The second annual Winter RV Fly-in Brekkie, hosted by SAAA Chapter 4, is on at Wollongong Airport (YWOL) Albion Park on Sunday morning 07JUN09 from 9.00am to 12.00pm, so if you’ve got a memory like mine, write it in your book straight away. Our goal is one of each type flying in Australia. There is really nice hot breakfast and proper coffee etc at the very warm Aviator Lounge at the airport, so we invite you to fly in if you can (preferably in your RV but all aircraft welcomed), or drive in if you have an interest in the Van’s RV series of aircraft. There is also guided tours of the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS)facility as an added attraction, plenty to see and plenty of like minded hangar nuts who enjoy talking the talk. Look forward to seeing you there.
more info available at www.aeroclub.com.au/events
Chapter 4 SAAA
John deBattista Events Co-ordinator 4261 2500
Phil Ayrton Secretary 0417 210731

Washington, DC – The National Transportation Safety Board today issued an urgent safety recommendation to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in which it asked the agency to prohibit further flight of a type of a small airplane that has been involved in six in-flight structural breakups since 2006.

The recommendations apply to the Zodiac CH-601XL, a low-wing, fixed-gear, single- engine, two-seat general aviation airplane designed by Zenair, Inc. In its urgent safety recommendation, the Board cited four accidents in the United States and two in Europe in which the CH-601XL broke up in-flight killing a total of ten people. Aerodynamic flutter – a phenomenon in which the control surfaces of the airplane can suddenly vibrate, and if unmitigated, can lead to catastrophic structural failure – is suspected in all of the accidents.

The CH-601XL was certified as a Special Light Sport Aircraft (S-LSA) by the FAA in 2005. This type of certification does not require that the FAA approve the airplane’s design. Instead, the airplane model is issued an airworthiness certificate if the manufacturer asserts that the plane meets industry accepted design standards and has passed a series ground and flight tests.

The Safety Board’s urgent recommendation to the FAA is to prohibit further flight of the Zodiac CH-601XL until they can determine that the airplane is no longer susceptible to aerodynamic flutter. The Safety Board’s investigations of the accidents that occurred in the U.S. point to a problem with the design of the flight control system, which makes the airplane susceptible to flutter.
Links to articles here

http://ntsb.gov/Pressrel/2009/090414a.html

Over 270 aircraft arrived at Narromine over Easter to check out all that is new and interesting about flying recreationally.

There were new aircraft on display, including an import from Columbia, the Ibis, the new LSA Brumby, a revamped Flying Flea on floats, and the Savage Cub tail dragger.

Jill and Norm Bailey flew up in two aircraft, with Nick McRae taking advantage of the opportunity to gain valuable navigation practice on the way in the Tecnam.

Also seen at for the day at Narromine were Rob Maslin, Simon Pike, Sam Richards, and Lindsay Wallace who enjoyed a walk around the trade displays and attending forums on all sorts of subjects.

The Ladies Tent was very well attended, with forums given by Jill on Fear of Flying, the POPE (Partners of Pilots Emergencies) course and How to Deal with Emergencies, along with other forums on the day about photography, gardening, cooking and even shared experiences from ladies who have experienced engine failures among other subjects. Guys, you should be very happy that there is now a reason for your partner to go to Narromine and she might even enjoy the visit! Many thanks to Carol Richards for initiating the Ladies Tent and to the ladies from Cessnock Aero Club for organising and running the tent so successfully.

Don’t forget our Pilot Nights at the Aero Club on Tuesday nights starting at 7.00pm. Subjects have included forced landings, diagnosing instrument troubles, controlled airspace, and short field techniques to name a few. If you have a subject you would like to raise, or just want to come along and hear more about flying, talk flying and drink coffee, come along.

Safe flying,

Jill

The club Tecnam has now clocked up over 1100 hours and still performs wonderfully.

New students include Trent Gibson from Young and the son of the new owner of the Terminus Hotel, Jon Wilson, along with conversions by Paul Sheather of Melbourne, and a POPE course graduate Anne-Marie Seve.

Congratulations also go to Damian Walker of Murrumbateman and Marty Mikosch of Nowra for RA-Aus licences along with Mitchell Liebich who can now take passengers in the Tecnam and has done just that in recent weeks.

It was good to see Nick Mcrae back in the air after a long break and Darren Price also treated his mother to a special birthday present with a Trial  Instructional Flight with Jill recently.

Other action in the sky has been formation endorsement training for Jill and Norm, Alan and Lindsay, so look out for more double trouble in the skies with two Tecnams!

Safe flying

Jill

On Saturday 28th of May the Temora Aero Club and Temora Flight Training hosted an RA-Aus level 1 maintenance workshop. 45 particpants from all over the state flew or drove in to learn about basic maintenance, paperwork requirements and enjoy a wonderful lunch prepared by board member Carol Richards.

The workshop was jointly sponsored by CASA and RA-Aus and is an effort to improve pilots knowledge and maintenance skills.

Cessnock LAME and Level 2 Keith Ruele was joined by local Level 2 Robert Maslin to present information about Jabiru and Rotax engines and general airframe information.