Week in brief July 8 2011

In ‘Week in brief June 17 2011’ we reported that the Narromine Council was planning to impose an ‘Events Fee’ upon Narromine Aerodrome that would’ve seen a cost of $55 charged to each aircraft that uses the facility for airshows, competitions and the like. Well, we’ve now been informed that, after some undoubtedly vicious lobbying by the local aviation community, the Council has voted unanimously to drop the proposed event fee. The Council has instead set up a stronger airport management committee that will work with aerodrome stakeholders towards positively promoting and encouraging all aviation events at Narromine Aerodrome. Sounds like sanity prevailed in the end here.


In a story in The Northern Star this week, Howard Hughes, head of Ballina-based LSA manufacturer Australian LightWing, has underscored the importance of having aviation in the high school curriculum. Back in the 90s, Hughes worked with Ballina High School in a partnership that offered students the chance to build, and eventually fly, their own aircraft under his watchful eye. Giving a tour of Australian LightWing HQ to aeronautical engineering students from Ballina and Alstonville high schools this week, Hughes said he’d love to get a similar program up and running again. You can read the full story by clicking here, or for more info on Australian LightWing click here.


Coffs Harbour Aero Club is this weekend hosting an Australian Women Pilots’ Association fly-in in the hope of encouraging more young women to get into flying. Saturday’s fly-in will feature none other than Aussie pioneering aviatrix Pat Toole, who became the Coffs Harbour Aero Club’s first licensed female pilot in 1949 and a year later co-founded the AWPA with Nancy Bird-Walton. Would-be female pilots can come along to the event and have the chance to score a free trial introductory flight, so be sure to check out www.coffsharbouraeroclub.com for more info.


The latest figures from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) show accidents involving GA operations (fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters weighing more than 2250kg involved in private, business and aerial work activity) in Europe increased from 19 in 2009 to 31 in 2010. While the number of fatal accidents fell from nine to six over the same period, the GA accident total for 2010 was well above the European yearly average of 20 recorded between 1999 and 2008. The EASA concluded that loss of control in flight was the dominant cause of GA accidents in Europe in 2010, representing a significantly bigger factor than aircraft technical issues.


If you’re into the very light side of things, you might be interested to know that Rick Duncan of Newcastle microlight manufacturer Airborne is this weekend heading up the coast to demo the new T-Lite Core soaring trike. Short notice, but you can catch Rick at Ballina Aerodrome and Tyagarah Airfield today (contact Richard Tabaka by phoning 0407 281 687 for more info), or at Canungra Airfield over the weekend (contact Ken Hill by phoning 0418 188 655 or emailing ken@hangglidequeensland.com.au for more info). All pilots are welcome to book in for a test flight at both. Click here for more on Airborne.


The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office in the US is on the hunt for a man suspected of trying to steal a Cessna C172 before crashing into another small plane. The story is the bloke jacked the 172 from a flying school flight line, taxied for about 50 feet before collecting a parked aircraft. He then did the dash and has been on the lam for nearly a month now.


Flights were delayed for around 30 minutes at New York’s JFK Airport for a while last week while airport personnel dealt with 150 or so turtles which had invaded the runway seeking a suitable spot to lay eggs. The runway had been built on a turtle nesting spot, so workers gave the turtles some priority, moving them to an alternative area.


It is 50 years this month since regular in-flight movies were shown on commercial airline flights. It all began in July 1961, when US carrier Trans World Airlines (TWA) first class passengers travelling between New York and Los Angeles were treated to a screening of just-released drama By Love Possessed, starring Lana Turner. Oh how far we have come.