Amateur-built and experimental aircraft - Australian Transport Safety ...

Where people undertook transition training, most found it useful, very useful or
exceptionally useful (Figure 91).
Figure 91: Rating of the usefulness of transition training
Until the mid 1970s, pilots in Australia were given an endorsement for each aircraft
they flew, except amateur-built aircraft. In this instance, there was a general
endorsement called Ultra Light Aircraft. Aircraft built during the ABAA and pre-
ABAA period, had limitations on horsepower and stall speed, making these aircraft
somewhat similar. That is no longer the case with the experimental category.
There was no statistically significant relationship between transition training and
the type certificate.
In order to further understand the different groups of people within transition
training categories, the data were stratified by a number of other survey variables
including licence type, pilot hours, aircraft performance and second-hand status.
Some of these are discussed in the following section, but tables or figures of those
variables not found significant are located in Appendix C.
Statistically significant associations were found between transition training and type
of flying, total and ABE pilot hours, amount of flying in the three months prior to
test flight, and undercarriage configuration. These are explored in the following
section.
3.9.2 Aircraft and training
Transition training by the type of aircraft is recorded in (Figure 92). Two-hundred
and sixty-eight responses were received by 248 respondents who performed
transition training. About 45 per cent of respondents undertook transition training in
the same model aircraft, and about 35 per cent undertook transition training in a
comparable certified aircraft. Sixteen per cent undertook transition training in an
aircraft by the same manufacturer or designer, and about two per cent in another
type of aircraft. In the other category, the seven respondents made reference to
comparable ABE aircraft, and RA-Aus aircraft.
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