Flyabout

Whilst I am currently grounded due to study and work commitments, I don't have any flights to write about, I did recently come across a great documentary about a young girl circumnavigating Australia by plane. It is quite old (2006) and the quality is scratchy VHS, but I found it to be enjoyable nonetheless, in fact it also inspired my fiance to suggest a flying honeymoon! It really doesn't get much better than that!

Flyabout Movie

It is the tale of young girl named Monika Petrillo as she takes part in a flying safari almost the entire coastline of Australia. There is some great footage and is a mix of seriously hair raising and breathtaking. Strong xwind landings, VFR into IFR and broken radios, thrown into the mix with a splash of parent-sibling squabbling, the self reflecting narrative of the film maker did at times make me think.

I recommend this to anyone in need of inspiration, or who like me, needs a fix until they can strap in o the left seat.

Moruya Open Day

Well it certainly has been a long time between posts! I am down to my last 2 CPL exams, Performance & Law, then onto the mighty IREX! I am really looking forward to that!
A little while ago my club put on a day trip to Moruya as part of a navigation competition and timed it with an open day at Moruya.

I had just passed my PPL the week before so unfortunately I couldn't fly, but really wanted to get out with other pilots. I seem to learn so much by even being a passenger with other pilots, little things like organising the paperwork, having a pen on a lanyard, that sort of thing.

Upon arrival at the club, the weather didn't look great, severe turbulence below A050 and scattered stratus/cumulus at A035 with passing showers. Not ideal conditions for a low level navigation competition! Things were a little tense to say the least!

After a brief meeting it was decided by group decision to scrap the comp and fly above it. It was at this point I was close to pulling the pin, this was certainly above my personal minima. After more discussion with my pilots, and as one of them was an PIFR rated I decided to have a shot.
The flight down was clear, once we got above the clouds, I was feeling much more confident and got some amazing shots. I must say it was nice to be able to spend the flight looking out the window for a change!

 We had a quick lunch and watched some pretty nifty exhibits by the army air wing parachutists.
At this point the darkness came in, along with it the rain. Off we went into the smallest patch of blue I'm yet to see from a light aircraft, ahh excuse me captain, WTBleep are we doing?

From here on it was nerve racking, big bumps that felt like being kicked in the pants, flying through showers, virga, clouds, around clouds and then finally broke out of it just after Nowra to clear skies and sunshine!

I definately think there needs to be more time spent with instructors in bad weather, well less than perfect weather anyway!

Thanks for reading!

FROL Notes

The number one point to know about this exam is that it is open book! You are allowed to bring in reference materials! This makes it incredibly easy even with only a rough idea of where to find things in the AIP. Nonetheless, in the real world you do actually need to know some of this stuff, so it is worth studying for! Here’s the notes I used, hope they help!

·         Know how numbers are pronounced when transmitting altitude: ie (1500 is spoken one thousand five hundred

·         A PAN call is made if:

o   Lost

o   Sick POB

o   Other aircraft ship observed in distress

o   Emergency descent required in CTA

·         RTOL qualifications require: PASS in Theory & Practical Test and be a min o 16yo

·         Control Zone Types (CTR): Primary, Military, GAAP. CTAF is a non control zone

·         If an engine fails, transmit MAYDAY and Squawk 7700

·         “In the vicinity” of a CTAF is within 10nm of the airport

·         CTR = Control Zone. CTA = Control Area

·         Most civil radio communication is in the VHF (Very High Frequency) band, 30 – 300 MHz and is allocated 118.0 – 135.95 MHz frqs

·         To the tower instruction: “ABC CLEAR FOR TAKEOFF,” the correct pilot response is: “CLEAR FOR TAKE OFF ABC” or more generally: ATC <callsign/instruction> PILOT <instruction/callsign>

·         The FLIGHT INFORMATION AREA (FIA) is an Airservices Unit is the airspace outside CTAs which provides flight and SAR alerting information.

·         The procedural word NEGATIVE means ‘NO’ or ‘PERMISSION NOT GRANTED’ or ‘THAT IS NOT  CORRECT’

·         The RADIO CHECK readability scale is:

·         UNREADABLE

·         READABLE NOW AND THEN

·         READABLE BUT WITH DIFFICULTY

·         READABLE

·         PERFECTLY READABLE

·         The RADIO FRQ 124.5Mhz is in the VHF band

·         The default CTAF FRQ is 126.7MHz (is used when discreet CTAF frq is not allocated)

·         Radio Wave FRQ is: the number of waves passing a point in one second

·         NDB’s (Non Directional Beacon ground navigation aids) transmit in the LF and MF frq bands

·         <callsign> CLEARED TO LAND and CHANGE OF RUNWAY  are required read back instructions

·         The pilot response is: (CLEARED TO) LAND, (RUNWAY) ONE ONE CENTRE <callsign> The procedural words in brackets are acceptable in the message but the unbracketed keywords, plus the callsign, are essential briefer

·          

Civil in Classes A,C,D airspace + IFR in Class E	3000
Civil IFR in Class G	200
Civil VFR in class E, G	1200
Unlawful Interference	7500
Radio Failure	7600
Emergency	7700

·         Enroue frq for IFR + VFR aircraft in class G airspace G airspace is the appropriate ATC CENTRE FRQ

·         The radio SQUELCH control narrows the frq to minimise static or harsh (background)

·         ELTs transmit when activated on 121.5 (civil), 243 (military) MHz bands, some also 406 MHz

·         ATIS (Automatic Terminal Information Service) is best on a discreet VHF frq + navaids; NDB and VOR (Very High Frequqency omni directional range)

LIGHT SIGNAL	MEANING IN FLIGHT	ON AIRPORT	TO VEHICLE
Steady Green	Land	Takeoff	None
Steady Red	Circle	Stop	Stop
Green Flashes	Approach	Taxci	Cross Rwy/Enter Twy
Red Flashes	Do not land	Vacate Rwy	Vacate Rwy/Twy
White Flashes	None	Return to start	Vacate Area

·         To improve ELT range, place it on the top of the wing, if earthmat unavailable

·         An ELT is required for flights of more than 50nm, or over water, or in remote areas

·         Radio Fail: ‘Transmitting Blind, intentions,’ squawk 7600 land at the nearest suitale airport

·         For circuits SSR on STANDBY

·         In busy radio traffic, ‘BREAK BREAK’ DO IT NOW! Also, beware of similar callsigns