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| The following information is provided for guidance only, and should not be taken as an authority on aviation procedures. Check with local AIP for full details. | ||
| Flying in Other Countries | Compiled by Steve Pells e-mail to | Last Update 15Jun06 |
| ●NAIPS Website available for printed weather and NOTAM briefings - www.airservices.gov.au (click on pilot briefing) and sign up as a new user to obtain user name and password. |
| ●Meteorological information available at www.bom.gov.au |
| ●Many airfields have AWIB (Automatic Weather Information Broadcast) which can also be listened to by telephone. For numbers see ERSA MET 1. |
| ●Direct dial to NAIPS on 019 8304 767 |
| ●Personal briefing available on 1800 805 150. Charged at A$0.50 per call. |
| ●Briefing, consisting of Area forecast and TAF (if issued), is required prior to flight. If not possible, obtain such a briefing by VHF or HF within 30 mins of departure, or return to departure airfield. |
| ●SARTIME & Flight Notification: Pilots of VFR flights in Designated Remote Areas (see ERSA), over water flights and night flights proceeding beyond 120 Nm from departure, are required to either nominate a SARTIME to ATC or leave a note with a responsible person. A SARTIME (used for search and rescue) can be notified by NAIPS or by radio, and must be cancelled after flight by radio or by calling CENSAR on 1800 814 931. A note left with a responsible person should include a latest expected arrival time. If no word is heard by then, then the responsible person should call AusSAR on 1800 815 257. |
| ●Current ERSA (En-Route Supplement Australia) EFF 27Nov03 - 18Mar04. |
| ●Current VFR Flight Guide issued September 2001. |
| ●1:500 000 VNC (Visual Nav Charts) and 1:250 000 VTC (Visual Terminal Charts) available for the larger cities, but in outlying areas, chart coverage is poor. In such areas, controlled airspace and PRD (Prohibited, Restricted & Danger) areas can be found on IFR charts. |
|
Location |
Flight visibility |
Distance from cloud |
| At or above 10 000' AMSL |
8km |
1500m horizontally and 1000' vertically |
| Below 10 000' AMSL |
5km |
600m horizontally and 500' vertically |
| Class G As above and additionally at or below 3000' msl or 1000'agl whichever is higher |
5km |
Clear of cloud |
| GAAP Zones |
5km |
Clear of cloud |
| Special VFR GAAP or Class C, D. Not in Class E. Day Only. |
3km |
Clear of cloud |
| •VFR flight on top of more than 4/8 cloud is permitted provided that VMC can be maintained during the entire flight including climb, cruise and descent. The aircraft must be equipped with serviceable navigation and flight instruments to allow navigation. At or below 2000'agl, navigation must be possible by reference to the ground or sea. |
| •Away from the coast, there can be few features available for accurate navigational fixes. Accurate planning and in-flight procedures are essential. |
| •Australia has no Line Feature rule as in most other countries, but common sense suggests its use anyway. |
Low Flying:
An aircraft must not fly over:
| •any city town or populous area, at a height lower than 1000'; or |
| •any other area at a height lower than 500'. |
The heights specified above are the heights above the highest point of the terrain, and any object on it, with a radius of 600m (helicopters 300m) from a point vertically below the aircraft. Exceptions are provided for activities such as take off and landing, search & rescue, and for flight in specified low flying training areas.
| ●Flight plans required for all IFR flights, and for VFR flights in controlled airspace above 10000'. |
| ●Flight Notification (via NAIPS, radio or telephone) is required for all flights nominating a SARTIME and for all flights in controlled airspace (except VFR flights in Class E airspace and in GAAP CTRs. |
Documents to be Carried [back].[top]
An Australian aircraft shall, when flying in Australian territory, carry:
| ●Its Maintenance Release (unless CASA approves otherwise) |
| ●Licences and Medical Certificates of the crew |
| ●The manufacturer's flight manual for the aircraft |
Airspace [back].[top] MAJOR CHANGES
| ●No Class B or F airspace, however Class B is due to be introduced probably during 2004. |
| ●Class A airspace used for en-route airways above FL180 in radar environment (FL245 outside radar cover) |
| ●Class C used around major airfields. |
| ●Class D used at some busy airfields. |
| ●Class E above and sometimes below 8500' in radar environment (FL180 outside radar cover). Both VFR and IFR aircraft may operate together in VMC in Class E airspace, the VFR traffic need not be in radio communication. |
| ●Class G forms the remainder of the airspace. |
| ●GAAP Zones established at Major GA Airfields. Procedures are unique to each airfield. Clearance not usually required to taxi. See ERSA for individual procedures. |
Summary diagram of changes from the AIP
