This website is being reconstructed so I apologise for the mess. It will eventually contain much general information about aerobatics in Australia. I will attempt to provide reliable, correct information with references to my data source.
Everything from stalling, spinning, aerobatics to low level competition aerobatics. The key underpinning knowledge as well as the training required.
One of my favourite magazine articles published by CASA is The Unreachables are they unteachable? “the newbie mistake of gullibly believing everything I read was true. …. these largely fossilised creatures …… exist in a cesspit of misinformation, half-baked truths and misshapen facts, fertilised by the manure of their daily postings. … I would come to meet many …… and while it cannot be argued that a great proportion of them were indeed white men over the age of sixty, a surprising number were not: there were females, old and young; pilots of extremely modern aircraft and flying instructors younger than a decent bottle of Scotch. …. the best procedure for safety promotion is a combination of leading by example—stay current; fly regularly; be present at education awareness seminars; keep an open mind; read blogs, publications and opinion pieces; ask questions of specialist experts and those with more experience than yourself; and remain cheerful and in good humour—never resort to personal insult and mind your manners.”
At this website I will address much of this “cesspit of misinformation, half-baked truths and misshapen facts” that is relevant to aerobatics. Do you know of any more?
Note that aerobatic training is not Upset Prevention and Recovery Training. LOC-I accidents continues to be the single biggest cause of fatal General Aviation Accidents and UPRT is the principal way to address it. More information at UPRTA!
The general blog posts from this website have been removed to Substack so you can subscribe there to view them. New Substack posts and others from the Ozaeros Aerobatics Facebook page are displayed below.
Only a couple of weeks left for females to apply for AWPA's Formation or Aerobatic Scholarship.
A good CASA article on W&B here. I see that they no longer allow comments about their articles here which is a pity. I would add one important point: if you are using an EFB then ensure that the aircraft data is absolutely correct. One reason is that other users submit the data and no-one takes responsibility for checking it. Secondly, different models of the same type can have significantly different W&B limits - the Super Decathlon is a prime example. Refer to the TCDS as even your AFM or POH can be wrong! Of course, you will use actual up to date empty weight data for your specific aircraft. Unlike some homebuilt aircraft that I have encountered. “They’re all the same so no point in weighing it ….. Oh, I put a lightweight propeller, alternator and starter motor on it so the empty weight is lower and no need to worry about W&B …. but now the CG is behind the aft limit ….”. I am regularly asked for advice on aerobatic aeroplanes that people are interested in buying. My first comment is always to get a copy of the empty weight statement and the W&B limits. Do the calculations. One neat looking homebuilt biplane had a more powerful engine than normal so was only aerobatic when solo. Not a problem if you know about it and it suits your operations. Incidentally, it wasn’t that long ago that CASA’s rules required a person approved as a Weight Control Authority to approve spreadsheets etc that organisations were using. The rule applied to EFBs too as it is software. They quietly dropped that rule some time after EFBs became widespread.