Plane Crazy Down Under » RA-Aus

PCDU Episode 63: RA-Aus NatFly 2011

Grant (Falcon124) — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 03:37:05 +0000

Every year at Easter, Recreational Aviation Australia holds its National Fly In (NatFly). This is an event where RA-Aus members, vendors & interested folks come to meet, attend workshops, review vendor offerings, undertake test flights and show off their aircraft. Aircraft range from powered parachutes & ultralights through to home builds and the latest sport & recreational aircraft. Importers and manufacturers are present to showcase their equipment, the circuit is filled with aircraft undertaking demo flights and the local hotels & bars are filled at night with tall tales and recollections.

We were fortunate to be invited to attend along with the team from Aviation Advertiser, setting up our mobile recording studio in one of the Temora Aviation Museum’s hangars (along with their Mk VIII Spitfire and Cessna A37). We arrived on the Friday morning and departed on the Saturday evening, experiencing two very busy days packed with interviews, discussions, aircraft & equipment inspections and a couple of demo flights.

Suffice to say there was plenty of material captured and we’ve managed to squeeze the best of it into yet another very large episode. We considered splitting it over two but there’s more great content on the way on other topics so we felt it best to pack it all into one large package.

The content we present in this episode is:

An introduction with Steve, Grant, Ben & Bas
Brumby Aircraft with Paul Goward
Laurie Hines and his Revolution Mini-500 helicopter
John Garton from Leisure Sport Aircraft talks about the Paradise P1 aircraft from Brazil
Gyrocopter pilot Sam Polyak talks about the EVA Aviacion ELA 08
Gary Flood from Bert Flood Imports discusses the latest Rotax engines
Owen Zupp joins us to chat about how he undertakes an air test
Paul Chernikeef talks with us about Rotec Engineering’s latest radial engines
Nick Sharples talks about the AVOCET aircraft his father Mike has created from a Jabiru 230
Tony Blair talks to us about flying aerobatics and RAAF ab initio training
Jon Johansen from Flymore steps us through the TruTrak EFIS, EMS & autopilot systems on offer
John Lindner gives us a visitor’s view of the show
Bryce Hughes joins us from Cub Crafters
Matthew Maude from Performance Metals Australia gets detailed on metal
Some of the cockpit audio from Steve’s test flight of a Brumby R600
John Conte from Aerochute talks to us about their powered parachutes
Gary Sargeant discusses the amazing EQ1 Wireless Headset he’s invented

We then wrap up the episode with a review of the show between Steve, Grant, Ben & Bas along with a quick chat about the OzRunways application that Bas has been developing.

PCDU Episode 62: Advertising Advocacy

Grant (Falcon124) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 01:48:53 +0000

Aviation in Australia is experiencing a difficult time and General Aviation is especially being hit hard. User fees are continuing to increase, rules are being changed and airports are being shutdown or reduced in size due to encroachment by non-aviation construction. We’re joined in this episode by Ben Morgan from Aviation Advertiser to discuss these issues, highlight the need for people to take action and discuss what those actions might be. Ben’s certainly not holding back as the stakes are too high to be diplomatic.

We also have some other great chats in this show, including:

Steve Ahrens talking about the upcoming Barossa Airshow (May 1st, 2011)
A chat with the crew of an RAAF Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft that we recorded back at Avalon Airshow
A collection of quick chats with some RA-Aus pilots at Avalon, including:
- Peter Harlow from Foxbat Australia
- John Callahan with his Typhoon Glider
- Peter Kane with his Kitfox
Ben Morgan then rejoins us to discuss the state of the second hand aircraft market in Australia and a couple of the aircraft available for sale on Aviation Advertiser

PCDU Episode 48: ADS-B: C’est un pétard! – with Bill Hamilton

Grant (Falcon124) — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 03:13:51 +0000

While the technology behind ADS-B is nothing new, it is becoming the centerpiece of modern Air Traffic Management systems around the world. Unfortunately, CASA is once again taking a global concept and creating an entirely unique Australian implementation of it.

