Innehållsförteckning för January-February 2019 från Australian Flying

1 Vulcanair V1.0 bound for Australia 2 ATSB singles out Flap in Air Tractor Crash 3 Handiflight aims to Conquer the World 4 Act Changes slated for New Year 5 ATSB honours Mac Job with Media Studio 6 AMROBA calls for Parliamentary Resolution 7 Nextant introduces 400XTe 8 Minister opens Sixth Round of Airfield Upgrade Program 9 Withdraw "biased" Survey Report: AOPA 10 Airflite takes over Kodiak Agency SIGN 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…

Diamond Aircraft has test-flown a hybrid twin-engine aeroplane developed in conjunction with Siemans. The modified DA40 flew on 31 October from the Diamond headquarters in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. During the 20 minute flight, the aircraft was flown to 3000 feet and up to 130 KTAS. "This is the first serial-hybrid electric plane in the world with two electrically powered free-stream propellers and one combustion engine," said Dr Frank Anton, Executive Vice President eAircraft at Siemens AG. "A distributed propulsion architecture opens entirely new possibilities for the design of highly efficient planes – and we have now proven its technical feasibility." In development since 2013, the aircraft was reconfigured to support a hybrid electric powertrain. In this system, one combustion engine powers two independent electric drive systems consisting of one motor,…

Escaping Melbourne’s winter is always appealing, even if just for a few days to check on progress of Southern Sun 2, taking me to a mild summer in the Russian town of Samara, east of Moscow on Europe’s longest river, the Volga. Hosted by the Chaika Aircraft company who build the SeaBear, I stayed at the compact hotel for visiting pilots on the company airfield. There was a sense of jubilation amongst the team as two AeroVolga LA8s and the brand new two-seat Borey had just completed a polar circumnavigation. A unique idea, and clearly appealing to Russia-based aviators, they followed the arctic circle east bound for 42 days, flying through Russia, Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and back into Russia. The most visually spectacular flying of my…

A 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. I was responsible for the worst landing in the history of aviation. A young enthusiast, whose name I have forgotten, pitched up and told my boss Zingi Harrison that he wanted to buy a 180 Cherokee. Now, this put Zingi in a bit of a spot, and I will have to go back six months earlier to tell you why. We used to get fairly regular after-school visits…

I vividly recall the reaction from my wife when I told her I was going to start flying lessons; although her comments were a little less harsh than my mothers who wondered whether I had developed a deathwish. Imagine the reaction when I told her that I was going to buy an aeroplane: “Huh! And where is that million dollars coming from?” It didn’t get much better when I suggested we upgrade to something bigger and faster some five years later. Now don’t get me wrong, I would love to get into a 2017 Cirrus SR22T at just under $A1 million at today’s exchange, or even the Diamond DA42 for about the same, but for many people, including me, they are simply unaffordable. That leaves the choice of buying an…

Aceremonial parade and flypast which marked the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Australian Army Aviation Corps was recently held at the Army Aviation Training Centre at Oakey in Queensland. Head of Australian Army Aviation Corps, Brigadier Scott Benbow said: “I am proud to join past and present personnel to mark this important milestone. Then and now, the corps is committed to helping the Australian soldier fight, survive and win, and be ready to serve wherever needed.” The corps formed in the early 1960s as 161 ALA with a modest fleet of Cessna 180s, which saw service in Vietnam. “Today, the Australian Army Aviation Corps flies a variety of capabilities, including the Tiger armed reconnaissance, Chinook medium lift and Taipan multi-role helicopters,” Benbow said. The celebrations were also a…

I’d always been fascinated by flying and had a few flights in jets but it wasn’t until the year after high school that I got in a light aircraft. I was on my way to central Queensland to work as a jackeroo and flew from Winton to Central Qld in a Cessna 206. After university I worked on a farm in NSW and loved watching the large Air Tractors effortlessly run up and down the paddocks, metres off the ground, spraying crops and spreading fertiliser. Back at home a few years later, a group of friends started the Wee Waa Gliding Club and I signed up for some lessons. I couldn’t get airborne enough! After my ag pilot friend took me for a few aeros in his RV-4 I was…

