Week in brief July 22 2011

If you’re heading to the Wide Bay Australia International Airshow up in Bundaberg from August 19-21, you’re going to want to watch this. The event is hosting the Leukaemia Foundation’s Mission to Cure Plane Pull, a charity event in which teams of 10 gallant souls gang together to try and pull a DC3 to raise money for the fight against leukaemia. But wait, there’s more, so much more…amateur Brisbane strongman Tom O’Shea will attempt to pull the DC3, which has an empty weight of 8300kg, on his own! Told you you’d want to check this out. And while on the subject of the Wide Bay Australia International Airshow, deputy chairman of the event, Neil McPhillips, says the RAAF Roulettes are also still expected to make an appearance despite that incident that ground them in May. This year’s Wide Bay Australia International Airshow is shaping up to be a very exciting event indeed.


The Cobar Age reports that a group of cyclists are this Sunday once again setting of on their annual, challenging bicycle ride through the Australian outback to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. The Silver City Bush Treadlers’ 16th annual Merino Dare cycling tour wheels into action in Cobar and will see the group cycle through Nymagee, Mount Hope, Willandra National Parkand Ivanhoe as well as a number of sheep and cattle stations before returning to Cobar on Friday August 5 after 891.3km of cycling. The riders will travel an average of 68.56km per day. Last year they raised $38,000 for the RFDS, and hope to raise a similar amount this year. Over 15 years they’ve raised more than $328,000. Now that’s impressive. For more on this click here.


This year’s Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) AirVenture, perhaps the single biggest airshow in the world, kicks off on Monday July 25 and runs for six glorious days that will see around 500,000 punters from around 60 countries converge on Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. With around 10,000 aircraft attending, Wittman Regional becomes the busiest airport in the world during the event. ATTENTION AUSTRALIAN FLYING READERS: Are you attending EAA AirVenture 2011? Email Editor Justin Grey now about potentially reporting on the event for our print magazine.


Aerosport Australia, a Victorian company that’s the exclusive Australian distributor for the Czech-built BRM Aero Bristell LSA range, has now successfully secured the exclusive distributorship for ULPower Aero Engines, a Belgium manufacturer of light aircraft engines. The first batch of engines are already on their way to Australia, where they’ll be installed in Aerosport’s new BRM Aero Bristells. And due to interest outside of the country, Aerosport Australia has now been granted exclusive BRM Bristell distribution rights for the entire Asia Pacific region.


General Aviation News reports that the NTSB in the US has set up a study of accidents involving amateur-built aircraft to evaluate the safety of what it says is a growing and innovative segment of General Aviation. Of the approximately 224,000 GA aircraft in the US, about 33,000 of them are classified as experimental, which includes a wide variety of aircraft that can be built from a prefabricated kit, existing plans, or a builder’s unique design. The NTSB says that this group of aircraft has, for several years, experienced accident rates greater than those of other comparable segments of GA. The study will look at a range of issue areas, including builder assistance programs; transition training for pilot-builders; flight test and certification requirements; maintenance; and the performance and failures of systems, structures, and powerplants. The Experimental Aircraft Association is supporting the study.


On Saturday September 10 at Coldstream Airfield the Australian Centre for Mission Aviation (ACMA) is hosting its Mission Aviation Discovery Day, or MAD Day. The events program has a mission aviation emphasis and will include aerobatics, joy flights (both helicopter and fixed wing), radio controlled models, static displays, children's activities and refreshments. The event runs from 1100 to 1600; for more info email jennifer@acma.vic.edu.au or phone (03) 9739 0612. For more on the ACMA itself, click here.


In what can be viewed as an unusual move by those in other cultures, Gulfstream has decided to rename its Gulfstream G250 super midsized biz jet the Gulfstream G280 due to manufacturer’s sensitivity to the varied cultures of its international customer base. “We determined that G280 is a more amenable number sequence in certain cultures,” Larry Flynn, senior vice president, Marketing and Sales, said. “This change reflects our commitment to understanding the diverse cultures of our global business environment.” Are you as confused as us?


In November last year the Chinese Government announced the reform of the country’s low-altitude airspace, initially covering specific cities including Chengdu, Guangzhou and Nanjing. The first stage is focused on the aero-medical emergency service sector. The initiative will gradually be extended to other areas – and to other sectors of GA – with the aim of covering the whole country by the end of 2015. That is driving an inaugural Air Medical Rescue Congress to be held in Shanghai from October 11-12 this year. For more details on the event click here.