[Wombat]

P2, I think the Department is well meaning and the Associations don't have much choice but to jump on the reform bandwagon - it's something about being "inside the tent".

However it was telling watching the smug CASA senior managers as their leader Pip Spence destroyed what credibility she had left in front of the Senate RRAT committee when challenged by Angel Flight. it is now quite clear that she is only a figurehead and she knows it after that performance.

What CASA senior managers don't realise is that Kharons "Mandarins" (Sunday Brunch Gazette) saw that performance too and will have come to the same conclusion I have - which is that CASA is an administrative accident waiting to happen because its senior management is "problematic". A cursory glance by a Mandarin will reveal the teetering tower of convoluted regulations these "managers' have constructed and that, without urgent action, the whole pile will come crashing down shortly if nothing is done to dismantle it. Furthermore it will become blindingly obvious that Pip and her team aren't capable of executing their part of the Ministers recovery plan.

If anything, unless I'm totally mistaken, the Mandarins response to the problem of CASA is going to be swifter and less charitable than anything you or I would suggest. They do not like Senior managers who become too big for their boots, they don't like it at all. i once watched as they cut a foreign Affairs Manager down to size. he had constructed what he thought was a nice little regulatory nest for himself and he thought he was untouchable too, but that is another story.....

[Peetwo]

EWH sums up 2021 - 

Via the Yaffa:

  Read more

Rolling Back the Year

2021 was almost a repeat of 2022 with COVID dogging GA with hard times and uncertainty. However, there were some breakthroughs to justify a modicum of optimism. Read more

Hmm...no comment - 

MTF...P2 

[Peetwo]

EWH catching up on Dept consult on Airports Act etc.

Via the Yaffa:

Government opens Consultation on Airports Regulations

19 Jan 2022
Consultation has opened on six pieces of airport regulation scheduled to sunset in April 2024. Read more

MTF...P2 

[Peetwo]

EWH with 1st LMH for 2022:

---

The Last Minute Hitch: 21 January 2022

– Steve Hitchen

As Christmas presents go, the Federal Government's Aviation Recovery Framework placed under the tree on 20 December was right up there with a new bike. Although it was wrapped as a COVID recovery plan, the box also contained a recognition that general aviation could play a very large role in a future Australian economy if some shackles were removed. The more I read through, the more excited I got: it was looking like just about everything general aviation had ever wanted was being handed to us wrapped in a big bow. But remembering the old adage about things that look too good to be true, I grabbed my mobile phone and started making some calls. Everyone I spoke to was over the moon, with one very respected source calling it a "great day for GA". CASA went public with support for the framework before I even had a chance to ask them about it! Something momentous had happened for sure; GA had broken through some form of hard barrier and had garnered support from powerful people in Canberra. All of this before the senate inquiry has even tabled their report.The sharp-eyed would have noticed the similarities between the framework, reforms in the UK and the General Aviation Advisory Network (GAAN) strategy paper. It was almost as if the politicians had been listening. As usual, cynicsm began to creep into the enthuasim like a blackberry in a rose garden. Promises from governments meant nothing; it will all be lost if the Coalition loses the next election. Both of those things are true, although my mail says that Labor is prepared to support critical changes to the Aviation Act 1996 that have long been a weeping sore. Are we on the home stretch to general aviation Nirvana? We have no way of knowing until after the May federal election, because you can guarantee nothing is going to happen before then.

"This will not please airport lease-holders who didn't get into the airport industry with the intent of running airports"

Having made that bold statement, the Department of Infrastructure has launched into a review of six pieces of legislation that govern the operation of airports. It's hardly the intiative hinted at in the Aviation Recovery Framework because under sunset rules the regs were going to expire in April 2024 anyway; therefore, this review was always going to happen. However, it is now happening in the context of the Federal Government theoretically having declared its intentions. And that's where the fun begins. The framework promises that the revised legislation will force airport master plans to focus on aircraft operations. This will not please airport lease-holders who didn't get into the airport industry with the intent of running airports, but rather to maximise the use of the land for non-aviation purposes. Runways have been closed, taxiways demolished, businesses evicted and movements plummeted whilst successive Federal Governments turned the other cheek. Now the department says their eyes are open and they see what has been going on. The issue, if pursued with any vigour, will place them at odds with powerful leaseholders. At stake is the future of general aviation, for without efficient airports that focus on aircraft operations above all else, the government may just find their recovery framework failing on many levels. All other initiatives in the framework rely on having airports.

Our 2021 retrospective showed that despite the ongoing saga of the coronavirus pandemic (now two years old), aviation was generating plenty of news. Some good, some bad. One of the most interesting was the leaps and bounds taken in alternative energy and its hand-in-hand partner, urban mobility. Whilst much of the world was signing onto using sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), hydrogen-electricity engines were starting to emerge as a viable fuel option for a future that looks increasingly like it doesn't include fossil fuels. Urban mobility looks like entering the market with electric engines; the current technology suits the stop-start, short-hop nature of the customer demand. There's a lot to catch up on here. Another running story was the on-again, off-again nature of the GA senate inquiry. This was frustrated regularly by the inability to hold public hearings as scheduled, which in turn impacted the committees ability to gather evidence. However, on the final hearings in December, the committee began to show an understanding that made the GA community believe this has not all been for naught. The report was delayed until this coming March, but a good report in this case is much better for us than a half-baked one that missed a lot of good points. For the recreational aviation community, the big story was CASA finally giving the green light for ASAOs to administer up to 760-kg MTOW aircraft. There has, of course, been gnashing of teeth from parts of the GA community and further accusations of unlevel playing fields, but for RAAus in particular, the change of regulation is a real shot in the arm. On the downside, lots of air shows and fly-ins were canceled and the RAAF missed the opportunity to make a big song and dance about their centenary. With the Omicron variant running rampant through the community, 2022 already doesn't look like a year of salvation, it is beginning to resemble a mirror-image of 2021.

Congratulations to all our CASA Wings Awards winners for 2021! It was a very hard-fought competition this year, which stretched the judges, and there were categories that really could have gone either way. Borg Sorensen was a stand-out candidate for the Col Pay Award for a Lifetime of Service to General Aviation; it really was for people like Borg that this award was created in the first place. Bathurst did well with both Bathurst Aero Club and Ward Air taking out their respective categories and Jack Caddy as Instructor of the Year rounded out the podium of four. No-one took out the Young Achiever category because there were no valid entries that addressed the criteria. That is a real shame, because I know there are young people at the airports around Australia doing great things for aviation that deserve this recognition. All we need is for someone to advocate for them with a bit of vigour.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

[Peetwo]

Via the Yaffa:

Several regional airports around Australia have good infrastructure but no training capability, which Barnaby Joyce wants to change in the coming two years. (Steve Hitchen)

What the Minister expects

25 January 2022

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Barnaby Joyce has issued the Civil Aviation Safety Authority with a new Statement of Expectations (SoE), which specifically addresses some concerns of the general aviation community.

The SoE, issued last week, is a legislative instrument that outlines all the actions and responsibilities that the government  expects CASA to carry out between the period 31 January 2022 and 30 June 2023, addressing issues such as governance, regulatory approach, key initiatives and stakeholder engagement.

"A safe, economically sustainable and well-regulated aviation sector is critical to Australia’s national productivity and keeping Australians connected to each other and the world," Joyce states in the SoE. "The Government considers that CASA plays an important role in ensuring that the aviation sector delivers economic and social benefits to all Australians through safe operations.

"CASA’s role and performance should keep pace with the sector, including emerging technologies and, without compromising safety outcomes, facilitate opportunities for the sector to sustain itself, grow and innovate.

"Acting as a decisive and responsive regulator, CASA will balance the benefits of reducing the regulatory burden on the sector with helping to ensure the delivery of safety and public interest outcomes."

Despite efforts by lobbyists in the aviation community, the SoE maintains the primacy of safety as set down in the Civil Aviation Act 1996, but requires CASA to take a scalable approach to regulation.

"The Act stipulates that CASA must regard the safety of air navigation as the most important consideration," Joyce states. "Safety management requires a systems-based approach, including risk based and evidence driven decision making by CASA (including well documented safety cases) as well as industry.

