– Steve Hitchen
Last weekend I was amongst a group of intrepid aviators that paid a road visit to the Frogs Hollow Flyers and their grass strip just inland of the Sapphire Coast in NSW. For a small flying club, they have some fantastic facilities out there and are happy to share with any like-minded souls that care to drop in. They also put on deliciously wicked spread for afternoon tea. Before going there, I had been made aware of moves to sell and develop it into a flying academy for Chinese students. It would sound the death of this wonderful airport and the club itself. They could, I suppose, relocate to nearby Merimbula, but the cost of doing so would be astronomically high given that Merimbula has limited hangarage space and is a security-controlled airport. But it got me thinking: why Frogs Hollow for an academy? The strip is undulating grass with no taxiways and an access road that is a little more than a cattle track; literally ... we had to scare three cows off it before the bus could get through. So this means the people setting up the academy have to shell out a Packer's pocket money to build a new access road, hangars, facilities, taxiways and a sealed runway at least 1000 m long. Yes, they will have to build an entirely new airport and that means millions! All the other academies set-up in Australia have been put on existing airports because the infrastructure is already in place. Why build a new airport when there are hundreds of existing airports already around Australia that would love the income an academy would bring? The district does have some advantages: great weather, good population, no CTA; but is that worth all the money they'll be shelling out? We can but cross our fingers and hope the local council listens to the people. Then we can all keep going to Frogs Hollow for afternoon tea! Thanks, Frogs Hollow Flyers; hang in there, the aviation community is behind you.
Whilst we were at Frogs Hollow, I was invited to take a circuit in VH-MVR, the only Victa Aircruiser ever built. This four-seater went out of production before it went into production and the certified prototype became the pattern aircraft for the CT-4. It's an intriguing beast, but being the only one in the world, I was completely unfamiliar with it and all at sea. Every type of aeroplane is in its own way very different, and that's one of the reasons why CASA has regulations about currency on type. You all know the brave old saying "If I can start it, I can fly it!" In the real world that's naught but something to recite to yourself on the way to your own funeral.The C182 flies almost completely differently from the C172, the C177 is almost a completely different aeroplane from a C177B and the Aircruiser is certainly not in any way an Airtourer. In many respects, the problem can be that so many aircraft have so many similarities, but its the differences that will get you. Our flight was a safe one thanks to the owner, Des, who is undoubtedly Australia's most experienced Aircruiser pilot, but every year there are pilots in Australia that confidently stroll out to aeroplanes that they really aren't up to speed on, and the results can be avoidably disastrous.
I managed to reply to some of the comments made by readers in the recent survey. There were more than this, of course, but many of them were roughly the same. The questions I've chosen to reply to are the ones that I felt needed to be address the most. The feedback was very positive and encouraging to all of us at Australian Flying, but we understand that anything that doesn't grow and change will ultimately die, and that's something we don't want. The thing with change is that we know we have to do it, but we have to get it right, and that's where your feedback is so valuable to us. Although the survey is now closed, you can contact me at any time stevehitchen@yaffa.com.au and let me know about your good ideas.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch