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1862243038Cover: The Cirrus Vision Jet made its Australian debut late last year.FeaturesA Caravan ExperienceSteve Hitchen grabs the opportunity to fly one of his hero aeroplanes, the Cessna Grand Caravan EX, and filed this report on Textron’s biggest single.Technology through the EarsIn-ear headsets are gaining popularity in many sectors of aviation. Angela at Avalon investigates the state of the technology and profiles the best products on the market.Flight Test: Cirrus Vision JetCirrus’ innovative Vision Jet made a spectacular first entry into Australia last year and Steve Hitchen was lucky enough to get a chance to see if the aeroplane matched the hype.RegularsEditorial8Airmail10News12Down to Business 68Products70Rotors72A Spot of Recreation 74Good Sports 76Safety Matters 77What Can We Learn 78Kreisha of Habit 80Short Final 82Orders of InstructionThe onset of CASR Part 61 has made large changes to the flight training industry for students, pilots and instructors. Tony Self lays out the new landscape and details how it all fits together.Kreisha Ballantyne reports on the impacts of mental health on our ability to fly and explains how CASA AVMED deals with individual cases.Contents 6australianflying.com.auAUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020On with the ShowThere is a lot more to staging an air show than the crowd ever sees. Paul Southwick goes inside the air show community to find out what’s needed to put on a dazzling event.Lessons from a LogbookJim Davis comes to grip with some new aircraft types as he navigates the rocky seas of his early commercial aviation career.445056Aviation’s Gold MedallistsWhat ever happened to the Oswald Watt Gold Medal? Steve Hitchen found out that it’s still around and dug into the background of Australia’s premier aviation award.Where’s Your Head at?
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inning our hopes for salvation on a senate inquiry into CASA could be like hailing the arrival of a knight in shining armour who brandishes a string sword: there's a lot of good intent, but their power to smite our enemy looks questionable. There is no doubting the sincerity of the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee (RRAT) and its chair Senator Susan McDonald in wanting to find out the truth behind the impacts of regulation on general aviation. RRAT has stared down CASA over the most painful wounds that mis-regulation has inflicted on GA and now you get the feeling they've had enough of being given answers they can't trust.It's always comforting to know that someone else out there feels your pain, but in the case of GA, we need empathy that comes from someone who can do something about it, and I am not sure the RRAT has that ability.I base my opinion on the last inquiry they held: that into the ATSB's handling of the Mount Gambier Angel Flight crash investigation. The inquiry made two recommendations against CASA and none against the ATSB. CASA immediately declined to take any notice of the recommendations.They can do that because the ultimate responsibility for aviation safety is invested in the Director of Aviation Safety, not in senate inquiries. On safety matters, the DAS is compelled to take direction only from the minister of the day, so if the minister is not swayed to over-ride the DAS then no mechanism for change exists.Take into account also that the senate inquiry into the impact of regulation on GA is a self-referred inquiry, which means that it doesn't necessarily have the weight of the minister behind it and there is no compulsion on the government to respond to reports tabled after self-referred inquiries. But despite the string sword, the RRAT inquiry will add to the growing weight of evidence that regulation has added little safety, but imposed extensive burden and cost to general aviation. It should officially expose debacles such as Part 61 and Part 135, the licensing system for engineers and the change inertia entrenched in the middle-management levels of the regulator. This evidence can hopefully be used to bolster arguments in the future and generate discussion in both houses of parliament.To have real bite, the senate inquiry report tabled two years from now needs to have some direct, brave recommendations that hit their targets very hard. Although recommendations don't have the power to compel, their exposure could form the basis of bills introduced to the parliament that, when passed, carry with them the very compulsion that the inquiry itself lacks.Whilst the senate in unsheathing its string sword, it is apparent that the only person swinging a light sabre in this fight is the minister. For general aviation to vanquish its main enemy and grow and flourish, the minister needs to stand beside the senators. That may be a fantasy given a historical reluctance from that office to break cover in pursuit of fostering GA.May your gauges always be in the green,With Whom lies the Power?Steve Hitchen – EditorSTEVE HITCHENwe need empathy that comes from someone who can do something about itEditorialThe senate has announced an inquiry into the impact of regulation on GA to be tabled in two years time. Although it sounds great, will the final report actually have the ability to make any impact at all, or will it simply be another well-meaning exercise that ends in nothing?8australianflying.com.auAUSTRALIAN FLYING January – Febraury 2020PEditor: Steve Hitchen [email protected] Contributor: Paul SouthwickTest Pilot: John AbsolonADVERTISING National Sales Manager: Andrew Murphy, 17-21 Bellevue Street, Surry Hills, NSW 2010. Tel: (02) 9213 8272, [email protected] Production: John ViskovichSUBSCRIPTIONSWWW.GREATMAGAZINES.COM.AU CALL 1800 807 [email protected] Rates 1 year $51.001 year PLUS (print + digital) $56.101 year (overseas) NZ $A57, ASIA A$62, ROW A$85Customer Service Manager:Martin PhillipottSubscriber Services: Liz GarcorzAUSTRALIAN FLYING is published by Yaffa Media Pty LtdABN 54 002 699 35417-21 Bellevue Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010. Ph: (02) 9281 2333 Fax: (02) 9281 2750All Mail to: GPO Box 606, Sydney, NSW 2001.Publisher: Chris YuProduction Director: Matthew GunnArt Director: Ana Maria HeraudStudio Manager: Lauren EsdaileDesigner: Maria AlegroAll contributions should be sent to the Editor on the above e-mail address.Images should be supplied with a separate list of captions and the creator’s name for each image. Please note that digital images MUST BE SUPPLIED AT A RESOLUTION OF AT LEAST 300DPI AT 15 CM ON THE LONG SIDE. Most editorial queries should be answered within a month; if not contact the editor.ISSN 0004-9123
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YOUR COMMENTSGot something to get off your chest?Australian Flying welcomes your input. Send your AirMail, with your name and contacts (which can be withheld from publishing upon request) to: [email protected] or write to: Australian Flying, GPO Box 606 Sydney NSW 2001.Unsafe regulationDear Steve,The CEO of CASA stated that his research showed that people who criticise CASA were often involved in accidents. Not a surprising statement seeing most pilots criticise CASA!The question Mr Carmody should be addressing is why? Is it because up till now the ambiguity of the rules and regulations leave pilots frustrated or is it the nature of the regs – unnecessary rules that do little to enhance safety?One reason Australian light aviation gets so frustrated with CASA’s regulations is that up until recently, these regulations were ambiguously worded and consequently, interpretation was frustratingly difficult. CASA’s lack of clear concise rules caused this frustration but fortunately, CASA has recognised this atrocious situation and now is attempting to rectify the situation with rules in plain English.The ambiguity on rules is so bad that even CASA does not understand them so how are we mere pilots meant to cope. Also, some the rules that CASA dreams up in the name of safety are, to say the least, mind blowing, confusing and unnecessary. Only well qualified pilots know what is safe and what isn’t and it is this lack of flying experience in rule makers that causes frustration, enough to cause pilots to criticise CASA. If Mr Carmody’s research is correct that people who criticise CASA were more likely to have an accident, then, dare I say it, CASA itself is partly to blame for accidents. If that isn’t a wake-up call to CASA to change their modus operandi then I do not know what is. I say to Mr Carmody, stop frustrating the aviation industry and criticism will fade away and so will the number of accidents, fatal or otherwise. Regards, Owen BartropMind the GapDear Steve,Thanks for Kreisha’s amusing and pointed article [\"Mind the Gap\" Australian FlyingNovember-December 2019] on how the syllabus for PPL and CPL exams are becoming increasingly out of date due to the march of technology. From a student’s viewpoint Kreisha is spot-on, but one suspects that from the CASA examiner’s point of view her argument just misses the point completely.Students of Navigation, for instance, would probably hope to be tested on how they plan and execute a cross-country flight using an up to date Instructors should inspire not scareDear SteveThose recently published tales of instructors deliberately scaring ab initio students witless are indeed shameful. Clearly I was much more fortunate. Those who took me through my early stages to UPPL and later gave me endorsements all had different approaches. Some were better teachers than others but all were conduits of knowledge. They also inspired me to read and build experience from the knowledge of others. That's the essence of good teaching in any discipline.In one's newbie days the best instructors let you fly the aircraft pretty much all the time, only taking control to demonstrate techniques, or when something is about to go wrong that he or she can still fix but you can't. My most memorable lessons were those where I went out with a highly qualified instructor on days of less than perfect conditions. I learned a lot on those days. I don't believe it's wise to only take lessons on perfect flying days. The earlier you learn about difficulties the better.Before my first solo I was doing touch and go circuits at Moorabbin, learning power-on and power-off approaches. We were on very short final and I was flying. The wind was gusting a little but the real problem was that I was a bit high and a bit slow. The aircraft began to mush and was on the point of stalling about 4 metres above the runway. My excellent instructor took control, racked on a bit of power and touched down beautifully to a full stop a bit further along the runway.It was a great lesson with a happy ending and a credit to good teaching. Everyone has to know and practice how to land without power, but forever afterwards this little black duck always drove 'em down until the last seconds.KentMelbourneCourtesy of AvPlanKent wins a one-year VFR subscription to AvPlan for our editor’s pick! To be in the running to win the same prize and have your views published on this page, submit your letter to the editor now! See e-mail and postal addresses at the top of this page.AirMail 10Editor’s PickThe best instructors are those that nuture the student's flying abilities rather than simple scare them.AUSTRALIAN FLYING January – Fenruary 2020
EFB with built-in GPS. But a modern EFB (or an iPad with Oz Runways), is so good that almost anyone who is even moderately intelligent should have little difficulty carrying out a successful cross-country in VMC.But if the examiner is trying to prevent incompetent people from having control of an aircraft, such an exam will fail to achieve its purpose; it has to be more challenging!If the syllabus was changed to suit Kreisha’s suggestions it would no longer be challenging enough to test the applicants sufficiently.Yours sincerely,DM HoustonDear Steve,I couldn’t agree more with Kreisha Ballantyne (Kreisha of Habit November-December 2019) when she says that CASA’s CPL syllabus is outdated. I also abandoned my CPL studies after realising that whizz wheels and protractors were still required for the exam. I haven’t used either since my PPL exam in 2006. Not once! It’s time CASA’s syllabus caught up with modern flight planning methodology and taught pilots how to use EFBs and GPS effectively. It would make us all safer pilots. Isn’t that the point?Regards,Chris SmythKreisha Ballantyne’s article on CPL theory has drawn both supporting comments and criticism.the ambiguity on rules is so bad that even CASA does not understand them11australianflying.com.auJanuary – Fenruary 2020 AUSTRALIAN FLYINGOver 160 videosfor pilots!^^^ NVÅ` VUSPUL
FLYING LATEST NEWS 12NewsSENATEINQUIRYPG 12AUTOLANDPG 13The Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee (RRAT) will conduct a two-year inquiry into the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to gauge the effectiveness of regulation it has applied to general aviation in the past 10 years.RRAT Chair, Nationals Senator Susan McDonald from Queensland made the announcement in December last year, saying the aim of the inquiry is to establish how regulation imposed on GA had achieved CASA’s stated aim of balancing safety, relative risk, and economic costs.“[the inquiry] will look at the social and economic impacts of CASA decisions on charter businesses, helicopter mustering, agricultural operations and maintenance operators across regional, rural and remote Australia,” she said.“We want to examine the relevance of the Civil Aviation Act in relation to maintaining the highest safety standards while encouraging general aviation and training.“I have spoken with participants in the general aviation industry who feel the past 10 years of rulemaking by CASA has not achieved the stated aim of balance.“This inquiry will look at people’s concerns with CASA and deliver interim findings in December 2020, followed by a final report in November 2021.”The Terms of Reference direct the senators to investigate the regulatory framework behind CASA operations, how the government provides advice to agencies, the public consultation process, the impact on small businesses and the relevance of the Civil Aviation Act 1988among others.Ben Morgan, CEO of AOPA Australia, said his organisation supported the senate inquiry.“AOPA welcomes the inquiry and we commend the senate RRAT for launching the review,” he told Australian Flying. “From an industry perspective it’s essential that we have the opportunity to put the concerns of the industry forward, and that not only the associations, but individuals and businesses within the aviation community have the opportunity to voice their experiences.“I believe that industry decline is a serious matter for the future of GA and that the two greatest decline drivers have been over-regulation and the continued high compliance costs. Also, the effects of airport privatisation, which have reached unsustainable levels of fees, charges and leasehold rates.“Over the next 12 months, AOPA along with our Australian General Aviation Alliance [AGAA] partners will be attending all of the [inquiry] hearings.”However, the prospect of a new inquiry, especially one scheduled to take two years, has not been greeted with enthusiasm by several industry commentators who believe having another inquiry would not produce an effective outcome for general aviation.“Truly this is not the way to go unless it’s an inquiry as to the efficacy of reforms that, as yet, have not begun. If GA is to survive as more than an ugly rump of an industry of little national use, we have to pressure and persuade government,” said commentator Sandy Reith.“In 2014, the Aviation Safety Regulation Review [ASRR] was the most high-powered review in some years and we were invited to submit contributing papers. It cost millions in GA industry time and money and in taxpayer funds. “We, in the main general aviation industry personnel, spent probably some thousands of hours writing our opinions, experiences and suggestions to assist the parliament to reform a glaringly under-performing sector, a sector in obvious decline.“The trajectory of decline has, if anything, steepened since that time.“To all who have any interest in the legitimate exercise of our freedom of action to advance aviation in Australia, to allow the making of jobs and services, we must promote and insist upon change now, not in two years time.”Senate launches Two-year Inquiry into CASALEFT: The senate inquiry will examine the impact of CASA regulation on GA.ABOVE: RRAT Chair Senator Susan McDonaldThe Regional Affairs and Transport committee has embarked on an inquiry into the impact of CASA regulation on general aviation.CAUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020A