| ●For details of operations at GAAP airfields consult ERSA or Jeppesen text pages. |
| ●Use of CTAF common, sometimes coupled with AFRU (Beepback). AFRU (Automatic Frequency Response Unit) automatically reads out the airfield name when a transmission is made on the frequency. This prevents inadvertent selection of an incorrect frequency. If a transmission has been made recently, then this station ident is replaced by a beep. CTAF is usually to be used within 5 Nm of the airfield up to 3000'agl. Example of CTAF transmission: Ceduna, all stations, Cessna November Hotel Mike downwind to land runway 11. |
| ●Busier airfields may have an MBZ (mandatory Broadcast Zone) usually of radius 15 Nm up to 5000'agl. Procedures are similar to CTAF, but are MANDATORY. |
| ●All other uncontrolled airfields in Class G airspace have a Multicom frequency of 126.7. All the usual CTAF calls should be made on the Multicom. |
| ●Uncontrolled airfield circuits should be joined on the upwind, crosswind or downwind legs only. Straight in joins are permitted, but the aircraft must be established by 5 Nm, and broadcasts of intentions must be made. Aircraft carrying out standard joins will have priority. |
| ●Subject to insurance requirements, aircraft may land anywhere in Australia providing it is safe to do so, and the land owner's permission has been obtained. |
Flight Over Water [back].[top]
| ●Private single-engined flights may operate without restriction over water. However, when beyond gliding range of land suitable for forced landing, life-jackets must be carried for each person on board. Below 2000' above the water, the jackets must be worn. |
| ●Flying over water as part of normal take off and landing operations at an airfield, does not require the above measures to be implemented. |
CRUISING LEVELS
| VFR: | Mag Trk 000-179° - odds+500' Mag Trk 180-359° - evens+500' (Recommended below 5000’ required above 5000’) |
| IFR: | Semi-Circular rules |
TRANSPONDER CODES [back].[top]
Transponder with Mode A or C must be serviceable at and above 10 000', regardless of the class of airspace or radar cover provided. They must also be serviceable within 40Nm of a Class D tower whilst in Class E airspace at any level.
| Civil VFR outside Controlled airspace (OCTA) not participating in RIS: | 1200 |
| Civil IFR outside Controlled airspace (OCTA) not participating in RIS: | 2000 |
| Civil VFR OCTA more than 15nm offshore: | 4000 |
| AERIS (Automatic En-Route Information Service) provides METAR information for major airfields in a particular region. Useful frequencies are: Broken Hill 128.25, Ceduna 128.45, Mt William 119.75. For Full list see ERSA GEN 141. |
| FLIGHT WATCH is a Flight Information Service operated on VHF or HF and can provide weather and other information on request. Callsign - Flightwatch. Useful Frequencies: Whyalla 134.9, Summertown (Adelaide) 135.75, Mildura 128.55. Broken Hill, Alice Springs and Mildura 3461, 6580 8858 HF. Full listing in ERSA GEN 144 and 145. |
| MOBILE PHONE. In the event of emergency and when communication is difficult, the following phone numbers may be used. Adelaide 08 8238 7988, Sydney 02 9556 6564, Brisbane 07 3216 3127. Full list in ERSA GEN 147. |
ALTIMETER SETTINGS [back].[top]
| ●Transition altitude is 10 000' over whole airspace. Transition level is FL110 over whole airspace. |
| ●On departure, the altimeter setting to be used is theAerodrome QNH from the ATIS or AWIB. If this is not available, then use the QNH from a TAF. As a last resort, set the airfield elevation on the altimeter. |
| ●Just prior to top of climb, set the Forecast Area QNH (if below transition altitude), which is valid for 3 hours for each Area QNH Zone (AQZ), and will not differ from a neighbouring AQZ by more than 5 HPa. If this is not available, use a QNH from an AWIB, TAF, ATIS, AERIS or Flight watch within 100 Nm. |
| ●During Cruise, keep the altimeter set to Area QNH (if below transition altitude) or an airfield within 100 Nm. |
| ●Within 100 Nm of destination, set the altimeter to Destination QNH from ATIs, AWIB, TAF or AERIS. |
Foreign Licence Validation [back].[top]
For foreign licences to be accepted in Australia, you need to go to a CASA office (see below) with your foreign licence, medical and logbook. They offer several choices for overseas pilots, but for me the most appropriate was the Special Licence. This licence is valid for the duration of the foreign licence, but each rating has to be added (and paid for) separately. Each rating costs A$20 (about US$15), and I needed Retractable Gear and Variable Pitch Prop. Normally the licence can be issued immediately. An overseas medical certificate is valid in Australia, so there is no need to obtain a local one. It should be noted that this licence does restrict the holder to day VFR Flights only.
| CASA (local call cost) 131 757 |
| Sydney: Building 628 Airport Avenue, Bankstown Airport, Ph: +61 (0)2 9780 3038 Fax: +61 (0)2 9780 3045 |
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