US pilot flying in Australia?

[Roy Smith]

I'm toying with the idea of a trip to Australia for a few weeks. What's
involved in renting a plane there with a US pilot's license? Is it
possible?

[Juan Jimenez]

Not unless it's N-registered, and not without training and a comprehensive
checkout. I would suggest that if you want to fly over there in a regular
airplane (ultralights are another story, and no, not the rag kites,
something like the small Jabirus) you find yourself a local pilot to act as
PIC and fly with you.

Unless you're married to an Aussie, you're going to have problems
understanding the lingo on the radio. I have problems with some of them face
to face, let alone on a scratchy radio. :)

"Roy Smith" > wrote in message
...
> I'm toying with the idea of a trip to Australia for a few weeks. What's
> involved in renting a plane there with a US pilot's license? Is it
> possible?


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[jmk]

Plus there are a bunch of new security hoops to jump through -- almost
as bad as here in the US. Up until 6 months ago you could go over
there and join a "flying tour." An operator would rent out a bunch of
planes to US pilots and have an organized LONG cross-country over a
number of days. Great fun, according to the pilots who have done it.

But that's all currently shut down, probably permanently. The cost
*and time* required to jump through the security hoops is longer than
most tourists are going to be in the country. Just not cost effective
for the operators any more.

[Ron Natalie]

Roy Smith wrote:
> I'm toying with the idea of a trip to Australia for a few weeks. What's
> involved in renting a plane there with a US pilot's license? Is it
> possible?

I applied in advance last year and got a letter of authorization to fly
around the outback. I had to do essentially a BFR when I got there.

However, it's impossible now I hear. To go into any field that has
any sort of scheduled service (even once a week commuter service), you
need a security card which is impossible to practically obtain.

[Hamish Reid]

In article >,
Roy Smith > wrote:

> I'm toying with the idea of a trip to Australia for a few weeks. What's
> involved in renting a plane there with a US pilot's license? Is it
> possible?

Until fairly recently it was pretty simple (see e.g.
<http://www.alameda-aero.com/articles/downunder.cfm> for a rather old
article of mine on what happened when I did that a bunch of years ago).

Unfortunately the new ASIC "security" system has made it all but
impossible, so my guess is you'll be unable to rent or fly without a
great deal of work....

Hamish

[MC]

Ron Natalie wrote:
> Roy Smith wrote:
>
>> I'm toying with the idea of a trip to Australia for a few weeks.
>> What's involved in renting a plane there with a US pilot's license?
>> Is it possible?
>
>
> I applied in advance last year and got a letter of authorization to fly
> around the outback. I had to do essentially a BFR when I got there.
>
> However, it's impossible now I hear. To go into any field that has
> any sort of scheduled service (even once a week commuter service), you
> need a security card which is impossible to practically obtain.

True.
I just received my security card after applying in December last year.
The damn thing is supposed to be valid for 2 years, but I got
shortchanged nearly 10 months.

If you're a pax then you'll need to be accompanied by someone who
has an ASIC.

It's all been a right mess, courtesy of our wonderfull paranoid
politicians.

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[Roy Smith]

MC > wrote:

> If you're a pax then you'll need to be accompanied by someone who
> has an ASIC.
>
> It's all been a right mess, courtesy of our wonderfull paranoid
> politicians.

My home base is White Plains. I fly over Manhattan on a regular basis. I
fly right past Indian Point nuclear power plant almost any day. If I'm at
my tiedown and want to go take a leak in the FBO, I have to walk past more
bizjets than you can shake a stick at. But the ozzies won't trust me to
fly into a bloody sheep farm 1000 miles from nowhere???

[MC]

Roy Smith wrote:

>>If you're a pax then you'll need to be accompanied by someone who
>>has an ASIC.
>>
>>It's all been a right mess, courtesy of our wonderfull paranoid
>>politicians.
>
> My home base is White Plains. I fly over Manhattan on a regular basis. I
> fly right past Indian Point nuclear power plant almost any day. If I'm at
> my tiedown and want to go take a leak in the FBO, I have to walk past more
> bizjets than you can shake a stick at. But the ozzies won't trust me to
> fly into a bloody sheep farm 1000 miles from nowhere???

The ozzie politicians don't trust us ozzie pilots either !

The sheep farm will be ok, provided it doesn't have *any* RPT
service, no matter how infrequent.
But if you want something trivial such as fuel or a nearby hotel
or a store, then you'll probably have to use a
'security controlled' airport, and a heck of a lot of them
have been designated as requiring an ASIC card.


