Alice Springs Aero Club

Ph. (08) 8955 5200 Fax (08) 8953 0055

Open 7 days 8.30am – 5.30pm

From the Bosses office

Welcome to the first of our newsletters. Of note as we progress

into another warm summer and the time of the year when we

tend to be flying at either end of the day we need to be extra

vigilant with regards to evening twilight times and flight planning.

Also of note is the need to make sure yourself and your

passengers are well hydrated during the flight and have adequate

reserves should things go wrong out there. You should also be

familiar with what is in the survival kit and how to correctly

operate the emergency beacons.

The 172’s both have new engines in them now and are waiting for

work so if you have not flown for a little while come and have a

brush up of your skills and go explore this stunning part of the

territory while you have the chance.

We have a steady stream of PPL students progressing through and

so far all have passed their PPL exams and are in various stages of

advanced flight training. For those of you still studying, feel free

to contact your instructors if you need a bit of one on one help.

All the best for the coming months,

Cliff McCann

CFI

What’s new?

Our new training base at Batchelor is now

operational! Batchelor is 100kms south of

Darwin on the edge of the Litchfield National

Park. At this stage we will have a Cessna 172 up

there and a Grade 1 instructor on the weekends.

We will be conducting Aeroplane Flight Reviews

and GA flight training at Batchelor so this will

mean a cost effective way for those who live up

north wanting to get their AFR done or for those

wanting to begin their training.

Spread the word about this facility as we need

to use it, to keep it.

Achievements

Congratulations to the following people for their

achievements over the last few months.

Lincoln Lowick – RA AUS Pilot Certificate 20/05/12

Donald Costello – Private Pilot Licence 25/5/12

Cruz Vida – Private Pilot Licence 20/7/12

Jack Builder – First Solo 8/8/12

To those who have sat and passed exams recently

Congratulations!

Our Pilot Shop stocks most of

your aviation needs. Enquire

today!

www.asac.com.au

What’s coming up?

The Aero Club’s AGM is coming up! It is on 18th November at 1000hrs. It will be held at Bond Springs. Brunch will be

provided at 0900hrs. Make sure you have your say!

RA AUS

Hi Everyone,

Recently I obtained my senior instructors rating in RA Aus which

gives all our students more opportunities to fly since Cliff is normally

so busy. The CTSW is a great little aircraft to fly and has great range.

It only burns 20L per hour so it can definitely cover the distances out

here.

In August this year we had a visit from Anselm Urbanick, a well-

travelled recreational pilot from Austria. With his wife he flew the

CTSW from Alice Springs out west to Giles and Warburton then

down to Wave Hill. They then proceeded up the west coast to

Carnavon, visited the Karijini National Park, then flew up to Kakadu

National Park and back down through Tennant Creek to Alice

Springs. They took just over two weeks to complete the trip and

thoroughly enjoyed their experience. They would love to come back

and cover more of Australia.

Australia is such a great and vast country and one of the best ways

to see it is from the air. I always feel lucky when I’m out flying,

seeing the land from an angle not many others have.

Even though it is getting warmer out there, there are still plenty of

good flying opportunities to be had. The early mornings are a great

time to fly and if we are able to, we can fit in some early morning

lessons to beat the heat.

Many happy and smooth landings

Josef Keller

Check us out and “Like” us on Facebook! Click here

New Members

Geoff Gatwood Joseph Lee

Paul Baishont Sarah Galloway

Martin Jacobson Dave Billington

Remember this is your club, so don’t be shy. Make your way

out to the airport have a chat and a coffee with the

Instructors. Go for a fly and get current again!

To keep our club and aircraft presentable if you can spare any

time on your days off work to help us keep everything tidy it

would be appreciated! Ask us how you can help!

Recognise this?

This is one of the visitors to Alice Springs in the last month, passing through on their way from Darwin to a practice exercise down south. It is a Eurocopter Tiger ARH. It is one of the Australian Army’s Air fleet. To lift this 6 tonne machine it has 2 Rolls Royce 1200 horsepower engines, it can carry 1 tonne of fuel which will last about 3 hours. Two crew are required, one to fly and one to operate the weaponry. This lump of mainly carbon fibre is a bargain at only 68 million Australian dollars.

From the right hand seat I am the latest Instructor to join the Alice Springs Aero Club team.

After completing my flight training and doing some instructing in NZ I

have jumped the ditch, and some desert, to add to my flying

experience. I haven’t met a lot of club members as yet but I am sure

that will happen in the coming months. Now is a good time to get up

in the air with an instructor and perfect your crosswind technique or

just get back into flying again after a bit of a break. Check your

Aeroplane Flight Review expiry and book in to get it done again if you

need to. Hope to see you at the Club rooms soon!

Ben Rosser