"CASA’s regulatory approach should be scalable to the size and complexity of each aviation activity and take into account the differing risks associated with different industry sectors and categories of operations.

"My expectation is that CASA will perform its functions in a manner consistent with the Act and has appropriate regard to the economic and cost impacts of its decisions and actions on individuals, businesses and the community."

Addressing specific issues, Joyce has demanded that CASA:

• review its regulatory philosophy and update it if required, in consultation with the aviation sector, by the end of 2022
  
• fully consider the impact of new regulations on general aviation, with a particular focus on regional and remote Australia
  
• review its consultation framework with stakeholders in the aviation community to support developing fit-for-purpose regulatory amendments and addressing key safety issues by 30 June 2022
  
• release an exposure draft of proposed regulations for industry consultation before regulations are sent for approval
  
• review its client services standards and ensure there are key performance indicators, such as processing times, for all client delivery functions published on its website by 30 June 2022
  
• seek to publish by 1 May 2022 a work plan of measures being developed that will reduce, where appropriate, the regulatory burden on general aviation
  
• provide an annual report on CASA’s forward regulatory program and how the views of the aviation community have been taken into account.
  

The SoE also charges CASA will implementing several key initiatives, among which are helping Geoscience Australia and Airservices establish Space-based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) in Australia, and identifying "effective mechanisms to help ensure that flight instruction and related services are more widely, readily and efficiently available, especially in remote and regional areas of Australia."

Bolstering flight training in the regions has long been thought to be a key factor in any GA revitalisation program, hampered by an inability for flying instructors to operate alone outside the supervision of a school with a training Air Operator's Certificate (AOC).

CASA is expected to respond to the SoE with a Statement of Intent issued no later than 13 April this year.

The Statement of Expectations can be downloaded from the Federal Register of Legislation website.

MTF...P2 

[Peetwo]

EWH with this week's SMH (SOE OP)

Via the Yaffa:

---

The Last Minute Hitch: 21 January 2022

– Steve Hitchen

As Christmas presents go, the Federal Government's Aviation Recovery Framework placed under the tree on 20 December was right up there with a new bike. Although it was wrapped as a COVID recovery plan, the box also contained a recognition that general aviation could play a very large role in a future Australian economy if some shackles were removed. The more I read through, the more excited I got: it was looking like just about everything general aviation had ever wanted was being handed to us wrapped in a big bow. But remembering the old adage about things that look too good to be true, I grabbed my mobile phone and started making some calls. Everyone I spoke to was over the moon, with one very respected source calling it a "great day for GA". CASA went public with support for the framework before I even had a chance to ask them about it! Something momentous had happened for sure; GA had broken through some form of hard barrier and had garnered support from powerful people in Canberra. All of this before the senate inquiry has even tabled their report.The sharp-eyed would have noticed the similarities between the framework, reforms in the UK and the General Aviation Advisory Network (GAAN) strategy paper. It was almost as if the politicians had been listening. As usual, cynicsm began to creep into the enthuasim like a blackberry in a rose garden. Promises from governments meant nothing; it will all be lost if the Coalition loses the next election. Both of those things are true, although my mail says that Labor is prepared to support critical changes to the Aviation Act 1996 that have long been a weeping sore. Are we on the home stretch to general aviation Nirvana? We have no way of knowing until after the May federal election, because you can guarantee nothing is going to happen before then.

"This will not please airport lease-holders who didn't get into the airport industry with the intent of running airports"


Having made that bold statement, the Department of Infrastructure has launched into a review of six pieces of legislation that govern the operation of airports. It's hardly the intiative hinted at in the Aviation Recovery Framework because under sunset rules the regs were going to expire in April 2024 anyway; therefore, this review was always going to happen. However, it is now happening in the context of the Federal Government theoretically having declared its intentions. And that's where the fun begins. The framework promises that the revised legislation will force airport master plans to focus on aircraft operations. This will not please airport lease-holders who didn't get into the airport industry with the intent of running airports, but rather to maximise the use of the land for non-aviation purposes. Runways have been closed, taxiways demolished, businesses evicted and movements plummeted whilst successive Federal Governments turned the other cheek. Now the department says their eyes are open and they see what has been going on. The issue, if pursued with any vigour, will place them at odds with powerful leaseholders. At stake is the future of general aviation, for without efficient airports that focus on aircraft operations above all else, the government may just find their recovery framework failing on many levels. All other initiatives in the framework rely on having airports.

Our 2021 retrospective showed that despite the ongoing saga of the coronavirus pandemic (now two years old), aviation was generating plenty of news. Some good, some bad. One of the most interesting was the leaps and bounds taken in alternative energy and its hand-in-hand partner, urban mobility. Whilst much of the world was signing onto using sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), hydrogen-electricity engines were starting to emerge as a viable fuel option for a future that looks increasingly like it doesn't include fossil fuels. Urban mobility looks like entering the market with electric engines; the current technology suits the stop-start, short-hop nature of the customer demand. There's a lot to catch up on here. Another running story was the on-again, off-again nature of the GA senate inquiry. This was frustrated regularly by the inability to hold public hearings as scheduled, which in turn impacted the committees ability to gather evidence. However, on the final hearings in December, the committee began to show an understanding that made the GA community believe this has not all been for naught. The report was delayed until this coming March, but a good report in this case is much better for us than a half-baked one that missed a lot of good points. For the recreational aviation community, the big story was CASA finally giving the green light for ASAOs to administer up to 760-kg MTOW aircraft. There has, of course, been gnashing of teeth from parts of the GA community and further accusations of unlevel playing fields, but for RAAus in particular, the change of regulation is a real shot in the arm. On the downside, lots of air shows and fly-ins were canceled and the RAAF missed the opportunity to make a big song and dance about their centenary. With the Omicron variant running rampant through the community, 2022 already doesn't look like a year of salvation, it is beginning to resemble a mirror-image of 2021.

Congratulations to all our CASA Wings Awards winners for 2021! It was a very hard-fought competition this year, which stretched the judges, and there were categories that really could have gone either way. Borg Sorensen was a stand-out candidate for the Col Pay Award for a Lifetime of Service to General Aviation; it really was for people like Borg that this award was created in the first place. Bathurst did well with both Bathurst Aero Club and Ward Air taking out their respective categories and Jack Caddy as Instructor of the Year rounded out the podium of four. No-one took out the Young Achiever category because there were no valid entries that addressed the criteria. That is a real shame, because I know there are young people at the airports around Australia doing great things for aviation that deserve this recognition. All we need is for someone to advocate for them with a bit of vigour.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

---

MTF...P2 

[Peetwo]

The Last Minute Hitch: 11 February 2022

11 February 2022

– Steve Hitchen

A new chapter in the rocky story of Central Coast Airport (Warnervale) is about to be written, but it looks like a more positive start than the chapters that have made up the story so far. A quick recap: in only 2019 the aero club was concerned about their future as the local council was talking about activating a clause to restrict movements to 88 per day and wanted to revegitate about a third of the existing runway. This was after one abortive attempt to establish a business precinct at the airport that resulted in the prime tenant last year announcing they'd chosen Darwin instead. The problem, legislation that severely restricted the development of Warnervale, was repealed last year and a council survey showed that 75% of people in the sample actually support the airport. This new chapter is the development of a master plan, a key document that will outline the future of the airport and hopefully give more hope to the Central Coast Aero Club that their home is safe for the time being. And the Central Coast Council is being smart about this: they've called for information before creating the first draft master plan, which means they can draw on the expertise of the local and wider GA communities to form a base of knowledge to underpin the draft. Yes, that means it is time once again to go to the typewriters. Warnervale is a critical airport to GA and the last thing we need is a master plan that falls short of putting proper protection in place. It is incumbent on us to help the local council to understand the potential of this airport so it's future can be secured. Get typing.

