Club News, Social Events, Member Stories and more...

September 2010 Newsletter

Chief Pilot Chat and Club President‘s Report 2

Briefs 4

Latest Achievers and New Members 6

Competitions 7

Expensive lessons—C182 fire 8

Too much for one man— The invention of the checklist 10

Air Brained quiz 13

Airchat September 2010 Chief Pilot Chat

screens to the existing three HD Thanks Again to Mike, Barry & screens. The software and cabling The Volunteers for the new screens have been com- We all need to say a big thank you pleted, we are now just waiting now to Mike Cahill and Barry Doman for the physical screens to be the next time you see those guys mounted and the RAC-7000 will about. It is through their drive and have a complete 180 degree exter- the volunteering of tremendous nal visual system. Next - the cock- amounts of time that the above pit platform is planning to be rede- projects are completed for ‗parts Hi All, veloped to imitate the inside a real only cost‘. We also are very ap- cockpit looking through ‗windows‘ to preciative of course of the Volun- Welcome to another great edi- the screens ! teer Group that helps out during tion of Airchat. As this edition is the ‗working bees‘ that kick these published we have some exciting The Flight Planning Centre Pro- projects along. I hence encourage projects nearing completion. ject everyone to become involved in By the time this Airchat is published the Club working bees and social The Sim RAC-7000 Upgrade the new FPC ‗Flight Planning Centre‘ activities – to keep updated place Project should be operational. This is the your email address on the mailing Our RAC-7000 Simulator has redevelopment of the ‗hut‘ next list on our website. now undergone a visuals up- door. We now have 3 additional grade. The new visuals are sig- fully air-conditioned, electronic New Instructor – Welcome to the nificantly improved allowing the briefing rooms plus a flight planning team Natasha Politakis student to now truly identify console with two NAIPS PC‘s net- (Tash). Tash joins us as a casual lakes, marinas, bridges and to- worked back to the main Grade 3 Flight Instructor and has pography. The visuals are best server. Members will now be able to proven to be another popular, described as a ‗Google Earth plan flights in quality air-conditioned quality addition to the team. view from about 10,000 ft‘. Al- comfort and in a quiet environment most complete - Is the addition with NAIPS access. Safe Flying of two more high definition Tony Stanton

Club President’s Report

When the Moreton Bay Regional Council was established it scheduled a strategic review of its two aerodromes, Redcliffe and Caboolture, as a first term issue.

The Club, along with some other Redcliffe aerodrome lessees selected by the Council, had a degree of input at the very start of the process. The review was carried out by consultants GHD, and the Council advised the Club of the outcome of Stage 1 of the review in August this year.

In brief, the Council resolved –

* The Council will adopt a ―status quo with nominal improvements including expansion of the hangar area‖ option for the Redcliffe aerodrome development strategy. * The Council will progress Stage 2 of the review during 2010/11, subject to funds being available, and develop a Redcliffe aerodrome Master Plan together with a business model based on the option in 1 above. (However funds have already been committed and are available for both kangaroo fencing and levee bank works). * The Council will confirm with the State Government the future of the trustee arrangement over the aerodrome site in order to maintain and encourage private aviation industry to Redcliffe Aerodrome. (This is just to confirm that there are no time limits on the current arrangement) * Planning/modelling will be undertaken for associated aerodrome infrastructure including sewer, water, drain- age, and car parking during development of the Master Plan. * The Council will continue annual safety audit inspections. * Senior Council staff will liaise to arrange for appropriate signage to be erected on land designated for future development in close proximity to the aerodrome, advising of the continued operations of the aerodrome.

There are some obvious, very satisfactory elements in that decision – the aerodrome is clearly part of the Coun- cil‘s 10 year planning horizon, and the more work that is done on the aerodrome the more likely that horizon will stretch further into the future; and the Council is flagging to nearby residential developments that ―the aero- drome was here first‖.

Just how much work will be done (e.g. sewerage) is, however, very much in the balance at this stage.

