Me = a bloke who is [a little] confused. My current [shaky] understanding of all the acronyms in the title and where they roughly belong in the Australian air law landscape is the following:
- CASA oversees VH- registered aircraft
- RA-Aus oversees the registration of aircraft with a MTOW of < 600 kg
- Said aircraft can also be VH- registered
- CASA issues RPL, PPL, CPL and ATPL licenses
- RA-Aus issues a RPC which is not a license but a certificate for pilots who intend to fly recreationally, subject to RA-Aus aircraft, within VFR and possibly including cross-country flights if they have the endorsement
- A recent BITRE report states that a RPC is roughly equivalent to a RPL and can be converted into one with little extra effort
- RPC holders cannot enter or operate in Class D airspace
- At YMMB, there are RA-Aus registered aircraft in operations (that's where my head starts spinning, see previous point)
Given the above, assume that you are a PPL holder and intend to purchase a Foxbat. Do the following statements hold:
- Foxbat has a MTOW < 600 kg, therefore you may register it as either VH- or RA-Aus
- Registration under RA-Aus is less expensive and less tightly regulated than under VH-
- Having a PPL, you may join RA-Aus without further ado
- Assuming that you're flying a RA-Aus registered aircraft, you may still fly into controlled airspace, eg. land and take off at YMMB, because are you are PPL holder
This feels to me like there's a loophole somewhere:
- Why would anyone with a PPL want to register their UL aircraft under VH-? And there seem to be VH- foxbats or slings around.
- If you have a PPL, you can enjoy the best of both CASA and RA-Aus when going on a recreational flight, or is there a contradiction somewhere?
Thanks a million, and I apologize if this lingo is crystal clear to everyone else on that forum.