ONE DREAM - When I was nine years old, I was watching a documentary about airplanes. It was at that moment I became obsessed with the inner workings of aircraft. I had a dream. At such a young age...
PRIVATE PLEASURES - Park a Ferrari in your driveway and people know you’ve made it! It’s one of the ultimate status symbols, a true icon of our age for the modern mogul and well-to-do. Amazing really, that the same dollars...
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS - - Simply in theory, trickier in practice
It’s always both fascinating and instructive to learn lessons from other branches of aviation. For instance, our regular training guru at Aviator is a fully fledged military trainer and his guidance...
TOO COSTLY TO BE SAFE - Let’s face it, flying is inherently dangerous. Yes, I know all the statistics that it’s safer to fly than it is to cross the road but say that to a pilot who is locked in...

BANKSTOWN AIRPORT - Established in 1940, Bankstown Airport is located on the doorstep of Western Sydney, just 22km south-west of the metropolitan central business district, a stone’s throw from the freeway...
MIND THE GAP - No one takes out a full page advertisement in the rather expensive Australian Financial Review (AFR) unless they are serious. Very serious, which this highly experienced, educated, successful and, importantly, respected team were.
IS THE PRIVATE TWIN DEAD? - I love a challenge, always have really. It’s the thing that keeps me feeling really alive with adrenalin coursing through the veins: the intensity of focus, the business of the brain...
SOLO MOJO - You never forget your first solo. It’s better than the first time that you managed to stay upright on a bicycle, speed a car down a deserted country road at the ‘legal’ limit and I know...

ANALOGUE, DIGITAL OR MINERAL - Discussing avionics with pilots is like talking about which religion they belong to. There are a number of camps that most pilots fall into starting with ‘glass versus analogue’ and...
TOO GOOD TO SHARE - The company is not aware of any explanation for the price change and increase in volume in the securities, other than the current market volatility and economic uncertainty...
FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE - I know lots of people who love to play with flight simulators. I know lots of people who love to play with airplanes. Today I discovered what happens when the reality of both collides.
MIND THE GAAP - Earlier this year the Civil Aviation Safety Authority introduced a number of changes to operations at six general aviation aerodrome procedures (GAAP) airports. CASA’s Peter Gibson explains the changes.
TILT FORWARD - I watched a small Cessna dawdled its way down finals, towards its inevitable flare and landing. As I kept my eyes on the small fixed wing it seemed like any other training field on a quiet weekday. Then suddenly...

ACCESSORIES TO LIVE FOR - Recreational pilots seem much more inclined than their general aviation counterparts to indulge in a little ‘bling’ for their pride and joy.
FLYING... INTO THE RED - It is ironic really, that the very colour when uttered from the lips of your accountant spells disaster, offers diversity, opportunity and prosperity for many helicopter operators.
KEEP IT CLEAN - I’m always amazed at the different attitudes expressed by pilots towards hiring aircraft. Whenever I hire a plane I treat it as if it is my own. I ensure that all the paperwork is completed, checks are done, carry extra oil...
LEGAL: WHO NEEDS ENEMIES WHEN YOU HAVE FRIENDS LIKE THESE - Recently, I was engaged to give advice to a corporate aviation client and the corporate officers who were involved in a committal hearing...

FLYING IN NEW ZEALAND - You and I both know just how lucky we are to love flying. We both know that when we step aboard whatever our chosen steed, it’s like stepping into Dr Who’s Tardis.
LEGAL: CAN QANTAS PROVIDE A BETTER SERVICE? - Recently, Senator Barnaby Joyce, the maverick senator from Queensland, went into bat for Qantas and its financial wellbeing. It is common knowledge within fortress Qantas that...
THE LIGHTHOUSE RUN - Helicopters, by nature, do some of their best work in remote and where no other conventional equipment can compete, gives them sometimes inhospitable places.
A BOY WHO GOT THE WORLD'S BEST JOB - I was fascinated by aircraft as a boy, my father being in the RAAF during war time. In mid April 1948 I was 14 years old when I read in the situations vacant, ‘Boy wanted to drop newspapers from an aeroplane.’ I could hardly believe my eyes.

ATC: THE UPPER LIMITS - In my previous two articles I have discussed the service delivery environments of East Coast Service and Regional. This article is about our third ‘airspace service’ - Upper Airspace Services (UAS).
AVIATION'S MASTERPIECE - The world’s fastest charter aircraft… Available here in Australia.
BIRDS OF PARADISE - "a unique story of one pilot who chose to take the career road less travelled"
LEGAL: MISSING IN ACTION - Having been overseas recently, your correspondent has experienced the full onslaught of the inspections that pass for the bulwark against in-flight terrorism. Like normal males...
TRAINING: RECOGNITION, ATTITUDE, POWER, DRAG AND TRIM - "Know your aircraft's best configuration after an engine failure and fly it"

AFFORDABLE FLYING - I’m a passionate sort of bloke. In fact I’ve made passion my catch cry since I retired about 15 years ago. I simply don’t do anything that doesn’t inspire me.
ATC: REGIONAL SERVICES - Last month I introduced the new ‘service’ methodology that Australian ATC is progressing towards. This ‘Service Delivery Environment’ (SDE) is divided into four areas...
ENGINEERING: PROPELLER BLADE FAILURE - One of the most frightening failures that can happen in flight and unfortunately one of the most common, is propeller blade failure.
FLIGHT TEST: WHAT A WALLABY - Welcome to the Wallaby which one lucky reader will win over the next six months, fully kitted out with thousands of dollars of avionics. So, what do you get when you cross an Italian bird with an Aussie marsupial? Well, an Italian Wallaby...

A VERSATILE HIGH PERFORMER - The medium sized BK117 utility helicopter boasts a rich design history. Two industry greats combined their aeronautical know-how and industry experience to produce a tough and robust design.
ATC: CRUSING THE EAST COAST - Air traffic control in Australia has begun to re-shape its service philosophy. Over the last few years ATC in Australia, and indeed around the world, has commenced a move towards ‘service provision’.
LEGAL: RECENT FABLES AS THEY AFFECT THE LAW - In early April a number of violent airline travellers were engaged in an altercation with some equally violent observers at Sydney Airport. The occasion was marred by the death of a Comanchero bikie member.
THE VIRGIN FILES - Airlines through a frequent flyer peephole: the great Qantas Frequent Flyer Swindle.

A QUIET AVALON FOR A NOISY EVENT - As I drove into the car park on Tuesday morning I felt it arise. That amazing sense of ‘YES’…a week of airplanes. I felt like punching the air but I decided just to let out a holler instead...
FROM TRAGEDY TO TRIUMPH - Margaret Lawson writes that the crash of US Airways Flight 1549 is a timely reminder that how you respond – both in the cockpit and the boardroom – can be the difference between commercial life and death.
STUDENT: THE MILK ROUND - I drove home sitting on a soft fluffy cloud that day, feeling on top of the world. Finally after all the time and effort over the last couple of years, I was a commercial pilot...
THE VIRGIN FILES - AIRLINES THROUGH A FREQUENT FLYER PEEOPHOLE - Ever stuck your hand in a beehive and stirred? Well, last month, when I sent Brett at Virgin the infamous, ‘I’ve had a gutful...

HOT SPOT: WINGS OVER THE SNOWIES IN CORRYONG - Corryong is located in the heart of the Snowy Mountains in North East Victoria: one of Australia’s most pristine environments and an absolute dream fly-in location for aviators.
A TALE TO TELL - In flying, where do you start to trace back the beginnings of your passion? In my case I grew up on a farm in country Victoria: Pine Lodge was about 14 miles east of Shepparton.
CASA: MULTI-TASKING - Australia has a new type of aviation licence – the multi-crew pilot licence.  The Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s Peter Gibson explains how the multi-crew pilot licence works.
FIGHTING FOR LIFE - It was one of those mornings... you know the ones… when five kids jumping all over you isn’t even enough to convince you that there is a single good reason to get out of bed.

DON'T PANIC, BE HAPPY - Seven steps to surviving and thriving in the economic maelstrom.
LEGAL: ANATOMY OF AN ACCIDENT - Some time in the distant past, a helicopter pilot was engaged in a mining survey in North Queensland. He worked for a company which had a charter AOC...
STORM CELL - Drought. Year in, year out. Stressing the farmers, creating water crises in the cities, killing the rivers. Bad news…Unless you’re a pilot.
STUDENT: MY FIRST STALL - I don't quite know what it signifies that I'm deathly afraid of stalls and spins or anything 'fun'. Does it make me less of a pilot?