September-October 2018

Australian Flying

Australia's premier General Aviation magazine

Australian Flying2 min read
Good Idea, Mr Krantz
The problem with the AGAA summit may just be that too much came out of it. After playing back all my recorded material and going through my own notes, I felt totally overwhelmed with the problems that beset GA in Australia. On top of that, the indust
Australian Flying3 min read
AirMail
Gudday, Steve. I believe there is a very cheap way to promote GA, for the organisation that runs it at least, but with flow-on effects that will benefit everyone associated with the industry, be it maintenance, avionics, the many and varied advertise
Australian Flying2 min read
General Aviation to get Specific Maintenance Regulations
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Michael McCormack has committed the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to creating maintenance regulations specifically for general aviation. In a statement released in early Jul
Australian Flying2 min read
Weight Increase Imminent For RAAus
A leaked e-mail from within CASA and a statement to Recreational Aviation Australia (RAAus) members has all but confirmed that RAAus will get an increase in the maximum take-off weight (MTOW) for aircraft they are permitted to administer. The CASA e-
Australian Flying8 min read
Getting Back in the Air
The objective of every pilot is to be airborne, but sometimes, life gets in the way of flying. Often, we are forced, by a myriad of events or challenges thrown at us by life, to stay on the ground for a while. Commonly health, starting a family, livi
Australian Flying11 min read
Power with Panache
The leading hand rattled off a long string of language complete with complementing hand gestures. I didn’t get a word of it because it was in French, and to be embarrassingly honest, my French is at best mauvais. When he stopped, my guide and interpr
Australian Flying9 min read
Born To Be Versatile
Marketing 101: find out what your customers want and then give it to them. It's a very simple philosophy that far too many companies today tend to ignore. Mostly, the markets are asked to accept what the company is capable of making, and aviation is
Australian Flying7 min read
Communications in Hand
Light and radio waves and radiation are variations of the same thing. They are all parts of the same electromagnetic spectrum. (This may be the first article in a flying magazine to start with a discussion of radiophysics!) Light, or the visible spec
Australian Flying9 min read
A Tramp called Neville
I was in the middle of some important duty in the hangar when my domain was intruded upon by a figure who, at first glance, appeared to be a scarecrow. He was an extremely skinny and washed-out looking human being of about 30. He had a beakish nose,
Australian Flying8 min read
Satellite Navigation made Better
It’s doubtful there’s anyone whose life isn’t touched by GPS. Today’s world expects a universal source of position, navigation and timing (PNT) that is dependable and accurate. Every industry relies on it, and without it, many things we take for gran
Australian Flying2 min read
How Are SBAS-Enabled Approaches Designed?
Australian Flying asked Obrad Puskarica, Flight Paths Design Manager at Airservices Australia, about the task ahead for instrument procedure designers to produce Australian LPV procedures to use with SBAS. “To get the full advantage of LPV down to Ca
Australian Flying9 min read
Full Steam Ahead
I have a saying that I used to live by: never go back; life is too short to repeat past experiences. My logbook attests that although my aviation experience hasn’t been in a straight line, starting with a Beechcraft Skipper, to a Piper Warrior, a Dak
Australian Flying7 min read
It’s A Long Way There
Banjo Paterson wrote of wanting to be far away somewhere else, and just about every pilot, in a dingy little office somewhere, has had the same thought. For Western Australian GA pilots, there’s a standard rite of passage to the east coast, and vice
Australian Flying4 min read
Advocacy in Action
The ABAA has, for several years, been represented at many aviation forums and meeting groups. These include the Infrastructure and Transport minister’s General Aviation Advisory Group (GAAG), the Australian Strategic Air Traffic Management Group (AST
Australian Flying4 min read
Permanent Helipad For Melbourne Gets Closer
Moorabbin-based Microflite helicopters together with backing from Victorian tourism and convention groups are proposing a permanent helipad in the Melbourne Central Business District (CBD). A four-helicopter helipad and a small terminal has been prop
Australian Flying3 min read
Transparency drives Authenticity
Four years ago I was given an opportunity to work with RAAus and influence a much needed organisational change agenda. By late 2014 we had lost our way. CASA had taken the decision to stop us from registering aircraft. Members were angry and demanded
Australian Flying3 min read
Products & innovation
Many of us can only dream of having an aviation career as varied and colourful as that of Stan Tilley; however, thanks to his new book Do Not Land When Swans are Walking, we have the ability to live it vicariously. A native of Tasmania, Tilley has ha
Australian Flying2 min readPolitics
Monck On Changing The Act
RAAus president Michael Monck was part of a contigent of recreational people to attend the GA summit at Wagga Wagga in July. Australian Flying asked him what he thought of the idea of changing the Civil Aviation Act to remove the primacy of safety. “
Australian Flying2 min read
Guardian Of The Engine
Aeroplane engines are expensive things to maintain, but the cost of not maintaining them can't be counted. We rely on them every time we fly, so–CASA requirements aside–we'd be fools to keep them in less than serviceable condition. What we can do, ho
Australian Flying3 min readEarth Sciences
An RV in the Long White Cloud
The plan was for me to fly the RV, with Mike, the owner, in the rear seat handling all nav/com functions, so I could concentrate on flying the aeroplane I’m familiar with, and the scenery. We flew in company with Malcolm, a local dynamo who also desi
Australian Flying3 min read
Agency for Change
I know there are people who continue to believe CASA has something against general aviation. It is claimed we ignore the needs of general aviation, fail to listen to the views of people from general aviation and create regulatory problems for the sec
Australian Flying2 min read
Who has Control?
This discussion contains extracts from the SACAA’s accident report. It is compiled in the interest of promoting aviation safety and not to establish legal liability. Date of Accident: 20 March 2008 Time of Accident: 1250Z Aircraft Registration: ZS-FA
Australian Flying4 min read
What Can We Learn?
Before we start, I was initially confused about who “she” was – then I realised that the instructor and pupil were both females. Knowing this makes it easier to understand what was happening. OK, we have at least five things going wrong here. 1. On t
Australian Flying4 min readPolitics
GA Summit Fosters Cautious Optimism
Delegates to the July Australian General Aviation Alliance (AGAA) summit at Wagga Wagga were infused with a new optimism in the wake of the event, not because of what politicians said, but because of the summit itself. For the first time that most of
Australian Flying1 min read
Summary Of Conclusions And Resolutions
• the desire to maintain or improve Australia’s aviation safety outcomes• GA is vital to Australia in economic, social and community service terms• GA is overburdened with the complexity and cost flowing from the current Civil Aviation Act, regulatio
Australian Flying3 min read
CASA’s Latest Fuelish Notions
There are many dumb ways to crash as airplane but running out of fuel has to be one of the dumbest. When I heard that CASA were about to change the regulations regarding fuel requirements for aircraft, my initial reaction was to think that was maybe

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