"The ALP's aviation policy ... needs to be much stronger if it wants to stack up"

The elephant seems to have snuck back into the room. Like many people in GA, I thought the Aviation White Paper the Rudd government introduced in 2009 was dead pachyderm, but the Australian Labor Party keeps resuscitating it. They've done it again this week by mentioning it in the same breathe as their response to the Coalition's Aviation Recovery Framework. They do themselves no favours; that White Paper was for many years the most despised and discredited document in aviation until CASR Part 61 came along. They'd be better off distancing themselves from it than linking future policy back to it. The White Paper had three fatal flaws: it bore little resemblance to the Green Paper that came before it, the people who wrote it didn't stick to it (how's that promise to protect federally-leased airports from inappropriate development going?) and too many of the initiatives weren't actually initiatives at all, but just promises to keep doing things they were already doing. It did have some benefits for heavy commerical, but for GA it was an empty vessel. The ALP's aviation policy–yet to be written–needs to be much stronger if it wants to stack up as an alternative to the framework and subsequent Statement of Expections of the Coalition, which are being seen in the GA industry as instruments of salvation. Labor needs to consign the White Paper to the elephant's graveyard and in that space create something more modern and relevant based on what the GA community needs. That might be painful given the White Paper was Albo's baby back then, and today's he's calling all the shots in the ALP.

After 12 years in development, Vickers Aircraft must be itching to finally get their prototype Wave amphibian in the air. But that's not the way CEO Paul Vickers works; he's about quality and safety and that's not going to be compromised to meet a circle on a calendar. There have been times in the past when aircraft prototypes have been launched perhaps prematurely, embarrassing the manufacturer when the machine doesn't deliver the goods to the extent the marketing team promised. Who remembers the Cessna 182 JT-A, or the thankfully very short-lived Mahindra NM5? Vickers doesn't want any surprises once the Wave gets in the air, either in structure or performance, so he and his team have been super-diligent in making sure the prototype is absolutely ready to go. Still,12 years is a long gestation for any GA aeroplane, so the when the Wave hits the air it is going to have to deliver first time out.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

[Peetwo]

EWH catching up on Sic'em Rex and McDolittle spray - 

Via the Yaffa:

Senator Susan McDonald makes a point at the RRAT senate estimates hearing on 14 February 2021. (still from Parliament House feed)

CASA Culture cops Broadside in Senate Estimates


21 February 2022

The culture of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority came under fire in senate estimates in mid February after an operator provided information to Senator Susan McDonald outlining dealings with CASA investigators.

The operator, from Orange in NSW, has been subjected to investigations for three years after being accused of improperly permitting his aircraft to be used on commercial flights. According to McDonald, the operator should have had all enforcement actions cleared in December 2021, but instead a new investigation was opened in June that year and none of enforcement action was lifted.

McDonald, chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport (RRAT), was clearly incensed over the information she had been given and directed her anger at CASA Director of Aviation Safety and CEO Pip Spence.

"I want to give you the tools to say to the culture of your organisation: enough! This is no longer acceptable, because we're now in this perfect storm of having no pilots, no LAMEs; regional aviation is on its knees," a clearly passionate McDonald said.

"The bits that particularly trouble me, and there are a lot, is the use of ex-police officers to hound and bully and harrass, not only this guy, but the people he does business with. There is allegations that they [the officers] told people to sign statements concerning this guy and his business, and if they don't sign them, they will be charged with obstructing an investigation, and I've heard that over and over, and I can give you the name[s] of the investigators.

"If the culture of what is going on in CASA, particularly during COVID, particularly with LAMEs, particularly in regional Australia, this is appalling and CASA should be immediately disbanded if you can't get to the bottom of this ... and it is again your legal department."

South Australian Senator Rex Patrick took his cue from McDonald and zeroed in on Spence, hammering the line that CASA is over-burdening the general aviation industry.

"You are attacking our aviation industry, driving them into the ground," he told Spence. "The will be no safety incidents because there will be no aircraft, and this parliament has expressed a really clear view that you need to take into consideration the ability for us to grow our general aviation back ... and you're not doing that.

Spence tried to explain that CASA was committed to general aviation, which drew cries of "platitudes" from Patrick, forcing Senator Bridget McKenzie to intervene calling for civility and respect for Spence. It did not deter Patrick, who called for CASA people who have transgressed the rules to be named in public.

"We have a situation where this happens again and again and again," he reiterated. "And there's an immunity that sits behind you as a CEO. If your officers are doing the right thing they won't have any difficulty being named, and if they're doing the wrong thing they ought to be named as well. People need to understand who these people are that are basically attacking our general aviation industry."

Pip Spence responded by saying she thought the majority of the people at CASA were trying to do the right thing.

"I understand what you're saying," she said. "but I also want to stand up for the organisation that I work for and there are many people who are incredibly passionate about aviation who work in CASA, and while I know people hear stories about people who are not doing the right thing, but the vast majority of the people who work in CASA are committed to aviation."

The reply satiated neither Patrick nor McDonald.

"So how do we get to the situation that we get to? Patrick asked, with McDonald following up with "And why does nothing ever happen to the people doing the wrong thing?"

Senator Patrick then asked CASA how many of their people had been fired as a result of over-reach. It was a question that Spence elected to take on notice.

"I suspect it's none," Patrick retorted. "Maybe you can also give us the number of people that have been subject to administrative action."

Senator McDonald summed up the RRAT committees concerns over the culture within the regulator.

"I wish you luck, because I think your culture in your organisation is rotten, rotten," she said, "And if your investigators and the rest of your staff lived in the regions and worked with these pilots and they weren't all obsessed with, you know, focusing on Qantas, Virgin and the big end of town and understood what it was like to operate in a regional business in a regional place under the extraordinary pressures that we've put them through through regulation you might have half a chance."

At the beginning of the hearing, McDonald expressed her respect for Spence and said she believed that Spence had done a "terrific job" as CEO of CASA in the short time she had been in the job. It was an opinion that she reinforced in her closing remarks at the estimates session.

"You are doing a great job, though," she told Spence directly. "Everyone in the industry tells me so. Go with that happy thought."

MTF...P2 

[Peetwo]

The Last Minute Hitch: 4 March 2022

4 March 2022

– Steve Hitchen

RAAA CEO Steve Campbell has reminded Barnaby Joyce that the power to reject the Moorabbin master plan lies with the minister. I am not sure he needed reminding, but a gentle nudge about sending messages in an election year never goes astray. The master plan envisages more bulldozers tearing up taxiways; taxiways that are vital to the continuing viability of the airport. Proposals such as this not only put the airport operators and the GA companies at opposite poles, but also forces the minister to choose between them. Approval of the master plan condones the airport operator and condemns the GA companies who have been Moorabbin Airport's keystones for decades. Rejection of the master plan recognises the plight of the flying schools and maintenance organisations that rely on the infrastructure, but bites the hand that relieves the government of having to finance the airport itself. It doesn't come down to who has the best argument, but whose influence has the greatest power. In an election year there is a third factor involved: what is the best decision to ensure the government gets re-elected? The crux of the RAAA letter is that a decision to reject the master plan is the best strategy to re-elect the government, but like every capital city airport in Australia, there is a public groundswell that wants Moorabbin closed and converted to a job-generating industrial park. And the general public often represents a larger voter population than general aviation does. We are going to learn a lot about our minister one way or the other when he makes his call.

"..One of the reasons why CASA is pushing the ASAOs to get Part 149 is to make life easier for CASA.."

CASR Part 149, which is the legislation that enables approved self-administering aviation organisations (ASAO) to exists with a CASA approval rather than a operate under a litany of exemptions, has proven itself to be very contentious within the GA community. There is still a weight of opinion that believes CASA should take back administration of everything that flies, which means death for organisations like RAAus, the Gliding Federation of Australia and your friendly neighbourhood skydivers. CASA is not of that opinion; they effectively invented the ASAO idea and is pursuing it vigorously as CEO Pip Spence revealed during the week. One of the reasons why CASA is pushing the ASAOs to get Part 149 is to make life easier for CASA. Internal sources have regularly told me that CASA wouldn't have the ability to deal with recreational aviation with the flexibility it needs to grow and flourish. If CASA was to take it all back, they'd apply the usual heavy-handedness with which they traditionally have dealt with GA. So what they are saying is the ASAO concept–be it under Part 149 or ongoing exemptions–is the only way recreational aviation can flourish. Could it be that the lack of an ASAO is one of the reasons why GA is not flourishing? That's probably a cheeky thought, but one worth airing on a Friday.

