BRB verdict – 6D Chester is ‘Our Greatest Aviation Disaster’

Referencing the SBG – “Will you walk into my parlour?” – & today’s Ferryman post #136 off the Alphabet’s thread…

The worm turns.

Legend has it that Marie Antoinette kicked off the French revolution by telling the hoi-polloi to bugger off and eat cake. Conversely, great leaders like Churchill understood the people and could manage to move them to extraordinary heights and efforts. Our Darren 6D ain’t quite as pretty as old Marie and no where near as bright as Winston; but he has managed an extraordinary feat. One which every other minister and DoIT leader has carefully avoided for decades; unification of an industry group, led by the AOPA. No smoke, no mirrors, I wonder why ever not?

Never, in field of Australian aviation conflict has so much been done by one man to stuff up the status quo. Well done 6D – you’ve pissed ‘em all off, the whole bunch, now you must answer for your purblind folly. I shall try to explain it to you, just so as you understand why resignation is your only honourable course; redemption is out of the question. You see, setting fire to ones feet to keep ones hands warm has never been a very good idea.

History first: recent, the Pel-Air incident and Senate inquiry exposed the tip of an ugly, dangerous, government sponsored iceberg. The real CASA and ATSB were revealed for what they truly are – official – in the Senate. Everyone knew it, but fear and the lack of a platform to voice their anger prevented reform and change taking place. Pel-Air prompted the ASSR, which was a gentile, civilised document, offering a way to repair the damage and move forward. Had the ASRR been honestly taken up and supported, matters aeronautical would have improved, quietly, with the blood letting done in private. It was a beacon of hope held dear, by those who would have been satisfied by a quiet, no fuss revolution. Hopes of real reform were high, the mood buoyant. Those hopes were cynically crushed, the light of meaningful reform ruthlessly extinguished. You can’t do that to folk – not without some sort of push back.

Where it is.

Moving on to the present day – we must look at the gross errors you have made. For a start, you fail (dismally) to understand pilots; particularly the Australian version; bad blue. In secundus, you have failed, miserably to understand why the long, (30 years) loud calls for reform have not abated. Then you must ask why it has been so? Once you understand these things you may glean the reason for the underlying anger, which has developed into open outrage. The final part of your lesson is the AOPA gathering at Orange, yesterday.

Where it should have been.

This could be the beginning of the long awaited revolution – and you, Darren 6D, caused it. Well, you and whatever fools you listen to; those who provide slick, easy escape paths, all of which lead, eventually, to an untenable position. By excluding and actively trying to destroy the AOPA a weapon has been forged. How long do you think it’s going to be before the Aero clubs and their members realise that by using one AOC and the provisions for ‘remote’ base operations the call for independent instructors may be satisfied, like it or not. When they quite legally run around the false objections and return learning to fly, in country centres, to  part of a vibrant industry section, what then? Do the math; AOPA, without attracting any further support, is now a major force (by the numbers) and growing, determinedly so; with lots of support. Dare you keep sulking and pretending they ain’t real? Don’t forget the USA chapter have weighed in, you are staring down a big number of people now. Bluff, bluster and bull-shit will only get you a ticket on the train wreck.

Well done 6D – your arrogance, ineptitude and ignorance have released the force that thirty years of divide and conquer has carefully kept quiescent; unification, aligned anger and the numbers to make it stick. Bravo – duck wit.

Well done AOPA and all those who attended. May the force be with you.

Toot – toot.

The BRB has voted..   And the majority verdict is that Chester is without peer our worst miniscule for Non-Aviation ever and therefore the greatest aviation disaster to be inflicted on a long suffering but once flourishing GA industry…

However if your still not convinced here is an article, courtesy of the UK division of the RAES, which IMO provides a perfect parallel about the importance of government support in nurturing the smaller end of town aviation industry… :

Future of UK Airfields
24 October 2017
No.4 Hamilton Place, London
Conference
09:00-17:00

The UK is home to a number of airfields and aerodromes dotted across the country, supporting a wide range of important General Aviation (GA) activities, including flight training, light aircraft manufacture and maintenance and business aviation. However, the number of airfields has been falling and more are under threat of closure, to be replaced by large housing developments in some cases, and with a number of market and policy conditions hindering the opening of new airfield sites.

In July, the UK Government published its draft Aviation Strategy – Beyond the Horizon: The Future of UK Aviation – for public consultation.  While already making commitments to reform public policy and regulation to support the sector in its 2015 General Aviation Strategy following the GA Red Tape Challenge in 2013/14, the Government are keen to better understand a number of issues affecting GA, including the reasons for the closure of some smaller airports, airfields and airstrips and the impacts this trend could have on GA and aviation sector more widely.  The Government also wish to understand whether it is possible to identify or create a strategic network or level of infrastructure to enable GA to continue its valuable role.

The Royal Aeronautical Society wants to help bring the sector together to help provide some answers to these questions posed by Ministers in the draft Strategy, as well inputting into the work of the new All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on GA, recently set up to promote the GA sector in Parliament.  We are very fortunate in that the chair of the APPG on GA and keen pilot, Rt. Hon. Grant Shapps MP, has already agreed to speak at our conference.  The conference is expected to cover some of the following issues affecting the future of UK airfields and hopefully provide some practical solutions, including: planning policy and legislation, regulation, the role of local authorities, taxation and finance, access to airspace.

Spot the difference…

MTF…P2