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 - MARCH 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Welcome to the March 2006 edition of Schofields News. There are the usual plus some new features - President's Notes by Mike Allsop, Seacliff Bridge by Latrodectus, X-File X060 (Martin-Baker MB3) by Anthony Coleiro, On Being Confident by Latrodectus, Pretake-off Walk Around by Gary Wiblin, Airside Tarmac Tour by Sheri Crawshaw, Approach Lighting by Latrodectus, ASIC from Qantas by Joe Dalzell, and the Last Word from Latrodectus. As well, there's the usual administrivia that you've come to expect. So, read on and enjoy! 
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING: This meeting will be held at the Clubhouse on Monday, 10 April, commencing at 7:30pm. Nominations for Committee positions must be returned to the Secretary at the Clubhouse no later than 9:00 am on Monday 13 March 2006. Download the 2006 Nomination Pack (21kB pdf).CROSS COUNTRY NAVS WORKSHOP: Want to get some top tips to help you with cross-country navs? Maybe just for a refresher or perhaps for that weekend away - or even an extended fly-away. Our workshop on Sunday, 5 March is just what you need so that your next trip is just that little more enjoyable. More... B52 FLYPAST: Graham Quigley, a retired member from the early 1990s, asks if any of our older members recall the B52 that made a flypast at a Schofields Airshow about 25+ years ago. Graham has lots of photos of this event that he's burning to DVD but needs help to recall the actual date of this soggy weekend. Any info by e-mail to Graham. MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL DRAW: Congratulations to Anthony Coleiro who is the lucky winner of the one hour flying in our Warrior III (VH-SFK) membership renewal draw. Thank you to all of our members who have renewed their membership for 2006 and a gentle reminder to those of you who have not - if you could do so shortly it would be greatly appreciated. JANUARY DUTY PILOT DRAW: The Volunteer Duty Pilot Monthly Draw for January ($50 free flying) goes to Julian Wilken and Jason Tuendemann. Congratulations! DIARY DATES: The Club has a number of social and flying activities planned for 2006. You can check full details on our Coming Events page. Below is a summary of the programme for March and April 2006:
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Coalcliff and Clifton have been reunited with the official opening of the $50 million Seacliff Bridge. Ten thousand residents took the opportunity to walk the bridge yesterday after the New South Wales Premier, Morris Iemma, officially opened the structure. The 665-metre bridge replaces a road which was closed two-and-a-half years ago after rock falls and erosion. Mr Iemma says the bridge has provided a perfect engineering solution to re-opening the coastal road. "It's been a long and complex problem, and now [there is] a solution - an engineering solution - which is also environmentally compatible to make it a safe, more accessible road," he said.The bridge was opened to traffic shortly before 9:00pm AEDT on 11 December 2005. 
New South Wales' Roads Minister Joe Tripodi paid tribute to the community in helping achieve the bridge. "I want to thank the community because they [were] involved in the very beginning in telling the government exactly how they want this to be designed and what needs to be achieved," he said."It's a great result, we're very proud to be handing back this Illawarra community a community asset." Tourism Wollongong says the opening of the bridge will breath fresh life into the New South Wales southern coastal area. It says the bridge has allowed one of Australia's most stunning coastal routes, Lawrence Hargrave Drive, to be re-opened. Tourism Wollongong's general manager Greg Binskin says re-opening the area will re-energise the region and draw tourists and day-trippers back to the area's 10 coastal villages. For Club members, here's another highlight to add to your scenic flight repertoire. An early morning flight would have the sun in the right position for your passengers to get those memorable photographs. Latrodectus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
T In 1939 the British Air Ministry put forward a specification for a replacement fighter for the Hurricane and Spitfire fighters. Martin-Baker responded with their M.B.3 proposal. Two prototypes were ordered. Following on from the M.B.2 (File X056 November 2005), the M.B.3 was simple and sturdy in construction employing steel tubes and stressed light alloy skin. The engine to be fitted was a 2,020 hp Napier Sabre II 24-cylinder horizontal-H type engine.Particular attention was paid to ensure that the aircraft was easy to service on the field and that it could be quickly rearmed to minimise down time. 
The first prototype flew on 31 August 1942; it was armed with six 20 mm cannons. The heavily armed and armoured aircraft reached a speed of 668 km/h at 20,000 feet and was nimble and easy to handle. Only a limited amount of data on the aircraft had been collected when in the following month the aircraft was destroyed in a landing accident following an engine failure on approach.