13Garmin International introduced the world’s first auto land system for general aviation aircraft in November last year.The Autoland technology will be made available on select aircraft fitted with Garmin 3000 avionics and has already been confirmed for the Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet and Piper’s M600 single-engined turbo-prop.In the event of an emergency, the pilot or passengers can activate Autoland to land the aircraft. Once activated, the system calculates a flight plan to the most suitable airport, initiates an approach to the runway and automatically lands the aircraft.The system takes into account several factors in identifying the most suitable airport including weather, fuel status, runway surface and length, terrain, obstacles and more. “The vision and development of the world’s first Autoland system for general aviation was a natural progression for Garmin as we looked at our aircraft systems and existing autonomous technologies and recognized it is our responsibility to use these building blocks to deliver a technology that will change lives and revolutionise air travel,” said Phil Straub, Garmin executive vice president and managing director of aviation.Piper Aircraft has included the Garmin Autoland as part of its HALO Safety System installed on the new M600 SLS.“The M600 SLS and its HALO Safety System with Autoland is the result of an unwavering commitment to safety as well as the desire to evolve our products based on market input, said President and CEO, Simon Caldecott.“The HALO System greatly enhances situational awareness and operational safety through the use of advanced technology and is one the most significant advancements in general aviation history. The team at Piper Aircraft is proud that they will be first to market with Garmin Autoland, which will ultimately help pave the way for others.”Cirrus Aircraft will make Autoland available on future SF50 Vision Jet airframes as the Safe Return system.“Our mission is to make personal aviation more accessible by continuing to improve passenger comfort and safety,” said Zean Nielsen, Cirrus Aircraft Chief Executive Officer. “Safe Return delivers the next step towards autonomous flight, bringing a new level of confidence to the overall flying experience by providing the ultimate level of safety and control to passengers.”At the time of writing, the US FAA had yet to issue certification for Autoland.Garmin introduces Auto Land for General AviationDIGITAL TOWERSPG 14AVIATIONPOLICYPG 14ANGELFLIGHTPG 15New system will land the aircraft automatically in emergency situations. australianflying.com.auJanuary – February 2020 AUSTRALIAN FLYINGE-NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP AT WWW.AUSTRALIANFLYING.COM.AUSIGN UP TO KEEP UP! The Australian Flying website is updated daily with the latest GA news stories. Visit us online now at www.australianflying.com.au to also check out our free classifieds section, photo and video galleries, blogs, flying tips articles and comprehensive Warbird coverage. And be sure to register for our FREE weekly electronic newsletter, which delivers the latest news FREE to your inbox every Friday morning. This is the perfect way to stay up to date with the latest news in between print issue of Australian Flying. BREAKING NEWS FEATURED ONWWW.AUSTRALIANFLYING.COM.AURECENTLY1 Financial Woes hit AirVenture Australia as Future Plans canceled2 CASA opens Consultation on Charter Maintenance Regulations3 Robinson Crash highlights Lack of Powerline Maps4Mareeba Upgrade enters Service5 E1000 Deliveries to Start Next Month6ATSB releases Swan River Investigation Report7Regional Express buys Ballarat Training Academy8New Partnership creates Pathways to Airline Careers9 SETP Shipments slump as Pistons forge Ahead10 Storm Clouds gather over MooneyAutoland will be available on select aircraft using the Garmin G3000 flight deck.
News 14Airservices Australia will test remote digital control tower technology next year after signing a contract with Searidge Technologies last November.Digital tower technology enables runways to be controlled from remote locations rather than the on-site tower.Searidge will initially provide a prototype contingency system for Sydney International Airport.“Digital Aerodrome Services will allow us to optimise our future service delivery and improve safety outcomes for the industry and travelling public,” Airservices Executive General Manager of Air Navigation Services Peter Curran said.“It also means we can support greater resilience at our major airports and be responsive to service level requirements.”The SYD prototype will showcase the Ultra High Definition (UHD) views of the main operating areas and create a facility for controllers and the regulator to experience the extensive benefits and features of a digital tower, including its use for contingency operations.Digital tower technology also has potential to replace existing control towers at smaller airports, with systems already operational in Sweden, Hungary, and the United Kingdom. In April 2018, Airways New Zealand announced that the 52-year-old Invercargill tower would be replaced with digital technology.“We are pleased to partner with Airservices Australia and are looking forward to sharing our knowledge and showcasing our technology to demonstrate digital towers as an agile and flexible method of delivering aerodrome services to support their long term growth, safety and asset management plans,” CEO of Searidge Technologies Moodie Cheikh said.Airservices Australia says it is introducing digital air traffic control towers to help ATCs enhance service delivery and improve safety for industry and the travelling public.Trials are being conducted this and next financial year to determine the technology’s suitability.Airservices to trial Digital TowersAustralia’s air service provider will investigate the feasibility of remote tower technologyaustralianflying.com.auAUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020Federal Government to develop Regional Aviation PolicyRegional aviation community welcomes the announcement of a new policy.The Federal Government will develop a Regional Aviation Policy as part of what it says is a commitment to growing regional Australia.Addressing the Regional Aviation Association of Australia (RAAA) convention on the Gold Coast in October last year, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development Michael McCormack said the government would develop the policy in collaboration with airlines, regional airport operators and local and state governments.“Affordable and accessible air services are crucial to connecting regional Australia in terms of tourism, travel, business, health and education and it underpins our economic development and delivery of critical services,” McCormack said“This policy statement will canvass strategies to ensure regional aviation remains competitive and viable into the future and we will also be listening closely to the views of regional development and tourism organisations and business.”The scope of the policy is expected to cover:• the role of regional airports and airlines as enablers of social and economic development in regional Australia• he role of the Commonwealth, state and territory governments and local governments in regional aviation• the impact of regulatory and operational costs on airports and airlines• the effectiveness of government programs that support regional aviation• opportunities for further investment in regional aviation activities including new technologies, recreational aviation, pilot training and agriculture-related aerial work.RAAA CEO Mike Higgins welcomed the announcement.“This government initiative to develop a comprehensive regional aviation policy statement including airlines and all stakeholders is indeed welcomed,” he said.“This will perfectly complement the recent announcement of funding to regional airports and help provide a sustainable and vibrant regional aviation transport sector.”The NATS / Searidge Technologies digital tower facility at London Heathrow.NWill regional aviation operators benefit from a new federal policy?
News 16Angel Flight Director Bill Bristow has retired from the organisation he founded 16 years ago, the charity announced this week.Bristow founded Angel Flight in 2003 after identifying a need to support rural Australians having to to travel to major cities for medical diagnosis, treatment and follow up visits.His life-long passion for flying led him to recognise the benefits pilots and their private aircraft could offer to rural and remote Australians.“Mr Bristow set up a remarkable system of linking health professional registrations and referrals between all large city hospitals, to outback clinics, remote area nurses and specialist institutions, as well as a network of essential skilled volunteer pilots and drivers,” said Angel Flight CEO Marjorie Pagani.“All services are free and at no cost to any person needing medical attention or to the government.“Honoured nationally in Australia, and internationally, for his outstanding charitable work in aviation, the unparalleled success of a charity assisting tens of thousands of country families to access specialist medical treatment in the cities, Mr Bristow may not have visualised such a significant achievement back in 2003.”Starting out with only 80 volunteer pilots–and no passengers–Bristow and his team grew Angel Flight to the organisation it is today, with 3000 pilots and 4000 drivers (Earth Angels).With his association with pilots in medical professions and increasing closures of specialist medical services, Bristow witnessed the worsening disadvantages faced by rural communities.He set up a system of linking health professional registrations and referrals between all large city hospitals, to outback clinics, remote area nurses and specialist institutions, as well as a network of essential skilled volunteer pilots and drivers.All services are free with no cost to any person needing medical attention or to the government.Angel Flight’s scorecard now reads 47,000 flights, 100,000 passengers and more than 20 million km driven on the roads.Angel Flight Founder retiresBill Bristow calls it a day from the charity he founded.australianflying.com.auAUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020www.ozrunways.com*ZIV]XLMRK ]SY RIIH JSV TVIJPMKLX FVMIǻRK MR SRI TPEGI The easy to use visual representation of aviation weather and NOTAMsSmartBrief is available with your OzRunways Premium Subscription on iOS, and coming soon to RWYOzRWYRWYOfficial EFBAngel Flight founder Bill Bristow has helped thousands of children since he set up his aviation charity.A
It has been said before that you should never meet your heroes. The inference is that you'll find out they are ordinary people with a less heroic side to them that may extinguish your adulation and have you wondering why you ever worshipped them in the first place. It's a philosophy that could be applied easily to aircraft. What if the aeroplane you lusted after so much in your early days turned out to be a dream-busting disappointment?One of my own hero aeroplanes has always been the Cessna C208 Caravan. Introduced in 1984, only one year before I logged my first flying hour, it was seen as a radical departure from the established charter and short-haul airline paradigms. One engine, high-wing, turbine; it couldn't have been more different from the low-wing piston twins that had dominated those markets for the previous 20-odd years.Apparently I wasn't the only one who thought the Caravan was the duck's guts; it was a winner from the moment it left the blocks and there are now around 2500+ of Aircraft Profile STEVE HITCHENTextron Aviation introduced Steve Hitchen to the Cessna Grand Caravan EX, and let him take this iconic aircraft through its paces.18AUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020A CaravanEXperienceT
them operating in most countries. Missionary work, short-haul RPT, cargo, parachuting, aeromedical, military, surveillance; the C208 rarely fails at any assigned task. For me, a lowly piston-pulled PPL of bog-stock nature, the Caravan has always been an aeroplane on a pedestal too high to reach ... until one day last September at a wind-blown Essendon Airport when Textron Aviation pointed me towards the latest version of this legendary GA workhorse, the C208B Grand Caravan EX.ImposingIt's easy to believe the Caravan EX is the largest single-engined aeroplane Cessna has ever made. The example I was to fly, N522EX, stood before me like a brooding dragon, one that I would soon be saddling up and riding into the sky. I had doubts that my elementary skills were developed enough to handle an 867-shp turbine, so I was very pleased to have Textron Senior Pilot – Asia Pacific James Wilson as my \"co-pilot\" for this adventure. The first thing I did was walk around the machine giving various bits and pieces a nod of approval, trying to look like a college professor assessing a student's project, when in reality I was thinking \"this is way cool!\" like an over-stimulated schoolboy. For a start there was the four-bladed McCauley constant-speed, full-feathering and reversible prop. The standard Caravan with the 675-shp engine needs only a three-bladed prop, but the EX needs that fourth blade to translate the extra horses effectively. The Pratt & Whitney PT6A-140 turbine contributes nothing extra to the top speed, but the EX will lift 175 kg more than the smaller model.It was on the trailing edge of the long, slender wing that I found one of the secrets to the Caravan's short-field supremacy: flaps that stretch almost two-thirds of the wing. Extending the flaps also exposes a rank of vortex generators that support air flow over the flaps during slow flight. With so much of the trailing edge dedicated to flap, the inevitable result is ailerons that are short and stumpy. It made me wonder if the control loading was going to need some muscle to overcome.Almost uniquely, the EX is a four-door aeroplane. There are crew doors on either side of the cockpit, a passenger door with built-in stairs on the right rear and a split cargo door on the left. Each side of the fuselage is punctuated with eight passenger windows, giving just about everyone in this 14-seater their own window. Slung under the belly is the now-ubiquitous cargo pod with four doors of its own. Adding the pod means passenger 19australianflying.com.auJanuary – February 2020 AUSTRALIAN FLYINGLEFT: Despite stumpy ailerons, the Grand Caravan handles quite nicely in the air.BELOW James Wilson in the office. The test aircraft was fitted with three Garmin 1000 screens. Note also the inertial separator handle just below the back-up ASI.