Greg McC 2 Airchat September 2010 Short Final Welcome to the September 2010 edition of Airchat,

If you are reading this, then you survived the A little closer to home, I am sure you have change from GAAP to the new Class D, noticed the results from the latest working Congratulations! bee. The new briefing rooms look great. A huge thanks goes to all involved in this proc- For some, the jury may still be out as to ess. If you can help in anyway with future whether the new Class D is the answer that projects, let the team know. CASA was looking for but what is known is the amount of effort put in to educating pilots The team have worked hard to ensure and ATC appears to have paid off. CASA state another very successful NVFR program this they have recorded only a few minor issues winter. The added weather constraints during the change over, with most pilots and involved with this type of training require ATC staff responding well. CASA say they are exceptional planning by the instructional staff dedicated to maintaining this level of educa- to limit lost time. Thanks to all of the team tion where new changes require it. involved with this. Both new holders of this rating and those experienced night pilots A universally welcome update came in the attended the night flying social on form of the latest version of the Visual Flight 21/08/2010. Ben Yaxley was available with Rules Guide. The new guide will not be avail- the C310 for flights over the city. Ben offered able in print in an attempt to ensure the seats on this flight on a cost share basis so document remains current but can be easily pilots with and without the night rating could viewed and downloaded from the website. enjoy the very different conditions of night flight is this great aircraft, Thanks Ben. With all this change it is easy to forget some of the longer running programs and with Safe Flying around 12,000 SAR times a year not being cancelled by pilots, Airservices Australia are Tom Hassall ramping up their SAR minus 5 campaign, de- tails on page 4. [email protected]

3 Airchat September 2010 Briefs SARTIME Management

Managing Search and Rescue times (SARTIMEs) and cancelling them at the end of a safe flight is a critical responsibility of pi- lots in command. It ensures that Airservices and emergency response authorities such as AusSAR (Australian Search and Rescue) or the police know that you've arrived safely. It also prevents unnecessary search and rescue operations - a highly resource intensive, and at times costly, process.

Each year, around 12,000 SARTIMES expire without being cancelled by pilots. Up to 1800 of these are passed on to AusSAR when pilots cannot be contacted by Airservices Australia within 15 minutes. From there AusSAR may alert and dispatch search and rescue teams.

However, the reality is that very few expired SARTIMES are the result of an aircraft in distress. Most are simply because pilots for- get to extend or cancel their SARTIME prior to expiry.

Don't become the target of an unnecessary search and rescue effort. Set the alarm on your watch or mobile phone for your SARTIME minus 5 minutes. That way, five minutes before your SARTIME is due to expire, you'll get a reminder to ring Airser- vices.

To cancel your SARTIME, phone CENSAR on 1800 814 931.

Airservices Safety Programs & Promotions has produced a printable SARTIME man- agement fact sheet, and 'SARTIME minus 5' poster and sticker, which will assist you to manage your SARTIME. For more information, or to obtain a copy of the poster or sticker, email [email protected].

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Our AGM is scheduled for 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday 26 October 2010 at the Clubhouse. You will be receiving a formal notice shortly. It‘s important that we have a good roll- up at the AGM to ensure there is a range of feedback to the Committee, and appro- priate recognition of the efforts of staff during the year. I look forward to seeing many of you there. Greg McCallum, President

4 Airchat September 2010 Working Bee a HUGE success!

RAC Volunteers

From building state of the art simula- tors to producing 3 new work spaces , not to mention the petrol driven ―landscaping‖, the team continue to make an outstanding contribution to the club !

Mike Cahill and Barry Doman organ- ised another hugely successful working bee last month. Transforming the out building into a valuable space for all members. The new space provides:

 3 Fully functional briefing rooms.

 A planning area with access to NAIPs.

 The building is air conditioned, pro- viding a great place to plan those summer flights.

But the team are not finished here yet and they need your help! The second phase of this conversion is to add a deck from the main covered area to ensure safe (and clean) pas- sage to the new area when the ground gets wet. If you can help in anyway, please con- tact any of the team at the club.

Thank you to all involved!

5 Airchat September 2010 Latest Achievers FIRST SOLO FIRST NIGHT SOLO PPLA NVFR

Stuart Weavell Tom Hassall Ross Holland Barry Sutton Michael Roebig Cameron Dejong Felix Duffy Tom Carey Kent Lindberg Tom Carey Gavin Kelly Cameron Dejong James Sheffield Jarrad Smith Nathan Black Joshua East Michael Rohrlach David Nelson Nick Palmer Jackson Woodforde CLPA Robert Rey Anthony Blansjaar Tom Hassall GFPT Craig Menerey Stephen White Daniel Lyons Jeremy Higgins John Walker Michael Rosenberg Kevin Manikkavasagar Benjamin Kadletz James Sheffield Ian Daniel Michael Klingner

