OziPilots Online is now in its 5th year of providing info, email facilities and forums to the Australian aviation community.

Over the years we've put, literally, hundreds of thousands of interested people in touch with Australian aviation businesses via our aviation directory and web links. We've also answered thousands more emails from scores of original thinking gift-givers saying "I want to give my husband a joy flight for his birthday and I was wondering where......" through to “I'm coming to Australia in March and want to fly, what do I need......” and the ever-popular “How is the job market for pilots in Australia?”

Whilst there has been spammers, scammers, legal threats and people that want to “cut my head off” (No, I'm not making that up) – overall - running OziPilots Online is an enjoyable experience with plenty of kind compliments, constructive comments, encouragement and hundreds of scantily clad aviation-loving nymphomaniacs (OK, that one's made up).

As it turns out though, running the site isn't free. It's taken a surprisingly large amount of cash, time, beer and effort over the years to keep on the air.

I want to continue to build on OziPilots and try to make it more useful, informative and provide more facilities to the sky loving Aussies out there. To try to make that happen, I've been looking for a way for the site to offset the dosh needed to fund the various fees, registrations and maintenance costs that are required each year.

I'm not into the beg, beg, scrape scrape, “Please give me a donation” type method, nor the “User Pays” type schemes (We love you CASA) or the “We have your children, give us $1million if you want to see them again” methods that are so popular in Columbia.

Instead, after months of testosterone charged deliberation, we're going the way of the cookie-selling girl guides.

The only difference between our scheme and the girl guides is that we're bigger, hairier, fatter, balder, greyer, err.... male-er and we're not knocking on doors, wearing little frocks or selling cookies – We're selling Aviation survival fire lighters!

OK, lets say you're gliding along in your LiteSpeed over a area far away from pickup and sink instantly becomes your buddy. Or, your cruising at 150kts at 8,000 feet over remote Australia and suddenly there's no need for noise-canceling headphones. Now the pants-soiling fun begins......

On the ground, after finishing your self congratulatory “I got it on the ground without killing myself” dance, there are going to be a number of things you really should do - You might be in for a fair wait before help arrives, perhaps several days in an extreme case.

One of those things that will be critical to your survival over a longer period of time is the ability to light a fire.  No matches or cigarette lighter?, Zippo's on the blink?, It's pouring with rain and they're all wet and they wont work?, How's your stick-spinning skills? Introducing the tic-tac sized box that is about to keep you warm, cook your food and boil your water – The Spark-Lite. Developed by a pilot for pilots the Spark-Lite is a easy-to-use fire lighting miracle, although not actually declared as such by the church.

The Spark-Lite kit is very small and weighs bugger-all (thats in grams not pounds) and it leaves plenty of room in your pocket for other survival tools like an inflatable life raft, ACME plane fixing kit, deluxe reclining sumo-sized hammock or six-pack.

It comes with it's own long burning tinder, and a one-hand action sparking device. The manufactures say that this is in case your other hand is injured, I'll say no more than many people, err, love the Spark-Lite.

The Spark-Lite is apparently the official US Military fire starter, and although I don't really know what that means, it sounds impressive. The Spark-Lite has been compared to other survival fire lighting devices which, for the real survivor, are nandy-pandy by comparison. You can see the Spark-Lite being given thumbs up in various camping and survival publications – One of them is here

Went down in a river? Not a problem for the Spark-Lite – Still a pyromaniacs dream when wet, I tried it. Admittedly with tap water rather than with a river, and I've never officially been certified a pyromaniac.

Do you want to take the risk of having to survive without one?

I'll spare you the “How much would you expect to pay?” routine and tell you that we are asking $12.99 (Australian moola) for each of these little combusting beauties. This includes the lovable GST and postage to anywhere in Australia.

And, for the scrooges out there, do a Google and see if you can get it cheaper with GST and shipping included. How did we get it that cheap?, by selling the kids for scientific experiments and buying hundreds of them - So please buy some, for the sake of the little ones. Bless there hearts and third ears.

The Spark-Lite comes in two colours which are the manly “Hunter Orange”  and the curiously named “Olive Drab” both are the same low, low price.

If your flying, camping, hiking, skiing, four wheel driving, or simply taking revenge with fire - you need to have at least one Spark-Lite on you.

So how do you buy one of these super cool life savers and help OziPilots Online build a better site? To start with we are either accepting cheques or direct deposits – Saving the requirement for the fees of credit card providers and such like.

Simply email us with your preference for payment (Post us a cheque or direct deposit), your postal address, the quantity and colour of Spark-Lites you'de like.

We'll email back with payment details and when we receive the dosh and we'll rush down to the post office and send your Spark-Lites.