And it seems that one of Australia's larger ASAOs is showing it understands its role is more than an administrator. RAAus has put together a package of support for members and member organisations impacted by the floods in SE QLD and northern NSW. They've also said they're preparing a program of ongoing support for members impacted by disasters in the future as well. Whilst the money is nothing to sneeze at, there is bigger benefit in the subliminal text that RAAus recognises its role as an aviation community leader. Whereas CASA does not lead the GA community (which could rightly be described as leaderless) because their responsibilities are limited to regulation and safety, RAAus is hampered only by their CASA approval and their own constitution, both of which give them a lot of flexibility. But that flexibility is inextricably entwined with the responsibility to use the flexibility for the benefit of the membership base, and initiatives like this are exactly the sort of thing that shows RAAus understands that responsibility.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

[Peetwo]

The Last Minute Hitch: 18 March 2022

18 March 2022

– Steve Hitchen

Community service flights (CSF) have been at the centre of whirlwind of acrimony over the past few years, so it's encouraging to see the issue sliding towards some level of compromise. With the amended CSF instrument published today, CASA has conceded some points after long negotiation with operators, particularly Angel Flight. It's still not perfect, but contains provision to be much better in that it will soon contain an exemption for pilots who conform to the requirements of the organisation.This is sensible because in most cases the organisations' requirements exceed those of the instrument anyway. Removing the need for airwork-standard maintenance on aircraft used in CSFs should release many more pilots who have been stuck in limbo. The regs worked against pilots who flew more hours in their aircraft every year, which meant the most experienced and current pilots weren't permitted to fly CSFs. They are the very pilots that CASA should have been encouraging to fly for the likes of Angel Flight. Although, as Marjorie Pagani has pointed out, the amendments don't make for perfect regulation, they are a good step towards thawing the relationship between CASA and the CSF community and freeing organisations to get on with the vital job they perform.


"all inquiries lapse once the federal parliament is prorogued"


This week's eNews from Australian Flying should have contain my views on the conclusions and recommendations on the RRAT committee inquiry into the GA industry. The final report was due yesterday, but instead we got crickets. Now we'll have to wait until October, although an interim report is due on 30 March. For that to be of any value, it will have to be more comprehensive than the last interim report which said in essence "we haven't had time to do enough to report". After a year of COVID, that was understandable. But now significant work has been done and the GA community wants to see something, literally, in writing. What this further delay has done is take the final report from pre-election and make it post-election. If the government changes and key ministers and senators find themselves scowling from the opposition ranks, it may be that there is no motivation to convert the recommendations of the final report into policy. Although heir-apparent to the ministry Catherine King has made some agreeable statements, we still have very little indication from the ALP if their sympathies lie with us or agin us. If it's agin us, the last two years (so far) of inquiry might be headed for the round filing cabinet. Regardless of who wins, the inquiry will lapse when parliament is prorogued and will have to be re-referred to the senate.
About three weeks ago we put a new story on the Australian Flying website detailing a mystery around why the answer to a question taken on notice about court costs awarded against Angel Flight was not made public. It seems no-one knew and no-one was responsible for the decision. The answer arrived in my inbox a few days ago: it seems the committee didn't publish the letter because it was interim information. Furthermore, some submissions from Angel Flight were also suppressed and not published on the inquiry website. That was also a deliberate decision, I am told. The reasoning behind all of this was that the committee wanted to stop the inquiry becoming a battleground for something that had already been settled in court. But there might have been something else behind it. Both CASA and Angel Flight had been talking again to resolve things in negotiations that led to the above legislative amendments, and no-one, not CASA, not Angel Flight and probably not the senators, wanted to queer the process with acrimony. 

Textron's move to buy Pipistrel will deliver them a lead-in to the electric- and hybrid-power industries, which are being seen as the immediate future of aircraft engines in GA aircraft. The organisation has form with doing this; they bought Columbia to get composite technology and expertise, even though the TTx was, by most measures, a market failure. For big conglomerates like Textron, acquisition is usually cheaper than developing your own and it also takes out a competitor, but you need to do it right and not swamp the best attributes of the company you buy with incompatible business practices (yes, I'm looking at you, Mahindra). But in Pipistrel, Textron has also acquired a healthy market in light sport aircraft (LSA). I suspect the news has some within Textron sucking their thumbs as supressed memories of their last foray into the LSA market, the disastrous C162 Skycatcher (192 sold), revisit them. The press release by both companies fails to mention the future of the Pipistrel Virus SW and Explorer, and how their Rotax engines fit into the philosophy of Textron eAviation isn't immediately obvious. Three paths come to mind: change nothing and take the income, convert to hybrid or electric, and divest. We will find out Textron's preferred path, no doubt, in the fullness of time.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

[Peetwo]

LMH on Mundy - 

The Last Minute Hitch: 4 April 2022

4 April 2022


– Steve Hitchen

We're publishing on Monday this week because I took some time off last Friday to attended a wedding up country. It has been on the cards since ... well, you know how long it takes to organise a wedding nowadays. We elected to get the e-News out today rather than rush out something last Thursday. So, of course, that would be the week where absolutely everything imaginable went down, leaving me pedaling like a mad cyclist to catch up. Let's take everything one piece at a time.

The RRAT committee hit their deadline with the interim report on the senate inquiry into the GA industry. The recommendations within it address a lot of long-term ailments that have inflicted GA. From CASA's culture to the need to fix training pathways and specific bits of regulation, the reports recommendations, if adopted in a meaningful way, could change the fortunes of everyone in general aviation in the next few years. But before we get over-excited, let's remember that this is a starting point on a very long road; a road that not everyone in power wants GA to take. Whilst my fingers want to type words of effusive optimism, my brain keeps telling me to remember the ASRR of 2014. That had just as much potential, but people who didn't want to make change just stymied it until it became a painful memory of what could have been. The senators aren't finished yet; there's another six months work to be done, but the interim report can be taken as a harbinger of the main themes of the firnal report. That being so, the GA industry will be devastated if the bureaucratic stonewallers are once again permitted to reduce all this work to a smart document that lives on the smart document shelf alongside the ASRR report and is never used in anger.

"The GA community fears that another White Paper will be a copy-and-paste of the last one"


ALP Shadow Minister Catherine King has released a statement of policy stating with much fanfare that, if they are elected to government, they will create another aviation white paper. Rather than being progressive policy, this is seen as just a throw-back to the White Paper of the last ALP stint in power; perhaps a needs to hang on grimly to a failed exercise that they are desperate to make work. The ALP policy has two major failings: the last White Paper is still thought of by everyone outside the ALP as being junk, and any future White Paper program would once again call for industry input at a time when people have had enough. The GA community has spent the past two decades desperately trying to get people in power to look at the state of the industry and make positive, progressive and innovative change to make sure it thrives. They've been trying to get politicians of every colour–red, blue, green or white–to value GA and what it delivers to Australia. And they're still trying, which is a reliable indicator that nothing of any substance has been done. And now the ALP wants the GA community to tell their story again? That was done in the ALP's first White Paper. That was done in the ASRR. That was done in the senate GA inquiry. That was done in every piece of CASA consultation put forward. Mostly, the story hasn't been listened to. The GA community fears that another White Paper will be a copy-and-paste of the last one, when input to the preceeding Green Paper was almost completely ignored in favour of an outcome that was so obviously pre-determined. The GA community doesn't need to know that all the work done since the ALP was last in power will be junked simply because it all happened on the Coalition's watch. That would reset our doomsday clock close to midnight.

In very good news for GA everywhere, minister Barnaby Joyce has thrown the Moorabbin preliminary draft master plan (PDMP) straight back at the people who drafted it. The PDMP envisaged ripping up more aviation infrastructure in favour of commercial development and contained nothing of much succor to the aviation businesses evicted in the process. A spokesperson for the minister told me this week that that PDMP "did not contain an adequate level of detail in several key areas, including a strategic direction for land use planning, and provide industry and the community certainty to plan and invest for the long term. Therefore, it does not currently satisfy all requirements under the Airports Act 1996." On the not-so-QT, that means that the PDMP did not clearly assess the future needs of civil aviation and failed to bother about addressing the concerns of the airport stakeholders. The last PDMP didn't, so why should this one? The difference now is that airport stakeholders rallied to the banner and made their input clear, concise and forthright. Joyce has given the airport operators six months to think about their sins, and the only way they can get a pass mark from him (presuming he still has that job) is to properly engage with the aviation community on an equitable future. But what if such equity is not possible? We are going into unchartered waters, and every other leased airport in the country will be watching with interest.

