In ‘Fun and fundamentals’ in this edition, Kreisha Ballantyne explores going back to basics. She examines the self-reliance that comes from disconnecting from tech and rediscovering the joy of flight without EFBs, GPS and glass cockpits. Her feature focuses on the importance of training in map reading, weather analysis and looking out the window. She interviews instructors and pilots to discuss how you can build basic skills – and then gain the confidence to question any screen when you need to.
It can be difficult for VFR pilots to understand IFR flight communication language that uses IFR waypoints and ‘RNP’ in radio calls. It can also be difficult for everyone when pilots use local terminology such as names of farms, bridges, or parks. How do we unravel the different layers (and nuances) of communication styles and local phraseology to ensure everyone’s safety in controlled airspaces? In ‘Dangerous dialects’, Angela Stevenson calls on pilots to use CASA’s resources for clear radio calls, for IFR pilots to avoid jargon and for VFR pilots not to say they are ‘over the Brown’s woolshed’.
Shelley Ross writes about the planning and execution of a flight from Sydney to Perth and return to attend a conference of female pilots in ‘Go west” planning the Nullarbor. She has lots of flight planning tips from the trip – weather, fuel, maintenance, alternates. She writes about seeing the stunning Bunda Cliffs, a dramatic, approximately 100-kilometre-long stretch of fossiliferous limestone cliffs that form the southern edge of the Nullarbor Plain, facing the Great Australian Bight.
In Tolkien’s novels, the One Ring radiated a peril that was invisible yet irresistibly binding. Helicopter flight has its own equivalent – an aerodynamic trap woven into the very medium that holds us aloft; a state in which even generous engine power cannot prevent a helicopter from sinking through its own downwash towards the ground and doom. Brendan Reinhardt explores this phenomenon – the vortex ring state – in the feature ‘Deadly power of the ring’. He has also written a quiz to test your understanding of the problem.
We put the striking image of a DC-3 on the cover to celebrate 90 years since this type first flew. Robert Wilson talks to Mike Falls from Shortstop Jet Charter which operates a DC-3 from Essendon for tourism and joy flights. The aircraft trades under the name of Melbourne’s Gooney Bird, referencing a military nickname for the C-47, and operates a niche service of VFR scenic and tourism flights.
In ‘Shadow of the wedgetail’, Miranda Cirocco takes us inside the world of large drones, to analyse how the aviation landscape is changing. Start-up company Wedgetail Aerospace, operating out of Jandakot in Western Australia, is at the forefront of the large drone industry in Australia: they are the first Australian company to receive CASA approval for exhibition flights using large drones. They recently delivered a payload from one aerodrome to another, 33 km away. We also have a drone quiz to test the knowledge of the more than 40,000 holders of remote pilot licences.
One of the popular close calls in this edition is ‘Tanks for nothing’. As part of flight planning, the pilot did not check the aircraft’s usable fuel capacity and performance, when flying a new type for the first time: they came close to running out of fuel because of overestimating fuel in the tanks.
This 64-page edition includes a crash comic, quizzes and valuable safety insights, making it a must-read for aviation enthusiasts.
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