls to take the aircraft where I wanted. It was very easy.” Aerochutes utilise two control lines that connect to the sides of the chute. There are handles attached to these lines that allow them to be pulled to provide directional control. The throttle is operated by the right foot. Climbing is accomplished by applying full power, while descents entail USAF F-22 that.Raptor. He learned
Hudson at sunset
Paul Bennet makes a bang during his performance.
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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John Kearney
reducing power. Turns are made by pulling on either handle and applying power. When taking off the chute is laid out behind the main body of the machine and power is applied which inflates the chute. Then when it’s stable and flying above the body, full power is applied and in short order it takes off. Landing involves allowing the Aerochute to descend and then, as the ground comes up, pulling both handles and flaring. The landing roll is short. It’s a very simple form of aviation. “As I said I really enjoyed the open seat flying in the Tiger Moth as a young fellow and I really wanted to get back to the seat-of-the-pants type of flying, but in a machine I can take someone with me and let somebody else share the enjoyment of it. The other aspect that appealed to me is that I can trailer the Aerochute and take it on trips, which will work out really well for me.” Being able to trailer his Aerochute means John will be taking it with him when he goes exploring the western outback with his wife next year. “We’ll take the Aerochute with us and when we find a place that interests us, with somewhere we can take off and land, we’ll go and have a look. They aren’t hard to tow.” Even after so long being around recreational aviation, John is still under the spell of being in the air and the pleasure that brings.
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“I basically love just getting up there and enjoying the freedom of flying. “We’ve got some beautiful areas up here around Rockhampton and the Aerochute, being an aircraft you tend to use at lower altitudes than you would a regular RAAus aircraft, just gives you another perspective,” he says. “It’s just so relaxing. Through my busi-
ness life I’d find myself getting stressed out but being able to go for a fly on the weekend just took all of that away because when you are flying you can’t think of anything else apart from what you are doing. It’s always been a really good stress relief for me. My wife can tell when I’ve been flying because she says I look happier and more relaxed.”
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COLUMN
LEARNING TO FLY TRADITIONAL VS MODERN David Bonnici says students should be taught how to use electronic navigation tools, but in a way that complements traditional methods rather than as a replacement.
D
tions mid-flight. But perhaps more importantly it helped appreciate the limitations of devices like iPads within the constraints of a cockpit – how they heat up, reflect glare and can be a pain to manage if there’s nowhere convenient to mount them. That said, I like the traditional way of flight planning as it makes me aware of the big-picture surroundings and forces me to write things down like alternate airfields and their CTAF, runway directions and elevation. If I had to divert in an emergency I’d rather have that information written down on my plan sheet, and hopefully memorised. It also lets me discover things along the route that could be a hazard, or might be worth getting down low and slow for a good look. I also like calculating wind direction, airspeed and heading the old way with the E6B calculator. As well as being a pretty cool skill it gives me a clearer three dimensional picture of the wind conditions. But, judging by the number of E6B calculators I see being sold on the aviation buy/sell page on Facebook, it looks as though this is becoming a lost art. I guess most pilots are using their EFB to do all the calculations and directly transferring that information into charts as a backup (assuming they’re still using them). That’s not a bad thing, EFBs provide pinpoint accuracy when flight planning and I always use mine to check my own calculations. But I reckon if I started using it as my
uring a previous life as an apprentice electrician I failed a practical exam for the then B-Grade electrical licence. The trade had moved on to plastic conduit, sheathed cable and modern switchboards with circuit breakers, but there I was racing the clock to construct a masonite fuse board adorned with ceramic fuses, antiquated brass clips, and Bakelite switches that hadn’t been used for decades. I guess there was still a use for all that somewhere, but surely we were better served by being tested on all modern hardware we were using every day. Aviation training is in a similar situation at the moment. Students are taught how to use maps and plotters when learning to navigate, but the syllabus doesn’t formally include the GPS-based EFB (electronic flight bag) software they’ll inevitably use when flying in the real world. Of course knowing how to manually calculate wind direction, airspeed and headings and using a chart to track your course is very important, and satisfying. But if students are going to use AvPlan or Oz Runways anyway, shouldn’t they be taught how to use them in flight? Fortunately my instructors allowed for both. We’d have to plot headings manually, which would be checked prior to flight, and if we didn’t get lost we’d switch to our preferred EFB on the way home. This was a good way to learn about using certain func-
primary flight planning tool I’d eventually get into a habit of quickly plotting a course at the last minute without actually taking careful note of the surroundings beyond the magenta line. My preference for the traditional ways isn’t as strong once in the air, where EFBs really come into their own. This is always a lively topic between pilots online. On one such discussion I saw a flying instructor claim there were no safety advantages to using an EFB in the cockpit instead of paper maps. I doubt I’d be alone in begging to differ here. EFBs allow us to spend way more time looking up and out the window to detect other traffic. We’re also far less likely to stray into restricted areas and controlled airspace, we can avoid storms before we even see them, and can instantly plot an emergency diversion to better deal with the situation at hand. This is fantastic technology that reduces cockpit workload to make flying safer and, for we recreational flyer,s even more enjoyable. But it works best when armed with knowledge and not just blindly following it. What do you think – have paper charts gone the way of bakelite switches, or they still an important part of flight planning and navigation beyond being a backup? Instagram: @flyingafter40
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31
FEATURE
A PILOT IN EVERY HOME Alan Betteridge looks at one flying school’s promotional activities aimed at RAAus’ noble goal.
I
N OUR sport one of the great things is the young age of the aircraft that many people fly. The average age of the LSA fleet is many, many years younger than those our GA cousins fly. But the sad fact is the average age of our fliers is many years older. This discrepancy has not gone unnoticed, with RAAus announcing a campaign to engage the younger generation in the exciting world of Light Sport Aircraft at the recent Avalon Airshow. To be known as ‘A Pilot in Every Home,’ it has been designed to encourage the younger generation to consider a career in aviation. In parallel with this program the Clifton (QLD) based Lone Eagle Flying School has taken a leading and innovative approach to encourage future aviators into starting their careers through sport aviation. The club has long been associated with attracting women and younger people into the sport. It offers a flying scholarship every year and is well known with actively promoting
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AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
aviation within their local and wider communities. In keeping with their community commitment they launched an unprecedented project at the recent Clifton Fly-in, which was held over the weekend of March 9 and 10. “We managed to obtain a Jabiru which had been damaged in a trailering accident,” said club CFI and airfield owner Trevor Bange said. “The aircraft purchased for this project was deemed to be a write-off and was destined to never fly and that is when the decision was made to try and obtain it for conversion into a highly interactive and promotional, static display. “Unfortunately the original aircraft owner and avid aviation enthusiast Chris Harris passed away before negotiations commenced, but with the kind and considerate cooperation of his wife Lyndall we were able to get it and start the project.” Trevor said a lot of people had put an extraordinary amount of effort into getting the project off the ground which was primarily financed from a Queensland Gov-
ernment Sport and Recreation “Get Going Clubs” grant of $7500. “This has taken us more than 16 months from start to finish and what we have now is something that we can take on a trailer to shows and exhibitions throughout the region. “Using a club aircraft for this type of activity is fraught with peril. Children have to be watched carefully in case something is damaged. “By using this interactive promotional unit it doesn’t really matter, as any damage can be easily fixed using a bit of duct tape and paint and it is ready to be used again.” Mr Bange said the younger generation would be the next to take the controls. “The younger generation will be the life-blood of our sport in the years to come as demonstrated every time we take it to shows by the constant stream of children occupying both seats and playing with all the controls. “The Lone Eagle Flying School is proud to be playing its part in embracing the RAAus ‘A Pilot in Every Home’ campaign.”
LEFS President Kevin McGrath (left) Lyndall Harris, Trevor Bange, with flying scholarship winners Kiara Vandersee and Mitchell Watson at the program launch
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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AIRCRAFT REVIEW
THE AUSTER J2 Mark Smith finds a simple old aeroplane that proves it's just the right aerial chariot for one lucky owner.
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AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
Photos: Mark Smith
Photos: Mark Smith
Owner Dennis Walker
D
ennis Walker is a bloke with few regrets in life, but one of the few is that it took him so long to finally learn to fly. That meant he was denied the chance to take his dad, who flew gliders, for a fly himself. “My old man and I did everything together when I was growing up. We sailed extensively; we did just about everything you can do on land and under it – caving and the like. But one of the things he did that I never really got involved with was gliding. “I got a ride in the tug a few times and I had few flights in a glider and that certain-
ly whet my appetite but it wasn’t until he passed away that I decided to put the third leg on the tripod so to speak and get my pilots licence. I just wish he was around now and able to come up with me for a fly in my aeroplane.” That aeroplane is a 1946 Auster J2, a type that Dennis has liked from a young age, though it was two years ago that he finally achieved his childhood dream of owning one, after learning to fly with RAAus at Goulburn six years ago. “I purchased the Auster for a lot of reasons. As a kid I always liked the Autocrat - I had a plastic model of one that
hung from my ceiling. The Taylorcraft/ Auster look has always held a sweet spot with me. “This aircraft came on the market about four years ago and I was about to get on a burner to go and have a look at it at Gympie when I got a call from the co-owner saying don’t come up as he’s decided not to sell. So one co-owner bought the other co-owner out and held onto it for another two years. In the meantime I bought a single seat biplane which I’ve flown to many events for four years. Then, out of the blue I received a phone call from the owner saying he’d give me first refusal AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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if he sold the aeroplane, which he did, so I snapped it up, virtually sight unseen.” One of the other attractions of purchasing this particular Auster lay in its RAAus registration. “The fact one of the previous owners took it off the GA register and put it under RAAus meant I didn’t need to upgrade to a GA licence to fly this aeroplane. I can only carry one passenger which is all I need to do at this stage anyway. The only reason I’d ever consider upgrading to a GA licence is to fly the Tiger Moth because I have a particular love of those as well.” Dennis says the RAAus registration makes ownership easier by reducing some of the costs associated with operating an aeroplane registered in the VH sector. It allows him to perform a lot more of the general maintenance though he does have an engineer who oversees any work he does to the aircraft. “The other thing is I can only carry one passenger and that’s all I need. None of my kids have any interest in coming flying but my wife Cath has become a very trusting passenger and we do a lot of trips
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together. Living in Canberra means we have access to places like Merimbula and Frogs Hollow. Moruya is a particularly nice place to fly into as well. You come over the hill and there it is.” Aficionados of Austers always say they are real pilot’s aeroplanes that reward good flying technique, with landings an especially demanding part of operating one well. Dennis says he’s found his J2 very nice to fly. “It’s quite a delight to fly, very responsive but doesn’t give me any surprises. Some would say on a warm day the 0-235 couldn’t pull the skin off custard but it gets us around. Landing is no trouble and ground handling is good though the brakes leave a bit to be desired but that’s normal with old taildraggers that are fitted with the original drum brakes. That said, I can put this into the strip we use which has 500 useable metres and I pull up 150 metres short,” he says. “I do like the general simplicity of the aircraft – there are no complicated avionics to consider. Its rag and tube, stick and rudder flying and that’s what flying is
all about for me. Plus I enjoy being able to manage the plane effectively. It’s like sailing a boat properly - it takes a certain amount of finesse. Flying is the same which is why I aspire to fly it properly and why I’m always working hard to make sure I’m doing justice to the aircraft.” Dennis is a keen member of the Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia, with some time spent in another member’s Tiger Moth the final spur that led to him to learn to fly. “I flew a lot with Andrew Pitcher in his Tiger and he said ‘you take control for a bit’, in other words let’s see how you go and with minimal tuition. We were going along ok and so he kept saying to me ‘you’re good at this, get your licence’. He suggested I start off in RAAus because it was more affordable so I ended up at Goulburn learning in a Gazelle.” For Dennis, actually learning to fly may have come late in life but now there’s no going back. “I can’t believe it took me so long to get involved but I tell you I won’t be getting out of it in a hurry.”
AUSTER FACTS
Dennis Walker's Auster J2
The Auster was a twice-removed development of an American Taylorcraft design of civilian aircraft, the Model A. The Model A had to be redesigned in Britain to meet more stringent civil aviation standards and was named the Taylorcraft Plus C. After the start of the Second World War, the company developed the model further as an air observation post to be flown by officers of the Royal Artillery and used for directing artillery fire of British Army Royal Artillery units.
Continental C 75. Only 44 were built with most being exported, mainly to Australia and Belgium, due to import restrictions on American made engines being brought into Britain.
The Auster Mk III, IV and V saw service during the war and many are still flying with owners in the UK and Australia, who can rightly claim their aircraft are true warbirds.
• • • • •
The Auster J2 Arrow was introduced after the end of WWII and was originally powered by a 75hp
Dennis’ aircraft arrived here in 1949 and was eventually re-engined with a more powerful Lycoming 0-235 putting out 115hp. There are currently four J2s flying in Australia, three on the GA register and Dennis’ example in RAAus. Crew: 1 Capacity: 1 passenger Length: 6.93 m Wingspan: 10.97 m Height: 1.98 m (tail down, propeller horizontal)
• Empty weight: 396kg • Gross weight: 658kg
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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COLUMN
FROM THE OPS TEAM FUEL CONSIDERATIONS
I
recall a conversation with a friend and colleague, Alan Powlay, back in the day about why pilots so often run out of fuel. Alan theorised it was because most of our normal world experience with fuel management relates to cars, not the unique characteristics of aircraft. We discussed the need to create a briefing for students based on the known to unknown, identifying the quite significant differences in fuel management between a car and an aircraft. In thinking about this I realised there are quite a few significant differences and some very serious and obvious consequences to getting it wrong. Firstly, from aircraft type to type, there can be significant differences in aircraft fuel systems, requiring systematic and thorough knowledge to prevent fuel starvation or exhaustion. Even in terms of aircraft I have flown regularly, there can be major differences in fuel systems and the possibility of problems. My Tecnam Sierra has two wing tanks using fuel gauges for fuel level, which feed into two taps, allowing for one tap to be turned off and the other tank drained, or using fuel from both. If you fly out of balance, it will cross feed from the high tank to the low, but as far as l know, if you run one tank dry it will continue to feed from the other (I have never allowed this situation to develop!). The Sierra has an electric and mechanical fuel pump, along with a fuel pressure gauge. If you run the aircraft at 4600rpm (95kts IAS) you achieve about 12 litres per hour in circuits or about 15 litres per hour cruising. At 5000rpm (11Okts IAS) you will consume around 18 litres per hour. You can carry 100 litres (MTOW permitting) and go a long way. These are fairly significant differences in fuel burns for not a great deal of change in speed. By comparison, a Eurofox has two wing tanks using tubes in the wing root to indicate the fuel level, which feed into a header tank behind the seats, two fuel taps and a low fuel warning light when the header tank is down to four litres. Again, the Eurofox has a mechanical and electric fuel pump and similar fuel use with slightly lower IAS. Total fuel on board is 85 litres. Jabiru aircraft can vary from model to model, with my Jabiru tail dragger having a single fuel tap and one 65 litre tank behind the seats, with a visual indicator of fuel level until you get to less than 15 litres where the fuel level disappears behind the seat. One fuel tap and a mechanical and electric fuel pump complete the system. Other Jabirus have wing tanks feeding to a header tank
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with only one tap and total fuel of 100 litres. As you can see, in just outlining three aircraft types we can have three distinct systems requiring careful management. Other considerations should include: Did I fuel up last night? And is that fuel still there this morning? Or did it drain away through a fuel vent because of uneven ground? Sadly, fuel is sometimes stolen overnight. Do you remember your cross country training? You might have felt like the instructor droned on about Prior Planning Preventing Poor Performance; you struggled with the whiz wheel, frantically trying to monitor groundspeed, fuel burn, distance covered and time taken. Then you achieved the endorsement, threw all of that gear into the bag and punched GO TO your destination into your GPS. But something from that instruction still has to trickle through and I call it the rule of common sense.
How long is it going to take me to get there? And how much fuel do I need, allowing a safety margin for delays due to weather, wind, or other variables? You can work out a lot of this information with electronic flight planning software, the whiz wheel or electronic means, but pilots must make sure the answer meets the common sense test. A trip of 196 nautical miles at 95 knots is a bit over two hours, requiring a minimum of 40 litres in most Rotax 912ULS installations. A safety margin of X litres for unexpected variables, variable fuel reserve for TEMPOs and INTERs, stronger than forecast winds, fog, diversions due to rain showers. The X amount is pilot and aircraft and situation specific. These amounts are not difficult to work out, even for me. If you are concerned, you can plan to divert to another airport, top up the tanks and fly with peace of mind. If there is no other airport, do a precautionary landing on to a private strip and buy more time in the tanks. You might have an adventure meeting a friendly farmer, have a cup of tea and some scones and still make it to your destination safely. Far safer to stop and top up, than really cause yourself heartache and stress by hoping you will make it with the fuel you have on board. To provide some food for thought, here is a table with just some of the differences between fuel for cars and fuel for aircraft.
Car
Aircraft
Tanks
1
1,2,3 or more
Fuel Taps
0
1,2 or more
Drain points
0
1, 2, 3 or more
Fuel tank pickup point
Rarely uncovered
Can be uncovered if aircraft not flown in balance
Fuel caps
No major issue if left off
Possible loss of all fuel
Water present
No immediate danger
Possible stoppage of engine
Fuel gauges
Generally accurate
Not always reliable
Dip stick
Not used
Calibrated correctly? Lost?
Vent system
Rarely invaded by wasp nests
Wasp nest creation a real issue
Groundspeed
Virtually a constant
Significantly varied by wind speed and direction
Distance to destination
Virtually constant
Significantly varied by wind speed and direction
Delays due traffic
Usually no issue for fuel starvation
Increased fuel usage if delayed
Weather issues
Almost non-existent
Significant, delay due fog, rain, wind, cloud
Weather diversion
Unlikely
Ever present possibility
Litres/distance travel
Mostly constant
Variable depending on power use and ground speed
Refuelling options
Readily available
Only at airports/walking to service station
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
39
FEATURE
COMPETING TO IMPROVE Michelle O’Hare finds out that aero club competitions are about much more than simply competing
S
itting side by side with their eyes focused out the Bathurst Aero Club window toward the 17/35 runway, the group of pilots pause their conversation for a few moments to watch the next aircraft landing. The silence is broken by a few quick remarks about how the crosswind is starting to pick up and that this time it’s a flapless landing before the aircraft gently settles on to the runway. As the aircraft powers up again for another circuit the pilots all start sharing their stories and flying tips as they wait in anticipation for their turn in the pilot proficiency day. “Bathurst Aero Club runs five flying competitions, now known as pilot proficiency days, each year,” says club president John Nicoll. “Participants range from low hours to high hours pilots and pilots who are no longer current and who wish to regain their skills under expert instructors.” Bathurst Aero Club has been going strong for 80 years and it’s no surprise when John says that many past proficiency day achievers have moved on to illustrious aviation careers, both in the airlines and the air force. The competition sequence can be carried out in either a GA or RAAus aircraft. On the GA side, Bathurst Aero Club operates a Cessna 172 with different instructors from the local flying schools taking turns to challenge the competitors. For RAAus entrants the Central West Flying School operates the BRM Bristell. It is nice to see a
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mix of operators, both GA and RA working together to support pilot development. “The Bathurst Aero Club competition days are as much about the social aspects as the flying exercise of the day,” says Chris Stott from Central West Flying School. “The challenging bit is the defined flying task, which often takes pilots, or student pilots, out of their regular flying routine and serves as a refresher in how to deal with unusual occurrences, like the engine stopping. For the regular attendees this serves to make them better pilots. The fun bit is the social interaction with other pilots and their friends and families. The club puts on a great lunch and we all sit around and try to talk about a range of things, not just aeroplanes and flying”. Today is not my first time visiting Bathurst Aero Club and people are often surprised to find out that I am a member. It is not because of the club itself, but rather because I drive almost 200km from where I live in Sydney to get there. It is exactly this atmosphere that Chris talks about where pilots prefer to enjoy each other’s company and support each other to become their best, regardless of whether you fly GA or RA, which made me want to become a member of this club. I’m not the only member who travels the long distances to attend such a supportive club. Michael Brophy drives almost 500km from his home in Cobar to join in and was the 2016 Bathurst Aero Club Recreational Aviation Pilot of the Year for his high per-
formance in the flying competitions. “I was happy to travel those long distances because I recognised the importance of having positive influences in my life from people more intelligent and mature than myself,” says Michael who first started taking part in the competitions while he was still learning to fly. “The character and emotional development that I made with the people in Bathurst guiding me was equally, if not more important, than the technical aviation skills that I was able to hone and develop”. The challenge for the competition today is to fly three circuits. As pilots we are all familiar with flying circuits. However, for many of the pilots this competition is a good opportunity to get current again after limited flying, if any at all, over the busy Christmas/New Year season. “I have been looking forward to getting back in the air again,” says club member Rob Conroy. “Days like this really motivate you to come down to the club and go for a fly. It is good to have a qualified person sitting with you to remind you that you do know how to cope with the unexpected, such as circuit emergencies. “Each time the competition tests you on something different,” adds Rob Quinn who has been a regular at the competitions. “Over the years we have had competitions covering emergency procedures, stalls, steep turns, short field landings and precautionary search and landings for
Honour boards in the aero club.
Competition winner Michael Brophy
example. It is not always just the challenges in the air that are tested. Sometimes the competition days will also include a quiz on a particular topic such as aircraft performance.” During conversation the members reflect on how the competitions have changed over the years. Kingsley Picker has been taking part in the Bathurst Aero Club competitions for more than 30 years. “Although some aspects have remained the same we also used to have very different challenges years ago,” Kingsley reflects. “Some of the unique challenges included streamer cutting, flour bombing and even aerial golf.” Tom Fallow, another member who has been taking part in the competitions for many years adds that “winning has never been the goal. The goal is learning by getting some useful feedback on your flying and confirming that you know how to handle the unexpected. That and catching up with all the pilots”. Bathurst Aero Club has grown and developed their club activities over eight decades. These pilot proficiency days are just one of the activities that the members enjoy along with regular safety seminars, night flying sessions, fly-aways and general catch ups. If other clubs or schools are interested in planning similar activities my advice would be to start small, keep it adaptive to the pilots' interests and make sure that any competitions focus on learning, rather than winning, as the goal.
The Russian Roolettes
Lunch during the competition is a time to chat about flying.
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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FEATURE Peter flying at Portsea
THE ADVANTAGES OF FLYING A TRIKE Peter McLean from P&M Aviation at Yarrawonga explains why he loves trike flying.
I
n 1972 I decided to look for a cheaper form of flying. Why? I didn’t own an aircraft back then, and, at the time, to get an aircraft to just fly locally was a bit of a stretch. Being in the military, I would have to fill out countless forms and complete a number of briefings, just to get a Winjeel for the afternoon. My family used to ask: “you fly every day, in big, fast aircraft. Why is it so important for you to fly by yourself?” If you are a pilot, you will understand that the freedom of just being up in the sky alone for a while is perfect. All your troubles of daily life are below you on the ground, just where they should be! Yes, I could have gone to Moorabbin airport and hired a Chipmunk from Royal Victorian Aero Club, however I wasn’t made of money and the military were not very happy about their pilots flying civilian aircraft. Back then there was nowhere near the opportunity to fly the recreational aircraft
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that we have today. In fact, my nearest means of flying was a hang glider and that’s the way I started my recreational flying. You had a small choice of manufacturers. You could fly a Wings, Mad Eagle, Cowan, or Moyes hang glider. That was about it back then. There were also very few regulations. You purchased your hang glider, took it down the beach or onto a hill, rigged it and ran like mad down the slope. It didn’t take long to learn to fly, and if you didn’t break a leading edge or a king post, you weren’t trying hard enough! I know you are thinking, why didn’t I go to a flight training school? There were none back then! If you survived your first month of flying, then you could pass on the technique to someone else. This was fun flying. I even got the met guys at the base involved. They would send me the weather forecast in the afternoon to let me know if I should go to the Flinders Naval Base or if I should go west to the cliffs on the Ocean Road. I had it all worked out!
Then I was posted north and I had to start all over again. I started hang gliding with an old Rogallo hang glider called a Condor, and I worked my way up to a Wings K2 Kestrel and then a Wings Lynx. I even had a photo of myself in my K2 Kestrel on the wall at the Lilydale McDonalds. I must have been famous. Today every hang glider I used to fly would be called a trainer. Back then they were the bee’s knees, the latest technology of the day. It would be a little bit like flying a Thruster compared to a Bristell today. I ended up getting out of hang gliding when all the regulations started coming in. However, I still have my old red flight-suit which I used when I was hang gliding, and it still has all of my hang ratings on it. They were great times. Later on I was able get hold of a 172 and a 210 Cessna and then a Piper Warrior and an Aztec. By now I had flown many different
aircraft and my career in the military was beginning to wind down. It was time to have a look at recreational aviation again. I joined the then AUF, now Recreational Aviation Australia, and I also joined the HGFA Hang Gliding Federation of Australia.
Peter (right) training new pilots
My wife Anne and I were looking for an aircraft that we could put on a trailer and tow behind our car. Again, back then, there were not many choices. We looked at the Skyfox, but it was a challenge to have on a trailer. We also looked at trikes. Here are some reasons for our going down the line of buying a trike. A trike is straightforward, with a structure easily able to be inspected during a pre-flight, and, unlike complex enclosed structures, is maintainable and repairable simply by fitting replacement parts. A Trike structure gives excellent visibility, so maintenance issues can be spotted easily and early. The trike has been designed as a foldable aircraft for transport, which also makes for low-cost hangarage or storage (especially if your Trike has a strutted wing like a QuikR or GTR, which can be folded on the Trike in a couple of minutes). A trike has no moving control surfaces and two-axis control, which makes it efficient, simple to use and very reliable. The trike has very low maintenance costs compared with fixed-wing aircraft. A trike, being weight-shift pitch control, enables a lift coefficient of almost 2.0, giving low stall speeds and a wide speed range without any additional complexity like flaps. The trike is relatively free from CG constraints. This simplifies loading considerations, as the CG of the trike only affects the suspended attitude. The trike fuselage has no empennage, control surfaces or doors. This means reduced cost and weight, which will allow the aircraft to carry more than its own weight in payload.The P&M Aviation Trikes have no possibility of spinning.
P&M Trike range.
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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The tike has an unparalleled pilot and passenger view, a totally immersive flying experience, a feeling of freedom like a high-performance motorbike in a 3D world. The trike makes a great low-vibration, unobstructed vision camera platform. The trike, with its direct control of the Wing’s lift, makes it ideal for take-off and landing. This also gives excellent gust handling as you can change the angle of attack as soon as you land. It also allows variable touchdown speeds to match flying conditions. The pusher layout of the trike removes the pilot from the slipstream and minimizes vibration. The trike has also been designed to be ideal for takeoff from unprepared and short strips, hence this can also mean lower operating costs. Trikes have better situational awareness when doing a precautionary or forced landing, thanks to the fantastic all-round visibility. So with these advantages over a conventional type of aircraft, we were sold on the trike, and yes we are still flying them today. Most people still think that the trike is a slow aircraft, calling them a “microlight” meaning that they can only be flown in microlight weather conditions. This is no longer the case. Our GT-Lite two stroke Trike has a cruise speed of 71kts with a 65lt fuel tank. Our QuikR has a cruise speed of 80 to 90 knots with a range of five hours, plus reserves. And what about the HypeR? Well I have been flying around at 100kts with a fuel burn of 9.04 litres per hour, and its VNE is 120 knots! It always amuses me when I make an inbound call, and another pilot calls me back, asking me if my time in circuit is correct. I just say “affirmative “. More often than not the pilot will come over after we have landed and say “I didn’t know trikes could go that fast”. Well now you do! At Yarrawonga, most GA pilots no longer push in front of our trikes because they don’t want to be held up by those “toy” aircraft in the circuit, because they find that the “toy” aircraft is every bit as fast as many of the GA planes. I have trike friends, who, as they grew older, “bought a heater and built a kit around it”. Even the problem of keeping warm in winter is minimised if you wear appropriate clothing. Nothing a cuppa won’t fix after a
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flight, and during the last few years, trike designers have put thought into windscreen and fuselage design to protect both the pilot and passenger from some of the discomforts of inclement weather. We choose not to fly in bad weather conditions, because, after all, almost by definition, a trike is a recreational aircraft. However those sneaky
conditions that sometimes catch you out on a longer leg of a trip away are nowhere near as daunting as they were in our early days of triking, with the early designs of less sophisticated machines. The P&M Aviation aircraft we fly today are safe, fast and have proven performance, and that’s why I still fly a trike.
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Official EFB AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
45
FEATURE
THE DAY I GOT IT WRONG
Stan Nowakowski reminds all pilots that weather is not to be trifled with.
M
y partner Cheryl and I had flown up to Loxton in our Skyfox Gazelle for their biennial fly-in. It was hot and sultry with a change expected later in the afternoon. We'd been keeping an eye on an ominous black line that was heading towards the field, and I was keen to head back to Murray Bridge, after refuelling at Renmark. We stowed away the tie downs, and strapped ourselves in. As I taxied towards the threshold of runway 35, a call came over the radio from an orbiting aircraft suggesting it might be a good idea not to take-off just yet due to strong turbulence. So we paused for a while until I saw the windsock hanging limply, and thought ‘Now's the time!’ By this time, the black line was looming over the airfield, only a few miles away, if that. It was advancing parallel to 35. As I rotated, I set an attitude for 60 knots, only to find that, instead of climbing at 500fpm at full power, we were now descending at 500fpm. I realised that we were in a downdraft from the approaching storm, so I picked a spot in front of me where I thought we'd be touching down. Fortunately, the
downdraft dissipated as we got close to the ground and we managed to start clawing our way up again. At the same time I started turning away from the front, so that I was now travelling at right angles to it. Meanwhile, Cheryl was hanging on to one of the crossbars overhead with both hands as we were being bounced around a bit. "I want to land!" she said. "I'm not even going to try landing back there now" I replied. Just then, a bolt of lightning flashed past the starboard side of the plane. "Hmmm, that's not good." It was followed by another. "Bugger. Time to get the flock out of here." I was unable to turn left to refuel at Renmark as originally planned, or return to Murray Bridge to the right either, as the storm front filled the sky behind us now. The only way left was to go straight ahead towards Mildura, over the state border. Luckily, I had enough fuel to get us there. Once we got away from the immediate front, things settled down a bit. I was so relieved to be away from the storm that I forgot to prepare myself for the landing at Mildura. 2NM south of the airfield is a
gliding strip which we overflew at around 1500ft. I could see people on the ground looking up at me, and then one of them called me on the radio, asking if I realised that they conduct winch launches from their strip with up to 2000ft of wire in the air? Oops! And did I know that right hand circuits were conducted on 36, which is what I was approaching? So what did I learn from this day? Firstly, I suffered from a bad case of ‘getthereitis’. We should have hunkered down and left the plane tied down. Those that were, survived the front. One that wasn't was flipped onto its back. Secondly, I hadn't considered Mildura as a viable airfield to divert to, and so wasn't prepared for it when we approached. Thirdly, we now carry a grab bag with essentials in case we are forced to stay out overnight. What did I do well? I kept flying the plane. I didn't allow myself to be distracted either by my passenger or what was happening outside the cockpit once we were airborne. And, most importantly, we lived to tell the tale!
The storm that chased Stan hits Mildura
46
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
Stans Gazelle
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
47
PILOT PROFILE FEATURE
SUPERSTOL— AIRSTRIP IS FROM OPTIONAL LEARNING THE BEST
Short strip?agNo problem. Smith bloke with an A veteran pilot is stillMark passing onmeets the arta of aviation to anyone keen to learn its ways. aeroplane andcaught engineupcombination Mark Smith with him. more than up to the challenge.
F
lying attracts people for many different reasons. For some it’s about speed; getting to a destination as quickly as possible with the minimum of fuss, while for others drifting over the ground at 60kts is all they ever aspire to do. Phil Hargreaves is a bloke who likes a challenge and after quite a few years in both GA and RAAus his next one is bush flying. That’s why he bought a Just Aircraft SuperSTOL and then fitted a 130hp UL engine in place of the normal 100hp Rotax. “When I started thinking about going into a different type of aircraft, I’d never flown taildraggers and I kind of liked the idea of off-airport operation and the challenges that come with flying this type of aircraft,” he says as we sit in the flying school lounge at Boonah Airfield with his new, bright red aircraft parked just outside the hangar. “When they are in the air all aeroplanes tend to fly the same so taildraggers inter-
48
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
ested me after so many years, on and off, flying tricycle gear aeroplanes.” He made the decision to look at buying his own aeroplane after becoming frustrated by hiring flying school aircraft, citing their unavailability if he wanted to take one away on weekends added to the fact he’d seen videos online of the bush flying activities in the US and Australia and decided that was an area of aviation he wanted to be a part of. “Off-airport flying in the US is booming with people like Trent Palmer pushing the boundaries and showing what some aircraft are capable of. I think this is encouraging people back into aviation and into that type of aviation because it’s an exciting field. Tim Howes and the Bush Flyers Down Under (BFDU) group are also working hard at promoting safe off-airport flying here in Australia.” Phil’s first prospect was the Carbon Cub, but the price quickly put him off. Plus
he wanted side by side seating because, to use his own words, “I like side by side seating because I like to know if someone’s going to throw up beside me not over me!” “I’d love to have a helicopter but they are just too expensive. You’re just thrashing money into the air,” he says. The final choice of the SuperSTOL came easily after that because he simply couldn’t find something with the short take-off and landing capability, with side by side seating, in his price range. Once the choice of airframe was made it was time to think about the engine. “When I did the research I wanted more horsepower than I could get, to take advantage of that airframe. The airframe is good, it can do a lot, but with 100hp getting out of some off-country strips would be challenging, especially on a hot day. To get more horsepower from a Rotax you are getting into turbocharging and
Photos: Mark Smith
Wide opening clear doors
Phils UL engine.
intercooling which makes for a complex engine. I wasn’t comfortable with getting more HP via such complexities, especially operating in remote places. So instead of a Rotax I installed a 130hp UL. “The UL really stood out. It’s a simple design, basically a Lycoming, updated for the 21st century, which runs on mogas. It gives me more grunt to use the airframe a bit better by having the extra horsepower. It’s a good combination.” The extra 30hp has given Phil some pretty impressive performance figures, which are making his forays into bush flying exciting, with take-off performance equal to the challenge of getting out of a tight strip. “I put full power on with the stick pushed into the dash. The tail comes up in a second and a half, then I bring the stick to neutral and it’s ready to fly. I let it accelerate for another second or so and rotate, hold for another second in ground
effect while I put the flaps away below the 60kt flap extension speed and then I can climb at 70kts with the attitude from within the cockpit way above the horizon at around 1000fpm. If I want best angle of climb I can climb at 60kts and the attitude is even steeper. The SuperSTOL has leading edge slats that deploy automatically, bringing the angle of attack the aeroplane can fly at to 25 degrees as opposed to 14 degrees for a normal aircraft. “It’s an amazing aeroplane once I learn how to use it to its full potential. I like that it has a whole lot of new challenges for me as a pilot that I can explore for a long time to come. The aeroplane is far more capable than I’ll ever be but let’s see what I can learn from it by going into these places with like-minded people who have more experience with off-airport flying, Karen whoPaul canand say ‘Phil,Strike this is the best way to do it’. They can help me build experience
because they’ve been doing it for longer. They have a bigger knowledge base.” The word challenge keeps popping up. Phil sees bush flying as another way to improve as a pilot, while also having fun and catching up with other flyers. “It’ll cruise at about 88kts, so seven hours at that speed I’ve gone a long way. I can still get to a lot of places I can’t get to in a car, and I can land in a lot of places I couldn’t in a Cessna and there is a growing community of like-minded people in Australia, via BFDU. Phil attended the BFDU Bloody Big BBQ in late March, where he was able to learn from more experienced bush flyers and experience his first beach landing. “I just went along with Tim and the crew. We had a briefing first where we were told what to expect on the strips we’d be flying into, including the beach. One of the paddocks was about 150 metres, but on a hill, so we had no trouble operating AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
49
Up in the air and on her own
in and out. With the beach, Tim and the others landed first and told me what to look out for. But with a great suspension and Alaska bush tyres it was easy. “I think the type of flying I’m doing in the SuperSTOL is making me a better pilot because the strips I’m flying into are more challenging. Instead of a 700 metre strip at times it’s something smaller with possibly a curving approach. You have to be on the money. My goal now is to nail those touchdowns, at the spot I choose, every time. Before it didn’t matter if I floated for 50 metres but if you only have a 150 metre strip you need to be able to hit the touchdown point first time. That’s why I’m really excited about what I can do with this aeroplane.” Another place Phil’s aeroplane has taken him into is his newly purchased 90 acre property on Boonah’s scenic rim. He’s put in three bush strips that suit the SuperSTOL well. “One of the strips is 150 metres and I
50
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
have no problems operating in and out of there even two up.” The Just Aircraft range is imported into Australia by veteran ag pilot Brett Patton, who realised the growing movement of bush flying on You Tube. The thought of having a recreational aircraft that could operate virtually anywhere appealed to him and he looked into this style of flying further. “Four years ago I saw Just Aircraft’s range on You Tube and they appealed to me; the folding wings, the style of the airplane, the things you can do. I had looked at lots of aeroplanes; short take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft are all I'm interested in and I just kept coming back to this one. I went over to New Zealand first and had a look, and ordered a kit. The range begins with the Highlander, which is their base model and doesn’t have slats, then the SuperSTOL which is in the very short take-off and landing range and finally the SuperSTOL XL which
is heavier and 60cm longer in the tail and 15cm longer in the nose to allow for larger engines like the Lycoming 0-320. “I actually bought a Highlander first and after I went to the factory in the US to do a bit of training learning how to build the Highlander, I bought a SuperSTOL XL kit while I was there.” The experience with the factory led to the next stage of Brett’s relationship with Just Aircraft, and he became the Australian dealer for the company. “I didn’t have any intention of becoming the representative for the company in Australia. You could say I’m an accidental dealer!” While the STOL performance is impressive with the Just Aircraft range, Brett is keen to emphasise there are more factors to short field operations than simply flying slow. “Let’s say if you’re going to land at 50kts rather than 40kts, you’ll go an extra 10 metres max. That's what people have
Phil Hargreaves
It'd look good on any flying school line. Australian importer Brett Patton
to get in their head when they're STOL flying; don't get too slow and get right on the back end of that power curve where, when it does go wrong, it's going to hurt you. Give it five knots to 10kts extra, get up above that stall and your roll will be five metres further and it'll make no difference to your landing but you're in a safe envelope.” Brett is also upbeat about the growing interest in STOL flying among regular recreational pilots as more groups pop up online telling others about the joy of no-airport operations. “I think people have discovered it gives you freedom. You're not restricted in where you can go. As long as you've got the landholder's permission you can operate there. “Plus if you have an engine failure in an aircraft like a normal GA aircraft you know there is a fair chance you’ll do damage in the forced landing. One of these is designed to land in a paddock so that’s not an issue.”
First time landing on the beach.
John in his Swift near Temora AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
51
AVIATION CLASSIFIEDS
5023 22 AIRPARK RD HOLBROOK AIRFIELD
Residential vacant Block. 22 Airpark Road Holbrook NSW 2644. Offers mid to low sixties considerd. EMAIL: donwoodward@outlook.com WEB: holbrook.simdif.com PRICE: $69000 CONTACT: Don Woodward 0417 696 461
5225 THATCHER CX4 FOR SALE
5482 SKYFOX GAZELLE
70 Airframe Hours, 450 hours Engine Hours, XC4 TT top overhaul 70 hours ago. Beaut aircraft to fly. Cruise easily 100kts 12 ltr an hour. Discounted drastically to sell. I am simply too old to fly this aircraft regularly so it has to go. PRICE: $15500 CONTACT: John Edwards 0408 891 159
1418.9 Airframe Hours, 1146.2 Engine Hours, Gazelle SKYFOX GAZELLE for sale. 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 728Hrs. 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
5335 TYRO MK 2
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
5167 X-AIR 19-7965
161 Airframe Hours, 272 Engine Hours, Standard Well maintained, only used locally, 582 rotax blue head with E-Box . Oil pump ready to fit. Offers considered. Rego to Feb 2018 . PRICE: $12000 CONTACT: Bryan Robert Fiddes Low 0414 722 740
5189 SAVANNAH S PRICE REDUCED
5501 AIRCRAFT 23-8806
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: $7500 CONTACT: Les Skinner 0437 616 135
52
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
5528 AIRBORNE XT-912, TRIKE/ MICROLIGHT ARROW S WING LSA
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
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: $124000 ONO CONTACT: Lance Weller 0407 229 495
550 Airframe Hours, 550 Engine Hours, J230D For Sale Jabiru J-230D PRICE: $88000 CONTACT: Bill Haynes 0429 054 205
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
5541 SORRELL HIPERLIGHT 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
108.4 Airframe Hours, 28.7 Engine Hours, SNS-8 Hiperlight. Fully rebuilt in 2017 including engine.
Recovered in Oratex UL600, new bracing wires everywhere, new wiring, new fuel system. Empty weight 110kg, MTOW 226kg. Cruises between 5060kts, 20 Litre fuel tank. Strong +6 -3g. Detachable tail. Simple flying. PRICE: $9000 CONTACT: Ruben Daniel Martin 0468 359 784
5569 ZENAIR 750
ZenAir 750 130hrs Rotax914Turbo widebody bubledoors tundra tyres 10" Dynon Skyview. 100ltr fuel. Amazing short field take off. PRICE: $95000 CONTACT: Nat Jaques 0417 073 046
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
5665 TECNAM BRAVO P 2004 - YEAR 2005
780 Airframe Hours, 720 Engine Hours, p2004-bravo Tecnam Bravo p2004 - year 2005. Aircraft is ex-demonstrator. Have owned aircraft since 2006. Airswitch and tacho meter. Hangared and maintained. Spats currently removed. PRICE: $82500 CONTACT: John Middlemiss 0401 653 666
5672 JABIRU 170C 24-5398
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 - 1/2 Hanger. PRICE: $90000 CONTACT: Bruce Smallacombe 0410 524 040
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
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
5680 CFM SHADOW STREAK
5615 POWERD PARACHUTE
60 Airframe Hours, nil Engine Hours, Home built Converted airborn edge rotax 582. Fully certified. PRICE: $12000 CONTACT: David Snell 0414 496 696
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
5618 KITFOX IV CLASSIC
360 Airframe Hours, 90hrs Engine Hours, Kitfox IV Classic. No time to fly. Airframe 360hrs. Subaru EA81 100hp, Autoflight gearbox 80hrs since rebuild. 3 Blade Bolly Optima. Grove Aluminum undercarriage. 100ltrs fuel. Garmin GPS aera500. PRICE: $24000 CONTACT: Peter 0467 091 714
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
1600 Airframe Hours, 133 Engine Hours, Shadow Streak. HR blue head 582 electric start 3rd Engine. 133 HR bolly 3 blade prop. Nil accidents. ALL Ads performed. Rego till aug 19. VHF Radio and intercom. CHT EGT VSI Digi ALT Digi Compass. Dual Control. Still being flown. PRICE: $10500 CONTACT: Nicholas Turner 0422 033 161
5689 JABIRU LSA 55/3J
2170 Airframe Hours, 470 Engine Hours, LSA55/3J Easy and fun to fly. Good condition always looked after, solid, factory built aircraft. Cruises at 95-100kts, 12-13L/hr fuel burn, 65L tank. Always hangered. Upgraded from LSA55/2j in 2003. Full covers provided. All AD's up to date. PRICE: $21000 CONTACT: Anthony Elms 0403 777 852 AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
53
AVIATION CLASSIFIEDS
5690 WYREEMA AIRFIELD HANGAR SPACE/ STORAGE
David Clark headsets. Garmin 296 GPS. 2 pack paint always hangared. Excellent condition inside and out. PRICE: $52000 CONTACT: Graham Moller 0458 785 035
5779 STORCH BY FLY SYNTHESIS
5748 SKYFOX CA21
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
560 Airframe Hours, 560 Engine Hours, Skyfox CA21. Skyfox CA21 1990 55-0611, factory built in Queensland, TTIS 560 hours, Aeropower 78 hp engine, two blade wooden propeller, reg to July 2019, in dash Garmin Area 660 GPS, 100 hourly completed July 2018, good clean condition inside and out, based at Bendigo, Victoria. EMAIL: steve_broadbent@bigpond.com PRICE: $19000 CONTACT: Stephen Broadbent 0407 829 813
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
5783 SKYFOX CA21 AND TRAILER
5751 TECNAM P92-2000RG 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
847.8 Airframe Hours, 325.8 Engine Hours, CA21. CA21 TAILDRAGGER with recent new rotax 80HP fitted. 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. Happy to deliver. PRICE: $39000 CONTACT: Brian Stott 0410 401 139
5730 AIRCRAFT 19-8492
5793 SAVANNAH S
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
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
78 Airframe Hours, 78 Engine Hours, SPT-6 PRICE: $45000 CONTACT: Neal Livingstone 0407 347 255
5794 STORCH HS FLY SYNTHESIS AIRCRAFT 24-4258
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
54
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
540 Airframe Hours, 540 Engine Hours, Savannah S Rotax 912ULS, Bolly Prop, Factory Built, Dynon EFIS,Mode, S T/ponder, 2X flip/flop VHF radios. GPS 24 Reg. Low hours. Strobes, Nav/Land Lites. Full details at john.groth1@bigpond.com EMAIL: john.groth1@bigpond.com PRICE: $73000 CONTACT: John Groth (07) 4973 9391
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
205.0 Airframe Hours, 205 Engine Hours, Storch HS Factory built Storch HS, over 500 built and flying this amazing and safe aircraft is used for training in many parts of the world. Has docile flying and landing characteristics yet will cruise around 90
knots for some decent cross counrty trips. PRICE: $52000 CONTACT: Caz Monteleone 0404 897 452
5837 AIRCRAFT 32-7042
5795 WALLABY FLY SYNTHESIS WITH 503 ROTAX ENGINE
12.2 Airframe Hours, 12.2 Engine Hours, Wallaby Built from Factory Kit by the Importer this two place aircraft looks and flies like new, Fitted with 503 Rotax electric start engine and only 13 hours TT. STOL characteristics, includes wing folding system. Selling as retiring from aviation business. PRICE: $29000 CONTACT: Caz Monteleone 0404 897 452
barrier upgraded door latch Xcom vhf uhf tundra tyres upgrade to 600 kgs owner reluctanly given up flying. PRICE: $72500 CONTACT: James Jardine 02 6454 6210/0408 167 863
5851 STEELBREEZE POWERED PARACHUTE
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
5841 SAVANNAH S
5797 WALLABY FLY SYNTHESIS 582
49 Airframe Hours, 49 Engine Hours, Steelbreeze 12 months rego. 49 hours TTIS. Both Mustang S500 box canopy and Thunderbolt E340 elliptical canopy. Tundra tyres, dual throttle and foot steering. 50 litre fuel tank. 582 Rotax engine wth Type E gearbox. Great lifting capacity. As new condition. PRICE: $21000 CONTACT: Brett Pearson 0417 986 269
5852 AEROCHUTE 503
50 Airframe Hours, 50 Engine Hours, Wallaby Factory built Wallaby powered by Rotax 582 in as new Condition, genuine 50 hours TT and impeccable condition, suitable for training with dual pedals and controls. Comes with parachute and tundra tires. A great composite aircraft worth over $55K new. PRICE: $37500 CONTACT: Caz Monteleone 0404 897 452
535 Airframe Hours, 535 Engine Hours, Savannah S PRICE: $58000 CONTACT: Ian King 0408 359 424
5842 JABIRU FOR SALE
5801 SONEX TRI-GEAR
130 Airframe Hours, 130 Engine Hours, Sonex TriGear. Sonex Tri-Gear 19-8656, 130 hours, Aerovee 80 HP, MGL EFIS & V6 VHF radio & ASI. Built by the Sport Aircraft Club of South Australia to give members hands on building experience. Project details- sportaircraft.org.au and click on the Sonex picture. PRICE: $37500 CONTACT: Chris Moore 0411 196 232
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
141 Airframe Hours, 141 Engine Hours, Aerochute Dual 503. Powered Parachute PRICE: $10500 CONTACT: Brett Pearson 0417 986 269
5855 JABIRU SP FOR SALE
5848 SENSENICH PROP 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
5827 SYNDICATE SHARE A32 VIXXEN AT CABOOLTURE Propeller sensenich w160. hj44 ah4559 PRICE: $650 CONTACT: David Snell (+6) 1414 496 696
5865 MICRO AVIATION - BAT HAWK
5849 SAVANNAH 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
70 Airframe Hours, 70 Engine Hours, Savannah XL Savannah XL 70 hrs airframe 70 hrs engine luggage
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 AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
55
AVIATION CLASSIFIEDS
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
5890 AIRBORNE T-LITE
5874 JABIRU J170C
620 Airframe Hours, 620 Engine Hours, J170C Factory Built 2008. Meticulously maintained. Good compressions on all cylinders and no defects. A fantastic aircraft to fly. Graeme 0497425358 https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=09BU0mjQ-Q8 PRICE: $56000 CONTACT: Graeme Wishart 0497 425 358
112 Airframe Hours, 112 Engine Hours, T-Lite - Core 154 wing - Polini 190 electric and pull start - 112hrs (still flying) - 100hr service completed in Nov 17 - Bi-Annual maintenance check completed in Feb 18 and trike received new tyres and battery Registered with HGFA until Feb 2020. PRICE: $11500 CONTACT: Andrew Luton 0404 254 922
5904 ZENITH ZODIAC 601/650 XLB
400 Airframe Hours, 400 Engine Hours, Zodiac 601 650 XLB. Zenith Zodiac 2012, XLB 601/650 Ex Cond 400 hrs, Jab 6, all mods done, large 650 canopy, ex EGT, CHT glass cockpit, auto pilot Videos avail, will deliver $39K 19-7108 nil acc, always hangared, full covers. PRICE: $39000 CONTACT: Robert Emery 0419 043 583
5905 TECNAM P92 ECHO CLASSIC 100
5893 XAIR HANUMAN
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
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. PRICE: $38000 CONTACT: Jason Bruce King 0418 986 609
5897 BANTAM ROTAX 582
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
5909 PIEL EMERALD FOR SALE
5886 SKYFOX CA22
1590 Airframe Hours, 590 Engine Hours, CA 22 Great aircraft in great condition. Always Hangered All ADs done. Comes with folding wings and a trailer. Flys well and is well sorted. No money to spend after purchase. PRICE: $32500 CONTACT: Gary Griffin 0419 619 191
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
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
5888 AIRBORNE OUTBACK
65 Airframe Hours, 65 Engine Hours, XT582 CRUZE AIRBORNE OUTBACK TRIKE LOW HOURS. GREAT CONDITION. PRICE: $22000 CONTACT: Kenneth Jelleff 0412 512 457
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AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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
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
Office: 03 9531 1018
Sport aircraft sales
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Mobile: 0466 649 868 Email: enquiries@sportaircraftsales.com.au
Savannah XL (2014)
Pioneer 300 RS (RAA 24 Reg)
Brumby 610 Evolution (‘15)
Vans RV-9A (2011)
Airframe / Eng. TT 70 / 70 Larger wheels, upgraded door latch...
Airframe / Eng. TT 782 / 782 3 tanks, useable 279kg, AvMap
Airframe / Eng. TT369 / 369 Fully optioned, Mode S X-Ponder
Airframe / Eng. TT650 / 650 Garmin GNS430, bespoke interior
NEW LISTING!
A VERY TIDY A/C
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WELL APPOINTED $130,000
Vans RV-8A
RAAus member? Contact Nicholas Christie for a no obligation discussion about us marketing & brokering your aircraft (RAAus member discount applies).
www.sportaircraftsales.com.au
$115,000
Glasair 2 FT
SOLD!
Zenith 601XLB
$79,900
SOLD!
Glasair Super Turbo
SOLD!
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$72,500
IO-320, Dual Dynon Touch, A/P
Rotax 912, leather, A/P, Dynon
SOLD!
Rotax 912ULS, RG, CSU, e/trim
Rotax 912ULS, 600kg MTOW
X-Air Standard
SPORT AIRCRAFT WANTED!
CALL NOW 03 9531 1018 AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
57
AVIATION CLASSIFIEDS
5917 TEXAN 600
5933 LIGHTWING GR582
1750 fpm. Superb direct stick handling and easy to fly. Privately Owned. Built by John Chesbrough Mechanical Engineer. Always hangared. PRICE: $83000 CONTACT: Stuart Norman 0438 196 010
5944 P&M AVIATION GT-LITE 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 CONTACT: Bruce McGill buildmac@bigpond.com
5924 JABIRU 160-C
500 Airframe Hours, 100 Engine Hours, GR582 Good reliable airoplane slways hangered snd well maintained, low hours on air frame and rotax 582 blue head. PRICE: $16990 NEG CONTACT: Phillip Ensabella 0468 464 101
5934 FLIGHT DESIGN
11226.6 Airframe Hours, 1070 Engine Hours, CTLS Flight Design. CTLS carbon fibre construction. Solid 120 knots at 20litres per hour. PRICE $95350 CONTACT: David 0419 343 544 559 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
5935 AIRBORNE TUNDRA XT 912, MICROLIGHT, ULTRALIGHT, TRIKE
5927 XT-912 TOURER - LOW HRS - 156 HRS SST WING
5928 HUGHES LIGHTWING WITH JABIRU 2200 ENGINE
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 513 414 307 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
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
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
5938 SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE 2/3 SCALE REPLICA
5946 SUPERCAT
287.3 Airframe Hours, 88.25 Engine Hours, bobcat mkII. Genuine sale of my supercat (bobcat mkII). PRICE: $14000 CONTACT: Marcus Legg 0428834314
5947 SG AVIATION STORM 300 120 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 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
58
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
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
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
5955 MICROLIGHT TRIKE
aircraft. Call for data sheet. PRICE: $37500 CONTACT: Daniel Cosgriff 0468 931 895
5957 PETREL AMPHIBIOUS
5951 17 CONTINENTAL COURT, GATTON
MASTER BUILT HOME IN PRESTIGE ESTATE 2,345 Sq.mtr Block, 4 Bed/2 Bath/2Car Garage Brick Home, 1.3KW solar power system, ducted air-con & ceiling fans, 17m x 12m Hangar with direct access onto 800m runway, Town Water + 3 Rainwater Tanks, views. PRICE: $680000 CONTACT: Allison Graham 0423 301 315
5952 MORGAN SIERRA 200
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
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
5956 JABIRU UL500 CALYPSO
157 Airframe Hours, 75 Engine Hours, Sierra 200 Morgan Sierra 200. All metal, factory built by Gary Morgan, Jabiru 6 cylinder, good comfortable cross country aircraft. Buying a four seat aircraft for family travelling. $68,000 serious offers considered. PRICE: $68000 CONTACT: Glenn wilcox
746 Airframe Hours, 746 Engine Hours, UL500 Jabiru UL500 with Liquid Cooled Heads kit. TIS 746 hrs Engine and Airframe. Owned, flown and maintained by professional licenced aircraft engineer. A reliable, delightful, simple, no vices
298 Airframe Hours, 4 Engine Hours, X-air. Fully overhauled X-Air with 618 Rotax. this project aircraft and was rebuilt from the ground up. New Skins, Engine overhauled in USA, dyno data avail-
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
59
AVIATION CLASSIFIEDS able. new suspension, wing ribs, pod repainted and vinyl wrapped. Efis included not yet fitted. Decea PRICE: $17500 CONTACT: Andrew Twigg
5962 2011 RANS S-7S COURIER - MULTI AWARD WINNER
5965 ZODIAC 601HD
5959 SAVANNAH XL
745 Airframe Hours, 745 Engine Hours, Rans S-7S Rotax 912ULS, Airmaster CSU, VHF, Transponder, GPS, Fuel Computer, Electric Trim, Dual controls, 22" Tundra Tyres. Cruise 85-90kts. Very capable 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. Talosavionics A-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
250 Airframe Hours, 250 Engine Hours, 601HD Aeropower engine. TT engine and frame 250hrs. Back up for sale. Call for details. PRICE: $29000 CONTACT: Andrew Niblett 0408 801 900
5966 LOT 13 WHITSUNDAY AVIATION VILLAGE ESTATE $249K
bush machine. PRICE: $69000 CONTACT: Brett Poole 0411 122 712
5964 CUMULUS COURT - VACANT LAND IN AIRPARK ESTATE
5961 SONEX TRI-GEAR FOR SALE
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 The freedom to fly has never been so close to home with this opportunity to join an aviation community 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
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
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
SAFETY STRENGTH SIZE
BRUMBY 610 LSA - HIGH WING IN STOCK NOW!
BRUMBY AIRCRAFT AUSTRALIA TEL: +61 2 6341 1635 | FAX: +61 2 6341 1636 | E: info@brumbyaircraft.com.au | www.brumbyaircraft.com.au 60
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
ASIA PACIFIC LIGHT FLYING iEFIS Series
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KIT BUILD OR FACTORY ASSEMBLED TO YOUR PERSONAL WANTS AND NEEDS Breaking boundaries and taking you places! Sling Aircraft for Light Sport or General Aviation. Pure performance, Absolute quality. License required: the 2 seater Sling 2 - RPC (Recreational Pilot certificate) or RPL or PPL. The 4 seater Sling 4 - RPL (Recreational Pilot License) or PPL.
1300 659 228 or Errol 0415 072 498 | sales@aero.gap
www.gap.aero or visit The Airplane Factory (Pty) Ltd website at www.airplanefactory.co.za
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
61
FEATURE
MILESTONES Leigh Dawson (BELOW) Leigh Dawson achieved his RPC and PAX endorsement in April with Wagga Air Centre. He’s now moving on to his navs.
Jason Kinsella
(ABOVE) Airsports flying school at Boonah
have another first solo with Jason Kinsella achieving his in March. Well done to CFI Dave Briffa and the team. . WINGS OUT WEST
Abe Liddell (LEFT) Abe Liddell, 15, completed his first solo on March 23 at Dubbo airport in the Wings out West Super Legend. Abe greased his landing in front of his parents, who were spying through the airport fence. Chris Sharpe
(BELOW)
Laura Mott (BELOW)
Alex White (LEFT)
62
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
TOORADIN FLYING SCHOOL.
Andrew Cashin (LEFT) Congratulations to Andrew Cashin for flying your first solo on March 5. Well done! Harvinder Singh
(BELOW) Congratulations to Harvinder Singh for flying your first solo on March 16. Well done!
Sanaz and Aygun
(LEFT) One of Tooradin Flying School’s pilots had a very special surprise for a friend, who happens to be a flying student. Unbeknownst to his partner, Aygun decided to propose marriage in a unique style with an aerial proposal! Aygun flew his girlfriend Sanaz down to Grantville and from the air pointed out the very large lettering on the ground at his friend's property;
"MARRY ME SANAZ" ~Sanaz said yes! Congratulations to the happy couple, Sanaz and Aygun, on their engagement on March 5.
Tom Margerison
(ABOVE) is training for a career in aviation with Soar at Bankstown. He started in December, has achieved his first solo and nearly ready for his RPC pre licence test. In a unique twist he flies part time. He’s married with two children and works 50+ hours a week to support his family and his flying.
Hayden Kennedy
(ABOVE)
Young Hayden Kennedy passed his flight test with Merit Aviation at Moruya, and is working toward his passenger endorsement so he can take his father for a flight. “It feels great but I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” he says. AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
63
Now available in Australia in kit build or factory build
Affordable | Simplistic | Rugged | Quality LSA | Fun www.gap.aero Contact info@gap.aero, t 1300 659 228 / c +61 400 639 388 / m +61 415 072 498
30 Eagle Drive Jandakot Western Australia 6164 Ph: +61 8 9332 7655 E: airspares@westernair.com.au
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AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
IT’SRAAUS TIME AVIATION TO SUBSCRIBE! CLASSIFIEDS – SIMPLE AND AFFORDABLE Australian Sport Pilot is Australia’s number one destination if you want to read about the best in Recreational Aviation in Australia. With flight tests, in depth profiles about pilots, and safety stories to help make everyone safer in the air, it’s a great read. It’s simple to subscribe. Either go to the webpage
www.raa.asn.au/ sport-pilot-magazine-application
ISSUE 9 ©DECEMBER
ISSUE 8 @SEPTEMBER
2018
2018
FAS T FLYI NG FUN
ISSUE 7 ©AUGUST 2018
THE MAGIC
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FEET NOT REQUIRED TIGER TRIKE
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MINICAB GY20
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When the time comes to move your aeroplane on, RAAus Aviation Classifieds Or mail in the form below. is the only place you need to go. It’s a simple fixed price service to RAAus members that includes a complimentary listing in Australian Sport Pilot.
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ATEC 321 FAETA NG All Carbon Fibre - Factory Built LSA No Corrosion No Loose Rivets…. EVER
600kg MTOW Empty weight from 290kg Aircraft shown - 310kg
Powered by 100hp ROTAX 912 ULS, 912iS or 914 STOL Performance with 134kt TAS CRUISE (18L/Hr) & STALL as low as 27kts One of the strongest Nose Wheels around on an LSA Mains Landing Gear soaks up rough strips Exceptional Brakes PO Box 30 DENMAN NSW 2328
100L Wing Tanks - Over 5 hours endurance
Dexter Burkill — 0428 686 396 (Denman) Sean Griffin — 0499 030 659 (The Oaks)
email: atecplanes@bigpond.com
www.atecplanes.com.au
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
65
COLUMN
FINAL APPROACH CHRISTMAS IN MARCH
I
’m still bathing in the afterglow of what I describe as my own personal Christmas, which is held in the same anticipation as I used to hold the real arrival of Santa when I was seven. I’m talking about the Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia national fly in held every year at Echuca. It’s a three day celebration of not just everything antique that flies, but also many other more modern types. The association is happy for you to join no matter what you fly provided you have an interest in the older things that fly. Among the ranks of the aeroplanes parked is a growing number of RAAus registered aeroplanes, like the one on this month’s cover. There were also a few homebuilts and a couple of factory builts who came to the event, drawn by the camaraderie of being among fellow enthusiasts. I managed to come away with a few stories which will be rolled out over the coming months, but my main joy in attending every year is to be with lots of pilots, hear about their flying in the previous year and experience the odd flight in their aeroplanes. At the heart of it most of us are genuine enthusiasts. This is our tribe and getting among them feels like coming home. There’s Kim Yoannadis, a 737 captain during the week and the giver of joy flights in his 1941 Tiger Moth at Antiquers fly ins, not for payment but just for fun. Why does he do it? “Flying the jet is how I make my living. It’s fun and demanding but this is more fun,” he says. “We like sharing it around. I’d like everybody to be able to experience it. As I’ve said before we are simply custodians to the aircraft. Technically I own it but I’m just the current custodian. One day I’ll pass it on to the next one.” With fine weather, aeroplanes were taking off and landing all the time. Outside the Echuca Aero Club people stood in large groups, talking about the world of flight, only stopping as an aeroplane taxied past. A new aeroplane to gain people’s
66
AUSTRALIAN SPORT PILOT | May 2019
Clin Ashton-Martin
Emma Taberner in her Cub.
attention was Emma Taberner’s 1952 PA 18 Super Cub that saw military service as the unit hack at HMAS Nowra before falling into civilian hands. “This weekend is fabulous. We catch up with all the people we only see once a year. It’s a celebration of aviation and friendship,” she says. That’s the thing with any aviation gathering. Aviation enthusiasts share a bond forged by their love of the sky. Being an active pilot means you always have a place to go, even if it’s only to do circuits on a quiet day. We share the sky and that means we share a knowledge few ever learn. Flying is something that’s always better when you are sharing it with someone else. At a fly in, big or small, there are more people who understand just why you choose to fly. I think this is why aero club weekend breakfasts are growing in popularity. You fly in, you meet, you eat and then, after looking at the other aeroplanes and talking to
people who you may have never met, say ‘see ya later’ and fly on home. That’s the other special thing about flying. Australia has big skies to go with its vast distances and as pilots we tend to have friends who live far away. Yet we always say ‘see ya later’ because chances are you will, at an airfield where other pilots have gathered. As I get older my flying has changed. Where once it was about what’s the next large, fast machine I can get checked out on, now it’s the simple pleasure of good company and interesting aeroplanes, be they RAAus or GA. The stories about people’s journey in aviation always fascinate me because everyone has a slightly different route that they’ve followed. So if it’s been a while since you went to a fly in, look up where the next one is near you, and then go and immerse yourself in the atmosphere of planes and people. I guarantee you’ll fly home with a huge smile. Clear Prop.
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