Schofields Flying Club Ltd - 1 Tower Road Bankstown Airport 2200
(PO Box 200, Georges Hall, NSW 2198 AUSTRALIA)
Phone: +61 2 9773 3611 Email: mail@schofields-flying-club.com.au
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SCHOFIELDS FLYING CLUB NEWSLETTER - APRIL 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Welcome to the April 2005 edition of Schofields News. There are the usual plus some new features - X-Files X050 (Dassault Mirage III V) by Anthony Coleiro, A Need for Speed by Steven DeGraff, 2004 Kimberley Tour (Day 4) by David Winter, BFR Time by Peter Blackbourn, 2004 Kimberley Tour (Days 5 and 6) by Sue and Graeme Bellamy, Piper Arrow Notes & Tips by Mike Allsop, and The Last Word from Latrodectus. As well, there's the usual administrivia that you've come to expect. So, read on and enjoy! 
NEW MEMBERS FOR MARCH 2005: Welcome to Mitch Furnass, Kenny Yim, Thomas Knight, Leigh Andrews, Cory Gunther, Jason Tuendemann, Manmeet Chhabra, Ross Munro and Zane Chung.FEBRUARY DUTY PILOT DRAW: The Volunteer Duty Pilot Monthly Draw for February ($50 free flying) goes to David Hunt and Jim Moline. Congratulations! NIGHT CIRCUITS: Take the opportunity to see the night lights of Sydney and at the same time do some circuits with qualified instructors. This is a great way to see if night flying is for you or to keep night current - 3 circuits with an instructor and 6 circuits as a passenger. The fun starts at 6.00pm on Friday, 1st April 2005. We will be stopping for a dinner at 7.00pm when the bank robbers come in; flying will resume at 8.00pm. If you would like to take part please call the Club on 9773 3611 to register your interest in your preferred time slot. You should nominate which time slot you would like to fly, either 6pm or 8pm to help with planning the night. Cost $80. Dinner cost will be extra. Names to be in by Thursday 31st March, for food catering purposes. LAST LIGHT DRINKS is a new social activity introduced by the Clubhouse & In-house Events sub committee for members and their guests to join together with some of our committee members on the last Sunday of each month. It is an opportunity to discuss flying at an operational and social level and see the changes that are taking place at the club. Drinks are available from our newly licensed bar, with complimentary savories served. It's a couple of hours of socialising with an aviation theme we can all enjoy. From 1700 to wind up around 1900. Come and join us. DIARY DATES: The Club has a number of social and flying activities planned for 2005. You can check full details on our Coming Events page. Below is a summary of the programme for April and May 2005:
PRESENTATION NIGHT will be held at the Club on Saturday 2nd April. Guest speaker for the evening is Ken Andrews who will share with us his views on military aviation and slant on general aviation up to the present day. We will also recognise those members who have significantly contributed to the club over the course of the past year. More... NON-PILOTS' COMPETITION: We had nine participants taken through the hoops by instructors Janina Galliani and Tim Hildebrandt in our first Non-Pilots' Competition for the year on Sunday, 13 March. Someone took their Box Brownie and, now that the film has been developed, we can show you the results HERE! ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING: The Club's AGM will be held Monday 18 April 2005. There are some important issues to be discussed and voted on, so come along and have your say in the management of your Club. BAK & GPS THEORY COURSES: Check the Theory Courses page for upcoming BAK and GPS [RNAV (GNSS)] courses that will be conducted at the Club over the coming months. More... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Mirage IIIV was Dassault's attempt to fulfil a NATO requirement for a vertical take-off and landing fighter (VTOL). It was competing against such aircraft as the Hawker P.1127 (later developed into the Harrier) but instead of using the Bristol-Siddeley vectored thrust principle, Dassault chose the Rolls-Royce separated lift and thrust engine principle as it was felt that thrust vectoring would not be suitable for a Mach 2 aeroplane. 
The VTOL Mirage IIIV was a further development of the Mirage III delta wing series fighter but was 30% larger; it had to be to house the nine intended engines! To test the configuration, in 1961, Dassault took the first prototype Mirage III and modified it by installing lift engines in it and a modified fixed undercarriage capable of absorbing landing impacts of 13 feet per second. Due to its size, smaller lift engines were installed in the form of Rolls Royce RB.108's. Around the Dassault works, the aircraft became known as the Balzac. The test aircraft was ready for flight in autumn 1962 and bore its nickname on the nose. Initially tethered tests were made but within a matter of days, free flights were being conducted and later, transitional flights.
