SAFA Skysailor Magazine

40 SKY SAILOR July | August 2022 As you should all now be aware, the new, interim CAO 95.8 has described more explicitly the situations when we need to carry and use VHF radios. If we refer to CASA’s Visual Flight Rules Guide v7.0 , page 359 states: A VFR aircraft must carry a radio when: • • At or above 5000ft in Class G airspace • • In the vicinity of an aerodrome that is certified or military aerodrome • • In any area when below 3000ft AMSL or 1000ft AGL (whichever is the higher) in reduced VMC. In the July/Aug 2020 issue of SkySailor, Peter Allen provided us with a good article on the benefits of VHF radio use and the Alerted See-And-Avoid concept. It’s well worth a reread. Hang gliding operations From the long-term, experienced HG pilots I have spoken with, there are no options available that will allow a HG pilot to access the radio and work the controls (specifically, change frequencies), whilst piloting safely. HG pilots can set a frequency, put the radio with an attached speaker/microphone in a pocket on their harness and go flying, but they may not be able to safely access the radio if they need to change frequency. You can set the radio into scan mode, but you need to respond to a call within two seconds before the scan moves on. And then you have the problem of resetting scan mode after you have finished transmitting. That said, if you know of a mounting and use solution, please write in to ops@safa.asn.au and let us know so we can pass on that knowledge. Powered operations PPG and WM pilots are well versed in VHF operations, and they have tried and tested solutions. WM pilots have the luxury of a fuselage that they can mount equipment to, so you will see units other than handheld radios deployed. Both WM and PPG pilots utilise handheld VHF radios with speakers and microphones integrated in their helmets. There are electronic dooberries available for purchase that will allow connecting a VHF and UHF radio to the one headphone/microphone unit – have a search on the internet. In the Jan/Feb 2022 issue of SkySailor, Martin Joyce gave an evaluation of the new, Bluetooth-equipped Icom A16 handheld airband VHF radio. This opens possibilities for connecting the radio with a Bluetooth speaker/ microphone set-up; SENA communication devices are also being utilised in this role. If you’re dealing with an Icom A15, you really ought to purchase a handheld speaker/micro- phone unit for ease of use. Paragliding operations I’m now going to dive into how I deploy my A15. Other folks will no doubt have their own set-up, and I would invite you to write to us sharing your solution. The first thing I would suggest you do is enter all the frequencies you might need to deal with into the memory of the radio and assign each frequency a name label. The A15 Mounting options for VHF radios by Iain Clarke – SAFA Safety Management Officer