Fly around Oz hour building, anyone interested?
 

Hi folks,

I'm planning on doing my CPL hour building in Jan/Feb & have given some thought to maybe flying around most if not all of Australia. Has any one ever done this and if so any tips and advice would be welcome.

Also wondered if there might be a fellow student/hour builder who might be interested in joining me for it? Share costs and hours etc etc

Would like to add that if anyone knows of a good single engine aircraft that could be hired out for such an extended period of time at a good rate that would be much appreciated also.

look forward to your replies and/or pms

only tips i can give

1 - make sure the aircraft you end up using isn't due for maintenance in the time you're away

2 - don't use the gps:ok:

Bull****! - Use EVERYTHING that is available to you!

Hour building
 

Try and get a 200 series Cessna aircraft and stop in at all the operators that use them. You will probably end up with a job with one of them if you can manage to bring the plane back in 1 piece. Also get one with a fresh annual.:ok:

Great Learning Experience
 

I did the same, and it was the best thing I've ever done (apart from marriage and children and all the other politically correct responses).

Definitely take care with the maintenance part as mentioned previously.

The other advice I have is:

• Don't book accommodation in advance, it can give you added 'must get there' pressures that in questionable weather, you don't need.
• Don't scrimp on WAC chart purchases and up to date VTCs etc. Get them all and make sure they are current.
• Organize yourself and your documents/charts. Then organize it again. I made up document packs the night before each leg, to save sifting through all the charts to find the right one whilst flying.
• Have your night VMC done prior, just in case - or for an excellent 'tour' of the Kimberley's at sunset, or Brisbane by night etc.
• Take another friendly hour-building pilot with you. Any issues you face (like, 'Why is the engine running rough?', or 'what frequency?') are much easier to troubleshoot with another opinion (as long as they are friendly...).
• Don't be scared of controlled airspace, giving ATC an indication of unfamiliarity with GAAP or ATC zones really helped me find my way around, and all the controllers I came across were very helpful :ok:.
• Have fun! I'm so jealous... :)

Matt

Allow me to rephrase

Dont ALWAYS use/rely on the GPS, use your Time Map Ground once in a while

I think it's more...
KNOW your GPS, But don't use it unless you must...
Well that's my opinion.:ok:
Also: I might have been interested if I had the money and if my work weren't such tightasses about taking leave.

If you want a middle aged responsible careful and helpful pilot with cross oz and engineering experience to go along with you..... let me know.......... But I do not come cheap!! Sounds like a great way for me to fly around the country for free.....Ohh and you can book all the hours! :)


Sounds like a great thing........ do a SEARCH on here as this question has been asked many times before, and there have been many good suggestions too!

Have fun!

Am doing the same trip, except I set off in a couple weeks. Are you hour building for the 200HR or 150HR course?

How do you eat an elephant? One mouthful at a time!

How do you fly around Oz? One leg at a time!

It is not a big deal. Some careful planning (as you should do for any trip), a bit of flexibility, a complete lack of "got to get there i'tis", and some communication technology for getting the weather, planning and making/cancelling sartimes - and you are good to go.

You will have a great adventure - but remember that if you don't post pics on the "Photos" thread in here, then - IT DIDN'T HAPPEN !

Dr :8

Second a lot of advice here. I did 'up the middle and down the east side' as a final fling before my 4 years in aus ended.. 1/2 an eye to hours building and 1/2 for the sheer hell of it.

a) Do it.. it's awesome
b) get all the charts - the cost is minimal compared to the cost of the trip. I did overlook a vnc, and it's a right pain trying to do east coast airspace with an ERC-L/WAC combo..
c) If you're hours building, it might work better to get something slow and cheap (relative), after all, you log the hours, not the distance..
d) Use everything - yup, hire a plane w/o GPS :E (well, there was a garmin etrex hid in the back just in case, but..)
e) go up the middle... it's something else.
f) the 'remote' areas have more features than you'd think, it's just different (and I didn't hit the central/west desert, so that I can't comment on.
g) take something with an ADF. most of the time was spent up around the 9000 mark, NDB's were far more useful/rangey and far more common than VOR's..
h) have the night rating. Managed at least 2 legs where things got behind schedule, had it not been for the night rating, the plan would have gone right out the window. Really handy to be able plod on. Also some awesome sunsets from way up there.
i) anywhere remote, ring ahead for fuel. well ahead.. seriously!
j) if you're going remote places, put a bunch of flight plans in naips, and phone them to ammend details / change dates and times before you go. It's a *heap* easier than actually passing the entire flightplan by phone.
k) If you can, have the luxury of time, and don't make it all about flying. So many interesting places and side trips. Pretty awesome country you have there.