Czech pilot Martin Sonka clinched the 2018 Red Bull Air Race World Championship with a tense victory at the final round in Texas in November. Sonka beat Australian Matt Hall, the USA’s Kirby Chambliss and Briton Ben Murphy in the Final 4 to finish the year on 80 points, five points clear of Hall, who has been crowned runner-up for the third time in his career. American pilot Michael Goulian finished third on 73 points after failing to make the Final 4 in Fort Worth Three pilots–Goulian, Sonka and Hall–went to Texas with hopes of coming away with a championship title, but fate pitted Sonka and Goulian against each other in the Round of 8, meaning only two of the three could hope to become champion. Racing third in the…

Piper Aircraft’s third-quarter 2018 figures showed the highest number of aircraft delivered since the onset of the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. The company delivered 65 aircraft for the period July-September 2018, totalling $US69.5 million in sales and reflecting a 54% increase over the same quarter of 2017. The year-to-date figures to the end of September showed 152 aircraft delivered for sales of $US173 million, easily the best performance in the past five years and 53 more airframes than the same period in 2017. "Piper’s continued growth in both product deliveries and revenue reflects sustained managed growth and highlights our commitment to a made-to-order business model which has helped drive continued growth and sales expansion," said President and CEO, Simon Caldecott said at the time. "Our year-to-date performance is at…

Standing nose-to-nose, the two twins looked like they were eyeing each other like boxers at one of those weigh-ins staged before a fight. Silently they just glared, engines ready to strike the moment the other one flinched. Clearly one was larger, but the other one had a reputation for speed and performance almost unequalled in general aviation. The Cessna was mounted on tall undercart legs with long, spreading wings capped by large fuel tanks at the tips. The Beechcraft was on shorter stumps and had broader wings that terminated with a more conventional style. As the crews milled around, the Beechcraft BE58 Baron and the Cessna 310R simply waited in silence; in a few minutes they would get to do their talking in the air. This little scene happened at…

There is no question, the digital revolution has changed the photographic world, delivering into the hands of anyone the artistic and emotional experiences of how we capture and view pictures. Photographers were once trained professionals, but, as a result of digital photography, anyone can take pictures anywhere and at anytime. Our digital world has more photos floating around it than ever before and social media is inundated with images. Nowhere, it seems, has there been a bigger surge in popularity than air show and aircraft photography. A casual look along any air show flightline these days will reveal more massive and expensive barrels pointing skywards than the USS Missouri. “If you want to be a good photographer, take pictures, review them, analyse the data” With the constraints of film and…

RAAus has a long history of forging positive and lasting partnerships. We see value in sustaining partnerships, which is essentially how the aviation sector functions. Imagine a runway without any planes. Imagine a plane without a pilot. Imagine an engine without a maintainer. I recently flew from LAX to JFK. The image at the far right shows the aircraft activity going on at the time of my flight. Imagine all those aircraft and passengers without technology, air traffic control and the myriad other services that make our great sector work. In fact, thinking back in time to RAAus’ humble beginnings, a simple partnership was the reason for RAAus coming into existence. Our founders partnered the lawn mower and the deck chair. They didn’t see a grass cutting implement and a…

In the last year or so certain regulators have been in the news a fair bit. And the news hasn’t always been good. We’ve seen the performance of the financial sector highlighted by the work of the Royal Commission into the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry. In its interim report last September the Royal Commission made comment about the performance of the two relevant financial regulators. The interim report said: “when misconduct was revealed, it either went unpunished or the consequences did not meet the seriousness of what had been done.” Unsurprisingly, as CEO and Director of Aviation Safety at CASA, the comments and the practices uncovered by the Royal Commission have most certainly been food for thought. I have been asking myself, how did such a state of…

