CASA Chairman Reno Air Races Robinson TONY MATTHEWS AVIATION FOR PETROL HEADS THE INSIDE STORY AOPATHE VOICE OF AUSTRALIAN GENERAL AVIATIONPILOTOct-Nov 2018 | Vol 71 No. 4 | $9.95 ICON A5 Th e ultimate toy Oshkosh 2018 NOBODY DOES IT BETTER Vashon Ranger R7 MODERN BACK COUNTRY Making a Splash CESSNA 182 FLOATPLANE & LAKE BUCCANEER BECOME A MEMBER OF AOPA AUSTRALIA TODAY | www.aopa.com.au/membership AOPA PILOT AUSTRALIA CONTENTS www.aopa.com.au | October - November 2018 | Vol 71 No. 4 FLIGHT TRAINING 21 US FLIGHT REVIEW Same only different - with Platinum CSIP, Eliot Floersch 70 MELBOURNE HELICOPTER Leaving others in their wake 39 MARKETPLACE FEATURE 84 CLASSIFIEDS 56 GET YOU KICKS ON 82 BUSINESSES ROUTE 44 82 SERVICES Across the USA in a R44 AOPA AT WORK REVIEWS 14 62 OSHKOSH 2018 4 EDITORIAL 14 ICON A5 Nobody does it better Seaplane discovery Mobbed LSA amphibian 66 RENO AIR RACES 5 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 24 VASHON RANGER R7 Aviation petrol head heaven AOPA spirit alive and growing New bush offering 48 MEMBER COLUMNS 6 PRESIDENT’S REPORT 30 ROBINSON R44 Growing membership RAVEN II 86 AVIATION POETRY Number 1 for good reason Rhyme of the marine aviator 9 NEW MEMBERS Welcome to AOPA 34 LAKE BUCCANEER Barefoot flying with a legend 10 AOPA AT WORK 56 Executive Director’s update 44 CESSNA 182 FLOAT PLANE 14 AUS FLY 2018 “A shower of spray and we’re Images by Kathy Mexted away” with AOPA Australia mem- ber Judy Hodge PROFILE 48 BRISTELL LSA 12 TONY MATHEWS ATPL Advanced two place tourer New CASA chair & long time AOPA Australia member 52 CIRRUS SR20 G6 Mass(ive) leap forward 81 STEVE LESSER AUSFLY competition winner and 74 ASA ORAL EXAM GUIDES AOPA Australia member Q&A for commercial, instrument, and helicopter flight tests 39 KURT ROBINSON 24 Head of the world’s largest civilian 76 GARMIN D2 DELTA PX helicopter manufacturer. Secrets Oxygen monitor & much more COVER PHOTOGRAPH of success The most mobbed aircraft at oshkosh 2018 78 HALO HEADSET The ICON A5 Amphibian (LSA). A stick insect leads a quiet revo- lution October - November 2018 AOPA PILOT AUSTRALIA | 3 AOPA AT WORK | EDITORIAL Editor’s Perspective AOPA Australia Editor, Paul M Southwick Email: [email protected] Continuing our rotary theme, we have three aircraft and cross paths, on short final, at Truckee helicopter stories including an exclusive interview Airport, near Lake Tahoe, with a massive 52,600 lb with Kurt Robinson, President of the world’s biggest tilt rotor Osprey operated by the US Marines. manufacturer of civilian helicopters. Read the THE MAN AND THE PILOT inside story of the company’s success, and about the Our other exclusive interview is with long time moment in time Kurt crossed over from being the AOPA Australia member and ATPL pilot, Tony founder Frank’s son, to the President in training. Mathews, the new chair of CASA. Read about Tony’s aviation family history, the man, the pilot, “We take a seaplane journey of discovery” and why this regionally based aviator is a great choice to head Australia’s regulatory authority. Read a flight review of the world’s biggest selling helicopter, the R44 Raven II. Take a close look at KEEPING CLOSE TO GENERAL AVIATION Melbourne Helicopter that’s just taken delivery of a The editor works hard to stay close to general brand new Guimbal Cabri G2. aviation, in flight tests, tours of operators, interviews, profiling members, and training. I will be helping AQUATIC THEME some new general aviation manufacturers down We take a seaplane journey of discovery. Starting under with their representation here. Expect to see with the Lake Buccaneer flying boat. We also fly a me out and about, living and breathing GA. Cessna 182 on floats and test the biggest sensation in light aircraft today – the amphibious Icon A5. Be sure to check out AOPA Australia’s Facebook Find out why Icon has taken ~2,000 orders for this page, as we post a lot of test fight and other material modern version of the amphibian, and the reasons there. See videos of our Ranger R7 test flight from it was the most mobbed aircraft at Oshkosh 2018. Boeing’s home of Paine Field in Seattle; the Bristell LSA from Riddell Airfield, near Tullamarine; the RENO AVIATION PETROL HEAD PARADISE G6 version of the Cirrus SR20, and the Cabri G2’s Check out our story on the Reno Air Races, which first flight from Melbourne Heli. we discovered are a place for aviation petrol heads. Follow along as we fly there and back in a light FLY HIGH! 4 | AOPA PILOT AUSTRALIA October - November 2018 AOPA AT WORK | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the Editor