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Ray Nissan (from Jan 2000 Newsletter)
On a recent business trip to Australia I decided to rent an aircraft to
do some aerial sightseeing over Sydney. In order to rent an Australian
registered aircraft, a foreign pilot has to obtain a temporary Australian
pilot's licence, which, in turn, requires your existing licence, along with a
logbook and $50 Australian. I had forgotten to bring my logbook. But I keep a
log on my notebook computer. So, with my Canadian licence, computer and money
in hand, I made my way to the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority
(CASA). Well, apparently they needed to photo copy my logbook to keep on file.
The computer screen would not copy. A printout would be acceptable, but I'd
forgotten to bring the port extender for my notebook. So, grudgingly they
accepted my hand written summary.
The licence issued is a temporary one, and mine was expired on the date of my departure from Sydney. It was valid for Day VFR in single engine aircraft. I was given no credit for my muti-engine or instrument rating.
On the day of the flight, Tina Rogers, our Australian colleague Peter and I went to Bankstown Airport, and the Axis Aviation FBO. The check pilot, Steve Smart, asked me about my experience, and then remarked that as long as the aircraft was still airworthy after I had landed it, I would pass the check ride.
We hopped into an Archer, VH-WDU. Bankstown airport has a very high number of training fights, and its three parallel runways make it convenient for mixing circuit traffic with regular arrivals and departures. Although it has a both a ground and tower controller, the ground operations are more like an advisory service, with the taxiways being uncontrolled. The check flight consisted of flying over the departure and arrival call-up points. I passed! I told Steve of my interest in flying over the downtown area of Sydney, and he described the Sydney terminal airspace procedures.
After Steve departed, Tina and Peter boarded and we took off. Bankstown is 22 km south-west of Sydney, so our route was to the north, then east to the coast at Manly prior to turning south to penetrate Sydney terminal airspace. We contacted Sydney terminal on 135.1. They gave us a squawk code and some directions. I noticed that the interrogation indicator on the transponder was not blinking, and hoped there was no problem with it. Unfortunately, Sydney terminal could not pick us up, even after we recycled the transponder. This required us to leave the terminal area. We tried to fly east, around and below the class-C airspace to the beaches, but low clouds prevented us from doing that. So we ended up doing some pleasant sightseeing north west of the Sydney area, and around the area in which Peter lived.
On our return, we indicated our dismay at the failure of the transponder and the fact that it had prevented us from viewing the Sydney Harbour area, the main reason for the flight. We were credited for .5 hours. . Still, it was a good flight, and hPeter, who rarely sees his city from the air, had a great time.
PS. If anyone is planning a trip to Sydney and would like any more information on flying there, please give me a call. John van Lieshout is currently touring Australia, and has planned a flight over Sydney Harbour. Hopefully he will be bringing back some good video.
Some pictures from the flight
Approaching Bankstown Airport
Final Approach to Bankstown Airport
Sailboats in north-west Sydney