According to CASA’s Discussion Paper (DP) 1006AS
Proposed Strategy and Regulatory Plan in support of the Australian Government’s Aviation White Paper, any aircraft added to the Australian register after 2013 must have an ADS-B out compliant Mode-S Transponder on board. This means large added costs for no real benefit beyond that already provided by Mode-C and Mode-S transponders.

This is creating no small level of concern in the aviation communities, including RA-Aus, ballooning and others, as can be seen from a recent discussion about DP 1006AS on the Recreational Flying site. Even the airlines who were pushing for ADS-B to improve safety at regional airports are now realising that the costs are huge (it’s not a simple upgrade of their avionics) and the benefits are minor.

With all this in mind, Bas & Grant chat with Bill Hamilton, past president & technical director of the Australian Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association (AOPA). While Bill can appreciate ADS-B’s history and benefits, he doesn’t hold back when it comes to CASA’s attempt at creating yet another uniquely Australian implementation. We discuss the differences between the US, European and Australian implementation plans, the costs associated with our version and the lack of real benefit CASA’s proposal will provide.

As the title of CASA’s Discussion Paper shows, the proposal is implementing an aspect of the Australian Government’s Aviation White Paper. If, like many, you are concerned about the costs being applied to the aviation industry for little real benefit, it is important to respond to the DP by November 30th. It is also vital that Australian aviators write to their elected representatives, members of the opposition and their aviation organisations (eg: AOPA, RA-Aus, ABF, etc) to ensure politicians are aware that the proposed solution will cause more harm than good.

You can easily find who is representing you at the Australian Government’s “Who’s Who” page. You can also find a great guide to writing effective letters to politicians over on the Crikey website.

Don’t assume others will sort this one out for you. Don’t take the classic Australian “She’ll be right” approach. Get out there and tell CASA, the politicians and your aviation group what you think, otherwise the safe skies will be achieved thanks to the removal of any non-airline aircraft.

PCDU Episode 44: Hannes, Bas and the Rhino

Grant (Falcon124) — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 06:25:44 +0000

In an effort to reassure you that we’re not trying to cut any corners as we build towards our 50th episode, this episode comes in at over 2 hours in length (our longest ever, in fact). It’s jam packed with great content, including:

A chat with Bas Scheffers about:
- The impact of the Class D changes at Parafield
- The flying he’s been doing lately in his Evektor Sportstar
- The Parafield Airshow
- How the Aeroscene Flying Group is going
- A review of some of the latest RA-Aus developments (Recreational Aviation Australia)
A chat with Hannes Arch (Red Bull Air Race pilot) where we discuss his 2010 season and his plans for 2011/2012
An interview with an F18F pilot that David Vanderhoof recorded at the Oceana Air Show
A discussion between Steve & David about the history of the F18, its current status with the Super Hornet (aka Rhino) and the implications of the F35 JSF
Controllers Corner #2
The View from the Lounge: “Monkey in Business”
We read some mail & forum items:
- Cameron Liberts enjoyed episode 42
- Turb Coriolis comments on episode 43 in our forum
- Anthony Crichton-Browne enjoys our content even if he does disagree with some of what we say :) – he also points us to video of the recently deceased Renaud Ecalle performing an aerobatics at the World Aerobatic Championships in 2009
We give a set of Shout Outs to:
- The Flying Ant podcast by Anthony Crichton-Browne (a 767 pilot) who also has a blog
- The Flaps Podcast from the UK is an awesome new show – we highly recommend it
- Andrew Offen from Brisbane took Grant & Nykolai for a flight in his Cirrus SR22 with the new Avidyne Release 9 package – an amazing aircraft & systems and a lot of fun catching up with Andrew for a flight
- Brendan Viti is getting his IFR rating – wow!

Please note that our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com and our theme music track is “YouNameIt5″ by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5).

