Mooney flying in Australia

[terbang]

We are on the way from Europe to Australia with our 252. Actually we have made good progress, we’re currently in Lombok, Indonesia. If all goes well, we’ll arrive in Darwin by Thursday this week. Our plan is to fly around the country for a couple of weeks.

I have some questions and I know there are Aussies here, at least @Mooney in Ozdoesn’t disguise his home base. I‘m not completely new to flying in Australia, we have been down under twice and rented an aircraft. Once out of Sydney and once out of Perth. Altogether I have about 50 hours VFR in Australia under the belt.

From our previous visits I know that CASA mandates this (somewhat quirky) throttle lock and we don’t have one. Is there chance to get one that fits a 252 once we arrive in Darwin?

We‘ll have to change the oil at some point. At home I do that myself, but away from base we’ll need a shop where we can cut open the filter, get rid of the oil and so on. A borescope to peek into the cylinders would also be good. Does anybody have a recommendation?

 

And finally, more general: Where should we fly to? Is there a place we must visit besides the famous tourist destinations like Uluru? Or maybe we could even meet and have a beer?

[Joshua Blackh4t]

That sounds like a great trip

 

I fly a Mooney in Australia, based in NSW (south-east coast) YFGS, Frogs Hollow.

Never had any form of throttle lock, but I might be missing something.

Just outside of Darwin there is Batchelor airport and the maintenance facility there has been very helpful to me. They have a good reputation. I can PM you the phone number. There is also a maintenance place in Emkaytee (ymkt) which is closer to Darwin, nicer to visit, but I don't know much about them and I prefer Batchelor as an airport.

As for places to visit, how far south do you want to fly and are you ok with dirt/grass strips?

If you make it to Frogs Hollow or Merimbula I'd love to catch up for a beer.

Very pretty flying here, attached picture of the coast taken from my ultralight.

 

 

[Mooney in Oz]

4 hours ago, terbang said:

We are on the way from Europe to Australia with our 252. Actually we have made good progress, we’re currently in Lombok, Indonesia. If all goes well, we’ll arrive in Darwin by Thursday this week. Our plan is to fly around the country for a couple of weeks.

I have some questions and I know there are Aussies here, at least @Mooney in Ozdoesn’t disguise his home base. I‘m not completely new to flying in Australia, we have been down under twice and rented an aircraft. Once out of Sydney and once out of Perth. Altogether I have about 50 hours VFR in Australia under the belt.

From our previous visits I know that CASA mandates this (somewhat quirky) throttle lock and we don’t have one. Is there chance to get one that fits a 252 once we arrive in Darwin?

We‘ll have to change the oil at some point. At home I do that myself, but away from base we’ll need a shop where we can cut open the filter, get rid of the oil and so on. A borescope to peek into the cylinders would also be good. Does anybody have a recommendation?

 

And finally, more general: Where should we fly to? Is there a place we must visit besides the famous tourist destinations like Uluru? Or maybe we could even meet and have a beer?

Hello Gunter. I'll precede your arrival with an early welcome to you and your wife for when you arrive in Australia!

I have also just viewed the email your wife sent to AMPA, so you should receive other responses. I see that @Joshua Blackh4t has already responded with a suggestion to visit the area around where he lives. I can vouch that it is a beautiful part of the country that should not be missed by any visitor.

Either today or any time tomorrow, feel free to contact me on my mobile phone on +61411405333 using either FaceTime audio, WhatsApp (Victor Rimkus) or by normal means.

[ArtVandelay]

I’d imagine finding avgas is a challenge in some of the places where you’re stopping.

[Jack Russell]

Re the throttle lock. Yes, legally speaking you should put one on if you park your plane, but I don’t know anyone who uses one. Flying schools usually insist their clients fit and remove them as part of their procedures. It’s a very silly idea that came in after 9/11. It’s easy to make one. Just  bend a piece of thin sheet steel that fits around your throttle control spindle in a U shape. Drill a hole through both sides of the U and put a cheap pad lock though. Otherwise most pilot shops have them. I have a couple of them and would be happy to let you have one. They won’t stop anyone of course. An even sillier post 9/11 idea might cause you some grief at some airports in Australia is the ASIC card. I guess since you’ve been here before you may have already dealt with this?  If you don’t have one and want to get back into places like Canberra, they won’t allow you in. They’re expensive, almost impossible for foreign visitors to get and take ages for the security checks etc. The way around that is to go with someone who has one. I’m sure you’ll find plenty of friends who have them and would be happy to meet you from forums like this and especially AMPA, who are a great friendly social bunch..

Edited November 20, 2023 by Jack Russell
Word added for clarity

[Joshua Blackh4t]

Ah yes, Asic cards.

Most places ignore them, but you can also call ahead and ask for an escort to and from your plane.

This can also be anyone with an Asic card, so you could also be escorted by a friend or a member of a local flying club.

Also got the AMPA letter, you'll get lots of invitations. 

Cheers,

Joshua 

[terbang]

Thanks for all the replies and sorry for being late myself! Wifi was terrible in Lombok and it’s not much better here in Dili. Anyway, it’s only two and a half hours from here to Darwin and we‘ll be there the day after tomorrow.

The Asic card we remembered from last time. We’ve applied for one and we should be able to collect it in Darwin. Concerning the throttle lock I think we‘ll take a rather relaxed approach 

And yes, we already got many invitations after Tina wrote to AMPA. It seems, that most of you are based in the East and South (well, not hard to guess when looking at a map of Australia ). We plan to visit the red center and Queensland first but we want to fly all the way down to Tasmania. I‘ll post updates here.

Thanks again,

Gunter