Welcome New Members

Kate Goldson Ryan Matthews Phillip Loney Chris Hogan Bill Melksham Daniel Valzan Kelby Cheyne Chris Adams David Geers James Sheffield Brendan Taylor Daryl Allen Craig Paulsen Luke Reeves Benjamin Angus Zechariah Lawson James Marsden Louise Clark Kevin Humphries Mark Thompson Neale Heal Andrew Sim Bradley Milliken Matthew Young Adam Hocken Dean Gilligan Peter Law Ian Leung Mr G Reutter Joseph Martin Christopher Lewis Les Simonsen Firth Haigh Wayne Morgan Werner Leist Murray Norris Torkel Lawn Philip Arthur James Murray Josh Noonan Bevan Anderson Ashley Browne

6 Competition

Brit takes 2010 RBAR.

Paul Bonhomme won the 2010 Red Bull Air Race season, earning the most points during an international series that was shortened by two races.

Hannes Arch of was second in the overall standings while was third. Overall points were tallied for the year after the season‘s final race in in early August won by Hannes Arch, with second, and of Australia in third place. Australian Pilot Matt Hall is hoping to return to the series in 2012 after pilot error saw his plane hit the water in Detroit. His amazing recovery can be seen at www.redbullairrace.com

Club Competition. Compete for the flying competition TROPHY at Wings Dinner 2010. Spot Landings, Blind circuits....How good a pilot are you? Are you one of our best ??

The 2nd round of the Redcliffe Aero Club flying competition was held on 19th Sep- tember. The event was another great opportunity to meet other club members and test your flying skills.

Pilots had to set attitudes and altitudes without the aid of the ASI or altimeter before setting up for flour bombing and a spot landing!

A huge thanks to Dan Smith for again providing his services to ensure the smooth running of the event.

Round 2 Results

First Place — Ash Pickering Second Place — James Redgrave Third Place — Tom Hassall Fourth Place — Rob Ray

Email [email protected] or talk to the team at the club for more info on the next round. 7 Airchat September 2010 News

CESSNA 182 FIRE

For those of you not familiar with a Cessna 182, do not be misled by the photos. The 182 is a high wing aircraft.

This 182 was brand new, glass cockpit and all, with a total of only 80 hours on it.

Its pilot was flying to a camp carrying a lawn mower (with gas in it) in the back seat. He also had a 12v to 110v inverter plugged in with the inverter sitting on the floor in the back, running his laptop computer.

He landed on the grass runway and smelled gas fumes during rollout.

He stopped, turned the airplane around to back-taxi, and reached back to feel the lawn mower and stop the fuel leak before it messed up the carpet any more than it already had, when POOF! the entire back seat area ignited.

He pulled the mixture out, jumped out, called 911, and began running to the line shack in hopes of finding a fire extinguisher (he had removed his from the aircraft as he did not think his plane would ever catch fire and what is more, mounted between the front seats it was a nuisance when he reached down there every time to disengage his seat rail lock).

He got half way to the line shack and turned around to see the wings fold down to the ground.

Fire trucks arrived 12-15 minutes later and put out the fire. Best guess is that the inverter somehow sparked and ignited the gas fumes. He admitted if this had happened in the air there would not have been enough time to land and escape before the smoke and flames overpow- ered him or the airplane disintegrated in mid-air.

The pilot was known to be good. He was obviously not a very good judge of what to carry in the back of an airplane, or, anything can go wrong, or the conviction that has killed many a pilot: "It can't happen to me".

Morals to the story:

1. Never carry any fuel on board other than what is in the airplane's tanks. 2. Always have your fire extinguisher handy on board; you never know when you will need it!!!

8 Airchat September 2010

9 Airchat September 2010 "too much airplane for one man to fly.”

Last Airchat we asked which aircraft type was the first for which a checklist was developed? The correct answer was the Boeingtype 299. This issue, thanks to Phil Ware, the answer is more fully explained.

On October 30, 1935, at Wright Air Field in Dayton, Ohio, the U.S. Army Air Corps held a flight competition for airplane manufacturers vying to build its next-generation long-range bomber. It wasn't supposed to be much of a competition. In early evalua- tions, the Boeing Corporation's gleaming aluminum-alloy Model 299 had trounced the designs of Martin and Douglas. Boeing's plane could carry five times as many bombs as the Army had requested; it could fly faster than previous bombers and almost twice as far.

A Seattle newspaperman who had glimpsed the plane called it the "flying fortress" and the name stuck. The flight "competition", according to the military historian Phillip Meilinger, was regarded as a mere formality. The Army planned to order at least sixty -five of the aircraft.

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A small crowd of Army brass and manufacturing executives watched as the Model 299 test plane taxied onto the runway. It was sleek and impressive, with a hundred-and- three-foot wingspan and four engines jutting out from the wings, rather than the usual two. The plane roared down the tarmac, lifted off smoothly and climbed sharply to three hundred feet. Then it stalled, turned on one wing and crashed in a fiery explo- sion. Two of the five crew members died, including the pilot, Major Ployer P. Hill (thus Hill AFB, Ogden , UT ).

An investigation revealed that nothing mechanical had gone wrong. The crash had been due to "pilot error," the report said. Substantially more complex than previous air- craft, the new plane required the pilot to attend to the four engines, a retractable landing gear, new wing flaps, electric trim tabs that needed adjustment to maintain control at different airspeeds and constant-speed propellers whose pitch had to be regulated with hydraulic controls, among other features.

While doing all this, Hill had forgotten to release a new locking mechanism on the ele- vator and rudder controls. The Boeing model was deemed, as a newspaper put it, "too much airplane for one man to fly.” The Army Air Corps declared Douglas's smaller design the winner. Boeing nearly went bankrupt.

11 Still, the Army purchased a few aircraft from Boeing as test planes and some insiders remained convinced that the aircraft was flyable. So a group of test pilots got to- gether and considered what to do.

They could have required Model 299 pilots to undergo more training. But it was hard to imagine having more experience and expertise than Major Hill, who had been the U.S. Army Air Corps' Chief of Flight Testing. Instead, they came up with an ingen- iously simple approach: they created a pilot's checklist, with step-by-step checks for takeoff, flight, landing and taxiing. Its mere existence indicated how far aeronautics had advanced.

In the early years of flight, getting an aircraft into the air might have been nerve- racking, but it was hardly complex. Using a checklist for takeoff would no more have occurred to a pilot than to a driver backing a car out of the garage, but this new plane was too complicated to be left to the memory of any pilot, however expert

With the checklist in hand, the pilots went on to fly the Model 299 a total of 18 mil- lion miles without one accident. The Army ultimately ordered almost thirteen thousand of the aircraft, which it dubbed the B-17. And, because flying the behemoth was now possible, the Army gained a decisive air advantage in the Second World War which enabled its devastating bombing campaign across Nazi Germany.

12 Airchat September 2010 How air-brained are you?

1. Every physical process of weather 5. Which aircraft has the right of way is accompanied by, or is the result over the other aircraft listed? of a, A. Helicopter A. Movement of air. B. Aircraft refueling another aircraft B. Heat exchange. C. Airship C. Pressure differential D. Glider D. The Coriolis Force

2. When may an emergency locator 6. Who is responsible for determining transmitter (ELT) be tested? if an aircraft is in condition for safe A. Anytime. flight? B. At 15 and 45 minutes past the hour. A. The Owner. C. During the first 5 minutes after the B. The Mechanic. hour. C. The Pilot in Command D. During civil twilight. D. The Line Guy

3. Which cruising altitude is appro- 7. Each private pilot is required to priate for a VFR flight on a magnetic have a? course of 135 degrees? A. Annual flight review. A. Even Thousand B. Biennial flight review B. Even thousand plus 500 feet C. Semiannual flight review C. Odd Thousand plus 500 feet D. Check ride every 12 calendar months D. Any altitude

4. In what Airspace are VFR flight Prohibited? A. Class B B. Class A C. Class G D. Military Operations Area's

1. B - The difference in temperature between two air masses causes all weather and is hap- pening all the time. heating, cooling, updrafts, downdrafts, winds, etc… 2. C - ELTs should only be tested on the ground during the first 5 minutes of each hour. 3. C - You must operate at the correct hemispherical altitude above 5000ft and should at- tempt to apply these levels at all altitudes. I’ve heard lots of different ways to remem- ber this but I like - it’s always ODD returning to the EAST coast. 4. B - Class A airspace (from 18,000 - FL600) Requires you to be on an IFR flight plan. 5. D. 6. C –Easy one! 7. B -Each private pilot must have a biennial flight review (every 2 years) (24 calendar months)

13 Airchat September 2010 An Airline with a sense of humor!

Kulula Airline has unveiled their new livery, and it‘s ...‖different‖!

14 The Fleet at Redcliffe Aero Club. Photo by Phil Ware

ONLINE NEWSLETTER 2010

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