VH- vs. RA-Aus and CASA license vs. RPC, can help connect the dots?

[Stikman]

Originally Posted by Okihara

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:

1. Why would anyone with a PPL want to register their UL aircraft under VH-? And there seem to be VH- foxbats or slings around.
2. 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.

Short answer is you are correct on all points, with the following caveat:

The operators of the RA-Aus aircraft at YMMB have an exemption from CASA that allows them to fly from there subject to certain conditions. They also operate from YSBK under a similar exemption.

To answer your questions:

Those VH- registered Foxbats are, for the most part, owned by a flying school at YMMB who need VH- registered aircraft for their CPL program. There's really no other reason for it..

If you have a PPL and an RPC, you can enjoy the best of both worlds.