I was taking a look at the pilot community when I realised that many of the members weren't taking advantage of many of the features that will help you become a better pilot by learning from others. Here's a few suggestions that you may want to consider doing:

Update you Profile
If you click on the profile tab you can update your picture from that of the "green blob" to a picture that would more represent who you are. I don't know about you but chatting with a "blob" in the forum or group isn't nearly as nice as seeing a real person.

While you're at it, click on the profile tab and select "edit profile" and update your endorsements and aircraft you fly. For the home airfield can I suggest that you put both the name and the code for the field (eg. Moorabbin, YMMB). Down the bottom I've put the three letter code for every plane that I've flown.

Why update your profile? You can click on the friends tab and select "Advanced Search" to find out people that may fly the same aircraft, have flown the actual plane that you have flown or even be flying out of the same airfield as you. For example, if you are thinking of hiring an aircraft, why not search for those pilots that have already flown that plane and drop them a note asking their opinion.

Inviting Friends
Downwind always loves getting more pilots on board with the many varied experiences that they must have had. If you click on the friends tab then you can select "Invite Friends" which will allow you to send a message to your pilot friends inviting them to join you on Downwind. At the bottom of the "Invite Friends" list is a number of existing members that may have similar interests to you. If you click on the "Add as friend" button then you can drop them a message and ask them to become your friend on Downwind.

In the next article I'll take you through many of the great applications that can provide you with a lot of additional functionality that will allow you to make the most from the Downwind community have it come alive for you. In the meantime, enjoy updating your profile, search for friends and send a message to another pilot friend and invite them to become a part of Downwind.

I'm never ceased to be amazed at the insanity of some pilots. We've all met them. They're the ones at the pub that brag about their piloting prowess when in reality they're displaying ignorance and stupidity. It's only a matter of time before they become another aviation statistic.

For example, I happened to bump into one guy that bragged about flying with a can of "Jim Beam" sitting between his legs. He thought it was hilarious and proved just how good a pilot that he was. Obviously drinking and flying is a sign of your great piloting skills. Go figure? It's when you hear stories like this you wish the CASA drug testers were just around the corner.

Another story is of a pilot that loaded up an Archer with three adult passengers and some baggage tossed in the back. He'd obviously never heard of "weight and balance". When I asked him if he was overloaded (there is no way that he wasn't) he said that he knew the aircraft better than any pilot operating handbook.

Let's explore the logic of that last statement. This pilot was saying that they knew better than the myriad of experts that built and have maintained the aircraft let alone the various government bodies that have tested the plane and the manufacturers claims over the last 30 years or so. He was then prepared to back his judgement by placing his life and the lives of his passengers on the line so that they could effectively go on a joy flight. Why???? Why do some pilots insist on doing the most utterly stupid things? This wasn't done out of some sense of ignorance but the overloading was evaluated and it was determined that he knew better.

I then had the opportunity to hear another story about a pilot that was asked if he had some spare room in his six seater and he replied, "No problem, plenty of room". As he headed down the runway he had difficulty getting the nose in the air and was beginning to panic as the end rushed towards him. At the last minute the plane managed to get airborne. The next stage of nerves hit when the pilot wondered if there were trees at the end of the runway as he was taking off in the dark. Thank goodness the area was clear!

After finally levelling off he glanced in the back of the plane to count a total of eight people onboard his six seater plane. So much for seat belts and why bother doing any sort of passenger briefing or even checking the aircraft prior to flight. If a pilot doesn't even know how many people are in his plane then you've got to ask what else is he forgetting or choosing to ignore?

But it gets worse. A part of the journey was going to be over water which meant that in the event of a ditching there wouldn't have been enough floatation devices for all those on board! It was more by good luck than good judgement that the plane made it to its destination in one piece. Thank goodness that the designers over engineer many of the components and systems in aircraft as I imagine that the overloading would have played havoc with the landing gear upon hitting the tarmac.