Martin-Baker took the opportunity to undertake some extensive redesign work on the aircraft before releasing their second prototype. The plan was to mate the existing fuselage to a Rolls-Royce Griffon engine. The new aircraft was to be named M.B.4, but this never went beyond the concept stage as the idea was dropped in favour of a completely new airframe which became known as the M.B.5, but that's another story.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Illustrated Encylopedia of Aircraft - Orbis publication The Complete Book of Fighters - William Green Gordon Swanborough War Planes of the Second World War. Fighters Volume Two - William Green Anthony Coleiro | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Although they are an integral part of aviation, flight tests are something none of us particularly enjoy. Flight tests form an important safety function as they are effectively the final "check and balance" to determine if you either meet or maintain competency at the required level. It is not unusual to feel nervous and, having conducting hundreds of flight tests as an Authorised Testing Officer (and having been the subject of numerous tests flight tests myself) you may find the following observations useful in preparing for that first flight test. The most important ingredient when presenting for a flight test is confidence. Your flight instructor has conducted your training in accordance with the approved Club syllabus and when he or she is satisfied, often after consultation with other Instructors, that you meet the required competency criteria, you will be recommended for a flight test. That in itself is a major endorsement of confidence in your ability, and you should take it as such. Do you remember when your instructor first stepped out of the aircraft and sent you on your first solo? This same judgement is used by your instructor to determine your readiness for a subsequent flight test.
By this stage, you would have developed a reasonable level of self-confidence and you should know that you are capable of passing the test. This self-confidence is vitally important and is something that will develop as you progress through your training. Your level of self-confidence should be tempered by a true appreciation of your limitations which will reduce as your level of training, experience and qualifications increase. Be confident in your skill and ability.Authorised Testing Officers look for this confidence and your ability to exercise confident command judgement at all stages of flight. Conversely, under-confidence will be very noticeable, as this affects not only your decision making ability, but also your aircraft handling. Likewise, over-confidence must be avoided as this can be more dangerous than under-confidence. Being over-confident can lead to complacency and unnecessary risk taking. There is an old saying that sums it up nicely: Your confidence level must match your competence level. Being confident is important in overcoming test nerves. Everyone gets nervous, although the good news is that tests become easier to overcome as you gain more experience. The key is to harness the nervousness to work for you rather than against you. The nervous energy you produce can actually enhance your performance, but only if you control it. Every Authorised Testing Officer knows that you will be nervous and will take this into account, so long as you have it under control. After all, we do need to see that you can handle pressure, as it is possible that you will face all sorts of trying situations in your future flying. So, everyone gets that butterflies in the stomach feeling at the flight test stage. The trick is to make those butterflies fly in formation! Latrodectus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Some time ago I wrote of the need for a pre-take-off walk-around. Not a replacement for the pre-flight inspection mind you but, just before entering the cockpit, a final walk around the entire aircraft. This is because, more often than not, pilots and passengers do not enter the aircraft immediately after the pre-flight inspection has been completed. The reason I would like to elaborate on this subject is because there have recently been three incidents that I know of where a pre-flight walk-around would have saved the day. I will describe all three scenarios in order to hammer home the vital need for a pre-take-off walk-around, EVERY time. No matter what! Remember, in general aviation we do not have a ground crew looking after our best interests just before start-up so the final responsibility rests with the designated pilot in command. It is vital that this be remembered, as, even in private flying, it is often that two pilots fly together. It must be clearly agreed upon exactly who is to be the pilot in command at all times. Let's take a look at the first scenario: I was on a trip into central Africa to offload supplies and had taken a company pilot along to share the flying due to flight and duty time constraints. When preparing to depart one particular airfield, we agreed that my relief pilot would fly this leg but we came to no definite agreement as to who was responsible for the pre-flight inspection and this became a shared affair. In this case, this was the mistake.
Neither one of us was really certain exactly what had and had not been thoroughly inspected. Shortly after take-off the nose baggage compartment popped open and we had to return for landing. Each of us presumed that the other had inspected the latches. In this case it was not a major problem but rather an irritating inconvenience. A pre-take-off walk-around would have prevented this.On another occasion a company pilot was offloading passengers at an airfield. He personally removed the baggage from the nose baggage compartment, locked and checked the nose baggage compartment latches, and then proceeded towards the tail of the aircraft where his passengers were saying their goodbyes to each other, and to him. Unbeknown to him, one of the passengers had gone around to the nose baggage compartment in search of his bag and had in fact re-opened it. When he saw the empty compartment he not only closed it again but also actually tried to lock the catches. At a glance it now looked as if the baggage compartment was locked, which is exactly what the pilot expected to see. As he had locked the compartment just seconds before, when he now wanted to board and start-up, he had every reason to expect that it was still locked. His cursory glance at the aircraft before boarding was obviously not enough. As the aircraft began gathering speed for take-off the baggage compartment lid popped up and was restrained by the safety catch. The take-off was aborted. 