the fuel control unit fails and engine power is lost. There was also a large rod-like control for the inertial separator. That's a device that redirects large foreign particles away from the engine air intakes. All very new stuff to me.Wilson quickly ran me through what looked to my inexperienced eyes to be a complicated starting system for the Pratt.\"It's not a difficult start,\" he contradicted me. \"That's the good thing about this engine.\" He then proceeded to prove his point.He flicked on the battery and one of two avionics switches. That powered up one of the Garmin 1000 PFD screens to give us the engine gauges during start. He set the fuel boost pump to ON, checked the power lever was is idle and pushed the prop RPM levers full forward. He started the gas generator and ran the Ng gauge up to 12% before moving the fuel condition lever to low idle, which introduced fuel to the starting process. He watched the Ng ramp-up to 55% before turning off the starter and setting the fuel boost pump to normal.By that time the prop was just a blur. Wilson then switched on the second avionics switch and the other two Garmin screens came to life.\"Ready to go?\", he asked me as he completed his checklist ... like he needed to ask.It didn't take much to get 22EX moving, just a little encouragement with the power lever. \"We taxi at walking pace, so you add power as required; there's no set figure,\" Wilson told me. \"What you don't want to do is have the power up and ride the brakes at the same time. If you want to use the brakes, make sure you come back to idle. Whether you decide to use Beta or whether you decide to use brakes you need to strike a balance.\"Beta: that magical function that exists only on turbo-prop aeroplanes. Beta gives the pilot the ability to reverse the prop pitch using the power lever instead of the RPM lever. Airflow from the prop is redirected forward so it can be used as a brake or even for going backwards. Some pilots just like it because of the roar it makes.We followed our taxi clearance to runway 36 and on command lined-up in the face of a blustery 25-knot head wind. With take-off and airways clearances in our pockets, it AUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020Aircraft Profile 20australianflying.com.authe right seat via a folding ladder and strapped in. The height above the ground gave me a grand-stand view of the tarmac.Facing me were three Garmin 1000 screens with an auto pilot top of the centre panel, and a barrel-like quadrant from which sprouted five levers marked emergency power, power, prop RPM, fuel condition and flap. All of them were familiar to me except emergency power, which is used to restore power when bags don't clutter the cabin and also rescues the Caravan from looking too much like a tripod.Having completed my inspection, it was time to do what I was there to do: drive the beast.On a rollThe 2.6-metre McCauley out the front demands a long undercart to maintain ground clearance, which in turn means the crew seats have a bit of distance between them and the ground. I climbed into RIGHT: Cessna’s C208 has proven itself adept at most missions over the last 35 years, and the EX only extends the platforms capability.BELOW: Taxying through the jet crossing at Essendon. There is plenty of visibility and a grand-stand view.
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I had to hold heading and altitude until Wilson won a clearance from ATC to do \"airwork\", the official term for swinging around the sky having a great time. Once that was secured, there was no need for holding back.As I dipped the Caravan into the first left turn, my brain registered that the controls were quite heavy, but I tempered that by remembering that this was my first time handling anything this large. The control forces were more like I would have expected from a twin. Mentioning this to Wilson returned me a surprise look; he thought I was about to say how well it handled.As we continued our erratic path through the sky–left then right, then right around, then back to the left–I started to see his point. The Caravan EX was actually quite responsive despite my first reaction, and after a while my hands warmed to the task such that any thoughts of \"heaviness\" evaporated quite quickly. But how was this possible with those stumpy ailerons? The secret is something that can't be seen from the ground and you may not even know they're there unless told: roll spoilers on the upper wing.\"The roll spoilers are there to balance the turn,\" Wilson pointed out. \"They make the Caravan a very nice handling aircraft; they make it very responsive. In a single-engined aircraft you need to co-ordinate your turns with appropriate rudder and the roll spoilers make the turns very accurate. They combat adverse aileron yaw. You get induced drag from the lift and the spoilers balance that out.\"What began to annoy me was my propensity to roll through our assigned heading. I seemed to be constantly making corrections, showing that I was still a little bit behind 22EX. The roll rate is not as sprightly as most of the high wings that get mentioned in my logbook. I did eventually get it close to right.The big come downThe thing with flying a Caravan EX is that you sort of feel like the king of the world. With the wing leading edge well behind the your eye line the visibility is broad and expansive, and the PT6A out the front hauls you along with the greatest of ease. Add the fingertip capability provided by the three Garmin 1000s screens and you've got the complete package to get almost any job done with plenty left on the table. It's almost enough to induce a bit of swagger in your soul (danger!).So I was feeling pretty comfortable by the time ATC cleared us back to Essendon and gave us a new level of 5000 feet. We were blasting our way back down when it became apparent that blasting was not the best idea. Wilson pointed to the ASI needle, which was flirting with the red line.\"There's a very large engine out the front,\" he chipped in, \"so the Caravan EX is an easy plane to over-speed. I set the speed by the power and make sure we don't go through the red line on the TRQ. It's an unpressurised cabin and I AUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020we followed our vectors eastward before we were allowed to turn back for our destination. It did give us a chance to reach our clearance altitude of 10,000 feet and extend the cruise time; ESDIG is not that far away.Once level, Wilson eased the power a fraction and set the prop to 1750 RPM. When everything settled, the Garmin was showing a TAS of 179 for 152 indicated. \"Generally if you're at 10,000 feet you can expect a cruise of between 175-180 KTAS for that power and prop setting,\" Wilson said, \"so our speed is typical of what I would be aiming to get. In some flights you might want it to be a bit quieter in the cabin, in that case you'd bring the prop back to 1600 RPM which will reduce the noise in the cabin. That will make it a really nice ride.\"Then he said the words I'd been waiting for. \"Do you want to have a fly?\"I grabbed the wheel like it was the first beer of a fly-away weekend and punched-off the autopilot. N522EX was now mine.My first task was to do nothing. was time to rock and roll.Wilson shoved the fuel condition and prop all the way forward, but dealt with the power more prudently.\"You don't firewall the power lever on take-off,\" he said. \"If you look on the Engine Indicating System [EIS] you'll see that there's a red line indicator and you want to take the power up to just before that. As you accelerate, you'll get ram-rise; more air into the engine through dynamic pressure and you need to make sure you don't go over the red line, so you set the power slightly below the red line in anticipation of the ram-rise.\"At 70 knots Wilson lifted the nose to meet the wind. The PT6 had to lift only the two of us and about 1300 lb of fuel, so 22EX climbed like a Wedgetail up a ridgeline. Passing 90 KIAS Wilson retracted the flap and we settled into a 120-knot climb.PlaytimeOur clearance was for ESDIG, a point to the west of Melbourne where several airways converge. So in a very Essendon-like way Crew have their own doors, accessed via a folding ladder.“ We were blasting our way back down when it became apparent that blasting was not the best idea”Aircraft Profile 22
don't like going down at more than 1000 fpm because you can feel it on your ears, and that's not great for passengers. \"You plan your descent either through the Garmin avionics or just use time based on your estimate for landing. You also have to make sure your descent profile is reasonable for the approach you're making.\"Then you're looking to make sure you don't over-torque the engine.\"I handed 22EX back to Wilson and broke out my camera. We cruised along the base of Melbourne CBD and out to Caulfield (traffic again) before swinging back on a vector for a visual approach to runway 35. It was here that Wilson handed the aircraft back to me to make the landing.\"Make sure the prop is full forward, then have a look at the two flap limitation speeds,\" he briefed. \"The first stage is 150 knots, which is quite generous and then landing flap is 125 knots. When you drop the flaps you will see the nose rise, so you'll have to counter that by pushing forward and re-trimming. Once you've got it configured for landing, you'll be looking at a speed between 75-85 knots.\"I lined up well out and checked the wind. It was still strong and blustery, but in our favour was straight down the strip. At that point I decided to make the whole landing significantly harder to pull off.\"I've never made a bad landing on runway 35 at Essendon,\" I boasted.Wilson looked at me like I'd summoned evil spirits. \" You shouldn't have said that!\"N522EX speared on through the headwind, wallowing gently as the piano keys grew large in the windscreen.\"As you come it at 50 feet,\" Wilson continued, \"bring the power back to idle, you'll have enough drag, so start pulling it back, put the aileron into the wind, hold the centre line with LEFT: The flap takes up two-thirds of the trailing edge, resulting in short ailerons.ABOVE: The barrel-like throttle quadrant with its five levers is within easy reach of either seat.rudder and that should see you to the ground once you flare.\"I became a bit over-conscious about the height between the wheels and my eyes, and recognised the danger of slamming it onto the main gear if I flared late. It turns out that I got it pretty close to right. The main gear rolled onto the runway in what I classify as a respectable first (and to this date only) Caravan landing. Hex defeated!Still my heroMost fledgling commercial pilots will encounter a Cessna Caravan of some incarnation very early on in their careers. It is likely to be the first turbine they will ever fly in command ... and they're going to love it, especially if it's an EX. The capability and capacity entices operators to put Caravans on all sort of missions and it performs each one of them without missing a beat. \"The Caravan is great fun,\" Wilson believes. \"Being a single-engined aircraft you can go to really remote places, you can land on water, land and on both water and land. In respect of flying, it's a fantastic aircraft. It's very straightforward. The avionics suite is G1000, which is available in most GA aircraft today, you have a power lever and a variable pitch prop.\"I can't disagree with any of that. I have met my hero, and rather than be disappointed, I found that my adulation was justified.January – February 2020 AUSTRALIAN FLYING23australianflying.com.au
W hen purchasing an aviation headset there are many factors to consider, some obvious, some not; price and comfort being the two most obvious – we all have different sized pockets and different-shaped heads. Our choice of aircraft will often be a consideration, whether we are working or playing in the aircraft, the current state of our hearing, our level of resilience to \"clamp ache\", whether we can fit sunglasses on with the headset comfortably, how tall we are, or how much we hate headset hair. There are many that will have an opinion that this brand, that type, or that model are the best, or that the in-ear headsets aren’t as good as the muff-type, but it is hard to find independent scientific research that will back up these claims in the public domain. The manufacturers of in-ear aviation headsets claim that in-ear headsets can match or, in some cases, are even better than some cup-type sets in terms of how well they reduce noise or produce clarity of sound. First things first, what’s the choice? Well, there are quite a few including a myriad of cheaper, only-buy-on-the-internet versions, but this article will look at three of the more well-known brands: the Bose ProFlight Series 2, the Faro AIR, Clarity Aloft’s newest addition to its fleet, the Flex, and an interesting outsider – Quiet Technologies Halo (QT don’t ship to Australia, but hey, maybe you travel there occasionally or know someone who does). This is by no means a full list, but it is a cross-section, from relatively dollar-conscious to the perceived top-of-the-range.If you are not quite sure whether to shell out the dollars on a set, perhaps this article will give you a kick-start. Bose ProFlight Series 2Of the in-ear aviation headsets looked at here, the Bose ProFlight Series 2 looks most like the standard headset, albeit smaller and much lighter. It has an adjustable headband that sits just above the ear on both sides of the head, effectively clamping on, and moulded earpieces on thin leads from the headband, with silicon, umbrella-shaped earplugs that fit snugly into the ear canal.Generally considered the industry’s smallest, lightest, active noise-canceling headset, it weighs in at just 128 grams, nearly a quarter through the EarsHeadsetsANGELA AT AVALONIn-ear headsets are not the design most favoured by aviators, but Angela at Avalon researched all available information and found out there is still much to recommend.24AUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020TechnologyBose ProFlight Series II.ABOVE: The Faro Air.
the weight of the A20 cup-type set at 453 grams. The ProFlight Series 2’s weight, however, is significantly greater than the other in-ear sets below, in fact it’s three to five times the weight, but then again, none of the other sets below employ active noise cancelling. This extra weight appears to be in the headband, the batteries, and the control module that hooks into an app on your phone.Bose is upfront that the ProFlight Series 2 “does not have as much total noise reduction as the A20 Aviation Headset”. The set provides three different profiles of active noise canceling that make it possible to customise the set to the environment. But beware: low, medium and high aren’t about the level of noise cancelation, it’s more nuanced than that. High means the best setting for maximum noise cancellation across the full spectrum, medium for “signal-to-noise ratio for radio and intercom communications” and for those aircraft with a lower ambient noise, and low is optimised for non-intercom communications.The ProFlight is available with Bluetooth – you can use your phone or listen to music. Without the Bluetooth it’s slightly cheaper. It is also possible to replace the headband cushion and you can easily swap the position of the mic from left to right. Bose has a very good set-up video that also explains the tricky parts of getting your in-ear set up just right.A feature that many online reviewers (i.e., not on the manufacturer’s website) find positive is that you can double-tap on an earpiece to turn off one ear, meaning that you can listen to sounds not coming through the intercom if need be without having to remove the headset.Bose offers a five-year warranty, though significantly, it does not recommend the ProFlight for piston engines. Mark Pollard, who spends time up the front of the odd Airbus and also flies Super Decathlon, Cessna 172 and 421, and an Extra, advises “While the active noise canceling is great and up to par with the A20 headset, the lack of any passive noise reduction makes them not as good [in GA aircraft].”Meanwhile, Steve Lesser, of Melbourne, uses ProFlight all the time in his Piper Cherokee and says that although he feels the ANC is not quite as good as the A20, the clarity of intercom audio is brilliant and the Bluetooth audio \"as good as in my Benz\".Bose states that it designed the ProFlight Series 2 with “commercial aviators, airline pilots and lower-noise corporate flight deck environments in mind”, so those of you with lower-noise cockpits might be tempted to give them a try. Indicative Price: $1395.0025australianflying.com.auJanuary – February 2020 AUSTRALIAN FLYING“ you must wonder whether you could detect the difference of 100 grams on your head”Bose ProFlight Series II is merely a quarter of the weight of a standard Bose A20 headset.
Faro AirThe Faro Air is a mid-range option that also fares very well on online reviews. Weighing in at a mere 28.34 grams–barely more than an AA battery–the manufacturer claims that the Faro Air reduces noise by up to 50 decibels. This headset, like Clarity Aloft, also uses Comply Canal eartips; further, Faro happily recommends it for GA and helicopters.With an adjustable headband (by squeezing it tighter or stretching it wider) you get to choose where the band should sit, but it does not need to be particularly firm around the skull and can be held in place with positioning clips to your clothes. As with the Clarity Aloft, you should pinch and squeeze the foam eartip until it is small enough to slide into the ear canal and then hold it still while you allow for the foam to decompress into the desired shape. As for industrial earplugs, you soon learn when the fit is right because the sound around you becomes significantly dull.The Faro Air has most of the bells and whistles of the Clarity Aloft Flex, including auxiliary audio input, noise-canceling AUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020Headsets 26australianflying.com.auAloft Technologies suggest that this headset may be able to replace your existing hearing aid (if you have one), however, it only has a single volume control.There is no Bluetooth availability on the Clarity Aloft Flex; the Link model does but at the expense of needing batteries, it does not have an adjustable headband, and nor does it fold flat for storage like the Flex. The Flex also has a super-lightweight adjustable headband that goes behind the head and rests on the ears, and a noise-canceling microphone. Melbourne-based airshow pilot Paul Andronicou swears by them for aerobatics–he has two sets–remarking most favourably on the \"awesome\" reception/transmission clarity, a feature that also seems to be the general consensus amongst online reviewers. On one pilot discussion forum the word \"flimsy\"appeared quite often, however, one person pointed out that he didn’t think it was any more flimsy than previous models. This probably has to do with weight and Aloft Technologies’ website doesn’t specify a weight for the Flex. They do say, however, that it is the lightest of their models and that the Clarity Aloft Classic weighs a minute 42 grams – around 10 teaspoons of sugar. It’s hard to see how much lighter a headset can get! The Faro Air, however, beats that.Indicative Price: $1200.00 plus shipping from US.Clarity Aloft FlexThe Clarity Aloft range seem to be well-liked by online reviewers. These headsets claim to be noise-canceling without the ANR. In other words, they passively reduce the noise. Indeed, the manufacturer claims they reduce noise levels by between 29 and 47 decibels across the full spectrum, and between 35 and 45 decibels in the speech frequency range. The manufacturer also maintains that they provide better noise reduction and therefore better clarity in this range than many ANR headsets.All Aloft Technologies in-ear aviation headsets use Comply Canal Foam eartips, which, according to the manufacturer, are military-grade and engineered to deliver \"maximum noise reduction for mission-critical communication\". Essentially a super-soft memory foam (no latex) that is pinched and squeezed before inserting into the ear, these eartips are said to be longer than standard length providing deep in-ear fit for maximum noise isolation. Aloft Technologies maintains that using these types of foam tips reduces noise by “5 decibels more than a custom ear mould”. The earpieces are available in small medium and large. Tip: you might need a small in one ear and a medium in another. Replacement tips however, are not cheap at around $6 a pair, depending where you buy them.The Faro Air can cut noise by up to 50 decibels.LEFT: The Quiet Technologies Halo uses very different technology, but is not available in Australia.Clarity Aloft Flex.N
It is recommended by the manufacturer for aerobatics, has optional Bluetooth, independent volume control, and oh, wait for it … you can get this headset in black or \"Cub\" yellow! OK, that would have to make someone happy.Price: not available to Australia, but around $US370.00 ($A540.00).Finnicky and FiddlyAccording to many of the discussion forums, all of the in-ear sets discussed here apparently take a bit of getting used to with the words \"finnicky\", \"fiddly\", and \"customising\" cropping up again and again, but overall it appears that once you get used to them the fiddling stops and they become very easy to wear.An aviation headset is a major investment, not just in dollars, but also in safety. Being able to hear the engine clearly, clarity of intercom, ATC instructions and traffic audio, noise fatigue, headset clamp headache, and cognitive overload all factor into safety in the cockpit and therefore play important roles in choosing the right headset. There’s plenty to consider, and to be honest, it’s not nearly as awful as comparing health insurances. Happy headset hunting! AUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020Headsets 28australianflying.com.auspeakers in the headband, through the centre of a compressed foam eartip (which gives you the passive noise reduction) straight into your ear canal.An interesting aspect to this design is that when the eartips get dirty, which they inevitably will after you’ve plugged them in and out of your ears dozens of times, you can not only replace the eartips, but also cut down the sound tubes a couple of times before having to replace them (replacement tubes cost $15 a pair).QT has an excellent video demonstrating how to get the foam eartips fitted correctly into the ear canal – in fact, it’s the best video demo of this procedure encountered in researching this article. Note: with these eartips it is recommended that you actually roll them between your fingers to compress them. Again, the microphone is noise-cancelling and the headset is adjustable. These are the lightest of the four headsets (though you must wonder whether you could detect the difference of 100 grams on your head?). At 22.68 grams, they must feel like adding a feather in your cap! This headset can be worn in one of three configurations: over the head, around the head, or resting on the shoulders. microphone, mono/stereo switch, and an adjustment clip. One advantage is that this headset does have dual volume control.Reading through quite a few online reviews for the Faro Air, it appears their customer service is very good. And the responses from Faro to emailed questions for this article were always very quick (and human).Indicative Price: $5-600.Quiet Technologies HaloLast, but absolutely not least, Quiet Technologies (QT) produces a dollar-conscious in-ear aviation headset that appears to have most of the bells and whistles of the other, much pricier versions. Although not available via retail outlets in Australia (and they won’t ship to us either), it is included here because it uses quite different technology and makes an interesting contrast to the others. QT claims that the Halo is as good as most ANR headsets, stating that it reduces noise by 30-45 decibels across the whole spectrum; not just in the lower range. This type doesn’t have wired speakers, instead ,\"indestructible\" sound tubes with acoustic dampeners deliver the sound. The soft plastic tubes travel from hi-fidelity stereo COMPARISONBose ProFlight Series 2Clarity AloftFaro AIRHaloConfigurationOver head (only) headband with earpiecesBehind the headBehind the headBehind head, overhead, or on the shouldersNoise CancelingANR onlyPNRPNRPNRDecibel reductionNot specified29-47dbUp to 50db30-45dbBluetoothAvailableNo (Link model only)NoAvailableLeft/Right MicAdjustableAdjustableLeftLeftHeadband AdjustableYesYes – with an adjustment band (extra)Yes – squeeze to tighten, flex to widenBend or stretchAuxiliary audio inputYesYesYesYes Melbourne pilot Steve Lesser (right) finds the Bluetooth in his Bose unit is as good as it is in his Mercedes Benz.STEVE LESSER
The ProFlight Series 2 builds upon the advanced technology of the original, and is the most lightweight, compact and comfortable aviation headset nedfiBose has ever produced. The ProFlight Series 2 is engineered and re y, and now offers numerous updatesflfor the way professional pilots and enhancements based on pilot input. Experience the changes for yourself – learn more and order at Worldwide.Bose.com/ProFlight. I N T R O D U C I N G P R O F L I G H T S E R I E S 2 Engineered by Bose. ned by pilots.fiReAV I AT I O NConnect with us @BoseAviation©2020 Bose Corporation. All rights reserved.New lighter, thinner, exible cableflmore allows improved stability and freedom of movement.FAA TSO and E/TSO-ed andfiC139a certi compatible with TSO ed systems.ficertiThree modes of noise cancellation, now with improved low mode. Improved tap control for talk-through communication.Incorporates more than 30 U.S. design and utility patents.Lighter 4.5 ounce (128 gram) on-head weight provides improved stability and ights.flcomfort on long N
t was like Beyonce had come to town.Waves of excitement and anticipation rippled through the local aviation industry; something very special was on the taxiway at Moorabbin. They said it was sleek, they said it was fast and and they said it was sexy. It was something never before seen except in mock-ups, pictures and You Tube videos. People flocked to the airport to see it in real life and I joined the migration. When I walked into the hangar it was the only thing in the spotlights, surrounded by tittering admirers pointing and grinning. After being promised to us for 12 years, we could finally reach out and touch a genuine, operational Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet. Still with N registration on its side, this blue-and-white beauty was due to be delivered to its new owner in a few weeks. This was the appetiser for me, for I was scheduled to fly it the very next day.Conceived during the very-light-jet (VLJ) frenzy 10 years ago, the SF50 Vision is the only design of that period to make it to market, but only then after a development hiatus when funds dried up, resurrected only by the injection of cash that came when GAIGA bought Cirrus. It had been a very rocky road from conception to the hangar at Moorabbin Airport, but clearly the Vision Jet was a survivor.The following day would prove to me why.The day afterMy total turbine experience could be etched into the side of half a Tic-Tac. I’d flown a few turbo-props, but never had the full jet experience. Mostly when the turbofans come to town, the resident writers get to sit in the air conditioned cabin and admire the screens and blinking lights. Cirrus Australia and Arc Aviation took a different approach: this plane was made for flying and that’s just what I was going to be allowed to do.When I arrived at Arc Aviation’s hangar next morning, N755DS was no longer in the spotlight, but outside on the tarmac taking its place in the sun. Even though I had given it a thorough looking over the night before, my inspection pre-flight next morning was a touch more professional.The most obvious thing in any inspection is that the SF50 resembles no civil aircraft ever made. It is unique in appearance and design, which is what brings so many admirers any time it is out of the hangar.The most obvious things are the dorsal-mounted Williams FJ33 turbofan engine and the V-tail ruddervators not seen on a production GA plane since the Beech Model 35 Bonanza. In Beechcraft’s case, the V-tail was meant to make the aircraft more Cirrus' SF50 Vision personal jet was one of the most awaited general aviation designs of the past 10 years. Unique in style and rich in performance, the Vision jet throws out a challenge to the high-speed single engine turbo-props. Steve Hitchen got to fly the first one brought to Australia late last year.of the GodsFlight Test: STEVE HITCHEN30AUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020IChariot“Our target altitude was 11,500 feet, and we hit that about seven minutes later.”Cirrus’ SF50 Vision Jet was conceived in the VLJ days, but has matured to be a viable personal jet.
