CentreLine


Official Newsletter of the Western Australian Aviation College – August 2006
	From the Principal's Desk	Welcome to our August issue of CentreLine. The winter in Australia has brought many exciting events this year. There was a buoyant intake for the July Advanced Diploma in Aviation. More than half the students were from overseas and have already settled in to their new way of life. They are all making new friends and the course is progressing well. Thankfully, the threat of any delays due to licensing and security card processing now seems to have subsided. We appreciate CASA’s extra effort to catch up with the backlog. The College is proud to announce its successful bid for the Department of Education and Training’s Tender to train indigenous pilots. The first four students will join us in October and we look forward to working with them during their career education. Congratulations to Aboriginal Education and Training on a wonderful initiative. The inaugural JAR Integrated ATPL Course commenced in July and all of our British guests are finding their feet down under. Being winter, there wasn’t too much of a climate change! JAR Modular continues to expand with many classes under way now. The second CAA/JAA exam sitting demonstrated a slight improvement in results, now nudging the mid eighty per cent pass rate. Well done Wayne and Kevin, you are obviously working our clients hard! I hope you enjoy this issue. Happy flying. Mark Cheveralls Head of Training & College Principal	FREE Career Information Seminar 'LAST CHANCE to register' Thursday 10th August Call today on (08) 9417 7733 or register online at www.waaviationcollege.com.au


	Helicopter News		Our full-time students have been busy over the last month studying for and sitting their CPL exams. Dave has been blitzing the field so far with first time passes in four exams. With an aircraft engineering background, he has been a great asset to his course mates and has helped them along immensely during their private study sessions. One of the things I like about this industry is that you never stop learning. Having aircraft engineers in the class is great for the lecturers too, as it gives us an opportunity to pick their brains over all sorts of subjects that crop up from time to time. I would encourage every pilot to seek out aircraft engineers and chat with them about various systems (you may have to agree to buy them a beer first). You will be amazed at how much you can learn from these informal chats. Safe Flying! Craig Peterson	The Western Australian Aviation College is now offering students excellence in pilot training (Advanced Diploma in Aviation Studies) and graduates an opportunity to continue their studies in Management (B.Com) at university. • In only three years you will have completed two highly recognised qualifications. • The combination will make you more employable and open up more career options. The duration of the course is three years full-time. The theoretical and practical flying training (Advanced Diploma in Aviation) is completed at the college facilities at Jandakot Airport using specialists from the military and general aviation industry. The Bachelor of Commerce degree in Management follows at Murdoch University. Call today for more information on (08) 9417 7733 or visit us at www.waaviationcollege.com.au


Comedy Corner		Some encouragement for the old pilots An elderly man in Darwin had a farm with a large pond out the back, fixed up nicely with picnic tables, a tennis court, and some mango trees. The pond was suitable for swimming. One evening the old bloke decided to go down to the pond, as he hadn't been there for a while, and look it over. He grabbed a bucket to bring back some fruit. As he neared the pond, he heard voices shouting and laughing with glee. As he came closer he saw it was a bunch of young women skinny-dipping in his pond. He made the women aware of his presence and they all went to the deep end. One of the women shouted to him, "We're not coming out until you leave!" The old man frowned, "I didn't come down here to watch you ladies swim naked or make you get out of the pond naked." Holding the bucket up he said, "I'm here to feed the croc." Moral: Old men can still think fast

Industry News	Polynesian Blue's Tourism Boom For Samoa The launch of Polynesian Blue Airlines and its ongoing efforts to stimulate tourism and travel to Samoa are already stimulating growth according to new data that shows tourism in Samoa grew by 14.5% for January-May 2006 compared to an average of just 3.9% per year for the past ten years. Despite being less than 12 months old, Polynesian Blue has already increased capacity, adding an additional weekly flight between Auckland and Apia taking it from four to five flights per week. Additional flights are also being planned for peak holiday periods, including Christmas, as a result of public demand following on from previous holiday periods where Polynesian Blue flights were fully booked weeks in advance. Virgin Blue Pilots offered an 'Out of this World Opportunity' - as Australia's first 'Astronaut Pilots' Virgin Blue and Virgin Galactic have announced an agreement where two Virgin Blue pilots could become astronaut pilots of the future. All of Virgin Blue's 572 pilots are invited to apply for the 27 month secondment to train as fully-fledged astronaut pilots and fly space tourists on the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo from 2008/9 onwards. The successful candidates will relocate to the USA and will undergo highly specialized training including nine months of aerobatic, fast jet and executive aircraft for zero gravity flights training. They will then spend the next nine months flying the Virgin Galactic mother ship and participating in Mission Control work - the last nine months will be spent flying Virgin Galactic Spaceships into space. Once they have completed their 27 month secondment they will return to Virgin Blue as Australia's first qualified pilot astronauts. From 2008 Virgin Galactic http://www.virgingalactic.com expects to have around 30 astronaut pilots. Half of the astronaut pilots will be recruited from NASA with the other half selected from the Virgin airlines group including Virgin Blue, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Nigeria, Virgin Express and Virgin America. Cathay Pacific to add Stockholm, Toronto to freighter network Cathay Pacific Airways is to add Stockholm and Toronto to its freighter network, strengthening Hong Kong’s position as a global logistics hub. This will bring to 30 the number of online freighter destinations served by the airline. The new flights, along with continued fleet expansion and recently announced plans to build and operate a third air cargo terminal at Hong Kong International Airport, underline Cathay Pacific’s aggressive expansion of cargo services to and through Hong Kong. Stockholm will commence 17 September 2006 and operate twice a week as an extension of Cathay Pacific’s existing flight to Munich. Toronto, commencing 20 September 2006, will be a three-times-weekly extension of the airline’s freighter service to New York. In May, Cathay Pacific launched a new service to Chennai, India, and plans to soon increase the frequency of services to Dallas and Atlanta. South African Airways comfort upgrade South African Airways’ first A340-300 is fitted with a radically improved interior and will be introduced to Perth services during the next few months. The airline has given its fleet a long overdue total makeover and introduced lie-flat beds for business class, which have been voted ‘the most comfortable business class flatbed’ by Skytrax. There is power and a telephone at every seat and audio/ video on demand. The first class (on its 747-400’s) has also had a makeover with lie-flat beds that are among the widest in the industry and an extra large dining table which gives the opportunity for dual dining. Economy class has been upgraded with audio/ video on demand. Singapore Changi Airport T3 Singapore Changi Airport’s Terminal 3 (T3) will opens its doors in early 2008 and will have a handling capacity of 20 million passengers per year, bringing the total capacity of Changi Airport to 64 million. It will be a 380,000 square metre terminal, seven storey building with three basement and four above-ground levels. The roof of the building will be unique with more than 900 skylights designed to allow an optimal amount of soft and uniform daylight into the terminal building. A new $S135 million automated people mover system will be built to aid transfers between the three terminals. Alliance Airlines join WA’s regional air charter sector Brisbane based Alliance Airlines Pty Ltd have muscled into the local air charter sector. From November, Alliance will be making 18 flights a week to BHP Billiton’s Nickel West operations at Leinster and Mount Keith, its first local intra-state operation. Alliance already operates a fly-in-fly-out service between Brisbane and Newcrest’s Telfer operations in the Pilbara. Alliance has eight jets operating in Queensland and the Northern Territory where it started life four years ago as a charter operator to the mining, tourism and government sectors.	Calendar of Events BAK 2nd & 3rd September 8:30 to 17:00 and 6th September 18:00 to 21:00 Private Pilot Licence 2 weeks full-time commences 18th September 10 weeks part-time commences 3rd October Commercial Pilot Licence 5 weeks and 2 days, 4th September to 6th October Advanced Diploma Next start date is 16th October PPL Helicopter Correspondence Course If you can't find time to get to our in-house helicopter theory courses then our PPL or CPL correspondence courses are the ideal solution for you. Both courses assume no prior knowledge and will take you all the way from BAK (Basic Aeronautical Knowledge) level up to your choice of PPL or CPL. JAA MODULAR COURSE The Western Australian Aviation College offers Modular training to existing licence holders and those wishing to gain a JAA licence through the modular route. The modular route allows you to train at your own pace, which for those unable to commit to the integrated course provides for a viable alternative. From a financial point of view you can generally continue to work, and can pay for your training as and when funds are available. Alternatively you may already have a licence and wish to either go on to gain a Commercial Licence or convert an existing professional licence to the JAA equivalent


Student Profile	NAME Chris Swan AGE 18 PLACE OF BIRTH Australia NICKNAMES AND WHY? Swany, not hard to work out why! PREVIOUS JOB/S Driller operator MY FAVOURITE PASTIMES Playing rugby, watching rugby etc. FUTURE GOALS To become a captain in a major airline. BEST AIRBORNE MOMENT TO DATE? Having my instructor demonstrate advanced stalls.