Have your say with AOPA Australia Email: [email protected] Unfriendly GA Airports On a more pleasant note I would recom- Nomads in their caravans camping in free Dear Sir, mend Bunbury, South of Perth, as possibly camping sites provided by the Shire don’t Perhaps it is time to start nominating the the friendliest airport I have visited in re- spend that much when they visit Roma, but most unfriendly general aviation airports cent times. they are welcomed and encouraged, GA is in Australia for pilot information. Sincerely, not. My first long distance flying trip was in JOHN MICHELL Other places we visited where the local 1968, during which we parked a C172 on AOPA # 8199 Council/Shire does not display gate codes a natural surface Ayers Rock airstrip, right in any shape or form were, Longreach, Why are unfriendly local councils beside the rock, for two nights and did not Hughenden, Karumba, Normanton. and shires pushing GA aircraft see another aircraft during our stay! If your local airport is one of these un- away? The trip included Darwin and Kununur- friendly places I urge you to write to the Dear Sir ra, along with many other centres, with no Council/Shire Mayor with a copy to AOPA During August this year my wife and I landing fees. asking them to be practical and encourage accompanied by friends in other aircraft My latest long distance trip, this year, was visiting aviators and their tourist dollars. went holidaying around the beautiful from Lismore to the Kimberly, then right Thank you Barcaldine for being so practi- Queensland outback. Blue skies every down the west coast, followed by the South cal and allowing us to share your beautiful day, perfect weather for flying yet time and Coast to Ceduna before heading home. town with aviators. again we came across airports that make it The landing bills were still arriving two In closing may I share a little tip I recently hard to enjoy flying as a mode of transport. months after the trip! discovered in Oz Runways – “Public Notic- Yet these same Councils and Shires spend The most expensive was two nights es”. If you use Oz Runways tap once at a lo- significant sums of money trying to at- in Broome, with landing, parking and cal airport of interest, up comes a list head- tract tourism and tourist dollars into their air-services fees of over $120.00. I thought ed “Closest Points”, tap once on the airport towns. But when it comes to airports they Air-services did not charge for fees less of interest and up pops a list of options – either don’t try or they actively discourage than $500 per year? one of those options is headed “Public No- GA aircraft to visit and stay in their towns. It would probably be cheaper to land in tices” followed by a number. What am I talking about? Access to the Derby and hire a car to visit Broome, as we The number represents the number of public airport or lack thereof. Examine the hired a car there anyway. notes that have been submitted by fellow photo below and what do you find attrac- I have long since stopped visiting the more aviators. Tap once on the “Public Notices” tive about landing at Roma Airport after unfriendly places such as Borroloola with and up comes some very helpful informa- hours or on weekends. exorbitant fees. tion relative to that airport all being dated Imagine landing at Roma on the weekend The most unfriendly on this trip though for relevance. to discover you will be charged $193.60 to was Roma, where the ground staff not only It can make life much easier, thanks Oz- be given the secret gate code. Is Roma for wanted to see my ASIC, but also insisted I Runway and fellow contributors. real? remove it from its holder so they could see ALAN CARLISLE OAM I imagine Roma, like a lot of outback air- the back! AOPA # 49447 ports operators are under the mis-belief They have since excelled themselves even that providing a gate code air side, by dis- more, with an after hours fee to get back in playing the code in such a way that it is the gate of $193.60. A town to be avoided not visible to the public from the outside at all cost. is against the law. Well it’s not, take Mer- Incidentally, not one other person inspect- rimbula airport for instance - which won ed my ASIC during the whole trip. the Prime Ministers award for best aviation I don’t know what his experience was, but security, the code is displayed at their gate. on that first trip my CFI advised that if the We stopped at Roma, luckily for us during engine failed in the vicinity of Camooweal, working hours and a fellow aviator shared then we should glide as far to hell away the secret code.