TEFC                     

 I may have found out what that experience is like, but luckily a friend who had just bought a drifter and was looking at my aircraft for similarities noticed that my left rudder cable had frayed to a point where there were only 2 out of six strands holding the cable on. The how or why isn't important but the second set of eyes is.

Norm Turner who was the CFI of our club always used to have a peek at other folks aircraft and it is this professionalism that keeps people alive. I welcome people having a look and pointing out potential or existing problems with my drifter because it helps keep me alive.

Anyway I put together a small video to show you what the cable looked like...

I have purchased like cable for both sides so I know that both rudder cables have the same life in them.

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This entry was posted on September 1, 2011 at 10:39 PM and has received 237 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Firstly apologies for not writing much recently. I look at my annual flying hours in my little drifter and think that maybe my priorities are a little skewed. Speaking of drifters, Greg, my boss is now the proud owner of a drifter and joins the vintage ultralight owners brigade. I look forward to posting photographs of slow journeys to the Tiwi islands and beyond.

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This entry was posted on July 15, 2011 at 10:39 PM and has received 320 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Vince, a good friend and member of the club here in Darwin posted via email a link to a great flight planning package from CASA for low hour VFR pilots.

'Plans are nothing - planning is everything'

Safety Promotion as part of its range of aviation safety information materials has just released a Flight Planning kit.

It costs 15 dollars which basically just covers the freight and contains

The Flight Planning Kit is designed to assist low-hour VFR pilots with good flight planning habits. Includes a handbook outlining eight stages of a flight; kneeboard; flight planning notepad; personal minimums card; time in your tanks card; durable A3-sized manoeuvring maps of Archerfield, Bankstown, Camden, Jandakot, Moorabbin and Parafield; and more.

The Flight Planning Kit is available to industry via the CASA online store http://casa.cart.net.au/details/3383840.html 

I reckon that a box of these at Natfly for giveaways to attendees (okay - a really big box then) would be a fantastic idea and I hope our office team in Canberra can make the call to organise some of these kits. But in the meantime, jump online and check out the kit and order one - I am going to.

Thanks Vince

Because this should also be about what we love... here are some shots taken recently over Fogg Dam in the Northern Territory. The aircraft is our training drifter flown by Greg with photos taken from my drifter.

From Drifters

This entry was posted on April 1, 2011 at 4:49 AM and has received 538 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Your CASA Aviation Safety Advisors will be presenting an Aviation Safety Seminar;
Where; Darwin Airport Resort
When; 6.30pm on the 22nd of September 2010.
The main topic will be "Weather- flying in the wet season"
There will also be a briefing from a Bureau of Meteorology forecaster.

A light meal and refreshments will be provided.

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This entry was posted on October 9, 2010 at 8:12 AM and has received 702 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Peter Ball from CASA sent this through - apologies if you have already received it.

Top level training opportunities usually combine the need to send staff away for long periods with associated high cost involvement.
Thankfully this is not always the case;

I have been approached by the International Society of Air Safety Investigators(ISASI) to determine the level of interest in running one of their
"Reachout" courses in Darwin in the October/November period.
You can research "ISASI" and "reachout program" on the ISASI website;
http://www.isasi.org/reachout_tp.html

This would be an excellent opportunity to obtain targeted training delivered locally for minimal cost. ISASI are a not for profit organisation,
as a result the cost of the training will be between 300 to $400 per person depending on number of participants.
This money is used to cover costs of air travel and accommodation for program staff and cost of venue hire.
A draft copy of the course content is attached, the course could be shortened to three days without a dramatic reduction in content.

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This entry was posted on August 14, 2010 at 9:28 AM and has received 392 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

 Which stands for Recreational Aviation Administration Organisations (RAAOs). CASA has been very busy getting all twenty something of these organisations under one roof and ensuring that our governance procedures are up to scratch. For those interested in reading John McCormick's speech. (John is the boss of CASA - formally is the Director of Aviation Safety. I have in this post a couple of very useful and important links that help understand the way the relationship between CASA and RA-Aus is heading.

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This entry was posted on August 10, 2010 at 6:22 AM and has received 356 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.