Whimsy, Fallen Angels a ramble.
Friend and neighbour had a little get together last evening; just the usual to celebrate a birthday; something nothing, except a pleasant evening, chatting with fiends. I wandered home later with a head full of questions – serves me right for ‘earwigging’. Three Mums and Dads had a table in the garden not far from where I was sitting – they started discussing a friend of theirs who lived out of town with a sick child and the problems of getting said child to medical appointments. ‘Angel Flight’ was mentioned and of course my ears pricked up.
I’ve always thought AF was a bloody good idea – in theory. Just the same thing as if I ran a neighbours or a friends Kiddie to the vet in the car, just give ‘em a lift – to help out. There are no special qualification requirements or insurance on the car – just throw ‘em in, strap ‘em down and off you go – easy as. These folks weren’t so ambivalent. I thought it was just the usual concern folk have about flying in ‘light’ aircraft – hell, I’ve even had folk worried about flying in small jets and the peerless King Air – it’s a factor; but, usually at the end of a journey – most of the surface fears have been assuaged – the deeper ones are out of my hands. I digress.
The long and the short of it was that they almost unanimously agreed that they would not allow their children, or, indeed their nearest and dearest to be flown by AF. The statistics of road accidents are horrendous, when compared to that of light aircraft travel – until you bring it down to a per capita base; then there is a case to be examined. One of the Dad’s made mention of this. The thing grabbed my attention was that this group was ‘new’ to the idea and had it not been for the remote friend, would have no idea the service existed and so I was probably hearing their concerns voiced and discussed for the first time. Enlightening.
Anyway – it got me thinking. I’ll probably bring it up for a full on debate at a BRB soon, but I thought a ramble on AP may help clarify some of the thinking elements; for example:-
Weather regions. Is it worth considering dividing the continent into ‘weather’ based regions and making a rule set for those. Take a trip from say Bairnsdale to Moorabin; choose your weapon – lets take the Bonanza – as a standard, (light twin speed, roomy, comfortable etc.) with some performance flexibility. On a good day the journey is a doddle, but; mostly wind and weather are a factor across that region; turbulence another consideration; high ground must be considered – in short the SE region can and does produce conditions which preclude ‘easy’ journey – not always – but it is on the cards. So would it be sensible to specify IFR qualifications and capability – particularly for a return journey which involved ‘waiting’ time; or, when the forecast looked ‘iff’y’; or, the flight could possibly run into daylight limitations?
You can group ‘areas’ into similar regions, particularly on the East coast – even some of the short sectors can be demanding on both man and machine – when the weather is a factor. Its all well and good on a reasonable day, almost too easy. Jumping into the venerable 172 on a peerless day and running for 90 minutes with a light load is a great thing; but what about when there is a delay for the return, the headwinds increase, the cloud base lowers, or the smoke and dust thicken up; what then? I reckon it’s fair enough for those familiar to have a go at getting home; run the gauntlet and tell the tale at the bar later – I do. But what of those not familiar with such doings? I just don’t know, but how would someone who has been or is ill take to such banging and clashing, bouncing about and increased level of fear feel about such a return journey. The other option is to delay the flight which means transport and motels and expense and time. As neat a puzzle as you could ask for.
It is all highly subjective and personal – but AF have lost a couple of rounds to weather and darkness. I am not knocking AF or those who donate their time and aircraft – I am concerned that in the absence of a ‘system’ a heavy handed regulator may, through force of public opinion, be obliged to step in and that may just put the hat on all of it. Anyway, I believe AF is worth the candle and the subject is worthy of some serious discussion and thinking. Now included on the agenda for the next BRB agenda.
Toot – just saying - toot.
Friend and neighbour had a little get together last evening; just the usual to celebrate a birthday; something nothing, except a pleasant evening, chatting with fiends. I wandered home later with a head full of questions – serves me right for ‘earwigging’. Three Mums and Dads had a table in the garden not far from where I was sitting – they started discussing a friend of theirs who lived out of town with a sick child and the problems of getting said child to medical appointments. ‘Angel Flight’ was mentioned and of course my ears pricked up.
I’ve always thought AF was a bloody good idea – in theory. Just the same thing as if I ran a neighbours or a friends Kiddie to the vet in the car, just give ‘em a lift – to help out. There are no special qualification requirements or insurance on the car – just throw ‘em in, strap ‘em down and off you go – easy as. These folks weren’t so ambivalent. I thought it was just the usual concern folk have about flying in ‘light’ aircraft – hell, I’ve even had folk worried about flying in small jets and the peerless King Air – it’s a factor; but, usually at the end of a journey – most of the surface fears have been assuaged – the deeper ones are out of my hands. I digress.
The long and the short of it was that they almost unanimously agreed that they would not allow their children, or, indeed their nearest and dearest to be flown by AF. The statistics of road accidents are horrendous, when compared to that of light aircraft travel – until you bring it down to a per capita base; then there is a case to be examined. One of the Dad’s made mention of this. The thing grabbed my attention was that this group was ‘new’ to the idea and had it not been for the remote friend, would have no idea the service existed and so I was probably hearing their concerns voiced and discussed for the first time. Enlightening.
Anyway – it got me thinking. I’ll probably bring it up for a full on debate at a BRB soon, but I thought a ramble on AP may help clarify some of the thinking elements; for example:-
Weather regions. Is it worth considering dividing the continent into ‘weather’ based regions and making a rule set for those. Take a trip from say Bairnsdale to Moorabin; choose your weapon – lets take the Bonanza – as a standard, (light twin speed, roomy, comfortable etc.) with some performance flexibility. On a good day the journey is a doddle, but; mostly wind and weather are a factor across that region; turbulence another consideration; high ground must be considered – in short the SE region can and does produce conditions which preclude ‘easy’ journey – not always – but it is on the cards. So would it be sensible to specify IFR qualifications and capability – particularly for a return journey which involved ‘waiting’ time; or, when the forecast looked ‘iff’y’; or, the flight could possibly run into daylight limitations?
You can group ‘areas’ into similar regions, particularly on the East coast – even some of the short sectors can be demanding on both man and machine – when the weather is a factor. Its all well and good on a reasonable day, almost too easy. Jumping into the venerable 172 on a peerless day and running for 90 minutes with a light load is a great thing; but what about when there is a delay for the return, the headwinds increase, the cloud base lowers, or the smoke and dust thicken up; what then? I reckon it’s fair enough for those familiar to have a go at getting home; run the gauntlet and tell the tale at the bar later – I do. But what of those not familiar with such doings? I just don’t know, but how would someone who has been or is ill take to such banging and clashing, bouncing about and increased level of fear feel about such a return journey. The other option is to delay the flight which means transport and motels and expense and time. As neat a puzzle as you could ask for.
It is all highly subjective and personal – but AF have lost a couple of rounds to weather and darkness. I am not knocking AF or those who donate their time and aircraft – I am concerned that in the absence of a ‘system’ a heavy handed regulator may, through force of public opinion, be obliged to step in and that may just put the hat on all of it. Anyway, I believe AF is worth the candle and the subject is worthy of some serious discussion and thinking. Now included on the agenda for the next BRB agenda.
Toot – just saying - toot.