[Peetwo]

Fresh from his selfie tour -

Via OzFlying's Hitch:

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester chats with general aviation people at Tamworth. (Steve Hitchen)

Chester pledges More Consultation with GA


Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/lates...HHwGmSi.99

Here is the link for Dazzling Dazza the WOFTAM miniscule with NFI - Media Release DC076/2016 18 July 2016

Oh FFS Malcolm & Barnaby please give the industry someone (like a David Fawcett) who has half an idea where the pointy end of an aircraft is..  

This numbnut is way too busy self-flagellating, self-promoting himself around the countryside to truly give a rat's arse about aviation & aviation safety in this country - besides Nick Xenophon will eat him for breakfast...

Chester's selfie tour moves to KL -

While the Chest-ire (the selfie) Cat rubs shoulders with the Chinese & Malaysian's - with absolutely NFI what he is talking about - in Dunceunda land Dick's tea party goes off without a hitch... :

Uncle Dick’s tea party.

Following on from Dick's 'wake' thread of the UP, today there was this addition to the thread:

wren 460 , 19th Jul 2016 11:59

Dick's earned the right to make it as he sees it.

Originally Posted by Stanwell

Quite so, Styx.
So, what are you chaps going to do then? .. What's your plan?
Stand there like a rabbit in the headlights, having hopeful and positive thoughts?

Or ... use every means possible to draw attention to what's happening?

Sniping at Dick is a null response. When Dick was in charge at CASA it was like dawn breaking, when he left the darkness descended again and it's been growing darker ever since.

If Dick gets worldwide publicity then so much the better, Australia needs the embarrassment in order for the message to be rammed home to the body politic. Dick still supports GA, he and I and one other GA personality have commissioned a report into the failure of the regulatory regime and the consequent decline of GA. The aim is to persuade politicians to cause reform for growth.

It's far from the first time that Dick has stumped up his cash for a cause, usually anonymously and he probably won't thank me for exposing his financial input.

As a GA airport and aircraft owner operator, flying school CFI, twin training and licence testing approvals, CP for IFR charter and RPT operations I have watched for 30 years, with dismay, the death by a thousand cuts of what should be a growing industry. On top of this safety is suffering.

Excessive and prescriptive regulation, heavy handed bureaucratic administration and a new rule set, inappropriately made part of the criminal law, is applied after a 26 year gestation period. This extraordinary and unworkable rule set now requires a suite of exemptions which are being hurriedly promulgated to prevent a complete collapse of General Aviation, especially flight training.

Safety suffers because of confusion, what is exactly lawful and what is not?

Safety suffers because we do not utilise experienced personnel. There's too much time consuming and wasteful paperwork coupled with insufficient incentives to remain in a shrinking industry.

Safety suffers because lack of activity has pushed up avgas fuel prices and caused closure of refueling facilities all over Australia thus reducing options for safe fuel endurance, and increasing costs.

Safety suffers because more just drop out of legal flying. When you live way out in the bush, faced with SIDS, biennial flight reviews and expensive medicals no imagination is needed to see what will happen.

Safety suffers because costs and impossible regulation reduces flying hours, recency drops off, pilots simply get out of practice.

I believe we should systematically list and repeatedly get out the message that there must be incentives, attractive remuneration is a prerequisite, and part of a healthy industry. There are too many road blocks, like the instructor who is still trying since November to achieve a flying school permit. She had to part with an $8000 fee to CASA, for what? She is already qualified. In the States she would have been working since November with no fee gouging. The flying school she is trying to reestablish was operative for at least 40 years to my certain knowledge.

The previous incumbent now works for guess who. Last I spoke to the applicant the permission was on hold because the CASA official dealing with it went on holiday. Preventing someone from working is against human rights. CASA has effectively taken the money under false pretenses and keeping her dangling is completely unacceptable. 

The model of an independent Commonwealth body with minimal Ministerial oversight is a failure. The Board of CASA have been removed from policy formation and the CEO, the oddly styled 'Director of Air Safety' (sitting on cloud 9 with a baton?) has virtually unfettered power, thus making the Board impotent and redundant. 

It is more clear than ever that the only way forward is political action and publicity from Dick is greatly welcomed.

Summary of Dick's tea party (via the Oz):

Dick Smith mourns ‘passing of our general aviation industry’
Dick Smith is selling his Citation CJ3 airplane in the US because he says it is too expensive to have the aircraft comply with Australia’s ADS-B requirements. Picture: Melvyn Knipe.