From the success of the converted Mirage III, the French Air Force made an order for two of the larger prototypes. The engines for the new Mirage would be a Pratt & Whitney JTF10 turbofan engine derivative called the SNECMA TF-106 to provide horizontal thrust and eight lightweight Rolls-Royce RB162-1 engines mounted in tandem pairs to provide the vertical lift. These lift engines had as many plastic components as possible to reduce their weight thus giving a higher power to weight ratio. To keep the aircraft symmetrical in the hover, should a lift engine fail, its opposite number on the other side would automatically shutdown. The lift engines combined gave out thrust equivalent to 32,000 lbs, which gave a margin of almost 20%.Control at low speed was maintained by reaction jets in the nose and the tail of the aircraft fed by bleed air from the engines. The first flight of the Mirage IIIV was a hover flight, which occurred on 12 February 1965, and a transitional flight was made in March of the following year. The second prototype flew on 22 June 1966 and on 12 September of that year it attained a speed of Mach 2.04 in level flight, the first VTOL aircraft to achieve twice the speed of sound, but it was destroyed in a crash shortly after. The first prototype also was lost in a crash and the development programme was abandoned. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Complete Book of Fighters - William Green Gordon Swanborough Vertical Flight Aircraft of the World - F. G. Swanborough Aircraft - December 1962 - The Royal Aeronautical Society Aircraft - November 1966 - The Royal Aeronautical Society Anthony Coleiro | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preflight inspections have to cover a lot of bases, but there is one class of accidents that illustrate how some pilots apparently don’t conduct even the most superficial of walk-arounds. A study of the NTSB accident database revealed 40 accidents over a 19-year period in which the pitot tube or another component of the pitot system was listed as a probable cause of the accident. In another 122 accidents accident investigators suspected the pitot system shared some of the blame. Since incidents are typically not included in the database, an unknown number of incidents also happened in that period. In addition, a number of pilots probably smoked their tires aborting takeoffs without generating a reportable episode. The 40 accidents directly related to pitot tube anomalies can be divided into four categories, including contamination of the pitot tube on the ground, in-flight contamination of the pitot tube, malfunction of the pitot system, and failure to remove the pitot tube cover(s) prior to take-off. Fifteen accidents involved contamination of the pitot tube while the airplane was on the ground with no protective pitot cover in place. Two were fatal and thirteen were non-fatal. Further analysis revealed that all but two of these were caused by insect nests – mainly mud dauber wasps. In at least one of these cases, the obstruction could not be detected visually. The other two contaminants were not detailed in the NTSB reports.
Five accidents involved contamination of the pitot tube while the airplane was airborne. Three were fatal and two were non-fatal. Of interest, all of these involved the pilot’s failure to use pitot heat while flying in icing conditions. Eleven accidents involved failure to remove the pitot tube cover prior to takeoff. One was fatal and 10 were not. Eight of the airplanes were singles, with the others being a Learjet, a twin Cessna and a Beech Baron. Of the singles, four were high-wing; four were low-wing. The fatality involved a low-wing single departing into IMC. Nine accidents – one fatal – involved mechanical anomalies of the pitot system. From this profile it is easy to see how other accidents – loss of control in IMC, for example – may have had roots in an airspeed indication problem, but the problem was destroyed along with the airplane. Some have speculated that one factor in the string of Piper Malibu breakups that led to the type’s certification review, for example, may have been pitot icing while on autopilot. TRAILING ROOTS: An early concept every beginning pilot is exposed to is the role of airspeed in allowing an airplane to fly. That necessarily includes the importance of and details of the pitot/static system. It is well known that mud dauber wasps and other insects are attracted to the ram-air openings in pitot tubes. The size of this opening is especially attractive for the insects. 
Most airplane owners quickly learn the importance of using a pitot tube cover to avoid contamination of the pitot tube ram air inlet while the airplane is on the ground. This is especially true if the airplane is not hangared, but a hangar is no guarantee the bugs won’t find it. Some pilot’s operating handbooks list covering the pitot tube while the airplane is on the ground as standard procedure. Pilots are trained to scan the airspeed indicator during the takeoff roll to assure a normal increase in airspeed up to rotation speed and normal climb speed. It’s also clear that pilots need to observe proper airspeed during the approach and landing phases. Because of the importance of airspeed, it’s essential that the airspeed indicator be working. The FAA obviously agrees, because the airspeed indicator is required equipment. If the airplane is going faster than the indicator reads, a runway overrun or loss of control can result. If the airplane is going slower than the indicator reads, a stall is a possibility.During instrument flight training, the importance of using pitot heat when flying in potentially icing conditions in IMC becomes apparent. Without pitot heat, the pitot tube can become contaminated with ice crystals, resulting in inaccurate airspeed readings. Some instructors even advocate the use of pitot heat whenever there is visible precipitation, regardless of outside air temperature. Contamination on the ground is another matter, and one that is just as easily addressed. Preflight inspection is paramount to a safe flight. Steven DeGroff DeGroff Aviation and PilotShields | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Day 4 - Thurs 3 June - Kununurra, Ord River, Lake Argyle 
A fine day of course with no flying planned. 9am pickup and around the corner to the boat ramp in Lily Creek lagoon. Here we meet Shaun of Triple J Tours, board the boat and commence our 55km boat ride. Shaun starts by showing us the Ord River diversion dam explaining that we are on Lake Kununurra, formed in 1963, and that all irrigation water comes from this lake. Of course this lake is now fed from Lake Argyle when that dam was built in 1972. Lake Argyle dam required 2 million tonnes of fill, is 90m high holding back a lake 70kms x 40kms. Slightly bigger than Sydney Harbour.
