Radar Coverage at Ballina

[The name is Porter]

Derby's a bit of a ****hole Griffo, what did you get up to on your days off?

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

Hey Mr P,

'Back in de good ole days'.....When it was a comparatively 'vibrant' town....(Comparatively!)

PLENTY to do..!!

Fishin' crabbin' & drinkin' & trips 'away' flights around the 'Horries' & the islands, swimmin' at CLQ....and not necessarily in that order......Gibb R was nice....as was Broome...

Really felt sorry for the people in Broome - they had 'nowhere' to go.....
Derbs peoples was 'good'..!!

[LeadSled]

I think it was when East West decided to operate F28s into Albury

Lookleft,
Albury got the tower when Prince Charles was at Timbertops, the "Royals" only fly in controlled airspace, and have the same priority as the Governor General, in Australia.

Not absolutely certain, but I think the Wagga tower was a hangover from RAAF days, as was Camden, where DCA built a new tower when the RAAF tower burned down --- without consideration of whether Camden really needed one --- but when it is all taxpayer's money, who cares about the cost.

Tootle pip!!

[Traffic_Is_Er_Was]

Prince Charles at Timbertops - 1966
Albury TWR - 1982

Anecdotedlly, Albury FSU staff - AFIZ and 30nm diameter FIA - 3 x FSO's
Albury TWR - smaller airspace - 8 x ATC

[Lookleft]

LS-Wagga didn't get a tower until the early 80's at the earliest. As TIEW states with Albury, Wagga was originally an AFIZ.

[no_one]

Comparing Airspace rules between countries is a little difficult, it isn’t just the letter C,E,D or G, but what the restrictions and responsibilities that go with each of them. Under the USA rules making Ballina a Class D tower and the airspace above class E would not restrict the movement of small GA aircraft to land at Balina or transit through the area. In the USA a transponder is not generally (there are some exceptions) required in class E. The only negative impact that adding a class D tower with E above would have is the cost and so a rational discussion about who pays and whether the benefit exceeds that cost can be had.

Under the Australian rules this change would result in a significant impact on a large number of users. Firstly a transponder is required in Australia in class E airspace. Adding a transponder to a Jabiru is proportionally as significant an impact as adding ADS-B to a citation. A large number of small GA users will need to pay quite a few thousand dollars to meet the equipment requirements transit that area.

Secondly pilots with RAAus pilot certificates are not allowed to fly in class D. This would have a very significant impact on the local flight school and maintenance facility. How could they continue to operate?

At every turn the Australian rule implementations create winners (in this case the IFR and RPT who have greater safety) and losers (the smaller GA and RAAus) who then have to fight it out. While the industry is fighting, CASA sit back and “consult” and no matter the outcome safety overall is diminished. CASA need to understand that more onerous rules often do not lead to greater safety. By requiring transponders universally in class E, it makes having larger areas of class E more costly and difficult to implement which leads to an overall reduction in safety.