As much as I enjoy flying light sport aircraft, I found myself wanting a bit more from my flying such as the ability to take more than one passenger and embrace the social side of things more.
The RA-Aus scene is pretty vibrant in Victoria, but from my inner Melbourne home I’m at least an hour away from any airfield with hireable light sport aircraft, which means I’m limited to weekends if I want to fly. It also means I miss out on a lot of flying club activities.
So I’ve decided to upgrade to RPL and join the Royal Victorian Aero Club at busy Moorabbin Airport, which has excellent flight training, and a pretty big single-engine fleet of Piper Warriors and an Archer and Arrow, Cessna 152 and 172s, two Sling 2s and some aircraft on cross hire.
After getting my RPL I want to get my PPL, and then under carriage/constant speed prop endorsement, and even a night ticket – this seems like a good place to do all that.
Then there’s the club itself, which is famous for its Dawn Patrol formation flights, and is apparently working to up its social activities again.
This isn’t about preferring GA over RA, but what is the most convenient way for me to enjoy my flying and take it further
And while Moorabbin is still a 45 minute drive from home on Saturdays, I work about 15 minutes away which means plenty of opportunities for a sneaky flight before or after work, and to attend any weekday social events. In all my time flying I’ve never been able to do that.
Some say a disadvantage of flying from Moorabbin is potential to spend plenty of engine time on the ground, and its one reason why I never trained there to begin with.
But this is more of an issue when flying circuits or in the training area than it is
when simply flying around for fun. I had to fly some distance from Lethbridge before reaching places of interest such as Geelong or Surf Coast. With Moorabbin you’re perfectly located for a quick coastal run or CBD loop, meaning you can really show passengers some spectacular sights well within an hour.
This isn’t about preferring GA over RA, but what is the most convenient way for me to enjoy my flying and take it further. I still intend to fly from Lethbridge to stay Tecnam current, and there are those Slings at RVAC, should I need a light sport fix.