• Mitchell Bingemann
  
• The Australian
  
• 12:00AM July 22, 2016
  

Reporter
Sydney
@Mitch_Hell
[img=0x0]http://pixel.tcog.cp1.news.com.au/track/component/author/4c134add4c3a9e4881f7841b69d9ac85/?esi=true&t_product=the-australian&t_template=s3/austemp-article_common/vertical/author/widget&td_bio=false[/img]
Dick Smith held a wake yesterday for Australia’s general aviation ­industry as he farewelled his ­beloved Cessna Citation CJ3 to the US, where it will be sold, after onerous and expensive regulation scared off potential local buyers.

The businessman-aviator has been trying for a year to sell the Cita­tion, which he bought new in the US for about $US6 million, and had dropped its price by $US1m to $3.7m to attract buyers.

Mr Smith said the regulatory requirement to fit the plane with an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast and flight data recorder, costing about $500,000, had kept buyers away.

“My beautiful Cessna Citation that I’ve had for 10 years and which I absolutely love has to be sold because it’s simply too expensive to keep it running in Australia with the regulations we are forced to comply with,” he said.

The aircraft will be flown to the US by a private pilot. Mr Smith believes the market there will be more willing to buy a plane that has flown only 1000 hours.

“I wouldn’t recommend anyone buy it in Australia because you just can’t get it serviced easily any more,’’ he said.

“At least in the US you don’t require ADS-B or flight data recorders until 2020, so the costs will be cheaper.” Mr Smith invited more than 100 people to a “wake” at his hangar at Bankstown Airport, in southwest Sydney, to farewell the aircraft in a gesture he said marked the passing of the Australian general aviation industry.

“This is the death knell for the industry because as these planes go back overseas, it means less maintenance, less traffic controllers, less people who clean hangars and provide fuel. It’s the death of the whole ecosystem.”

A Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman said the ADS-B units were to “increase aviation safety and efficiency” as it allows aircraft to be ‘‘seen’’ by air traffic control and other pilots using cockpit displays

Also somewhat related, yesterday CASA revealed their 'beginning of the end strategy' to kill off what will remain of the Aussie GA industry after next year's ADS-B IFR mandate falls due.

CASA launches VFR ADS-B Project
21 July 2016

CASA this week launched a standards development project to explore voluntary fitment of Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) to aircraft operating under VFR.

In February next year, ADS-B will become compulsory for all aircraft operating under IFR, but VFR aircraft are not included in the mandate.

CASA now wants to explore what changes would need to be made to standards and regulation in order to encourage VFR aircraft owners to fit ADS-B of their own accord.

"ADS-B is the cornerstone for Australia's transition to satellite technology based surveillance," the CASA project brief states. "The technology has already enabled a vast increase in the air traffic surveillance coverage over Australian territory – resulting in significant increases in operating and safety efficiencies.

"CASA has promulgated various requirements and standards concerning the carriage and use of ADS-B equipment in aircraft operated in accordance with the Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). While current requirements apply only in certain parts of Australian controlled airspace, from 2 February 2017 all IFR operated aircraft in all Australian airspace must carry and use suitable ADS-B equipment.

"No ADS-B fitment mandate applies to aircraft in the VFR category. While some VFR aircraft operators have chosen to equip their aircraft with IFR-compliant ADS-B equipment, the cost of such equipment is a disincentive for more widespread voluntary fitment."

According to CASA, VFR aircraft owners who fit ADS-B will benefit in several ways, including:

• improved traffic information
  
• flight watch and SAR alerting
  
• improved collision avoidance
  
• improved access to CTA
  

The sticking point is that CASA's current suite of regulations and standards don't recognise reduced-cost ADS-B systems, most of which don't comply with the design requirements of a Technical Service Order (TSO).

Part of the project will cover a review of the ADS-B for VFR paper proposed by the Australian Strategic Air Traffic Management Group (ASTRA) in May this year. ASTRA's proposal stated that CASA should accept FAA Technical Service Order (TSO) C199 as acceptable for VFR, or that CASA allows non-TSO approve avionics in VFR provided the manufacturer has a statement of compliance with the TSO.

Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/lates...2RBSKPY.99

But don't worry Chester is on the job - NOT


MTF...P2