Table of contents for November-December 2019 in Australian Flying

Training in Trouble Steve, Your article about Glen [Buckley – Australian Flying September-October 2019] is excellent. My Cobden Aero Club has written to our local MP Dan Tehan asking for a deputation in order to address the many ills of GA. Our Club has little hope of being sustained due to the many unnecessary impositions, but particularly due to the near impossibility of attracting an instructor. Your article I will use to illustrate the problem. The extraordinary fact is that none of the massive expense, effort and time consuming processes of CASA’s “600 dot-point” mega paperwar is necessary at all. Our own proven safe and effective flying training schools of yesteryear are proof enough. Even clearer is the successful USA model of today where some 70% of flying training is…

1 New Cirrus to tackle Training Demands 2 Robinson’s R66 clocks up One Million Hours 3 New Redcliffe charges Threaten Businesses: RACCI 4 CASA releases Draft Part 91 Plain English Guide 5 Sunshine Coast Academy Right Option for CQU 6 TAAAF backs CASA and ATSB in Angel Flight Ruckus 7 Scholarships helps Kate aim at the Flying Doctor 8 Council backs down as Tyabb Air Show reinstated 9 Icon reduces Workforce as Demand Softens 10 Elite introduces Personal Helicopter Sim SIGN UP TO KEEP UP! The Australian Flying website is updated daily with the latest GA news stories. Visit us online now at www.australianflying.com.au to also check out our free classifieds section, photo and video galleries, blogs, flying tips articles and comprehensive Warbird coverage. And be sure to register for…

If you have ever looked at a European sports car like a Porsche 911 or an Audi RS and thought, “if only it had wings for that price”, the new JMB VL3 Evolution might be the recreational aeroplane you are after. The Evolution is every bit like a European sports with wings. From the handcrafted leather body-hugging seats to the startling performance, it is a sports car amongst recreational aircraft. In fact, it’s currently the fastest light aircraft under 600 kg MTOW. The VL3 Evolution comes out of Chocen in the Czech Republic and is manufactured by JMB Aircraft using the latest composite technology that uses not only carbon layers for strength, but also Kevlar to reinforce for crash-worthiness whilst keeping the structure light. The whole fuselage alone weighs in…

I am probably not alone in having the Tiger Moth feature in my childhood daydreams of being a pilot. In fact, most pilots seem to reserve a special fondness for this iconic aeroplane. When you get a chance to learn to fly a Tiger Moth, it starts to get a bit surreal. It’s not the same as being checked out on another type, and for me, there’s a much bigger burden of responsibility because the Tiger is an important piece of history. The most common words of wisdom are instructive: “it’s an easy plane to fly, but a hard plane to fly well”. I found that to be very true, and I have a long way to go before I can say I fly the Tiger well. “My” Tiger Moth…

There are owners for whom it’s the best or nothing, and their aircraft reflect that. Camden based, twin Cessna 340A, VH-VVK, is one of those aircraft VVK is owned by Chris Panayiotou, who learned to fly at Camden in 1994, adding an instrument rating shortly afterwards. When it came time to buy his dream aeroplane, he set the parameters of at least four hours endurance with reserves, the ability to carry four adults plus baggage in pressurised comfort and a cruise speed of more than 200 knots. Panayiotou wanted an aircraft he could use for business – he is the co-owner of a project management firm involved in construction. He wanted the perfect $200 (for a twin) hamburger aircraft and an aeroplane for Angel Flights. Panayiotou was attracted to the…

Following the release of a Defence White Paper in 2016, which foreshadowed the early retirement of the Australian Defence Force’s Eurocopter EC665 Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) fleet, the Australian Army is planning to replace the helicopters from the mid-2020s, and to this end recently released an industry Request For Information (RFI). The early retirement of the Tiger follows persistent issues with serviceability rates and technical issues, which include problems connecting its groundbreaking Eurogrid battlefield management system datalink to other ADF assets and networks, which, it is reported, has limited its operational capability. It is also understood that there is an element within defence or government circles that have undermined the platform since its introduction into the ADF. The Army’s 22 Tigers, operated by 161 and 162 Reconnaissance Squadrons, which…