l) perhaps a bit contraversial, but... Don't overplan it(!) I nearly abandoned 'cos I hadn't got every last i dotted, t crossed, and a schedule for everything. Honestly as a 100hr PPL I was more than a bit scared of the thing. In the end I went.. most days just packed up the tent, did the flight plan / chartwork on the tailfeathers and blasted off. It's different, but not as hard as you might think.

I actually took a non-flying (well, bit of glider time) mate who I know well, and has flown with me quite a lot. It worked fairly well from my point of view, not least because there's no question of who had authority in the cockpit(!) Made a useful autopilot and nice to have someone to talk to. Depends how relaxed you are, but I'd think very carefully about committing to that much flying/time with someone you don't know, and/or don't know as a pilot.

Oh, and lastly, should you go into YWMC, and find that there are more lady pilots than you expected, and attractive ones to boot... don't be a chump and be so distracted as to forget the change from the (painfully expensive) avgas bill will you :O

Missing out on structure...
 

Longer trips to unfamiliar territory are great! I did one myself from BN up the coast to Cairns, across the gulf, south through the red centre and then east via Charleville... absolutely fantastic with nothing but a watch, a WAC and a window. :ok:

I would however recommend talking to your CFI about what you would be missing on the structured solo navs they have planned in the syllabus. Once you know what is there then you can plan supplementary exercises to do along the way such that the CFI may let you include the hours you're planning into a 150hr course rather than requiring you to do the 200 hr course.

Sounds like a great trip

I'd suggest a mobile phone that has good coverage in those remote areas (Telstra Next G worked well for me when I was out there), just in case you need to give accommodation a call to rearrange things or chase up the fuel, amend flight plans, cancel SAR etc.

As has already been suggested, take another pilot you actually know as opposed to a complete stranger. You don't want to find out on the first leg they are a complete tool in the aircraft regardless of how nice they sounded on the phone or when you met up to plan it all.

The Cessna 200 series suggestion and Night VFR rating were good idea's too.

And of course - a camera with spare batteries, spare memory card.

Most of all - have fun and keep an eye on the weather.

Try flying from Ceduna to Forest and see. It's like looking at a piece of brown carpet for 2 hours. ;)

Really helpful thread, keep the suggestions coming :ok:

A big question I have for an upcoming trip I'm doing, is charts. Does anyone know where I can get a wide range of VNC's, besides the Airservices website?

Also if anyone has any 'must-see's' (including good fishing spots) within QLD, please let me know ;)

Some QLD must sees:

Qantas Founders Museum- Longreach
Whitsunday Islands- Airlie Beach/Shute Harbour/Hamilton Island
and Gold Coast/ Sunshine Coast

The fishing spots are secret :ok:

Lots of great advice here, have planned on having my NVFR before I go but we'll have to wait and see..

The Cessna 200 option would be great but I reckon it could be hard to get one and could become very expensive.. but still a good idea none the less..

Not bringing a stranger is an interesting point also which I have considered before, I just wouldn't want to do it on my own and most people I know couoldn't take time off work or away from families for an extended period of time.. catch 22

Keep the posts coming thanks and again if anyone knows a good ac for a good rate feel free to drop me a pm..

Delta Oscar Charlie check your PMs.

do NOT use GPS unless it is totally necessary. I have seen too many pilots become "sloppy" from staying in their comfort shell. However it is good for a back up (only). You should try flying to Cairns or up to the tip, some beautiful country up there. All the best:ok:

Haven't looked, but I presume the flight was possible pre-gps.. NDB, VOR etc? Somehow don't consider that 'cheating' so much as it doesn't give you a 'here you are on the TV' picture..