The two ATSB reports released this week are connected in several ways. Firstly, the airports–Ballina-Byron and Mangalore–are both airports that Airservices wants to establish Surveillance Flight Information Services (SFIS) at; secondly, both are in high transiting traffic areas; and thirdly, both incidents involve a breakdown of separation. Where the two stories diverge is that at Ballina the aircraft missed each other; at Manglore they did not. The underlying message from the reports is that both incidents were about awareness. At Ballina the Jabiru simply wasn't aware of the A320 and at Mangalore the two aircraft had been alerted to each other, but there seemed to be a lack of awareness of the seriousness of the unfolding situation. These two incidents will add serious fuel to the fires of those advocating for Class E airspace down to 1500 feet. Had that been in place at Ballina and Mangalore the aircraft would have been operating under clearances. But as with so much in aviation, you can't change one thing without changing another; dropping the base of the Class E would only encourage those that would rather not enter that airpace to play chicken with the high ground on the peripheries. It is telling that among the recommendations of neither investigation report is the idea of changing the airspace classifications. However, the ATSB does come down heavily on the side of ADS-B and any subsidies that will help with the uptake of that technology. ADS-B may have helped at Ballina, but not at Mangalore where both aircraft were operating under IFR and therefore already had ADS-B Out. It is very hard to see how anything could have helped in what many had thought was an impossible accident.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

MTF...P2 

[Peetwo]

LMH on Thursdy - 

The Last Minute Hitch: 14 April 2022

14 April 2022

– Steve Hitchen

Ever since the unknown term "ADS-B" was first uttered in Australia some 15-odd years ago, subsidies for fitting to aircraft have been talked about. The analogy with fitment subsidies when transponders first came out has been one of the most popular justifications coming from owners of private aircraft. After all these years, the scheme is set to launch on 17 June. However, it won't be the broad-brush grant program that has been demanded because it doesn't include IFR aircraft. Oddly, that makes sense as all IFR aircraft should have been fitted by the start of 2020, so there's nothing to be gained by making the subsidy retrospective when the whole idea is to encourage further fitment. That's a piece of reality that will taste somewhat sour to those that actively pursued the "no mandate without subsidy" platform in the years heading up to the start of the mandate. Perhaps the most high-profile was Dick Smith, who famously sold his Citation and donated the money to charity rather than swallow the $100K upgrade bill to make it compliant. Both CASA and Airservices have been alarmed at the poor uptake of ADS-B in private VFR aircraft even after the approval of non-TSO equipment to make it cheaper and easier, so the subsidy has been brought in to get things moving. They will be hoping it makes a huge difference, because if the program fails to deliver the desired results, they're out of ideas short of another mandate.

"All of those documents have common themes that surely Canberra is awake to now"

The Australian Aviation Assocations Forum (TAAAF) this week completed their 2022 policy paper. This is something they've traditionally done in the lead-up to a federal election to make sure politicians know what their member associations are thinking. The TAAAF paper this year has served to further reinforce what the aviation industry needs Canberra to do get us out from underneath the standing wave that has been pushing the aviation economy down for years. If you take into account also the General Aviation Advisory Network (GAAN) strategy, the interim report from the senate inquiry into the GA industry and the Coalition's Aviation Recovery Framework, there should be no politician in Australia that is still blind to the reforms and overhauls needed to get us flying again ... unless they are deliberately looking the other way. All of those documents have common themes that surely Canberra is awake to now: reform the act, fix training pathways, sort out airport access problems, do something about CASA's culture and simplify regulations to remove burden. Nothing more needs to be said at this time, and no more submissions need to be made. What the GA community will be wanting to see in the coming six weeks is that the people who want our votes have at least read this mass of source material when they come to sell themselves to us. Our problem is that the needs of GA will be, as usual, completely swamped in mud fight over more vote-winning issues.

Lake Macquarie has finally been confirmed as the venue for the Australian round of the ARWC. Being Matt Hall's backyard, the city was always in the box seat to get the race, and was probably even the only venue seriously considered. And why not? The lake geography makes it a perfect fit for the track and there are good spots on the shores to harbour the 150,000 people that are thought to be itching to get in on the fun. A good population base nearby will supply accommodation and dining for the masses. And let's face it: it's a pretty place that will look good on the cameras that carry the story to the world. Even in it hadn't been Hall's sandpit, Lake Macquarie would still have been an ideal place. Start making plans and bookings now; race fans will be on the move already.

Right now is the best time to take out a subscription to Australian Flying, the best and longest-running GA magazine in the country. With Easter upon us, we have launched our traditional subscription deal, which this year will net you a 30% saving over the print and digital subscription package. That works out at six great issues for $41.00. We're holding that deal open until close of business on Monday night, so there's time for you to get on board this weekend. We're looking forward to giving you the most informative and enteraining general aviation material every eight weeks. Go to the Great Magazines website and, as a man once said many years ago, do yourself a favour.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

MTF...P2 

[Peetwo]

The Last Minute Hitch: 22 April 2022

22 April 2022

– Steve Hitchen

CASA's call for information on future technology and innovation struck an oddly familiar chord with me, a chord that sounded very much like Flightplan 2030. That was a Skidmore-instigated initiative to predict what GA in Australia would look like in 2030 to make sure CASA wasn't caught short by technology it was unaware of. This new project has an intent that sound remarkably like that. I'm not sure how much engagement the industry will grant CASA with this on two grounds. Firstly, submissions to be of any value must contain commercially-sensitive material; and secondly, CASA has a history of ignoring innovation not invented there. So the GA industry is being asked (again) to trust CASA at a time when the relationship with the regulator is still poor, whilst simultaneously believing that the information will be of value. Take the case of VFR ADS-B. Systems were developed and presented to CASA nearly 10 years before the VFR ADS-B project came to fruition. Attempts to get the regulator to understand were futile, so frustrated developers gave up and folded their companies. Now that CASA has written the spec for the system, there are so very few products that conform. CASA was told; CASA ignored. They should have been prepared. Is this new project just going to result in a parallel outcome? I hope not; I hope this is a result of the regulator understanding their previous sins and trying to rectify them for the future. We're likely going to have to wait until 2030 to find out, and even then it will rely on the willingness of companies to disclose sensitive materials to a regulator they don't trust.

"the ability of the senate to force change is extremely limited"

Senator Rex Patrick sounds locked and loaded and ready to open a decent barrage in his Mayday address. Patrick is one of the senators that has reached the end of their tethers with CASA and the general state of the GA industry, and he is making noises like he is about to deploy some type of secret weapon in our favour. His language refers to "a powerful sledgehammer", like what he has in his back pocket is something more than just the go-to weapon of most politicians: a tirade. Inquiries have failed, pleading has failed, consultation has failed, private members bills have failed. What is there left to try? The recent interim report from the senate inquiry–of which Patrick is a member–revealed the thinking of the committee and telegraphed the likely recommendations of the final report. If there was an undeployed cannon somewhere in the arsenal, it would be fair to think it would be heralded in the interim report. Sledgehammers are used to force things, and in the governmental-bureaucratic arrangement surrounding aviation, the ability of the senate to force change is extremely limited because all power is enshrined in the Director of Aviation Safety and the minister. One the other side of the balance sheet, Patrick has proven in estimates that he prepares well for what he's doing and it would be foolhardy to believe that he's likely go off half-cocked, which makes his Mayday address even more intriguing. Is the irresistable force about to meet the immoveable object? It will be worth being at AOPA Australia's headquarters on 1 May to find out.