efficient by eliminating the need for three control surfaces at the back, but for the Vision it’s all about having nothing block the jet efflux from the engine. Most single-engine jets have the motor contained in the fuselage, but if you want a usable cabin that motor has to go somewhere else. Bolting it under one wing creates unworkable asymmetric thrust and can lead only to disaster ... and poor sales.But the Vision Jet is not a pure V-tail in early Bonanza terms; it’s more of a X-tail. Cirrus encountered the same issue that plagued the Bonanza: the tendency for the V-tail to dance at high speeds. Known as “Beech wobble”, the phenomenon is uncomfortable and annoying. Hence the Vision tail sports two small finlets that protrude downward and outward from each side of the tail, creating an off-centre “X” effect. The finlets support free-moving surfaces that kill the wobble, resulting in the smooth steady ride that you expect from a jet.Another thing you expect from a jet is a landing so smooth you could polish it. The favoured device for producing that is main landing gear with a trailing link. It was the obvious choice for the SF50 in what is the first Cirrus to market with retractable undercarriage. The trailing link cushions contact with the ground, so the landing is devoid of the “thunk” contact so easily achieved with standard main undercarts.Deep insideEven the door to the Vision jet is intriguing. With very little distance between the leading edge of the wing and the back edge of the windscreen, the hatchway has to be canted backward from bottom to top. Rather than look odd, it actually adds to the aesthetics by creating an impression of speed. The door itself is a clamshell in two halves with stairs built in to the bottom half. As the SF50 is pressurised, the door locking mechanism must be fairly substantial, something Cirrus has done by copying a bank vault design. The front-row seats are mounted on long rails that go nearly all the way back to front of the second row. This means the passengers can step easily into the cabin before the front seats are slid back to allow the crew to step into the aeroplane and straight into their seats. With the front row seats fully forward for flight, it creates so much space behind that the passengers could set up a poker table. Easier access hath no other GA aeroplane!After strapping myself in, I noticed that the cockpit was very familiar, designed as it is to be loyal to the SR22 layout and avionics. The Cirrus Perspective Touch by Garmin system gave me three large screens plus two touch-screen controllers in bank below. With a few exceptions, all the switches were in the same locations as the SR22. One difference is the sidestick, which is more like the genuine joystick found on the defunct Cessna TTx than the push-pull stick on an SR22. This is a better system than the SR22 because the pilot can anchor their elbow in one spot and fly with their hand rather than have to use their whole arm to work the elevator. I may be alone in this, but I’d like to see this system swung over to the SR22 as well.Beside my right leg was the centre console, which housed the power lever, trim wheel, autopilot and fuel controls. The fuel is balanced automatically, so there’s nothing to do with that lever. The power lever is an unobtrusive, short device that doesn’t look like something used to unleash 1800 pound of thrust. The console fascia showed a marking position for maximum continuous torque (MCT).The man who dropped into the right seat was the multi-talented Justin Dillon, who bears the titles of Pilot – Vision Jet and Executive Director Sales Western US. Dillon gave me a quick run-down on how similar the layout was to the SR22 and stepped me through the pre-start procedure. When it came time to actually starting the Williams FJ33 mounted on the spine, it couldn’t have been easier. He pointed me to a shiny knob that wouldn’t look out of place on a stereo system and a START button placed just ahead of the sidestick. “Simply twist the knob to RUN and press START,” he said casually. “FADEC controls the start from there and there are no fuel pumps or fuel controllers in the plane to do anything with. It just starts.”And so it did. We watched the inlet turbine temperature (ITT) rise, noted that the N1 gauge was moving before N2 hit 25% and checked the temperature and oil pressure. That’s all there was to it ... it takes more to start my two-stroke whipper-snipper.Driving itWe were barely three metres away from the Arc Aviation base when I got the shock of my life: this very high-tech, expensive corporate jet doesn’t have a steerable nosewheel!“It’s a simple system mechanically,” Dillon explained. “It allows maximum steerability and is lightweight. There’s is a spring in the nose that straightens the gear as it retracts into the wheel well. This same system helps keep the nose tracking straight during taxi for stability.”The Vision was certainly stable in the taxi, but my bumble-footed skills with differential-brake steering must have made the pax a touch seasick. However, I did get us to the holding point for runway 17L without striking hard things Flight Test32AUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020Vision jet’s unique tail, designed to allow the jet efflux to run free. Note the two finlets designed to kill “Beech wobble”.The Williams FJ33 mounted on the spine is de-rated from an FJ44.32australianflying.com.au
along the way, which was the primary aim of the exercise.I found myself at the holding point without having visited the run-up bay on the way. Once the turbofan is running, all you need to do input your flight plan (if needed) and check trim, flap and flight controls. The pressurisation is automatic as are the fuel controls. Pilot workload is reduced dramatically through automation, which Cirrus says makes its aeroplanes much safer.As we waited to line-up behind some inbounds, Dillon briefed the take-off.“You’ve got no propeller, so don’t be afraid to give her full throttle immediately. Keep her straight and look for 90 knots. Once you’ve got that, pitch the nose up 5 above othe horizon. When you reach 400 feet AGL, turn the autopilot on, clean up the flaps and engage the autothrottle.”Righto, let’s have a go.With a take-off clearance in our back pocket, I took the unobtrusive lever and pushed it to the firewall. As 55DS surged forward, Dillon was forced to remind me not to steer with the brakes any more. Given total freedom, the jet arrived at 90 knots in reasonable time. A quick pitch up, touch the brakes and stow the wheels. Moorabbin rapidly disappeared from under us and I performed the 400-feet duties. Within two minutes the autothrottle had reduced the power to MCT and we settled into a 165-knot, 17-1800 fpm climb and took up a track for Leongatha.Our target altitude was 11,500 feet, and we hit that about seven minutes later. “On initial climb you can accelerate to either 120 or 165 knots based on what climb performance you want,” Dillon remarked. “On an ISA day, 165 will give you 1800 fpm, but 120 will give you around 3000 fpm.”As I sat there doing not a whole lot I had time to drink in the cockpit environment. Most apparent was the smoothness and quietness of the ride. Without propwash to belt the fuselage and a Clydesdale-like piston engine roaring away upfront, the Vision Jet feels like it’s gliding no matter what the phase of flight. This was the ride of the Gods.Rolling aboutLevelled-out and trimmed for cruise, 55DS easily hit the 300 KTAS predicted. Aileron control was effortless. With just a bit of pressure on either side of the stick, we flipped back and forward between left and right turns as if our ride was a two-seat trainer and not an advanced private jet. I later likened the response to a helicopter cyclic: all you have to do is start thinking about the move and the aircraft begins responding. The feel and feedback from the control surfaces is so similar to an SR22 that it I found it easy to forget we were being shoved along by a turbofan engine.Dillon then ran me through his pet exercise: slow rolls. We backed off the thrust and allowed the speed to decay to only 80 knots, then started rolling around again. This is the zone where jet pilots start sweating; most jets will wallow and perhaps even stall when you try this. The Vision Jet took it all in one easy stride and rather than being on the edge of any envelope, was an absolute joy to fly in this configuration. Whilst there, we had a crack at making the electronic stability protection (ESP) earn its keep.“ESP is the envelope protection system that will not allow the plane to be banked by the pilot more than 45 or the autopilot will oturn itself on and bring the wings back over towards level,” Dillon remarked. “It’s great to prevent over-banking in the circuit.”I pushed the stick left and watched the bank angle increase to 45 . As the attitude indicator rolled othrough that mark, the stick began to resist and the aircraft rolled back to within the envelope. I even tried fighting it again, but there was no chance of me winning that bout.“We were rocketing earthward in an enigmatically stable state”Flight Test: 34AUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020Despite not having a steerable nose wheel, the SF50 is not hard to taxy.With the crew seats all the way forward, there’s a paddock between them and Row 2.
The ESPs partner in idiot suppression is the anti-stall system. There are several warnings, and if you’re obstinate or ignorant enough to ignore them, it just gives up on you and takes over.“For anti stall we have three levels,” Dillon explained. “First the ‘eyebrows’ come up on the PFD AH when you are within 10 kt of stall. They act as a large angle-of-attack indicator. If you touch the eyebrows with the attitude indicator it will activate the stick shaker, which will physically warn you that you are now within 5 kt of stall. “If you go all the way back to full stall at 63 kt, a stick pusher forces the nose over and will not allow the aircraft to actually aerodynamically stall.”This was an opportunity to be stupid with a jet and live to tell stories about it at the bar. I tried everything I could think of to get 55DS to stall, but it seemed to know what I was up to and thwarted every move. I can’t tell you if the stall was aggressive or benign because I can’t describe what never happened.I brought the FJ33 back to cruise power and we were soon back at our customary 300 KTAS. The plan from here was to land at Latrobe Regional Airport, which meant getting in under the East Sale control steps. This gave Dillon a chance to demonstrate another remarkable capability of the Vision Jet: the rapid descent.Nose down and fast“Slow her down to 80 knots,” Dillon instructed, “and lower the gear and flap. A gear extension speed of 210 and a flap extension of 190 means this aircraft doesn’t need speed brakes. Once the flaps are full, get the nose down and try to hold 135 knots indicated.”That sounded a bit crazy to me, but with the safety net of an airframe parachute I was up for anything! I pushed forward on the stick until the Strzelecki Ranges filled the panoramic windscreen. The airspeed started to pick up and the altimeter unwound. Still I wasn’t at 135 KIAS, so I pushed further and further forward. I reached my assigned airspeed with the nose at 25 below the horizon. oAt that stage the altimeter tape was rolling down like a poker machine and the VSI was flirting with a 4000 fpm rate-of-descent. We were rocketing earthward in a enigmatically stable state. The ride was smooth and undramatic, and the automatic pressurisation kept up without raising a sweat. Once below the step, Dillon took command, cleaned up the jet and set us up for the RNAV approach to LTV’s runway 03. Once established on final, he handed the stick back to me. The 35australianflying.com.auJanuary – February 2020 AUSTRALIAN FLYINGhighly accurate 4-D wind modelling30 day free trialfor all pilots, at all levelsHDV 1$,36 ŴLJKW SODQ ƓOLQJinteracitve Graphical Area Forecasts, plain-English TAFs & METARsFRPSUHKHQVLYH ŴLJKW SODQQLQJ PRYLQJ PDS QDYLJDWLRQwww.avplan-efb.comph 03 8370 3024WDNH RXU ŴLJKW SODQQLQJ WR QHZ KHLJKWVavailable on both iOS and Android devicesTMTMAvPlan EFBfor AndroidTMavailable now!The pax always get a good ride, as demonstrated by Stefan Drury and the author.
On cue, 55DS further slowed to 100 knots as we started the base turn. “Hold the power at 25%. We’re now fully configured for landing, so you shouldn’t have to touch the power much at all. It should give us about 700 fpm on the descent. We’re looking for 75-85 knots, so aim for around 80.”It was possibly the most stable approach I’d ever flown; credit due more to the jet’s design than my skill. As the numbers got larger in the windscreen, I anchored my peripheral vision to the ASI. This was likely to be the only jet landing I would ever make in my flying career and I wanted desperately for it to be something hang on to, like that one really good shot in a round of golf.I needed have worried; 55DS had my back. As we sank into the flare position I pulled the thrust right back and raised the nose as gently as I dared. The trailing-link landing gear did it’s stuff at exactly the right moment as the wheels kissed the runway in what I am happy to say was a greaser. No thunking, just an easy rumble of rubber meeting tarmac. Rave onThe challenge in flying the Cirrus jet is knowing how much of it is you and how much is the aeroplane. With all the safety systems built in and the inherent pilotability of the design, it makes you feel like you’re a jet pilot after only one flight. I put that down to Cirrus’ philosophy of making it one small step from an SR22 into an SF50. Much of the skill translates over, with only the new systems to be mastered.Cirrus instigated the program many years ago now with a determination to build a jet that was well within the grip of the average pilot, and as an average pilot I feel very qualified to tell you they have succeeded in spades! The result is an aircraft that is easy to start, easy to fly, easy to land, presents very few challenges to upgrading SR22 pilots and looks absolutely fantastic sitting out the front of your hangar.It’s a high-speed aeroplane that adapts itself as well to private aviation as it would to corporate aviation and does both with the promise of great dollops of fun.You don’t get that with most jets, which makes the SF50 a stand-out in the market.Thanks to Cirrus Australia, Arc Aviation and Justin Dillon for a memorable experience.AUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020AVI 50415DIPLOMA OF AVIATION (INSTRUMENT RATING)AVI50516 DIPLOMA OF AVIATION (FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR)AVI50215 DIPLOMA OF AVIATION (COMMERCIAL PILOTS LICENCE – AEROPLANE)Slanted slightly backward, the clamshell door adds to the impression of speed. Note RH crew seat slid all the way back.Flight Test: 36plan wasn’t to land straight away, but to demonstrate the take-off/go-around (TOGA) button on the side of the power lever. We slid down final until there was about 100 feet to go to the keys.“OK,” Dillon said, “push the button.”I complied ... nothing happened. Dillon took over and hit the button again. The Vision Jet responded with power and pitch up and around we went.“You have to push it harder than that.”It was a good thing we went around anyway; the wind was swinging and 21 became the runway of choice. As we looped around to join crosswind, Dillon coached me to reduce the power to 25%. The jet slowed to 140 knots and early on downwind we extended the gear and lowered the flaps to 50%, further slowing to 120.“We’re abeam the numbers about now,” Dillon said. “Extend all the flap and give us about a 5o nose-down pitch.”
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Orders ofInstructor Ratings TONY SELFWith the coming of CASR Part 61, flying instruction in Australia changed fundamentally and created new challenges for instructors. Tony Self looks at the new learning environment that has been handed to general aviation.38AUSTRALIAN FLYING January –February 2020InstructionUnder Part 61, an instructor now needs an instructor rating and training endorsements.
In Australia, the pilot licence system changed extensively on 1 September 2014, when the Part 61 rules came into effect. Part 61 refers to the part of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (1998), which is a 638-page monster of a legal document. Most private pilots were probably not impacted greatly, as licences from the previous CAR Part 5 system were transferred to Part 61 at the pilot’s next biennial flight review. For some pilots with more obscure licence ratings, approvals, instruments and endorsements, Part 61 created some hiccups. For flying school operators, aviation businesses and flying instructors, Part 61 was 638 pages of fine print. To expand on parts of the regulations that were open to interpretation, CASA issued a Manual of Standards (MOS), but the MOS is also difficult to wade through, so to aid pilots, operators and instructors, CASA provided a number of MOS guides. The Instructor Rating Guide is 48 pages long, but the full set of Part 61 regulations, orders, decisions, exemptions, MOS and guides is reputed to be over 6000 pages! One of the theoretical underpinnings of Part 61 is competency-based training (CBT), and the MOS contains the competency standards required for each qualification, be that a licence, rating or endorsement. So, a Flight Radio Endorsement requires three “units of competency”, and the requirements for each unit typically runs to two pages of bullet points (for example, “Describe the difference between a distress and an emergency message and the standard phrases used in both cases.”) Instructors need to teach to these granular competencies. Before going further, we need to clear up the terminology. There are instructor ratings, and training endorsements. If you have an instructor rating, you can instruct in the fields in which you have a training endorsement. If you don’t have any training endorsements, you are not authorised to instruct. There are some weird endorsements that surely no-one has ever held, such as Gyroplane Pressurisation System, and Airship Gas Turbine. As a further aside, the Fairey Rotodyne of the late 1950s was a hybrid aircraft/helicopter/gyrocopter which had two turbo-prop engines, a conventional wing, and rotor tips that could be powered by jets of air bled from the engines. You’d have to be brave to guess what endorsements would be required by CASA to fly that machine! Ratings versus endorsementsA “rating” is a flight crew qualification that allows a pilot to operate particular aircraft. Most GA pilots have a single-engine aeroplane class rating (SEA), which allows them to fly the most common single-engine aircraft. If the aircraft has a design feature–such as floats or a tailwheel–an endorsement on top of that rating is required. Some GA pilots also have a multi-engine aeroplane class rating (MEA), which permits them to fly the most common twin-engine aircraft. Some aircraft types are not covered by a class rating, and require a specific type rating. elements of the aircraft itself–such as ski landing gear–while flight activity relates to ways in which the aircraft is used, such as spinning or formation flying.Transition to Part 61While the changeover from the previous CAR 5 licensing system to Part 61 has been usually unremarkable for GA pilots, there have been many areas of concern for flight instructors. But first, a bit of recent history. The reforms to licensing became legally effective in September 2014, with a four-year transition period. From a bureaucratic perspective, the changes moved all of the previous rules from a number of different regulations and CAOs (Civil Aviation Orders) into the one set of Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASR). Another reason for the change was to attempt to bring Australian rules into line with 39australianflying.com.auJanuary – February 2020 AUSTRALIAN FLYINGThis requirement is included on the aircraft’s type certificate. For example, if you happen to have a Pilatus PC-24 executive jet, you’ll need a type rating. An anomaly is the Cessna 337 Skymaster, which has two engines, one tractor and one pusher. Because an engine failure doesn’t result in asymmetrical thrust, conventional multi-engine training is not required. So it is treated as though it is a single-engined aircraft. A special endorsement on a single-engine class rating, called a multi-engine centre-line thrust endorsement, is required to fly it. In addition, there are operational ratings, which relate to the conditions under which the aircraft can be operated, such as at low level, or in instrument conditions. Endorsements are grouped into design features and flight activity. Design features relate to peculiar “ the full set of Part 61 regulations, orders, decisions, exemptions, MOS and guides is reputed to be over 6000 pages!”The instructor-student relationship has always been an important one.
the licence (and in the licensing system). Pilots who had lost the appropriate pages of their log books needed to otherwise prove they were properly endorsed. Under the previous system, a commercial pilot with a flight instructor rating could conduct training in any flight activity or design feature for which she or he was endorsed. For example, a pilot with an instructor rating and a constant speed propeller endorsement could train a student in constant speed propeller operation. Part 61 changed that with the introduction of training endorsements, which added complexity. As well as the endorsement, the instructor would also need the associated training endorsement, such as the constant speed propeller training endorsement. And every two years, those additional endorsements have to be kept current through a proficiency check. The old Grade 1, 2 and 3 Flight Instructor Ratings were replaced with Grade 1, 2 and 3 training endorsements. And basic instrument flying can no longer be taught by a Grade 3 instructor; a night VFR training endorsement or an instrument flying training endorsement is now required. Another change has the replacement of Approved Testing Officers (a role previously delegated to some senior instructors) with a Flight Examiner Rating. A proficiency check every two years is conducted by one of CASA’s Flying Operations Inspectors (FOIs).Pain pointsFor flight instructors, an area of concern that the change to Part 61 brought was flight reviews. Some of the flight review requirements (61.745 and 61.800) were almost immediately found to be unworkable, so an exemption was created to provide an alternative to AUSTRALIAN FLYING January –February 2020Instructor Ratings 40australianflying.com.auWhat Does it Mean?Operational Ratings• Instrument rating (IR)• Private Instrument Rating (PIR)• Night VFR Rating (NVFR)• Night Vision Rating (NVIR)• low-level rating (LL)• Aerial Application Rating (AA)• Flight Instructor Rating (FIR)• Flight Examiner Rating (FER)• Simulator Instructor Rating (SIR)Design Features Endorsements• Tailwheel undercarriage• Retractable undercarriage• Manual propeller pitch control• Gas turbine engine• Multi-engine centre-line thrust• Pressurisation system• Floatplane• Floating hull• Ski landing gearFlight Activity Endorsements• Aerobatics above 3000 feet AGL• Aerobatics above 1500 feet AGL• Aerobatics above 1000 feet AGL• Aerobatics above 500 feet AGL• Aerobatics (unlimited) at any height• Formation flying• Formation aerobatics• SpinningPart 61 flight reviews for aircraft class ratings and type ratings. It seemed that Part 61 required separate flight reviews for every class and type rating held by the pilot. The exemption provides for an “alternative valid flight review”; a review in one class (multi-engine aeroplane) can be used as an alternative to the review required for another class (eg, single-engine aeroplane). Another issue was that Part 61 required flight instructors to have completed a course in Principles and Methods of Instruction (PMI), in other words, a teaching course. The PMI requirement is satisfied if the instructor holds a Certificate IV in training and assessment, holds a tertiary qualification in teaching, or completes a CASA-approved PMI course. While an instructor’s CAR 5 licence might have been transferred to Part 61 with the instructor rating intact, the regulations state that before exercising the privileges of an instructor rating, the holder has to have completed PMI training. So CASA had to issue another exemption to allow instructors with a carried-over rating (“transitioned instructors”) to work. A similar problem was before exercising the privileges of an international practice. At the same time, Part 141 and 142 were introduced. Part 141 governs the operation of flying schools with non-integrated training, and 142 for those offering integrated training. Integrated means structured theory and practical flight training forming a training course. There are now around 275 Part 141 and 142 flying schools operating in Australia. Endorsements used to be recorded with a sticker, rubber stamp, or pen in the pilot’s logbook. In Part 61, the endorsements are recorded on ABOVE: Endorsements were once entered in on a licence or in a logbook with a stamp and a signature. Now they have to be submitted to CASA for entry on a Part 61 licence.LEFT: As well as an instructor rating (and any required training endorsements), an instructor must have completed a Principles and Methods of Instruction course.
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flight activity endorsements as an independent instructor outside a Part 141 or 142 school. He has found it has taken a while for the training syllabuses for the competency-based training to be developed, and there is still a lack of knowledge about how Part 61 works, years after it was introduced. Strike believes the whole training system is flawed, rather than Part 61 itself. Flying schools are still full of Grade 3 instructors building up hours, and there’s no avenue for people wanting to make a career as an instructor. “If you love teaching and want a career in a flying school, how can you make that work on a Grade 3 salary of $45,000 per year? It’s just not worth it,\" Strike laments. For both “transitioned” and new flight instructors, Part 61 has pros and cons. Some new initiatives, such as the requirement for PMI, will be viewed by some as good and others as bad. Paul Strike sees PMI as a great thing, but others see it as box-ticking. PPL instructorsTo get an instructor rating, you don’t need to have a commercial licence, but you do need a PPL, Instructor Ratings 42AUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020Search for Aeroprakt A32Aeroprakt A32 Vixxenwww.foxbat.com.auCruise 115+ knotsStall 27 knotsCarry 210+ kgs after full fuelAverage under 20 litres an hourBelieve it!pilots has meant that Grade 3 instructors are being recruited from the flying schools, and the need to progress up the ladder to Grade 1 is evaporating. “I predict that in 10 years time there will be very few Grade 1s left. Pretty soon we’re going to run out of Chief Pilots, Heads of Operation and Senior Instructors.” That in turn, he believes, will exacerbate the shortage of Flight Examiners and eventually CASA FOIs. (Read more of Russell’s thoughts in Short Final on page 82.) The cost for new instructors coming through the system securing training endorsements is likely to be a disincentive, as the opportunity to recover the cost of ratings and endorsement will never materialise. The Award pay rates for a Grade 1 instructor isn’t much better than a Grade 2 or 3, so the cost benefit is not there. Paul Strike, CFI at Strike Aviation Training at Caboolture, specialises in design feature and instructor rating with a training endorsement, an instructor (including a “transitioned instructor”) would need to demonstrate competency to a testing officer. Respected aerobatics instructor and flight examiner (and 2019 Wings Award Instructor of the Year) David Pilkington believes this requirement casts doubt over the validity of endorsements granted by transitioned instructors who may not have been tested for competency. ShortagesRussell Lucas, a Grade 1 Instructor with Australian Flying Training Services, believes the changes have made it difficult to find testing officers. “I know someone ready for a Night VFR multi-engine test has been waiting four weeks for an examiner, and may end up waiting until next year.” Lucas told Australian Flying. Lucas also believes a shortage of airline Russell Lucas predicts that a shortage of CFIs, Chief Pilots and Senior Instructors is looming.
a training qualification and 200 hours of experience (or 250 for helicopter pilots). The rating involves a course of training, a flight test, and an aeronautical knowledge exam. If you have a CPL, an instructor rating and a training endorsement, you can instruct for reward, but as a PPL, it's not so clear cut. If the training is in a private capacity, cost sharing or even payment may be possible, but as a PPL in a commercial operation, you can only instruct for love. Training endorsements allow you to use your instructor rating to teach in particular fields of aviation. There are 22 different training endorsements, but many, such as a night vision imaging system rating training endorsement, require a commercial or even an air transport pilot licence. The training endorsements available to private pilots are for design feature endorsements and flight activity endorsements. Design Feature • Tailwheel undercarriage training endorsement• Retractable undercarriage training endorsement• Manual propeller pitch control training endorsement• Gas turbine engine training endorsement• Multi-engine centre-line thrust training endorsement• Pressurisation system training endorsement• Floatplane training endorsement• Floating hull training endorsement• Ski landing gear training endorsementFlight Activity • Spinning training endorsement• Aerobatics training endorsement43australianflying.com.auJanuary – February 2020 AUSTRALIAN FLYINGTait’s full-time classes?Can’t make it to Bob Videos of actual in-class lessons including IREXnow available!See our web page www.bobtait.com.au for full details.Full Aerodynamics Course or individual topics availableFull Gen Knowledge Course or individual topics availableFull Performance Course or individual topics availableFull Meteorology Course or individual topics availableFull Navigation Course or individual topics available• Formation training endorsement• Formation aerobatics training endorsement And this is where the need for some official instructor rating for PPLs to conduct specialised areas of aviation becomes apparent. Formation aerobatics, for example, obviously requires specialised skills training, and an endorsement for this sort of activity makes sense. The skills training is so specialised that it would be very difficult to find a commercial instructor capable of instructing in this domain, which is dominated by private pilots. CASA wants control of the curriculum and bureaucracy of all endorsement processes, and therefore made sure that Part 61 allowed for this.But wait, there’s a bit more legal stuff to note. Flying training is normally conducted by flight training schools, and there are more Civil Aviation Safety Regulations that apply to these: Part 141 and Part 142. For instruction leading to a pilot licence, the training has to be conducted within a Part 141 or 142 organisation. But for instruction leading to flight activity and design feature endorsements, training can be conducted independently of a Part 141 or 142 school. However, this means that the instructor has to keep training records of the instruction for seven years.Regardless of the pros, cons, challenges and difficulties, the fact remains that Part 61 is here, and everyone has to work it out and make it work.Special thanks to David Pilkington, Russell Lucas, Paul Strike, and Murray Gerraty for the wisdom they shared for this article.“ if you happen to have a Pilatus PC-24 executive jet, you’ll need a type rating.”
Gaining in confidence, young Jim Davis expands his repertoire into gyros and twins, and learns a lot about both!44his was one of the few times I went against Zingi’s advice – and survived.I remember him telling me how one of the top South African Air Force chopper pilots had killed himself while evaluating a Minicopter. Not only that, he said that Rusty Russell disassembled one at Tempe by doing a steep turn off the deck and sticking a blade into the ground.Zingi used these two points to illustrate the dangers of going anywhere near a Minicopter – a South African made autogyro.I refrained from expressing the opinion that SAAF chopper pilots know as much about autogyros as I know about the moons of Jupiter. I also resisted the temptation to suggest that if Rusty had stuck the wing of a Piper Cub into the ground while doing a cowboy turn at nought feet, it would also have resulted in a disappointing pile of scrap.So, with Zingi’s warnings ringing in my ears, I took the train to Worcester to secure the Northern Cape’s agency for Llew Strydom’s Minicopters. Obviously this involved me converting to the dreaded machine. And so it was that in the heat of mid December 1964 I found myself doing “dual\" in a single-seat autogyro.When I say \"dual\" I mean that a skinny Yank with a belt-buckle and cowboy boots drove alongside me in a WWII Willys Jeep bellowing instructions on how to use the RSU (rotor speed-up unit) and other strange levers. I tried to follow his directions while struggling to keep in the middle of the rutted, dirt runway.We did this two or three times, with little hops into the air. Then he sent me off to do some solo circuits and landings. His only advice was that I should fly it like a Piper Cub – same speeds, same landing technique, same everything.It worked splendidly. And it was huge fun.How it's doneIt’s a long time ago, but I think I still pretty much remember the basics.You line up into wind and apply the handbrake very firmly. Next you pull up a lever on your left – like the collective on a chopper, except that all it does is engage a bendix into the motorcar ring-gear attached to the rotor. Now you pull harder and this tightens a fan belt which causes the McCulloch two-stroke engine to start turning the rotor.There is a motorcycle twist-grip throttle on the lever. To get the show on the road, you have to give it berries, while yanking the lever to give the belt-drive more grip. Eventually, you get to the stage where the rotor is turning as fast as it can, without the thrust from the prop pushing you forward against the brakes. At this stage, when everything is vibrating, thrashing, screaming, and the wheels are starting to skid forward, you dump the brake lever, which also disengages the rotor speed-up unit.You use the twist grip to give her the rest of the berries. The whole thing is half the weight of my Harley, and produces 20 bhp more, so it shoots forward like a rocket sledge. In no time you are doing 20 kt and she leaps into the air and climbs like a Saturn rocket.Now is the time to be careful. On no account must you turn downwind too soon. The howling McCulloch is not likely to go completely quiet on you, but if it develops a dreaded plug whisker, it suddenly goes all lumpy and rattly. This robs the machine of its will to fly. You have no choice – you are going to land. If you keep heading into wind, it will be a non-event at about nought mph.However, if you have made a low-level downwind turn, when the plug whisker takes effect, you will be obliged to land with the wind up your bum. This usually results in bleeding and an unpleasant tumbling motion.The engine is definitely the weak spot in these curious machines. It is an air-cooled, flat-four, two-stroke with single ignition. And this, in the days when two-strokes were smoke-belching grief-generators, was not a great idea for an aeroplane power plant. Engine failures were not rare – they were routine. The ever present threat of one kept you on your toes.A plug whisker meant that a quarter of the engine not only became a passenger but, because of the compression, it actively worked against you. So you were faced with a steepish descent. The upside of it was that, with a bit of practice, you could land virtually stationary, so it didn't really matter.Perils aplentyThere are three dangerous things about a Minicopter – and probably all auto-gyros.Firstly, they are unbelievably easy to fly. After a few flights you don’t just feel comfortable – you feel cocky. You are quickly Fickle New MachinesAUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020JIM DAVIS logbookLessons from aJim Davis has a passion for instructing. He has been training civil and military pilots, in the air and on the ground for 50 years. His other passion is writing, which he studied at Curtin University in Perth. You can see, and buy, his two pilot text books PPL and Flight Tests at www.jimdavis.com.au
45seduced into a state of gross overconfidence.Secondly, it’s a whole lot of fun to do a vertical descent. You treat it like a stall in a normal aircraft. You close the throttle and just keep her in level flight until the ASI slows to zero. There is no stall per se. The blades keep whirling and it feels wonderful – you can even twiddle round and round by using the rudder. But australianflying.com.au January – February 2020 AUSTRALIAN FLYINGA pilot’s logbook is far more that just a record of dates, times, places and flights; it is also a history of a pilot’s flying career and a chronicle of the lessons learnt that makes them the aviator they are today. Jim Davis takes a look back through his own logbooks, and records the incidents that have shaped his approach to flying.to go from vertical to horizontal takes a hell of a lot more height than you expect. I seem to remember that you would lose about 600 feet between getting the McCulloch to full chat and transitioning to level flight.I have seen better figures for modern auto-gyros, so perhaps I am wrong – but you still lost an awful of a lot more height than you would expect.I particularly remember this because I had progressed well into the overconfidence zone. I was planning a vertical descent on to the numbers, where I would catch it with a burst of power at the last moment, to the amazement and admiration of the bystanders.Fortunately a little homunculus, who lived on my shoulder and nursed me through many foolish moments, whispered in my ear that it might be a good idea to try this at altitude first. He was right.In fact someone had tried this shortly before I got there. He was a young doctor with a very beautiful wife. The upshot was that the doctor became deceased at the bottom of his vertical descent, and Llew ditched his own wife and married the doctor’s.The third and final trap is a
Lessons from a logbooklow-and-slow flypast, to impress the population. The trouble comes at the end of the flypast. You pour on the coal and all it does is push you in the back and raise the nose up high. You don’t climb an inch. This is extremely embarrassing. You can’t put the nose down because you will smite the planet and raising the nose further simply makes you go slower – with the same result. So you just sit there looking dumb until you crash. We quickly learned to avoid the low-and-slow flypast. Landing this little aircraft is huge fun. You approach at about 20 kt, round out and cut the power close to the ground. As you come back on the stick the rotor tilts back and acts like a brake. It kills your speed and you sink gently to the ground with the nosewheel high. If you judge it nicely you land at walking pace or less.Llew Strydom was a remarkable guy and his Minicopter was 40 years ahead of its time. It is only in the last couple of decades that autogyros have really caught on. What a pity the aviation world wasn’t ready for his genius.Genesis of the LCCThe day before Christmas 1964 I became a founder member of the now-famous Live Cowards’ Club (LCC). I did this by resisting pressure to join the holiday season’s rush-to-kill-yourself-on-your-way-to-the-coast pilgrimage.Bert had decided he wanted to be in Durban for Christmas, so I loaded him and his wife and their clobber into the 235 and set sail for Durbs, about 500 miles away. The weather turned murky and I landed them at Ladysmith amidst protests about “but I promised the family we would all have Christmas together – you can’t just dump me in this awful place…”Anyhow I did leave them there in that awful place. Bert had to hire a car and complete his journey in ignominy. I went straight back to Kimberley – where I had Christmas day at home with my wife and son. My first day off in yonks.Three weeks later I did the LCC thing again.I had to fly Bert to Bloemfontein for a Very Important Meeting. We arrived there at the same time as the great-grandfather of all thunderstorms. It moved into the area and sat on top of Bloomies like a hen on eggs.There was absolutely no way in – I poked my nose under the storm a couple of times and was frightened off by turbulence, hail and lightning. So I told my boss he was not going to this Very Important Meeting.It occurred to me afterwards that Zingi, or Old Piet, may have briefed Bert on my shortcomings, and how to deal with me. Bert employed much of the same terminology that my previous employers had used so freely when discussing my ancestry, education, piloting ability, and general usefulness to the human race.He also brought into play one of Zingi’s dirtier tricks – that of firing me without notice. We were still in the air and heading back towards Kimberley, so I suggested that, as his knowledge of piloting could be written on the back of an aspirin, he might want to delay my firing until we landed.For those who are not accustomed to being chucked out of flying jobs, the correct procedure is to ignore the boot and simply carry on as usual. Having successfully applied this technique on several occasions, I can recommend it to all those whose bosses lose faith from time to time.You just pitch up the next day at your place of employment, and carry on as if you have forgiven them.My cubicle was right next to Bert’s office. So when a couple came in the next day and asked about a charter, I felt somewhat vindicated when I heard Bert tell them that I was the safest pilot in the world. He said I never took chances.Bert buys me a twinBert imagined that my failure to get him to both Durban and Bloemfontein was an indication that he needed a twin. Actually, an instrument-rated pilot would have been a far better choice, but I didn’t want to spoil his fun ... or mine.Not one to do things in half-measures, Bert kindly bought me a brand-new-out-of-the-box Twin Comanche, ZS-EAR.What a nice man. I flew the 235 up to Wonderboom and immediately started my first twin conversion – You can’t put the nose down because you will smite the planet and raising the nose further simply makes you go slowerW46australianflying.com.auAUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020Ladysmith in Kwa-Zulu Natal, where Jim left Bert and family on the cusp of Christmas.Jim believes Piper’s Twin Comanche is a pure thoroughbred.ROB MYERS
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obviously in our new aerie.The famous Dirty Potty was my instructor. In case you have forgotten, Dirty Potty was said to have rivalled Aphrodite in amorous encounters. Dirty Potty was a Major in the army at that point. He was originally a SAAF pilot, but then he seemed to flit between the various arms of the defence force on an almost weekly basis. Strangely, his armyness played a significant part in our salvation. He gave me no briefing, we simply got into the sparkling, leather-smelling twin, poked some switches and moved a few levers and there she was purring sweetly.The first thing you notice with a twin is how quiet it is with the engines shoved way out at the sides – and of course you feel very important. We taxied out to 11, made sure everything was as it should be and blasted off. The second thing you notice is how quickly she accelerates and leaps into the air. Magic, except I was way behind the aeroplane. We turned out left and climbed over the small range of hills to the north of Wonderboom while I was still struggling to synchronise the props. After getting some height we did a couple of stalls and steep turns before heading back for some circuits.This is where the trouble started.Where be the wheels?We got ourselves on to a downwind leg for 11, and I went through the checks. After I had finished them, Potty asked if I was happy to land the aircraft. I found the question somewhat offensive. Of course I was happy to land her. Hell, I had well over 500 hours at the time. He then muttered darkly about not having any greens. I took this to mean he had failed to do the veggie shopping for his wife. After a bit of prompting I caught up with his thinking, he was disappointed about the undercarriage lights – we didn’t have any.After a bit of discussion, we selected the gear lever up and down a few times. Not much happened apart from blowing the undercarriage circuit-breaker, so we called the tower and told them we would be fooling around above the field while we tried to sort out a technical snag. We opened the emergency gear extension hatch on the floor below the throttle quadrant and read the instructions printed in red on the inside of the cover.First we had to check that the nav lights were off. If they were on, it would have dimmed the greens so they didn’t glare at night – but in daylight they wouldn’t be visible at all. That wasn’t the problem.Then we had to reach inside the hatch and yank up a red handle which disengaged the undercarriage motor from the torque tube. This was the big, transverse, pipe-like thing which did all the upping and downing of Lessons from a logbook 48AUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020(08) 9725 4145 ||AVI50215 – COMMERCIAL PILOT LICENCE AEROPLANEAVI50415 – INSTRUMENT RATINGThese courses meet the CASA requirements for the issue of the Multi-Engine Instrument Rating and the Commercial Pilot Licence.SOUTHERN AVIATION, based at Bunbury Airport, Western Australia provides high quality, cost effective pilot training. Whether your aspiration is to become a private or a commercial pilot, call or visit Southern Aviation today…ZS-EAR was nice and new in the 1960s. It is still flying in South Africa today.
the gear. Anyhow, we disengaged it.Finally, we had to insert a red telescopic lever into one of two round sockets, and move the handle fully forward. This would, the instructions said, put the wheels down. The instructions were wrong; the lever simply refused to move. We applied our best efforts and even bent the lever.At this stage we admitted defeat and asked the tower to summons Obie. He was a gigantic German who infested the workshops. Obie eventually materialised on the other end of the Narco Omnigator. We agreed that Potty should do the chatting as Obie still blamed me, a colonial Pom, for his country’s miserable score in WWII. In brief, Obie and I were not great buddies.He talked us through the procedure we had already followed. He then concluded by telling us to push the lever forward. Again we heaved and the telescopic handle bent a little more.Salvation on a stickAt this stage I spotted Potty’s army swagger-stick lying on the back seat. This leather-bound weapon closely resembled the telescopic lever which was taking so much strain. Now I mentioned earlier that there were two sockets into which the lever could be inserted. So, with huge cunning, we shoved the military cane into the second one and–with another mighty shove, using both levers–the gear suddenly clonked into the down position.Now we had the three greens.It turned out that ours was one of the aircraft that got wet during a flood in the factory. This was way before the famous flood of 1972, when Hurricane Agnes caused the Susquehanna River to put the factory under 16 feet of water. That flood put a permanent end to Comanche production. This was an earlier and comparatively minor sort of practice flood. It seems that the bushes, which carry the main undercarriage torque-tube, had got damp. They took the opportunity to seize while Potty and I were flying.Obie fitted new bushes the next day, and Potty gave me another hour of dual before signing out my conversion. I am astounded that we survived in those days; there seemed to be no minimum requirements for dual. I don’t even remember doing any single engine work with Potty but maybe I did.I certainly would not have survived an engine failure after takeoff during my first months of flying that twin. But what a lovely aircraft – smooth and quiet with the handling of a thoroughbred.This beautiful aeroplane served us well is still flying in South Africa more than half a century later.49The instructions were wrong; the lever simply refused to move ...australianflying.com.au January – February 2020 AUSTRALIAN FLYINGBert’s house from Jim’s beloved Tiger Moth.
C ASA describes an air show as organised flying performed at a public gathering or with public invitation. It does not include club events where there is no invitation to the public. An entry fee does not have to be charged, it must merely be a public event.Included in the definition, as detailed in CASA’s Air Display Administration and Procedure Manual, are:• an air show or pylon race, being an organised event with multiple acts to demonstrate aircraft capability for the enjoyment of the general public • a single-ship display conducted for an organised event based on a general public invitation• a flypast, being one or more aircraft overflying a public gathering for a non-aerobatic demonstration • a fly-in, competition or cross-country event.The first international air show was held in 1909, in Reims, France. Known as the Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne, it ran over eight days and included the first contest for the Gordon Bennett Trophy which was won by Glenn Curtiss, in competition with Louis Bleriot. The first air show in the USA was the Los Angeles International Air Meet in 1910. Attendance was more than a quarter of a million. The LA Times called it \"one of the greatest public events in the history of the West.\"The US tradition of air shows continues with the best of the best, a must-attend- for pilots: EAA’s Oshkosh, held annually in Wisconsin. In 2019, the 50th year anniversary show attracted 642,000 people aided by 5500 volunteers. More than 10,000 aircraft flew in, and the show contributed more than US$170 million to the local economy. Asia Pacific has its own well-attended air shows too, including Avalon, Singapore and Wings over Wanaka.Whereas air shows were initially about the public’s romantic association with aviation, over the years, many of the shows, have morphed into vehicles for promoting military hardware, and to a lesser extent, high-end commercial aircraft sales. There is no better example than the 2018 Australian International Airshow, which disappointed many general aviation pilots and saw lower attendance numbers. In 2021 the show will celebrate 100 years of the RAAF. There are two streams from its website, with little differentiation: the exhibitor stream says “Avalon 2021 Means Business!” and for the public “Experience the awesome On with theAir Shows PAUL SOUTHWICKPaul Southwick goes inside the Australian air show community and reveals the little things that the crowd never sees.power of military aviation.” General aviation will still attend, but it won’t be their show.Whereas Avalon is the largest air show in the region, Australia has always struggled to capture the same magic as Oshkosh. This is unsurprising given EAAs 50 years’ experience in running the event and huge resources they can bring to bear, for example, admission revenue, thousands of volunteers and the purpose-built existing facilities.50AUSTRALIAN FLYING January – February 2020Show“ air shows in Australia are all about encouraging people into aviation”
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