More recently a hydro power station was constructed to supply all of Kununurra`s electricity needs making the diesel power station virtually permanently redundant.As we travel up the lake Shaun frequently stops to point out plants, birds, bats and crocs. The last 15kms are up "the feed" where we lift 7m to the base of the dam and power station outlet. Although a cut was made in a nearby (SW) hill as an emergency spillway, the main spillway channel leads off to the NE to run into Spillway Creek thence back to Lake Kununurra. We then board the bus and travel to Lake Argyle Tourist Village for a thirst quencher followed by the historic Durack Homestead for an insight into how those people lived. Not all the homestead is original. During its transfer Lake Argyle filled in one year instead of the expected 3 and earth-moving machinery also could not be recovered. A great diving spot now for the locals. Another 70kms by bus and back into Kununurra for more thirst quenching followed by a meal in the pub joined by Andrew Edwards of Sling Air who learnt to fly at Schoies. A very interesting day all round. David Winter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
When we learn to fly, the lessons that lead to our license are usually regular and we generally study hard in between to compliment our skills with the principles of our flight training. Well that's how I played it at the time. Now more than fifteen years on and 2 years since my last BFR, how familiar am I with this knowledge? Time to hit the books again for a refresher, especially as I have not flown for a few months. I had enrolled in the clubs land based BFR refresher course, however family business extended my stay in Melbourne and I missed the December series of this course.The principles fell into place easily enough, but the practice really only comes with practice and for this reason I see my BFR as an opportunity to get current in more ways than one. My instructor for my review was Chris Pearl. It so happened he was on leave in February and I took a day's leave from work to ensure ample time for briefing, flight and most importantly debriefing. I find allowing a day mid week gives plenty of breathing space. In the days leading up to my BFR I prepared my flight plan, weight & balance, take off and landing charts with all available information. These were completed with the final details on the day. All my BFR testing officers over the years have reminded me this is a review, not a test, but for me the preparation for either is the same, plan & study, study & plan. Flying as we know is a continuous learning curve. THE FLIGHT: My flight plan was depart Bankstown to overfly Hoxton Park and track South to Appin Township, being mindful of the Holsworthy restricted area immediately East of my track. Then over the escarpment and onto Wollongong for a touch and go or maybe full stop landing. We joined the circuit for RWY 34 and did a couple of touch and goes including one flapless glide approach. Great stuff but with the Ultralights that now operate from Wollongong you do need to keep a vigilant lookout. Club Arrow JRY was my aircraft on the day and at climb speed it is nearly twice that of these overgrown mosquitoes that were buzzing around. 
Next we tracked back to Appin and surprise, surprise, an enroute diversion from Appin to Picton and on to The Oaks and then Camden as per the flight plan. Usual pencil shuffle on the VTC and radio calls etc with an extension to our SARTIME.It was the first time I had been to The Oaks, and before I had time to admire the location I was in forced landing mode going through the check list hard coded in my brain. Setup glide attitude and trim for 75 knots, Tanks Heat Boost Mixture etc. you know the rest. I can now say I have landed, and taken off from The Oaks. Onto Camden and a coffee and chat at Curtis Aviation. It must be a flight organisation social standard, Hello, how are you going? Where have you come from - tea and coffee are over there....with a genuine smile. From Camden to the training area and stalls, steep turns, recovery from unusual attitudes plus some instrument flight along the way. At some point virtually every part of my training was revisited, a demanding but fun time. Set course for Prospect Reservoir and descend to 1500'. We are going home. 