It was 10 years ago almost to the week that I sat at my computer the newly-appointed editor of Australian Flying and thought "what have I done?" The task of steering the best GA title in Australia seemed overwhelming at the time, but equally I was also excited by the challenge. A few days ago I looked back on the years that have passed since 2012 and wondered where all the material I have gathered since then came from. Where did I get 60 images for magazine covers? How did I commission or write over 400 feature articles and get the inspiration to write more than 350 editions of The Last Minute Hitch? The answer is not that hard to find: it all came from the GA community; from my freelancers, my mentors, my flying colleagues. Without them and the hard-working people at Yaffa Media and the advertisers that we take along on the ride every issue, Australian Flying would be nearly impossible to produce. The other person who is the great unsung hero of Australian Flying is my partner Sonya the Magnificent, who puts up with all the complaining and stress that comes with me trying to make every next issue better than the last one. Thanks everyone for getting me through the last 10 years.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

[Peetwo]

The Last Minute Hitch: 6 May 2022

6 May 2022

– Steve Hitchen

CASA's general aviation workplan may not be a corner-turning moment for GA, but it is mileage in the right direction. Read deeply through this; you'll find it addresses many of the issues that have dogged aviation over the past 20-odd years. Those issues are the things that we have constantly blamed for causing the doldrums that the GA industry is in. Self-declared medicals, engineer training, simplified maintenance for GA, reform the regulatory philosophy, make CASRs more compatible for GA operations. It follows that if CASA completes the workplan then GA must be facing a more vibrant future, simply because we have told the government and the regulators so. So let it be written, so let it be done. However, CASA is on record as saying they implemented the majority of the Aviation Safety Regulation Review (ASRR) recommendations as well, and yet the fortunes of the GA community remained stagnant or even went backwards. Was the GA community wrong when they said the ASRR reforms would salve the wounds, or was something else in play? One of the key recommendations from the ASRR was that CASA change its culture, and despite programs to bring that about, nothing really happened. I fear the same for the workplan: no meaningful change will result unless CASA sweeps out those that perpetuate the "more regulation equals more safety", "never admit error" and "if in doubt, ground" attitudes that continue to poison the water from which GA must drink to survive. Organisations cannot change culture unless it is driven and demonstrated at the highest level, so with the workplan must come a committment from the board and the DAS to build a new CASA that is engaged, aware and responsible for all the outcomes, intended or not. Without that, the workplan will never get GA to the corner that it needs to turn.

"..I have to wonder if his sledgehammer has the power to deliver..."

Senator Rex Patrick's "sledgehammer" was revealed at his MayDay address last Sunday, delivered to about 70 people in the AOPA Australia hangar. His promise was to introduce a bill that would "force" CASA to look at ditching all the CASRs that they've developed since 1988 and adopt the FARs from the USA. Patrick has been one of GA's greatest supporters in the senate and has always been prepared to take CASA, Airservices and just about everyone else apart in the quest for aviation reform. However, I have to wonder if his sledgehammer has the power to deliver. As an independent senator, he can introduce a private members bill, but for that bill to get anywhere it must be supported by a majority of senators in the red house when it is voted on. For that to happen, it has to have the support of the Coalition or the ALP; independents alone won't be enough. Neither of the big two has shown any appetite for stuffing around with aviation safety, so recruiting them to such a revolutionary cause will be no mean feat. Have a look at the attempts to remove the primacy of safety from the Civil Aviation Act. No support there from the redshirts or the blueshirts; way too risky for either side. So how Senator Patrick intends to drive his upheaving bill through parliament is a mystery. The Coalition has flagged a lot of reforms in the Aviation Recovery Framework, but you won't find chucking out 35 years of work and starting again as one of initiatives within. That's not saying that Patrick shouldn't introduce his bill; he should do it. It will not force change, but it will force politicians to show their hands and for a short time lay the problems of GA out in front of all the senators, even the disinterested ones.

Surely this time private pilots must get the self-declared medical standard that RAAus pilots have enjoyed for years! Going by what we can see, all the pieces are in place. CASA has even given the idea a name: Class 5 medical standard. With the consultation to reform the entire medical philosophy now open, you can bet the weight of feedback will support the idea. The CASA DAS also seems in favour. Oh, dear ... deja vu. Back in the reign of Bruce Byron as DAS we were in exactly the same position and extracted a promise after consultation that self-declared medicals would be introduced. But it never happened. Despite all the support and momentum, the idea was pole-axed from within the aviation medical community. Too many DAMEs objected and threatened to dump their designations, causing a shortage of medical examiners in a system that was already under-populated. And that had ramifications for getting Class 1 and Class 3 medicals as well. Are we about to see a repeat? The difference this time around is that CASA has a weight of evidence from both the RAAus experience and the UK CAA that shows aeroplanes haven't been drilling holes in the ground through pilot incapacitation. And we have seen in the past how much CASA loves supporting statistics. The other big obstacle that this needs to overcome is the pain that certain members of CASA middle management will have to go through when they realise the GA community was right all along (see above under "never admit error").

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

[Peetwo]

The Last Minute Hitch: 13 May 2022

– Steve Hitchen

If you're confused about the way you're going to vote with only one week left to the Federal Election, you have plenty of friends; it is perhaps the tightest, most uncertain election there's been since the hung parliament of 2010. If you intend to vote whatever way you believe is best for general aviation then your path next Saturday is probably even more unclear. The Coalition is hanging its hopes for the aviation vote on the Aviation Recovery Framework, and the ALP is promising another aviation white paper as a lure. It would be difficult to measure either party by aviation credentials because neither achieved a whole lot of the aviation community when the power was in their hands. Although the Coalition instigated the Aviation Safety Regulation Review (ASRR), eight years later we are in the midst of a senate inquiry that is raking over the same coals that were identified as problems back then. It's very hard to say that anything was done for aviation when the parlous state of the industry drags on. The best thing we can do for the ALP is pretend we didn't hear the term "white paper". It's not a good strategy to say you are going to repeat a major failure of the past ... on purpose. With the chances of a hung parliament increasing the closer we get to the polling booths, the short-term future of GA remains even more uncertain as the minor parties and independents rarely express their opinions on aviation. It's not making life very easy, and aviation lobby groups may have to adjust the way they work to account for a shift in the balance of power.

"..These things were luxuries the Nomad didn't have.."


The C408 SkyCourier entered service this week; a milestone moment in aviation. This twin turbo-prop utility looks to have needs of just about every imaginable mission well and truly covered. And with two turbine dragging it along and a high wing up and out of the dust, this could be the aircraft Australia has been waiting for. We had something very like it once: the GAF Nomad, which did a pretty respectable job as a utility aircraft itself. However, the C408 has differences that are likely to bridge the gap between the struggling sales of the Nomad and the laudable success that the SkyCourier is sure to become. Firstly, the engines are P&W, not the Allisons of the Nomad and quite crucially, the landing gear is fixed. That's what comes from developing a twin turbo-prop utility starting with only a blank sheet of paper, a pencil and a list of customer requirements. These things were luxuries the Nomad didn't have. Originally, GAF designed the aircraft as a single-engined turbine (which would have been one of the first of a category that is now very healthy and growing) with fixed gear. Military requirements mutated it into a twin-engine retractable. The other advantage the C408 has is a launch customer that has ordered 100 airframes with an option for a further 100. If all orders and all options are filled, that one customer will account for more airframes that were ever produced of the Nomad. Food for thought.