I listened to this story being told and I must admit it that I was completely dumbstruck as the pilot bragged about the experience. He thought that it was a great joke! There was no laughing from me and this was reinforced when I told him he was an idiot and more than that a lucky idiot.

Emergency Aircraft Landing?

This one is more fiction than fact but is good fun to watch!

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The other day I was contacted by Ron Grenfell and he related a real Australian aviation success story that was extremely exciting. I asked him to send through a brief history of his company and why his flight planning software has taken the European market by storm.

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It started as a few software tools created by Dutch programmer Rob Weijers to help with gaining his commercial pilots licence.  After a chance meeting at the local airport, he was joined shortly after by countryman Marcel Knol who provided an Internet distribution system to make the program available as a Donorware product. They called it PocketFMS.

Australian Ron Grenfell found PocketFMS on the Web while doing his PPL in Melbourne and provided suggestions for improvement as each new and bigger version was released almost on a monthly basis. Before he knew it, he was invited to join the management team and help take PocketFMS to the wider aviation community.

It is indeed a small world.

Seven years later, the three passionate aviators now oversee an organisation providing a fully maintained worldwide aviation database and the software to access it (yes, totally independent of that expensive American J.. conglomerate). Available in every developed country in the world, PocketFMS has become the most popular portable flight management system for VFR pilots in Europe and continues its rapid growth elsewhere. In the coming months, the manufacturer of a new range of aviation panels will be releasing them powered by PocketFMS data.

PocketFMS the software is unquestionably the fastest developing product of its type available and is barely recognizable from its humble beginnings. No longer confined to a PDA, a flight can be planned on a desktop PC at home or work and seamlessly transferred for navigation on virtually any portable GPS- equipped Windows CE device - PDA, Smartphone, or car-nav. This mobile version of PocketFMS has all the flight planning functionality of the Desktop version and is included at no extra cost. Alternatively, a flight plan created in PocketFMS on the PC can be easily transferred to a Garmin or other aviation GPS. Unique weather visualization, high quality maps, and warnings for airspace incursions, obstacles and terrain proximity are just a few of the advanced features which add considerably to pilot safety. Point and click flight planning, with integrated NAIPS submission and pre and post flight track visualization in Google Earth, take the pressure off getting into the air in the shortest possible time while still being fully prepared.

PocketFMS remains a quiet achiever in Australia. Relying mainly on word-of-mouth promotion, it is a niche product with a growing and fiercely loyal band of users. Despite global responsibilities, Ron remains based in Melbourne and ensures that every aspect of PocketFMS - the extensive Aerodata,  the functionality of the programs, the terminology in the documentation, the integrated weather and rain radar images, flight plan notification, and the online support, are all relevant to Australian and NZ users.

If you haven't seen PocketFMS recently, check out our company details in the industry directory - click here.

Every now and then I'm sent a video that completely blows me away. This is one of a German guy that built a scale model of a SR71 spy plane and then took it for a fly. Once airborne, you would absolutely swear that it was a real SR71. Enjoy!

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Over the past 6 months I've been trying to organise a relationship with an online store so that I could provide Downwind users with access to aviation gear at reasonable prices. I contacted store after store in Australia I gave up as it was clear that they really weren't interested in supplying the aviation needs of the Downwind community.

Sadly, many of the conversations went like this:
Downwind is wanting to partner with a good Australian firm to supply members with pilot related aviation gear. We will provide all of the technology if you can fulfil the orders in a timely fashion for members. Are you interested in working with us? Answer - No.

Although this was disappointing I was undaunted and cast my view internationally. Low and behold Amazon was able to provide many of the products necessary for pilots! Yes, they do a lot more than books!

So for the past little while I've been furiously building an online store that has things for pilots. Some of the aviation gear includes; books, training materials, avionics and tools, dvds, flight simulators, magazines, GPS units, headsets, clothing, pilot gifts plus a whole lot more! The nice thing is that all of the items are shipped from the USA and witht he dollar being so high the prices are cheap compared to some Australian stores.

I'm really excited to announce that the store is now up and running so go on in and enjoy browsing around the thousands of items.