BACK AT THE CLUB: A short field landing at Bankstown was my last flight activity. Time for another coffee and some operational questions to complete the review. This is where your knowledge of current flight rules and procedures is revisited. Questions such as What weather conditions would prevent you from landing at an aerodrome - What documentation should be carried in the aircraft - What is the rule regarding alcohol and flying.And the list goes on for about twenty related questions. This is a good time for interactive discussion about operational matters that should be considered before undertaking any flight. It was a great - full on at times - day. I have always picked up something new from a BFR. This one was to visit The Oaks and revisit the major operational aspects that need to be considered when flying. And yes I have a stamp in my log book to validate my license for another two years. Peter Blackbourn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Days 5 & 6 - Friday 4 June & Saturday 5 June El Questro, Emma Gorge, Zebedee Springs, Chamberlain Gorge. 
Today was the fifth day of our wonderful holiday and we would be leaving Kununurra this morning to fly to El Questro where we would be spending 2 nights. For the crew of KTN it was an early start, as we had to meet the engineer at the airport at 6.00am to see what he could do about fixing the problem that we had with the plane. The very friendly owner of the apartment where we stayed transferred the rest of the gang to the airport. By the time they had all arrived we knew that KTN was not going anywhere that day as the problem was fuel leaking from the gascolator requiring the part to be sourced eventually from Bankstown (Darwin nor Perth had the appropriate part). It was decided that after Neil dropped his passengers and luggage at El Questro he would return to pick up Janet, Graeme and Sue. The rest of the aircraft flew to El Questro, with most going via Lake Argyle, which we had not been able to see very well when we flew into Kununurra because of the cloud coverage.After landing at the Station Strip at El Questro we were transferred the 25km to Emma Gorge Resort where we met up with the rest of the group. It was such a hot day that we decided to go for a swim in the pool which had looked very inviting as we walked past it on the way to our tents. We dropped our towels on the chairs beside the pool and got in. The water was very cold, but refreshing. 
Some of the group decided to go back to their cabins, for an afternoon nap. The tents were of two different types, because we had not been able to secure enough accommodation of the type requested. The single guys shared two-man tents and the rest of us shared between four. Some were lucky enough to have a four-person tent just between two. The tents were very well set out. They had a double bed and two single beds and there was an ensuite at the end of the tent. There was a table and chairs outside where we could sit and watch the sunset. Unfortunately, there were no tea or coffee making facilities, but we could go up to the main area to get a cuppa anytime we liked.After a very leisurely afternoon, pre-dinner drinks beckoned, so we ambled over to the bar. The dinner menu was out so we had a look at what we would be having that night. There were a few different choices and the food was very good. The evening finished with a lovely stroll back to our tent. 
Sunday morning, and we were all up early for breakfast so that we would be ready for our full day tour of El Questro. We met our guides outside the breakfast area and started our walk up into Emma Gorge. We were told that the walk to the end of the Gorge was an easy walk of about 11/2 km but it proved to be rather trying for some of the group. However, once we got to the end of the Gorge and saw the magnificent waterfall cascading down into the pool it was worth all the effort. Quite a few decided to go for a swim before heading back down the Gorge.When we arrived back at the main building morning tea was waiting for us. A lovely cup of tea or coffee and cake was just what the doctor ordered and we all enjoyed it after our Emma Gorge walk. The next stage of our adventure started after we all boarded the bus and we set off for Zebedee Springs. This is a natural thermal spring, which comes out of the ground quite high up the cliff, and there were many rocks to negotiate before we each found a quiet, pool to sit in and relax and let the cares of the world pass us by, while letting the thermal waters do their trick. 