You have to admire the determination of Aeroprakt to restart production under such unimaginable pressure. With the Russian army withdrawing from the Kyiv area, the company is spooling back up to one-third capacity at a time when the nation is facing a future never more uncertain. That takes a lot of guts. The factory is intact, but the aero club has been the subject of very dispiriting intentional destruction. It is being reported that "whatever the Russians can't take, they break", and it looks like Aeroprakt has been a victim of that philosophy. The company has demonstrated resilience of the highest order in the past months, and I have no doubt they'll soon be back to capacity again as one of the most important manufacturers of quality LSAs in the world.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

[Peetwo]

The Last Minute Hitch: 20 May 2022

– Steve Hitchen

With the stall speed limit set to be removed from CAO 95.55, the last hurdle to an effective RAAus Group G has been removed. But although RAAus is jumping for joy, some parts of GA are not so impressed, particularly the SAAA. The types of aeroplanes Group G has been written for are legacy GA two-seaters like C150s and Tomahawks, or amateur-built experimentals with MTOWs of no more than 760 kg. Take note: it does not apply to LSAs or to ultralights. Some sectors of GA hold fears of a mass migration of aircraft to RAAus, which they believe would serve to strengthen the ASAO whilst simultanously weakening traditional GA. In the case of the SAAA, they hold a belief that RAAus shouldn't exist at all and that CASA should take back full administration of all types. To say Group G has generated a bit of controversy would be classic Aussie understatement. And the clamour is about to get louder. Before the year is out, I believe the regulations will be re-written in the USA to supercharge what we now know as LSAs, enabling new-build conforming aircraft to slot straight into Group G without having been certified in any other category first. The talk is of a Light Personal Aircraft (LPA) standard that is stacked with potential for new technology that LSAs currently are denied: retractable gear, turbo-chargers, non-piston engines ... technically unlimited MTOWs and no stall speed limit. Group G stands to become the growth category in Australia, which I suspect will angry-up certain sectors of GA even more.

"...That pulls the rug out from under the best bits of Part 43..."

Perhaps not quite as controversial (although still somewhat contentious) is CASR Part 43. This is the ruleset that aims to simplifiy maintenance regs for private and airwork aircraft. After a bow wave of support, CASA has elected to adopt the FAR system with some blending for the Australian way of writing legislation. Although Part 43 will encompass aircraft used in flight training, flying schools won't be able to actually use it. There won't be too many flying schools in Australia that don't use their trainers also for joy flights or charter work, and CASA has stated emphatically that the higher-grade ruleset must apply. So a C182 can be used for CSU conversions and powerline inspections under Part 43, but if you're going to use it for joy flights you're stuck with CAR 30 or Part 145 and have to maintain it like it was Metroliner. That pulls the rug out from under the best bits of Part 43. Sometime ago, CASA actually championed no AOCs for joy flights, which never eventuated. So somewhere inside Aviation House is a weight of research that shows joy flights don't present the risk to the public that is was once presumed. We need regulatory archaeologists to dig that out, dust it off and take another look, adapting the thinking so that joy flights can be done in aircraft maintained to CASR Part 43.

It all comes down to tomorrow. The red, the blue, the green and the teal have all had their say and the fate of the 47th parliament now lies with the voters. Will general aviation come out of this smelling rosy or more like decaying mulch? That's a condundrum with an evasive answer; regardless who wins, GA won't be on the first page of their priority list, if at all. Both the Coalition and the ALP have made their positions clear-ish, but as D-day draws closer analysts and pundits seem even surer that the parliament is going to be hung. That means whoever forms government will need the co-operation of the cross-benchers to do so, and other than a small few, the cross-benchers haven't really embraced the problems of a minority like GA. So whilst a good outcome for GA is very hard to get a handle on, a worst-case scenario is much more obvious: nothing happens at all. The time for revitalising our community is right now, not during the 48th parliament or any other parliament to come. The weight of work done to open the eyes of politicians has put us in the best position ever to get something concrete done, and if that is all ignored in the coming months because it doesn't gel with poltical will, then it all will have been wasted. There won't be any more chances; this is the one we have and somehow we need to make it happen for us, and that may mean deeper engagement with the minor parties.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

(P2 Uh..oh here comes Albo and the GWEP -   ) 

[Peetwo]

The Last Minute Hitch: 27 May 2022

27 May 2022

– Steve Hitchen

Predictions of a hung parliament have fallen short of accurate. With the ALP creeping inexorably towards a slim majority, the currency of the crossbench is being devalued with each seat that turns red. That almost guarantees the aviation community a new white paper. When I rang around the industry this week, I was surprised to find that many advocates and lobbyists weren't as concerned about that as I was ... with conditions. The conditions were consistent: a white paper was good for the long term, but not for the short term. Without immediate action to fix the broken things now, a white paper will be rooted in ground too unstable to sustain growth. That puts the ALP in a precarious position; the only way they can fix things in time for their policy to have any meaning is to adopt the policy of the mob that were just shown the door; never a palatable thing in politics. When the new minister is announced (put your money on Catherine King), one of the first faces he/she should see is that of a GA community desperate and determined for reforms, advocating the General Aviation Advisory Network (GAAN) strategy and the CASA workplan as the best platform to launch reforms and the most solid foundation for the long-term vision articulated in their white paper.

"..it's time to change strategy to one that works.."

Some coal-face reforms that may be protected from political ambition are those under construction at CASA. Important changes like CASR Part 43 on GA maintenance and Part 67 on medicals are well advanced and, in general terms, enjoy the support of the regulator. These two reforms alone are pointers that the wind of change are starting to blow away some very stubborn cobwebs from the halls of Aviation House. This week, AOPA Australia CEO Ben Morgan expressed a great deal of optimism that CASA has finally got the message, thanks, in no small part, to the vision and determination of CASA CEO Pip Spence and Chairman Mark Binskin. And you know if AOPA Australia believes that change is upon us, then it is time for the rest of the GA community to start believing it too. This is not the first time I have expressed a belief that the GA community is so jaded it can't accept that real change might actually happen. But it looks like that change will happen within the CASR system not, as so many have demanded, by chucking out the whole lot and substituting the FARs. Although many will perpetuate the quest for that holy grail, it's time to change strategy to one that works. We are in a position where people within the CASA executive are starting see the benefits of reform; now is most certainly not the time to put them in a position where all we will accept is something they can't give.

As noted above, CASR Part 67 is currently at the discussion paper (DP) stage. This is the ruleset that dicates what medical standards are needed for what categories of licence and aircraft operation. The keystone for private GA in this is the chance that self-declared medicals for PPLs will be permitted. This is effectively the same system that recreational pilots have been operating under for some years and has been coveted by aviation advocates for just as long. This is not set in stone; there are forces in Canberra that are arrayed against it. What we need is for the feedback to the DP to overwhelmingly reflect the wishes of the people who stand to gain the most: PPLs. Too often with consultation (and there has been a bit of late) the feedback to CASA is often left to advocate groups, associations and those that have an opinion on everything. It is way too important for this to be repeated in the case of CASR 67. This time, PPLs need to fire-up their fingers and get submissions in that sway the feedback in such a way that the resulting Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) includes the Class 5 medical standard for all private operations. The forces against it are strong and there are no pure PPLs in the Technical Working Group. Consequently, if self-declared medicals are to carry the day, all hands need to come to the wheel. There is no surer way for the naysayers to get their way than if CASA believes the GA community doesn't really care.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

[Peetwo]

The Last Minute Hitch: 3 June 2022

– Steve Hitchen

It is unlikely that anyone was ever going to get the infrastructure and transport portfolio other than Ballarat's Catherine King. She was the shadow minister (but that counts for nothing; ask Martin Ferguson) and has been in and around the ministry for much of her career. She was the logical choice and, barring some political machinations, was always going to get the job. And it's no small task King has taken on; the Morrison government committed itself to an infrastructure-led recovery, but the new minister's first tasks were to tell Victorian premier Dan Andrews that there was indeed no pot of gold reserved for Melbourne road projects, and express dissatisfaction with how Infrastructure Australia had been run. With argy-bargy still happening over Western Sydney (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport and the inland rail project, it is clear it may take time before the next file in King's inbox has "General Aviation" marked on the front. That sentiment has been expressed before, with advocates pleading for instant action now and White Paper later. But King is not alone; Tasmanian senator Carol Brown has been called-up to act as Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Between the two of them, and the white hats within the department, GA will be hoping they have the goods to keep GA rolling on the road to revitalisation.

"..that makes radio mandatory, which angried-up the glider pilots.."


