The May-June print issue of Australian Flying will magically appear in your letterboxes and in the newsagencies next week. One of the highlights of this issue (and there are quite few of those) are the Avalon photos from the camera of John Absolon. Taking photos of aircraft from the ground is a skill not all photographer - professional or not - can master, but this issue shows that "Jabs" Absolon has it down pat. We also examine the insidious fear of controlled airspace, interview the Oris Immortals (Ok, Tinstix), give you some tips on managing your cockpit, look at how flight sims are changing training and find out what it takes to carry children safety in a GA plane and Shelley Ross goes inside the womens flying relay.
CASA and The Australian Aviation Associations Forum have both had their say on the new fees schedule proposed. Naturally, TAAAF has paid out on the regulator, drawing a pretty solid defence from CASA. Neither party is staffed with idiots, so how can such polarised views come from the same discussion paper? TAAAF's contention that CASA needs to control costs is absolutely right, so much so that CASA agrees with it! CASA states quite emphatically that the fees don't recover all the costs and the 90 new ones to be introduced replace old ones that are being phased out as Part 61 phases in. Ah ... Part 61. There is a lot said in that little title. Part 61 on licensing has not gone down well with anyone in the industry, and now CASA says they are going to charge us for what TAAAF describes as a "debacle." No-one likes being charged for a debacle, so maybe the fee structure would have been better accepted had CASA first proven the new system was worth paying for.
The Australian Helicopter Industry Association (AHIA) has noted the sudden stall in growth figures in the rotary aviation sector. After 20 years of good news, it's probably fair that they are alarmed about it all. Of all the reasons attributed, perhaps the most telling is the downturn in the resources sector. Like most of Australia, we've been relying heavily on mining and exploration for money to flow into the industry, but now the flow is starting to ebb a bit, we need to think about new income streams. Not so easy to do in the helicopter industry (or fixed-wing for that matter) because any mission that needs a rotary and can sustain the cost is already doing it ... that's what 20 years of growth has been about.
Wings over Illawarra is on again in early May, and this year the organisers are hoping it will be the crowd that's blown away and not the air show! Savage crosswinds in 2014 effectively canceled the show, with only a few jets taking to the air. There's some making-up to be done for the people of Illawarra/Sydney, but if the scheduled line-up materialises, it should immediately wipe 2014 from the minds of the attendees.
Don't forget the Wings Award nominations are now open. Both Australian Flying and the Australian Division of the Royal Aeronautical Society want to stress the importance of making sure you address the criteria in your nomination. Last year, too many submissions were lacking the proper support, so the judging panel had no way of properly assessing the candidate. All crtieria are on-line on the Australian Flying website.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch