[Peetwo]

This week from Hitch's weekly wrap...

The Last Minute Hitch: 30 September 2016
30 September 2016

Even in his twilight weeks as Director of Aviation Safety, Mark Skidmore has stayed on message, reiterating his belief that industry reform is possible only through genuine co-operation between CASA and the aviation community. As he says in his final CASA Briefing Newsletter, there is a lot of expertise in the aviation community and CASA is not the oracle in all things safety regardless of their name. It's pretty clear the industry can't brook CASA stumbling along Part 61-fashion anymore, but if we don't share with them the expertise that Skidmore has rightly pointed out we have, we may really be condemning both CASA and ourselves to repeat mistakes of the past.

"There are some councils that would do well to take note..."

The news that Central Coast Airport is to be home to an aviation manufacturer is very refreshing indeed! It's also astounding that the company has been lured from the bosom of general aviation in the USA. Amphibian Aircraft Group upgrades the old Grumman Albatross series with turbo-prop engines and glass cockpits, and they have decided the best place to do it is at Warnervale. There are so many good stories around this, perhaps the most heart-warming is that a council saw their airport as an asset rather than a millstone and it's paid off for them in development, investment and jobs. There are some other councils that would do well to take note.

CASA's new drone laws came into effect yesterday. They've caused quite a stir, especially among professional organisations such as the airline pilots, commercial drone operators and even QBE. Most interesting is the silence coming from general aviation bodies such as AOPA, TAAAF and RFACA. Do we not have a problem with non-certifed drones in airspace we're using? To find out, we've set-up a simple survey question. Please take the time to go in and answer the one question that's in there. Next week, we'll let you know what the general consensus is (if there is one!).

BendixKing might just be the sleeping giant of the avionics industry. I had coffee with Asia Pacific Sales Manager Stuart Hills during the week, and we spoke at length about the company's product offerings and their attempts to take on the might of Garmin. With navigators like the KSN 770 already to market, the company is turning its attention to the daddy of all cockpit systems. Of course, BK is reluctant to talk about it until the FAA has certified it. I am finding that's not unusual nowadays, as too many companies have fallen face-first into a plate of Eggs Benedict when they've been unable to deliver the product they promised. Think Cessna JT-A. But whatever it is that BK has under wraps, it has had plenty of brewing time and should enter the market bolstered by lessons learned from companies that came before. So when is all this happening? "Soon."

The next Last Minute Hitch will be typed from the Australian Flying stand at OzKosh, and I have to say I am looking forward to this. Industry gatherings are so rare in this country, and I relish every opportunity to meet other aviators, find out what they reckon and swap ideas about everything to do with flying. If you get a chance, please drop by and have a good long chat.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/the-l...uohjVOX.99