For the last year this security crap has been a moving target
with crap like ;

- "you won't need the ASIC and its' background security checks
if you only require infrequent use at the designated airports"
(but they still haven't defined what 'infrequent' means or how
they'll check your usage).

- "you only need an ASIC plus or minus 2 hours either side of
an RPT movement"
(but how does one find when *all* the RPT movements occur ?
and with only a few daily movements those +-2hr slots
will overlap and effectively bar you)

- you don't need an ASIC outside of certain marked areas on
a mixed-use field.
(very site specific and details not widely publicised as yet)

The lastest interpretation seems to be "you need an ASIC to fly anywhere".

And here's a bizzare bit of innanity., there are GA fields that
don't require ASIC cards (no RPT services) and that are within
10 minutes flying time from major city-centres.






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[Juan Jimenez]

I was able to find a place where you can get rides and maybe even get
checked out, but it's small and the selection of aircraft is not very wide.
It's Hoxton Park, some 35 km west of Sydney. It's actually a cool little
airport, would be quiet except the helo students in Robbie's use it for
practice, and they make an awful racket hovering up and down and up and down
the field. Even with the doors of the hangar shut, it was hard to make
myself heard for the little 1st Annual Oz BD-5 Expo we had organized.

But let's see... they have Jabiru's for rent, two-seaters in a class
equivalent to LSA's. They also have some Cessna spam cans, and you can get a
joy ride in an Extra 300 if you like. But it's all local joyride stuff,
nothing seriously available for long x-c.

They did have a couple of extremely cool British aircraft I had never seen
before, except in pictures, with cabins like helicopters and a center ducted
fan setup. You can see the pics at:

http://www.bd5.com/OzExpo06/ulthm1.htm

Apparently the factory closed, and the insurance company that bought the
rights has been madly trying to buy these because otherwise British law
requires them to maintain parts inventory. The owner will not sell, and
wants to buy more of the ones left out there. I forget the name of the
plane, maybe someone can refresh my memory....

"Ron Natalie" > wrote in message
...
> Roy Smith wrote:
>> I'm toying with the idea of a trip to Australia for a few weeks. What's
>> involved in renting a plane there with a US pilot's license? Is it
>> possible?
>
> I applied in advance last year and got a letter of authorization to fly
> around the outback. I had to do essentially a BFR when I got there.
>
> However, it's impossible now I hear. To go into any field that has
> any sort of scheduled service (even once a week commuter service), you
> need a security card which is impossible to practically obtain.


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[MC]

Juan Jimenez wrote:
> I was able to find a place where you can get rides and maybe even get
> checked out, but it's small and the selection of aircraft is not very wide.
> It's Hoxton Park, some 35 km west of Sydney. It's actually a cool little
> airport, would be quiet except the helo students in Robbie's use it for
> practice, and they make an awful racket hovering up and down and up and down
> the field. Even with the doors of the hangar shut, it was hard to make
> myself heard for the little 1st Annual Oz BD-5 Expo we had organized.
>
> But let's see... they have Jabiru's for rent, two-seaters in a class
> equivalent to LSA's. They also have some Cessna spam cans, and you can get a
> joy ride in an Extra 300 if you like. But it's all local joyride stuff,
> nothing seriously available for long x-c.
>
> They did have a couple of extremely cool British aircraft I had never seen
> before, except in pictures, with cabins like helicopters and a center ducted
> fan setup.

A few years ago, the Oz government sold the 3 GA airfieds in
the Sydney region to one operator, and Hoxton Park is now due to
close as an airport at the end of 08.

Bankstown is the major GA field in Sydney, but it's also been in a
decline with aircraft departing to less expensive pieces of grass.





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[Juan Jimenez]

"MC" > wrote in message
...
> Juan Jimenez wrote:
>> I was able to find a place where you can get rides and maybe even get
>> checked out, but it's small and the selection of aircraft is not very
>> wide. It's Hoxton Park, some 35 km west of Sydney. It's actually a cool
>> little....
>
> A few years ago, the Oz government sold the 3 GA airfieds in
> the Sydney region to one operator, and Hoxton Park is now due to
> close as an airport at the end of 08.
>
> Bankstown is the major GA field in Sydney, but it's also been in a
> decline with aircraft departing to less expensive pieces of grass.

<sigh> It's getting worse and worse all over, isn't it... :(


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