The third example was so typical that any of us could be caught out if not careful enough. Once again the pilot was unpacking the nose baggage compartment of a Baron and was putting the removed bags on the ground behind him. After removing the last bag he locked the baggage compartment and turned around to pick up some bags. One of the passengers was also helping and they each picked up a couple of bags and walked to the vehicle, which was parked just meters away. They said their goodbyes and the pilot turned back to the aircraft, ran his eyes over its entire length, was satisfied that everything was locked, and boarded the aircraft, locking the cabin door behind him. He was still busy running through his pre-start checks when the driver of the vehicle
yelled from outside that one of the bags was apparently missing. The pilot exited the aircraft to re-check the baggage compartment only to find the offending bag lying right in front of the right-hand propeller.From the point at which he had stood casting a suspicious eye over the aircraft the bag had been out of sight. If he had taxied into it he would have had a damaged propeller and one highly irate passenger. I have now amended my own rule to be applied somewhat more harshly. I now do a pre-take-off walk-around just before boarding, every single time. Even if I have shut down only briefly for some obscure reason, before once again starting up I will exit the aircraft, do a pre-take-off walk-around, and then re-board the aircraft and start up. I am now convinced that Murphy is always there, waiting for a lapse in concentration. Do yourself a favour and make this your rule too and you will save yourself many embarrassing, and sometimes dangerous, moments. Contributed by Gary Wiblin, a 9000 hour Comm/IF/Multi/Instructor based in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. E-mail Gary | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Forty-seven very excited aeroholics boarded the Coach at Sydney Airport on Saturday 11th February to "visit the other side of the fence...." Our Tour Guide, Ian McManus from Airside Tarmac Tours, took us on an adventure of facts and figures, sights and sounds, and the wonderful smell of aviation fuel. 
After passing through the security screening in Terminal 2 we were off on a 22 kilometre tour that took in the entire 880 hectares of the airport, with us crossing three active taxiways and prowling the maintenance hangars and aprons of both the Domestic and International terminals. Over a two hour period, Ian proved to be a wealth of information. Did you know:
The Maintenance Hangars were a further source of fascination:
In recent times the runways and taxiways over General Holmes Drive have been reinforced in preparation for the A380, which is expected to arrive with Singapore Airlines in September this year. The 80m wing span aircraft can carry 850 passengers in an all economy configuration. The terminal to accommodate the aircraft is also undergoing a facelift with dual air bridges being fitted to help offload passengers.The miles of runways and taxiways certainly keep maintenance crews busy with 2,000 light bulbs to change and lines repainted every 10 days. The longest runway 16R-34L (North/South) is 3960 m long and is one of only four commercial runways in the world capable of handling the emergency landing of the Space Shuttle. We spent about 15 minutes in a great vantage point, on a slip road between runway 340 Left and 340 Right, watching aircraft take off and land. You don't get those opportunities very often at Sydney Airport. Our last stop before heading back to Airside Tarmac Tours base was at the Rescue Fire Fighting Service where we saw a couple of $1.2 million constant 6WD, 34 ton fire tenders - the Service is on call 24 hours per day and guarantees to reach any airfield emergency within 3 minutes. A great tour and expert commentary made for a terrific morning - unfortunately no cameras are allowed, so the only evidence we have is a group shot in front of the coach - and of course our enthusiasm and vastly increased knowledge of the goings on at Sydney Airport. Sheri Crawshaw Director - Marketing & Promotions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the late 1940s the problems of transition from the new precision radio instrument approach aids to the final, visual approach at night or in reduced visibiltiy much exercised civil aviation. Various high-intensity approach lighting systems were developed to ease the transition from instrument to visual flight. In 1949 three competing systems - a British one (the Calvert system), a French one (a form of displaced Calvert system) and an American one (the Slope Line system) were presented to ICAO. Because each system had its supporters among the ICAO members, ICAO ended up recommending that any of the three systems could be adopted. Independently, and before the ICAO decision, DCA engineers had also been sudying the problem of approach lighting and had concluded that the British 'Calvert' system was superior. A trial installation was installed on Essendon's Runway 08 toward the end of 1951. This trial proved successful and the system was commissioned for operational use in 1953. The following information about the Calvert cross bar lighting system is based on an article High Intensity Approach Lighting by S W Hart (DCA Sectional Airways Engineer) which appeared in the Civil Aviation Jounal, the DCA's house publication, Vol 1, No 3, March 1951.In 1946 Mr E S Calvert of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, was requested by a UK Ministry of Civil Aviation Airfield Lighting Committee to investigate the problem of approach lighting and establish the general principles involved. Calvert tackled the problem by attempting to ascertain the visual and mental processes by which a pilot lands an aircraft. 
