[Peetwo]

LMH 12/02/17.

The Fort Fumble Part 61 'closure' report - see Hot off the CASA PR spin cycle - carries the top of the page in Hitch's weekly wrap... :

We are about to find out if CASA is a learning organisation, and exactly what it is that they have learnt. The Part 61 Solutions Taskforce Closure Report made it into the public domain last week, containing two very strong messages. Firstly, it is clear that co-operation with industry does actually work when it comes to sensible regulation; and secondly, if this approach had been used when Parts 61, 64, 141 and 142 were first drafted, there may never have been a need for a fix-it taskforce.

"..co-operation with industry does actually work when it comes to sensible regulation.."

It's what both CASA and the industry have needed for years. The issue has alway been that elements within the regulator believed (and probably still do) that advice is supposed to flow from CASA to the aviation community and not the other way around. Those people must be chewing on their ventricles now that the Part 61 taskforce has shown that things go better with genuine collaboration. It remains to be seen if the lessons learnt will be applied to future regulatory projects.

The Avalon buzz this week is all about Joint Strike Fighters: two of them. With the Department of Defence confirming that two F-35 Lightning IIs will fly to Avalon from Luke AFB in the USA, Australia is at last going to see where $17 billion in funds is beng spent. With delays, cost over-runs and questions over performance, the F-35 project has been probably the most controversial aviation acquisition since the F-111. All of that aside, this is very exciting news for Airshows Downunder, the aviation and defence communities and the general public. We've all gotten just a little tired of having to settle for a life-size mock-up whilst the Americans have had them at air shows for a couple of years now. Given that Australian companies and technology have contributed to the F-35, we deserve to see them in real life.

And speaking of Avalon. With so much magnificent machinery strutting across the sky in front of your camera, you want to be able to get some decent shots. However, taking images from the ground to the air is tricky stuff: a shutter speed that's right to stop blur will also stop a prop; should you use image stabilisation when you're panning? Getting it wrong can result in very disappointing shots on your computer screen when you get home. Australian Flying's test pilot and principal photographer John Absolon has been asked by Nikon Australia to put on a seminar on the Thursday before Avalon. If you're in the area, get along to Michael's camera store on the corner of Elizabeth and Lonsdale Streets in Melbourne and get the good oil on how to snap an Avalon shot to be proud of.

Brian J Terwilliger has done it again. After producing the much-loved One-Six Right video, Terwilliger has followed it up with Living in the Age of Airplanes. This is a socio-documentary focusing on how aviation has changed the world we live in, shortening travel times, making journeys and exploration possible and examining the revolution catalysed by the invention of heavier-than-air flight. With a narration by Harrison Ford, it's a very evocative story and transcends aviation itself to expose how aviation belongs in the modern world. Right now its on at IMAX Melbourne and is worth a look-see in glorious big-screen format.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/the-l...K7iTgQ0.99

 
Dear LMH - In reference to the biblical Part 61 that has probably inflicted more damage to the GA industry than the combined total of overly prescriptive, voluminous, totally illegible (to the average industry punter), 30+ year, $300+million reformed regulations (so far); here is Sandy's view... :

Sandy -  "Closure"report, reminds one of that condition sort by the recently bereaved. How appropriate for Aussie GA.


The one outstanding feature of the report is talk about outcome based regulation. Obviously we don't speak the same language because any objective view of our current super prescriptive strict liability criminal aviation law could not plausibly call it "outcome based regulation". Unless of course the desired outcome (unspecified) is the continued decline of GA in Australia.

The question must be put to Parliament how can it be that after 29 years and hundreds of millions of dollars the rewrite of the "regulations" is still not finished and GA is in steep decline?

The government corporate body style of governance (much vaunted independent umpire), ostensibly for efficiency and reduce costs to the public purse has failed. How is it that the CEOs of these bodies are paid more than their Ministers? Is it because Ministers have less responsibility? AusPost boss gets ten times more than the PM. Presumably Carmody is being paid well above Chester.

The system is truly broke and if it were possible to calculate the lost opportunity costs they would be way in excess of the monster direct costs of running our aviation regulators.

     
MTF...P2