Mahindra Aerospace has made the first sale of a GippsAero Airvan 10 single-engined turbo-prop (SETP). The aircraft was ordered in August by Botswana-based Major Blue Air, a charter and scenic flight company operating from Maun International Airport. Major Blue Air has a fleet of 15 aircraft including C172s, C206s, Airvan 8s and Grand Caravans. The Airvan 10 will be the 16th aircraft added to the fleet since the company started in 2009. SP Shukla, Group President – Aerospace, Defence and Steel at Mahindra said "[we are] delighted that Major Blue Air of Botswana has become our first of the FAA-certified new 10-seat turbo-prop aircraft from Mahindra Aero. Heartiest congratulations to Arvind Mehra [Mahindra Aerospace CEO], Keith Douglas [GippsAero CEO] and the Airvan team on their flying success." The Airvan 10…

How often do we stop and take notice of our changing lives and amend our aircraft to suit? Pilots who once needed an aircraft to carry the family often find themselves with empty backseats once the kids grow up and start their own independent lives. So do you still need that Cessna 182, Piper Arrow or Mooney? Are you spending unnecessary money on an aircraft of which you only use half, or even a quarter? For some it may be time to start thinking about a two-seater or even an LSA, whilst for others they couldn't live without row two. The light fantastic At the end of December 2015, a total 3302 aircraft had current registrations issued by Recreational Aviation Australia (RAAus), an increase of 4.1% over 2014 (3171 aircraft),…

According to a recent ABC poll, the average Australian spends nearly seven hours a day on the internet. The poll ranked the top 50 websites in Australia, according to time spent browsing. Surprisingly the number one place where Australians spend their time is Reddit, followed closely by Facebook and real estate sites The poll demonstrated that time on the internet is split between entertainment (streaming, social media, online shopping), life maintenance (banking, news, emails) and research (seek, real estate, weather information). For those of us who learned to fly before ubiquitous WiFi, iPhones and increasingly cheap data, the abundance of pilot resources on the internet is occasionally overwhelming. In an attempt to streamline the research for you, Australian Flying brings you this handy resource guide. Information Websites CIVIL AVIATION SAFETY…

More than anything else in modern aircraft, autopilots evoke wonder and bewilderment, often at the same time. The first thing to learn about any new autopilot is which axes it controls. An uncomplicated single-axis autopilot just controls roll. They’re easy to operate and maintain, but less useful in IFR flight. Add a second axis for pitch and it starts to become complex, especially when configured with pitch trim. A true three-axis autopilot additionally includes yaw control. Simplicity? If all a pilot ever learnt about flight was to pull back to go up, push forward for down, roll left and right and centre the slip ball, would they be competent? Of course not. Competent pilots co-ordinate their control inputs to suit the conditions and fly proper airspeeds. They know which control…

Aiming to make safer pilots of us, here veteran instructor Jim Davis looks at extracts from official CAA Accident Reports from his homeland of South Africa and analyses why things went wrong and how we may all avoid making similar mistakes. CAA ACCIDENT REPORT SUMMARY Date of Accident: 8 October 2006 Time of Accident: 1845Z Aircraft Registration: ZS-OMF Type of Aircraft: Jetstream 4100 Type of Operation: International Pilot licence: Airline Transport Licence Valid: Yes Age: 49 Total Flying Hours: 13986.35  Hours on Type: 3976 Last point of Departure: Durban International Airport Next point of Intended Landing: Maputo International Airport – Mozambique Location of the Incident: 50 nm from Durban International Airport en-route to Maputo Meteorological Information: Altocumulus conditions were present north of Durban with a lot of moist air. The…

Over the last decade, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has investigated at least 11 accidents where the lack of, or the improper use of, a checklist was identified as a contributing factor. Of these, three accidents resulted in fatalities. The investigation into the loss of control and collision with terrain involving B200 King Air VH-ZCR at Essendon Airport on 21 February 2017 emphasises the importance of having a cockpit checklist in place applicable to an aircraft’s specific and current modification status. There is a great deal to be learned from this accident for every pilot, no matter what aircraft they fly. During its take-off roll, the King Air began diverging to the left of the runway centreline. The aircraft entered a shallow climb and flew with a substantial left…