The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) found that CASA's surveillance regime was only partly effective, without defining which part or how large that part was. CASA would argue that the ineffective part was very small, pointing as they did to the ICAO audit which gave them a compliance rating of 96.25%. That being considered true, the ineffective part identified by the ANAO could have been only 3.75%. However, it is likely that ANAO and ICAO didn't have the same set of audit criteria. CASA in the meantime has accepted all seven recommendations, one of which correlates with something the aviation industry has been asking for: surveillance activities need to take into account the risk of the operation. Risk generally has two components: the likelihood of something happening and the consequences. In GA, the consequences of something going pear-shaped in most operations is low. For example, a GA plane can divert to Mildura and land without it making the news, but do it in a B737 ... But if the GA plane is on a charter flight, CASA wants it to adhere to the same set of rules as the B737 despite the consequence part of the risk being very different. ANAO identified this and CASA accepted it. Will implementing this recommendation make a substantial difference? If it does, we will have seen evidence of sweeping change through CASA.

At the time writing, there are only 33 registration marks available for the Australian civil register, which has forced CASA to open up the register to new options. The VH-XXX system produces only 17,526 options, which is not very many when you consider the UK's G-XXXX system produces 456,976. And the US system is so broad the combinations are almost endless, given the number of digits/letters after the N doesn't have to be consistent (you can do the maths ... I gave up). So it appears the rego system we chose in 1929 was restrictive, but back then there probably weren't 17,526 aircraft in the whole world, so you can't blame anyone back then for thinking that was enough. Going to alpha-numerics will add slightly more than double the number of regos available to VH-registered aircraft. We can only hope that one day there are so many aircraft in Australia that we strike trouble again. So right now people are thinking of quirky combinations that will be worth putting on their aeroplane. Some entreprenuer someone might like VH-B2B, or to impress a lover, VH-I4U; someone called Katie might want VH-K8E or, as a farewell, VH-CU2. But the biggest barney will be over who gets VH-AV8. I'm betting people have already taken steps to reserve that one.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

[Peetwo]

The Last Minute Hitch: 10 June 2022

RAAA CEO Steve Campbell has called for the government to start importing aviation engineers to correct a skills shortage that has now reached the critical level. It's not an ideal situation–training our own is preferable–but the knowledge and skill base in Australia has lost a lot of mass and it may be too late for self-recovery. The previous government conceded the situation was dire and recognised the need to bend training pathways into more efficient shapes, but that relied on them continuing in power, and as that didn't happen, all their plans and innovations are now redundant policy. Consequently, general aviation doesn't have the luxury of excess time and the MRO industry needs solutions right now rather than have to wait for the new government to put us through another review process; a process which I have no doubt will do nothing but tell them what they already know. The short-term fix is to get qualified engineers from overseas and get them on the job as soon as possible. It's not a perfect solution, but it will check the downhill slide whilst the new minister works on long-term initiatives.

"..CASA itself has for many years suffered from self-inflicted injury.."

More definite is the future of CASA's GA workplan, as reiterated last week by DAS Pip Spence. Whilst speaking to the airports association, Spence took the opportunity to slip in some comments about wider reforms and the workplan. The workplan is a cornerstone document of any GA revitalisation because it recognises several crippling issues and pieces of illogical regulation that the industry has been railing against for too many years now. We can hope only that the DAS continues to enjoy the approval of the government to get on and get this done. For it is not only GA that needs the reforms; CASA itself has for many years suffered from self-inflicted injury that it always had the power to heal, but chose to listen to obstinate voices that refused to believe in the wound. Those voices are still there, but are weakening as Spence and others who drive the bandwagon wield their own stubborness as a weapon for reform. The GA community still has those who think belief in internal reform is quixotic. To those people we must extend respect for the traumas the regulator has put them through, but to blindly deny the possibility of genuine reform is to kill it dead before it has a chance. When the dragon wants to wean itself off eating people, let it.

Scouts NSW's Air Activity Centre at Camden turned 50 years old recently, which is a mightly effort in a GA industry that has so very few organisations and companies that have lasted as long. The Scouts flight training programs have launched hundreds of aviation careers, including mine. I did my ab initio training at the Victorian Scouts centre at the now sadly missing Casey Airfield, and at the time it was the only possible way I could ever have become a pilot. It is now what I am and it is now what I do, and the Scouts made it so for me. The volunteer flying instructors meant dual rates didn't exist, which halved the cost of training. But it was the mentorship of instructors that weren't flying just to build hours that proved invaluable to me. In those days at Casey the instructors were Dick Humphrey DFC and David Thomas, and I draw on my experiences flying with them more than I do any other instructor. It was a perfect start to my aviation career in so many ways, and it wouldn't have happened for me had the NSW Air Activity Centre not pioneered the way for the Victorian centre to model itself on. Well done, Scouts NSW, like me, there are many pilots out there that owe you their careers.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

[Peetwo]

The Last Minute Hitch: 24 June 2022

– Steve Hitchen

It was a very happy team at AMDA Foundation that was able to announce yet another record crowd for RotorTech. The 2022 edition wrapped up yesterday in Brisbane having attracted 1980 people ... 100 more than last year. And they did it with no helicopters. The main armament used to get people through the door was a solid conference program for both the Australian Helicopter Industry Association (AHIA) and the Australian Association for Uncrewed Systems (AAUS), and a healthy exhibition that, albeit smaller than 2021, was nonetheless well supported. Each year this event has been larger than the previous one and the appetite for further growth is palpable. AMDA announced on Day One that RotorTech was going back to its two-year cycle and would relocate to Royal Pines at Gold Coast where the surrounding open ground would mean helicopters could return and UAVs could conduct demo flights. Going back to every two years will also put RotorTech on an alternating schedule with Avalon. As AMDA Foundation organises both, having them collide on a common year could prove a nightmare that would stretch AMDA's logistics and resources to the limit. I expect that RotorTech 2024 will be the best planned, executed and attended helicopter event in Australia. There is absolutely no reason why it won't be.


 "..It's almost as if the rotary industry being excluded intentionally from WSA is an insult.."


The good thing about Royal Pines, of course, is that there is space to land helicopters, unlike Western Sydney Airport. AHIA CEO Paul Tyrrell was dogged in his questioning of First Assistant Secretary Richard Wood from the department as to why WSA stands to be the only major airport in any major city in the world not to have a dedicated helipad. The answer that came back just poured more avtur onto the fire: you can always land at Bankstown or Camden. That presumes, of course, that the airspace architecture of WSA, due to be released next year, permits those two airports to remain practical. Even Sydney International–capacity problems at which are the reason WSA is being built–has a dedicated helicopter operating area. Tyrrell and the AHIA board are unlikely to let this one go through to the keeper. It's almost as if the rotary industry being excluded intentionally from WSA is an insult that AHIA is not going to take lying down. Affronts aside, failing to provide for helicopters displays poor future-proofing and a vision suffering from glaucoma. The design of WSA allows for an aircraft maintenance facility, but by "aircraft" they clearly mean "aeroplanes". Long-haired freaky helis may not apply. Unless the government intends to run those facilities themselves, they will be private operations that one day may want to diversify into tinkering with helicopters. Oh, well ... if they do they can always relocate to Camden, if it's still there.

The visibility study the ATSB conducted on the Mangalore mid-air is a real eye-opener in that it shows that open eyes sometimes are just not good enough. The underlying commentary (but not far under) is that ADS-B In hooked up to an audible warning would have given the crews enough advance warning to have avoided the crash. The ATSB notes that the last chance to avoid the accident would have been 12.5 seconds before it happened. At that time the two aircraft were just specks to each other. With an ADS-B In feed, there would have been ample warning. Proponents of the integrity of the see-and-avoid principle (including this writer) may now have to re-evaluate. And although this crash was between two IFR aircraft, the ramifications for VFR operations are perhaps even more stark. VFR pilots wouldn't have even been given traffic on each other if the rules had been obeyed strictly. I do know this for sure: do I think my ageing MkI Eyeballs are good enough technology to have avoided this accident? Not a chance ... and that is the key message the ATSB is trying to get across.

You have only a handful of days left in our Garmin Air X10 Aviator Smartwatch competition. Now, the criteria is that you need to get into the competition is to subscribe to the very newsletter you're probably reading right now. That's OK, you will know someone who's been meaning to subscribe for so long and just hasn't gotten around to it. Now's the time to give them some encouragement to not let this opportunity slide by. And if they win, you've got a very good case that they already have their next birthday present from you. Thanks immensely to Flightstore for their support of Australian Flying and this great competition. Check it out right here.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch