[Peetwo]

Hitch on GAAG etc. -  

Via Oz Flying:

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester with GA Advisory Group chairman Martin Laverty. (Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development)

General Aviation Advisory Group starts Work
17 March 2017

The new General Aviation Advisory Group has met for the first time, discussing a range of key issues including the classification of operations, levels of flying activity, skills and training, and regulatory reform.

The advisory group is made up of industry people with expertise across most GA operations, with Royal Flying Doctor Service CEO Martin Laverty as chairman.

Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester attended the first meeting in Canberra and said direct engagement between the industry and the government was key to achieving the common goal of a safe, growing and sustainable aviation industry.

"The General Aviation Advisory Group will ensure the industry has a voice at the heart of government by providing advice directly to me on matters affecting the general aviation sector,” Chester said.

“I look forward to working with the GA Advisory Group to address the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that lay ahead for the sector in Australia."

He reiterated that the aviation sector should develop strategies to attract young people, including more women, into the industry.

The GA Advisory Group will also act as a reference group for the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) General Aviation Study, which the government announced last year.

BITRE briefed the group on the progress of the GA Study, providing an opportunity for the group to provide initial feedback.

The group also agreed on its terms of reference and operating protocols.

The next meeting of the group is expected to be held before the BITRE finalises the GA study, which is scheduled to be completed by 30 June 2017.

Members of the GA Advisory Group

Martin Laverty (Chair)
CEO, Royal Flying Doctor Service

Catherine Fitzsimons
Owner and Chief Pilot, Ward Air Flight Training

Mike Higgins
CEO, Regional Aviation Association of Australia

Marguerite Morgan
Business Development Manager, GippsAero/Mahindra Aerospace Company

Phil Hurst
CEO, Aerial Application Association of Australia

Michael Monck
President, Recreational Aviation Australia

Peter Gash 
Managing Director and Chief Pilot, Seair Pacific

Phillip Reiss
Vice President Pacific Region, IAOPA

Peter Crook
President, Australian Helicopter Industry Association

Mike Close
President, Air Sport Australia Confederation

Dr Reece Clothier
President, Australian Association for Unmanned Systems

David Bell
CEO, Australian Business Aviation Association Inc.
 

Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/lates...f8wtrjH.99

And this week in the LMH...

..Travelers know this feeling. Sometimes you've just come home from a place that captivated you so much you already want to go back, and just won't be able to satisfy the compulsion until you do. I'm going through that right now, and the place I want to go back to is the cockpit of an Airvan 10. During the week I managed to jag some time at the stick of Mahinda/GippsAero's latest creation: a 10-seat utility powered along by a Rolls-Royce 250 turbine, and I was mightily impressed by this aeroplane. It maintains many of the most loved characteristics of the Airvan 8, but it will haul a heavier load and negates the need for avgas.

Truly this is a great aeroplane that is set to do great things.

The thing about this aeroplane is that it's not trying to be a Caravan; its market niche is between an Airvan 8 or a C206/210 and the Caravan, a power and capability jump that is just not economical for some operators to make. The Airvan 10 is set to fill that gap and bring Jet-A1 operations to companies that thought it would be forever out of their reach. Truly this is a great aeroplane that is set to do great things. I just need to find away to wangle myself back in to the cockpit of one.

You would barely have your foot through the door on a visit to Tecnam than your host would inevitably mention the name Professore Luigi Pascale. They revered their founder and his achievements, and were fiercely proud of his contribution to not only Tecnam, but also aviation in general. The company must be feeling somewhat fatherless this week after the Professore died this week. He was the guiding hand on the designer's pencil and worked with imagination and innovation. The quality of his aeroplanes was complemented by a need for style in a very Italian way. His last masterstroke, the P2012 has been touted by many as the answer to the woes of charter companies across the world, and if the longevity of his other designs is any sort of benchmark, the Professore's influence will be with us for many years to come.

By about 3.00 pm on Friday 3 March, people at Avalon were already talking about the crowd being one of the best ever; there were people absolutely everywhere! Hence, it really was no surprise to read this week that new attendance records had been set. You can attribute that to a healthy display program, the arrival of the F-35s (the Neverhawks of the 21st century?) and sun, sun and more sun. In reality, there is not a lot more the organisers could have done to ensure success and the results show their efforts were on the mark. So where to from here? The 2019 Australian International Airshow needs to be configured to further develop and grow the event, and at the time of writing it's hard to see what more they can do to break records again. Most probably their best form of advertising will be the memories of the 2017 show.

Darren Chester's General Aviation Advisory Group kicked off in Canberra mid-March. This is a collection of aviation expertise designed to provide top-quality feedback to the government and particularly help the BITRE GA Study keep on a direct track. Whilst establishing this group to provide advice is a massive positive for GA, it is not a guarantee that the Federal Government is committed to helping GA grow and become a vibrant industry. Of concern to me is that the GA Advisory Group will keep the BITRE study on track, which will inevitably report back to the minister with some inconvenient truths. Only by the reaction to these truths can we judge the committment of the Federal Government. However, we need to lift our chins and plod on; we have more hope of reform with the advisory group than we would have without them.

Who's read the ATSB report into drone incidents? I haven't gone through it completely yet, but I didn't have to go far to come across the heart of the issue: no-one knows what's happening and they really have no way of finding out. Of the close encounter between drones and manned aircraft reported between 2012 and 2016, half occured over 1000 ft AMSL and that the drone involved was almost never identified. Add that to the fact that close encounters on weekend were "over-represented" and you can easily justify a conclusion that they're mostly private operators, not the certified ones. This, and a lot more analysis has led the ATSB to conclude that "The operation of remotely piloted aircraft is an emerging risk to transport safety ...". Best you read through the report yourself.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/the-l...tdsB0TI.99

MTF...P2