PCDU Episode 15: And now for something completely different, here is the news

Grant (Falcon124) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:37:51 +0000

We’re back to being our opiniated selves with a backlog of news stories to work through and discuss. Once again Bas Scheffers joins us for some of the news and to discuss a number of RA-Aus items. From Beavers to Tigers and even Kiwi Skyhawks doing battle with bureaucracy, we cover a diverse range of topics including:

QANTAS shareholders fail to block Dixon’s $3m payment
- Shareholders blast Qantas over Dixon payout (ABC News)
- Qantas shareholders slam Dixon payout (Steve Creedy @ The Australian)
Jetstar tight-lipped on Facebook ‘sacking’ (ABC News)
RedBull AirRace returns to Perth in 2010 (see Tourism West Australia’s release)
Rocket Lab Primed To Launch New Zealand’s First Rocket Into Space (Voxy.co.nz)
Crash fears after 10 near misses a year in NSW (Sydney Morning Herald
Qantas unveils Socceroos 747 (Australian Aviation)
Jetstar plane evacuated after engine fire (ABC News)
Virgin Blue 737′s nose wheel ‘disintegrates’ on landing
Police guard staff after Tiger passengers left stranded (Mex Cooper @ Sydney Morning Herald)
Qantas passengers stranded for 26 hours(Kate Schneider @ News.com.au)
Next QANTAS A380s delayed due to technical issues
- Technical issues force delay to Qantas’s next two A380s (Australian Aviation)
- Qantas talks straight on Airbus problem (ABC News)
Qantas A380 project takes out award (Australian Aviation)
Russian jets ‘refused’ on Black Saturday (Melissa Jenkins @ NineMSN)
General Aviation & RA-Aus round-up
- Australia’s centenary of powered flight to be celebrated at Diggers Rest between March 18th & 21st, 2010 (see Victorian government’s release
- RFDS enters jet age (Australian Aviation)
- The Last Super Beaver (Australian Aviation)
- Mayor calls for Jandakot curfew
- Bas reports on his experiences at the Jamestown airshow
- Discussion on changes coming up in RA-Aus (25nm over water, 600kg for non-ISA but no increase of weight to 760kg)
- Bas talks about the AeroScene flying group
RNZAF A4 Skyhawks battle bureaucracy to get sold
Update on RAAF Airbus KC-30 MRTT
- Third tanker enters conversion facility (Australian Aviation)
- Second RAAF tanker flies (Australian Aviation)

$1bn industry package & early availability for a RAN Romeo buy

As usual, our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com and our theme music track is “YouNameIt5″ by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5).

PCDU Episode 12: It’s not that late in Adelaide…

Grant (Falcon124) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:39:02 +0000

Despite his better judgement, Bas Scheffers comes back to hang out with us once again as we discuss some of the news items from the past week or so. Topics of discussion in this episode include:

Please note that our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com and our theme music track is “YouNameIt5″ by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5).

PCDU Episode 11: Recreationally Yours

Grant (Falcon124) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 13:15:18 +0000

This episode we’re joined by Bas Scheffers, a Recreational Aviation Australia pilot (our version of the US Sport Pilot rules) who flies out of Parafield airport (YPPF) in Adelaide, South Australia. We have a great chat about flying RA-Aus aircraft, GAAP issues, the benefits of learning to fly under RA-Aus instead of the usual GA, the information available from the recreational flying community and even discuss the new AAAF Forum (Forum for free speech on industry: AAAF – Steve Creedy @ The Australian).

After our great chat with Bas, we move on to our usual opinionated regional news review which includes the following items:

David Vanderhoof provides a “This week in Australian aviation history” segment for us
In Dust we Trust
Tiger Airlines strands people at Mackay:
- Cancelled flight strands hundreds (Fallon Hudson @ The Daily Mercury)
- Tiger Airways causes chaos at Mackay (e-Travel Blackboard)
Geoff Dixon’s golden parachute from QANTAS
High-speed thrills as Thunderbirds roll in: USAF (Mike Glynn @ The Australian)
Boeing To Test Military Airplane Over Hood Canal (Q13 Fox News)
Final boarding call: empty bladders only (Mark Willacy @ ABC News)

Please note that our sound effects come from SoundSnap.com and our theme music track is “YouNameIt5″ by Brian Simpson (aka t3cat5).