[Peetwo]

From off the Yaffa??

Well Dougy is back from hols and is quick to show his one-eyed favouritism for the current crop of ASA trough dwellers & parasites, summed up here by Gobbles & the Ferryman:

Oh, happy daze..


It’s remarkable that they can get all that done by morning tea, when you consider it’s taken a quarter century to collectively chew through better than a hundred million a year, for 25 years and achieved sod all. But, it’s nice to know we are in good hands and old mate Dougy will keep us all abreast of the latest developments in his insightful, unbiased, clear cut editorials.

Now Sir, will ye have a pessary to heal the troubled area; or, a tompion, lest the ants creep in while you hibernate?

Gobbles; I’ll have that bucket when you’re done with it.  Cheers.

  
Well at least the other side of the Yaffa is a little bit more circumspect in summarising and giving opinion on recent industry/regulator/ASA developments :

The Last Minute Hitch: 7 August 2015

07 Aug 2015

Way back in 2007, Australia looked set to get the US National Airspace System (NAS). Politics and back-room bargaining pretty much consigned the idea to the grave, even though it was government policy. Dick Smith has been the most vocal proponent of the NAS, and now he's back on topic after the new Airspace Policy Statement didn't mention NAS by name. However, the door is not shut for Dick; the new policy states the government expects CASA to implement "world's best practise", and if he's right, then that must mean NAS. But, getting US-style airspace over here has proven nearly impossible, even when it is policy; think of the E-over-D trials and the FAA Class D towers we were supposed to be getting. Yes, the politicians and back-room bargainers are still at work, and the term "world's best practise" is so broad you could land on it sideways, meaning it is open to re-definition by convenience.

This week I have for CASA a bouquet with a brick in it. Firstly, good on them for recognising the need to exempt flying schools from getting approval for adding non-complex aircraft to their training fleets. Does our regulator really need to scrutinise a school that has added a C172 to their Warrior collection? No, and this CASA exemption recognises that. Now for the brick: this exemption came about because of the unintended consequences of definitions used in Parts 141 and 142, which highlights again how badly thought-out some of the regulatory reform has been. We'd much rather CASA get it right first time than issue exemptions. Was it the last Director of Aviation Safety who said the idea of the regulatory reform was to remove the need for exemptions?

Staying on this topic, it is now time for CASA to start looking at the onerous, needlessly complex trial of getting a new aircraft that does need approval added to an Air Operator Certificate. At the recent CASA forum at Mildura, one operator pointed out how much they had to jump through hoops to get a PC-12 added, and pointed out the incongruity of their cargo going in the relative luxury and safety of the PC-12, whilst charter pax were relegated to the old Navajo, a type which CASA has targeted as being an ageing aircraft. The imperative should be to get new types onto charter AOCs as soon as possible to fulfill the aim of retiring the old twins. Clearly, there is a direct nexus between streamlining the process and increased safety, so let's get it done.

Aircraft deliveries released this week from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) can be interpreted in a number of ways. Firstly, you could say the industry is in decline again because the shipments were down on 2014, or you could say it's improving because they are up on the first quarter of 2015. With Q1 being a bit of a disaster for the industry, we really have to take the longer-term view and say that shipments are down. That's reflected in Piper's decision to start laying-off workers, which we believe is not as drastic as was first predicted ... unless you're one of the workers laid off! The biggest surprise is the drop-off in demand for the Diamond DA40, down 63% from last year. With demand for the DA20 also soft, this aircraft had become their bread-and-butter. Fortunately for them, the DA42 is leading the twin-engine stakes easily.

Ausfly is less than a month away now! After a sabattical last year due to the overworked Sport Aircraft Association of Australia (SAAA) volunteers needing to concentrate on regulation changes, Ausfly looks like coming back with a bang! The air show program is gaining strength and having the Roulettes front up certainly adds some spice. Australian Flying will be there in the expo hall, so come over and say hello when you have a quiet moment. I'm keen to hear your opinions on just about everything from the magazine to regulation reform, new aeroplanes, new products and airports. I look forward to having a chat already!

The Australian Women Pilots’ Association is celebrating the 100th birthday of pioneer aviatrix Nancy-Bird Walton on Friday 26 October at Pyrmont in Sydney.

Tickets are $150 a head and you can book at nancy.bird.dinner@gmail.com. This is a great intiative, and one worthy of becoming an annual event.

Andrew Andersen attended Oshkosh this year and sent back a great set of photos. You can see his work in our Oshkosh 2015 photo gallery on the Australian Flying website.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch

  MTF..P2