Matt Hall’s Red Bull Air Race (RBAR) career clock was at two minutes to midnight when he strapped himself into his MXS-R racer for what would be his last ever run. After eight seasons his ambition to be RBAR world champion was still unfulfilled. Second three times; third once. Never had he finished in first place, and with the RBAR series winding up permanently, it was now or never. Last September, alongside the beach at Chiba in Japan, Matt Hall’s name was finally added to the annals of air race history as the last World Champion. It would be a stretch to say that his last run to defeat local hero Yoshi Muroya was done at break-neck speed, racing against the clock in a dash for glory. In fact, it…

One of the aims of AirVenture Australia this year was to promote aviation to school students via a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) program. Despite the challenging conditions, AirVenture organisers are hailing the program as an outstanding success. The day-long aviation careers and STEM engagement program, consisting of six, one-hour programs was designed to engage young people in the STEM disciplines. Participating students selected four of the six to complete. Activities ranged from airfoil construction to software coding and aerodynamics, giving students a broad exposure to industry occupations and concepts. “Two hundred students attended the STEM and Aerospace Careers program on the Friday of the event,” said AirVenture organiser David Young. “Whilst a challenging day for the students in the weather conditions, students had the opportunity to learn about…

You are just back from (EAA) Oshkosh. What were your main impressions and learnings as may be applicable to Australia? This was a personal trip, for which I paid my own way, so I was there as a pilot and aviation enthusiast, like so many of the 650,000 others who attended this year My main impression was one of admiration. The EAA does an incredible job, in every respect. I also reflected on the EAA’s 50 years’ experience in running the event at Oshkosh, which has enabled them to refine it, and the huge resources they can bring to bear, for example, admissions fee revenue, thousands of volunteers, and the purpose-built existing facilities. I was also staggered by the sheer numbers of pristine aircraft, especially the warbirds. In terms of…

Many readers of Australian Flying will remember a GA pre-flight ritual, which sometimes took longer than the flight itself: attend the briefing office, collect NOTAMs and weather forecasts, fill out the flight plan form. Sometimes, the weather justified a discussion with the ever-helpful forecasters, who would caution when visual meteorological conditions might not prevail. Then pilots would take the flight planning form to one of the briefing officers, perhaps the most patient people the world has ever known. Once reviewed, the flight plan form would get an official stamp that honoured everyone’s perseverance. Details of the flight were distributed by the briefing office’s teletype to relevant flight service and ATC units. In the 1960s and 70s, the process mostly worked, but by the 1980s, its complexity had fallen out of…

Flying schools are the breeding grounds that spawn the pilots of the future. They are the genesis of the Airbus and Boeing skippers that steer hundreds of thousands of passengers across continents and oceans to business meetings and holiday destinations. They are the start-point for the air ambulance pilots, helicopter rescue pilots, charter pilots and croppies that regularly ply the more disorganised Class G airspace that predominates at lower levels. But flying schools are facing futures of uncertainty and change, which, if handled with a lack of prudence, can have consequences further on up the road of aviation. They are challenges that the training industry is facing very much on its own. The great divide The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) created a schism in flight training when it bucketed…

The Osprey GP 4 is a scratch-built aircraft, the fourth aircraft from designer George Pereira, It is a low wing side-by-side retractable gear aircraft of wood construction. It has a single spar stressed to +8 to -6g loading. The aircraft’s wooden construction is labour-intensive. I purchased the plans and in December 2005 started the project by making the working bench. This was 24 feet long and 4 feet wide and it was all levelled up in the garage. Next the spruce and plywood was ordered. Most of the next few years involved wood work, making formers, assembling fuselage and wing. Then came the time to start making the metal parts. The fun part was drawing the single items on Autocad and then getting the metal sheets laser cut. It certainly…