	Wizards Quiz	From the February edition: On a WAC that extends from 28�S to 32�S, such as the Perth WAC, the standard parallels are at 28�40’S and 31�20’S, which is 1/6 of the way from the top and 1/6 of the way from the bottom of the chart. A WAC is a conic projection, and the standard parallels are the latitudes at which the huge imaginary cone cuts the earth. The chart scale (1:1 million) is exact at the standard parallels. The scale contracts between them, so at 30�S it will be 1 in “1 million and a bit”, and expands outside them. This month’s question: What is the formula for calculating aspect ratio? Answer will be revealed next edition
	Kevin Lathbury

Notes from the Mad Medic

‘When your Heart’s not in it….’

Just a short one this time folks, with some facts that are worth a thought or two:
For the majority of us, our heart beats rhythmically over 26 million times a year (more than 2 billion times during an average life span!) and rarely misses.
Independently, it pumps a whopping 7600 litres a day (enough to power a Cessna 152 once around the world) through a network of tubing that if laid end to end could stretch half way across Australia. All that from a lump of muscle the size of a man’s fist! Sadly most of us take this awesome piece of machinery for granted, hardly sparing a thought. Yet, if it stops for more than just a few of minutes, we cease to exist.
Most commercial pilots perform single pilot operations on numerous occasions. Our passengers will rarely be aviators as well. So imagine heart failure in those circumstances, and it does happen. MacDonald’s, Johnny Walker, and Rothmans all help to make such nightmare’s come true. So the next time you tuck into a heart stopping Big Mac and light up for dessert think about that scenario. Until next time…. Fly safely.

Karsten Juengling

STUFFED POTATO

Makes 4.

Ingredients
• 4 large potatoes
• 100 g fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 green capsicum
• 2 tablespoons low-fat plain yogurt
• 2 teaspoons dried herbs
• 1/2 tomato

Preparation
1.) Wash potatoes and pierce several times with a fork
2.) Microwave on high for 12 minutes. Allow to stand for 5 minutes
3.) Cut the potatoes in half. Scoop out the cooked flesh.
4.) Slice the mushrooms thinly. Chop capsicum into small pieces.
5.) Microwave the mushrooms on high for 2 minutes
6.) Mash the scooped cut potato flesh in a bowl
7.) Mix in yoghurt, cooked mushroom, capsicum and herbs
8.) Pile potato mixture back into potato skins. Smooth the top down to a nice round shape
9.) Place a slice of tomato on top
10.) Reheat in microwave for 6 minutes

NOTE: You can stuff potatoes with whatever suits your tastebuds e.g. mince, corn or flavoured cottage cheese.

Safety

Fuel Required

A few months ago I explained what the ‘Cost Index’ is, how we use it in our operation and it’s effect on time and fuel. Lets now look at the fuel we require on a flight.
With our normal operation we require basically the same fuel as you plan for your flying or charters, that is fuel for the flight, a set reserve which we must land with plus fuel to get to an alternate airport should we not be able to land at our destination. Lets look at them individually.
Trip Fuel – This includes take-off and climb, departure manoeuvring, cruise, descent, approach manoeuvring and landing. Reserve Fuel – This is equal to 30min holding fuel at 1500ft at the aircraft's planned landing weight. This figure varies from company to company but is generally considered the minimum fuel with which the aircraft must land.
Alternate Fuel – Fuel required to make a missed approached from the minima at the destination, fly to an alternate airport and then carry out an approach and landing. This can often be a substantial amount of fuel especially if the destination is very isolated such as Perth (often from Hong Kong, Bali is used as the alternate) or if weather affects a wide spread area.
Additional to the above we carry contingency fuel which is 5% of the trip fuel (reduced on long haul flights) to cover the unexpected delays, altitude restrictions or errors in forecast winds and temperatures plus any mandatory fuel to cover the legal requirement that we must at all times be able to fly depressurised or with an engine inoperative to a suitable airfield. Often mandatory fuel is not required as the normal fuel on board covers these scenarios with depressurised being the most critical.
Fortunately our job is made much easier with computer flight plans however it is imperative you always have a) enough fuel for the flight and the forecast conditions and b) are continually aware of you fuel status inflight.

Safe Flying

Stuart Ralls

Official Newsletter of the