We reluctantly left the caressing waters of the springs and headed to the Station Township Steakhouse Restaurant for lunch. After a delicious steak and salad lunch, and a short rest, we re-boarded the bus, which took us to the Chamberlain Gorge where a cruise had been arranged for us. The cruise down the Chamberlain River was very peaceful and relaxing as we watched the
towering cliffs pass by. When we arrived at our destination we were given a slice of bread each and told to break off a small piece and roll it into a ball and hold it over the side of the boat. This we did and were very surprised when the "Archer Fish" surfaced and spat a stream of water at the piece of bread, with 100% accuracy. We were informed that this is how they catch insects. The stream of water knocks the insect into the water and the fish eats it, a great talent! After we had fed all our bread to the fish our guides took us to see the Aboriginal Art that had been painted on the walls of the cliffs many thousands of years ago. Over time, the ochre that was used for these paintings has become so inground into the rock that the paintings are now permanent. The paintings are all protected and guests are requested not to touch them. Some are showing signs of age, but for the most part, they are extremely well preserved. Our afternoon was drawing to a close so we boarded our boat for the ride back to the jetty. On our way back we enjoyed platters of fresh tropical fruit and a glass of bubbly. After tying up at the wharf we boarded the bus for our return to Emma Gorge and our tent accommodation for another night. Dinner was, once again, an enjoyable experience and we retired to our tents for a good nights sleep. What a wonderful day it had been. Sue and Graeme Bellamy (Written with the help of my friend Rae, along with our special thanks to those of you, who took us into their aircraft, so that we were not to miss the highlights of the Kimberley.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club Director Mike Allsop took a major step a couple of years ago in acquiring his first aircraft - Arrow VH-LSG - and made it available on-line at SFC. He gave it a full avionics refit, including a Garmin 430, which suits it to commercial and IFR training as well as touring - it's been around Australia a number of times already! Here are some hints, notes and tips about flying the Arrow IV. Specifications and Equipment
Mike Allsop Club Director and owner of VH-LSG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DAMAGE TO PROPELLERS: Any sharp indents or nicks in the outer 25cm of a propeller is critical and causes the aeroplane to be unserviceable. Losing a few inches of propeller in flight would cause so much vibration that you would have to shut the engine down. The most common cause of this type of damage is from stones. Starting the engine and running up on a surface with even one loose stone can cause expensive (and dangerous) damage to the prop. If you have to taxi over an area of loose stones, do so at a very low power setting. A much better option would be to shut down, get out and either push / tow the aeroplane, or sweep away / pick up the rocks. (I’ll bet you would if it was your own aeroplane...!)WHILE ON THE SUBJECT OF LOGBOOKS: The Civil Aviation Regulations require that each pilot keep a personal logbook in which are recorded details of all flying. 
The log should be kept up to date (best way is to enter the details at the completion of each flight). The usual thing is to write (under route/remarks) the particular sequence (e.g. stalls, circuits, etc.) or the route if it was a cross country flight (such as BK - BTH - GLB - BK). A more unusual (but more imaginative) thing is to treat your pilot logbook as a personal diary and include additional detail about the flight (such as who your passengers were, particular problems encountered and how they were overcome, special things you noticed, learned or felt). Some pilots even include photographs in their logbook to remind themselves about some particular aspect of the flight. Pressed flowers might be stretching it a bit, but I know of at least one pilot who made an entry in his log as a reminder of the day he gave up smoking! All perfectly legal and adding to the credibility of your claim to having had particular flying experience. Voir dire as they say in legal circles. And it’s a buzz looking back on it 20 years later!
FOG IN WINTER: Bankstown is not nearly as bad in this respect as Camden or Richmond but, even so, we can expect to have the occasional disruption to our flying programme as a result of fog. Please be philosophical about missing your early-morning flying lesson or booking over the next few months because of it. The club policy on fog is that the program must still run to the programmed time. If your 0730 booking doesn’t get away until 0900 due fog, you must still be back in time for the 0930 booking slot. This is the only way we can ensure that the whole day (which is short enough at this time of the year) doesn’t fall way behind. In this way the only flights affected by fog will be the ones scheduled at the time the fog occurred. An alternative is to reschedule your flight for later in the day. CARBY ICING DURING TAXI: Still on the subject of winter operations, did you know that one of the worst times for carburettor icing is during taxi on a cold morning? That air with a high moisture content, temperatures between 5oC and 15oC, and low (taxi) power settings are ideal for the formation of induction icing? While it is not good practice to use carby heat continuously during ground operations (because the heated air is not filtered) you should be ready to apply carby heat if the engine runs roughly or doesn’t idle properly while taxying. 
During run-up, check that the carby heat system is working (there should be at least 50 RPM drop) and that any ice in the venturi of the carburettor is removed (by watching for an RPM increase before reselecting cold air). If there was any ice present (either during taxi or run-up), you should apply full heat for at least 30 seconds at the holding point before calling “ready”. It’s too bad if your engine quits while taxiing, but potentially disastrous if you take off with an engine choking on a throat full of ice. LOCKING LUGGAGE COMPARTMENT: It would be a great help to those who are still here at the end of the day if the last pilot of the day in each aeroplane locked the luggage compartment. There’s no point in putting a padlock on the cabin door if the baggage area is not secure. And the Duty Pilot will get home just a little bit earlier! FEEDBACK AND CONTRIBUTIONS: Well, that's your newsletter for this month. With your help (in the form of contributions, photos, etc.) it should be possible to produce a newsletter every month. Don't forget to check the latest news on the Club's website at www.schofields-flying-club.com.au. Contributions, comments, feedback, and (polite) suggestions to latrodectus@schofields-flying-club.com.au. THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH: 'Computer science is as much about computers as astronomy is about telescopes' - Edsger Wybe Dijkstra (1930-2002) Until next time. Latrodectus |
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