He then developed a theoretical model by which different lighting systems could be compared, and tested his theoretical results using simulation.Calvert's line of reasoning led him to the conclusion that to provide smooth transition from instrument to visual flying without optical illusions, and to provide sensitive and natural indications which could easily be interpreted by the average pilot, the approach lighting pattern should consist of a centre line of light with horizontal bars of light running transversely across it at even intervals. This pattern consists of two basic elements - a line of lights leading to the runway threshold, and horizontal lights to define the attitude of the aircraft. Calvert placed much stress on roll guidance compared with the Americans who, up to that time, had completely neglected it. He was the first to realise that it was easy to confuse lateral displacement with angle of bank. With horizon bars the pilot can see if he is on an even keel (left) or banked right wing down to turn on to the centre line (right). The Calvert system does not indicate a defined glide path, but the widths of the horizon bars are such that, if a pilot maintains a glide that will take him to the correct touch down point, each bar will appear to be the same width as the previous one as it disappears under the nose of the aircraft. Distance is indicated by using single lights in the centre line to indicate 1000 ft or less from the threshold, double lights for 1000-2000 ft and triple lights for 2000-3000 ft. It is interesting to note that the basic form of the Calvert cross bar lighting system still forms the basis for high-intensity approach lighting systems today. Latrodectus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
I'm sure every pilot is aware that an Aviation Security Identity Card (ASIC) is required if you need frequent access to a secure area of a security controlled airport that has Regular Public Transport (RPT) operations. By now, most pilots have applied for their ASIC but, because of the security checks that are required, many are still waiting for their card to be issued. CASA is aware of the delays that are being experienced and have nominated Qantas as one of the distribution points. Note that the following information relates to the post-application and collection part of the process. The assumption is that the person applied to CASA previously with all the necessary documentation and photos and has been advised that the card was ready to collect. It is likely that the collection advice now comes from Qantas, and the process as outlined below is then undertaken.Club member Joe Dalzell was contacted by Qantas about his ASIC and he has put his "hot off the press" experience into writing so we could all know what to expect. Joe's summary is as follows: 
CASA have arranged for the ASIC "to be distributed by QANTAS. I received a phone call from QANTAS to say my ASIC was ready for collection and could I confirm my ARN . This done I was told the ASIC could be collected from QANTAS at 14 Bourke Rd Mascot, corner of Coward St (opposite the Holiday Inn).
You need to make your way to the ID Office on the first floor of Building "D" (don't go anywhere else, they will not know anything about ASIC things).Building "D" is the first building on the Left when you enter the complex. Once inside the office you need to "take a number" similar to the system used by the RTA motor registry . Make sure you request the appropriate ticket ie "ID-ASIC" Take a seat and wait till your number flashes up on the screen. When it does go to the appropriate counter. It is through the double glass doors behind you! Provide your Passport and Drivers licence (These items were particularly requested during the initial phone call). The lovely and very helpful QANTAS staff will carry out the necessary paperwork and provide you with your ASIC. QANTAS are to be complimented on their efficiency. Parking on the complex is EXTREMELY LIMITED, so it might be best to have someone circle the block for you. Either that or park in the forecourt of the Holiday Inn. Allow at least 30 minutes for the whole business to be done I hope this of some assistance to those who are still yet to collect their ASIC. Joe Dalzell Club member and ASIC holder | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FEEDBACK AND CONTRIBUTIONS: Well, that's your Newsletter for tis month. With help (in the form of contributions) it might be possible to continue 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 suggestions to latrodectus@schofields-flying-club.com.au. THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH: A thunderstorm is never as bad on the inside as it appears on the outside. It's worse!
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We have had a great response to our workshop for cross-country flying "tips and tricks", and will be arranging another workshop shortly to cover ALA operations followed by a quick fly-out to a lovely grass strip, and another to cover GPS operations for the VFR pilot. We are very pleased you are finding this programme useful, so stay posted for others throughout the year. If you have any specific subject you think might be useful and of interest to others as well, please let me know.© 2003 Schofields Flying Club Ltd. All Rights Reserved.