Applications for the latest round of the Remote Airstrip Upgrade Program (RAUP) opened on 1 October this year. The 2018–19 Federal Budget allocated $28.3 million over four years to fund works designed to improve the safety and capacity of remote airstrips. RAUP provides federal government funding for airfields that are located in, or service, areas of Australia classified as Remote or Very Remote by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Since the current government came to power in 2013, $40 million has spent on 209 programs, although the previous government also allocated funds for remote airports under a different scheme. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said airstrips in remote areas are crucial pieces of community infrastructure. “For many communities, air services are essential…

Under the maxim that all ratings make pilots better and safer, I arrived at Icon’s Vacaville, California, training facility to complete a seaplane rating. Before the trip I had spent a day of seaplane introduction with Kevin Bowe in Noosa. We flew in his Lake Buccaneer, and I was scheduled to be his last student before he retired after 45 years of teaching. I also had a day with the late Judy Hodge flying her C182 on floats at Port Macquarie Seaplanes. There was also a test flight of the Icon A5 from Hawthorne with former navy carrier pilot Noah Collins. We flew to Catalina Island and enjoyed multiple touch and goes off the western shores. Whereas every seaplane is different many of the principles herein are common to all.…

In Florida in 2000, the pilot of a Piper Cherokee Six, carrying Henry George Anhalt and his family, collapsed at the controls. Anhalt, who had no aviation training, had to learn to fly – and on the spot. Anhalt, his wife and their three sons were on a private flight home from a religious mission in the Bahamas when their pilot, Kristopher Pearce, 36, collapsed. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital. To make matters worse, the aircraft was running out of fuel. When I tried to switch it over to the other tank, it would start sputtering and sputtering so I would change it back to the empty one,” he said to the American Broadcasting Commission. Ten minutes out of Florida’s Winter Haven airport and 1000 feet in…

The concept of business aviation commenced in the 1920s in Wichita, Kansas and at a few other air-minded locations throughout the world. The concept rapidly turned into reality with substantial growth in the 1930s. Since WWII, the real benefits of business aviation have come to the fore, starting with several military aircraft being converted to civil roles. These included the Dakota and Beech 18 twins. Clyde Cessna, Walter Beech and Lloyd Stearman commenced business together in Wichita in 1925 in a small brick building, which can still be seen in the original Beechcraft manufacturing facility at East Central, Wichita. The partnership did not last long with Clyde Cessna leaving in 1927, preferring high-wing designs. The irony is that Cessna and Beech are now both owned by Textron, even though sometimes…

I have always been fascinated with time, so much so that one of my major assignments in high school was based on time. I researched the great philosophers who have examined the concept of time through the ages: Galileo, McTaggart, Newton and others. I’ve read books on time, my favourite is Felt Time: The Psychology of How We Perceive Time by Marc Wittman. It’s a fascinating read. We always think we have time. We are always saying to a friend “Let’s catch up next week.” Or we look at a job we need to do at home and we say “tomorrow”. We look at the aircraft in pieces in the hangar and say “next week”. Life is made up of seconds, which turn into minutes, which turn into hours ……

The risks of visual flight rules (VFR) pilots flying into low visibility including instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) are well documented, and has been the focus of numerous Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) accident investigations and research publications, as well as our latest safety promotion campaign, “Don’t Push it, Don’t Go – Know your limits before flight”. A total of 101 occurrences of VFR pilots inadvertently flying into IMC in Australian airspace were reported to the ATSB in the decade from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2019. Of those occurrences, nine were accidents resulting in 21 fatalities. Not surprisingly, then, weather-related accidents remain one of the ATSB’s most significant general aviation safety concerns, and the often fatal outcomes of these accidents are all the more tragic because they are avoidable.…