– Steve Hitchen
So many forceful opinions expressed in aviation have finished with the epithet "it's only a matter of time before someone gets killed." They're not always right, but sometimes that is in fact the tragic truth that follows a long-expressed fear. Glider operators at SE QLD glider havens like Kingaroy and Gympie have been worried about the potential for a mid-air collision for some years. This year, it happened. Two people dead. Queensland Police and RAAus will head-up the investigation after the ATSB decided it was not within their sphere of interest, and we should wait for the final report as if the ATSB were conducting it before making our own declarations about what happened. But I will say this: the glider community has been fearful of a mid-air because of poor radio and circuit entry practices from powered pilots who seem to be either oblivious to glider ops, or not professional enough to take them into account. We can't say definitively that this is what happened near Gympie. We can say that the investigators will be taking a close look at why such fears have been held for so long.
The aviation community has long lamented that veterans are exiting the industry at the top end, yet the flow of young people into to bottom end is not keeping up. We express that as worries over pilot and engineer shortages, usually accompanied by demands that the legendary "someone" should do something about it. Bright Events decided to be the someone. The Schools and Careers Open Day held before Wings over Illawarra this year proved to be a success beyond what many of the GA community thought it could be, demonstrating that young people can be interested in aviation if we show them what we're all about. The GA community should take more than heart from the success of this day, they should also take this as a template to organise more events just like this in more locations around Australia. But who is going to be the "someone" that will take this on board? The natural fit, is AMDA Foundation. By its own charter, AMDA exists to promote the development of aviation, and that should extend to the young people of Australia that aren't being exposed to the potential careers aviation can offer them. AMDA may have a different opinion, but as the only independent foundation in Australia that covers all sectors of aviation, they are in the box seat to dedicate energy and resources to get the job done. Bright Events has shown the way, but it is others that need to do the follow-up work.
It is very hard not to guffaw at the news that Moorabbin Airport was awarded Metro Airport of the Year this week. This is an airport that has directed most of its resources towards the business of being anything but an airport. The operating company had their master plan rejected by the previous government and they have set about tearing up much-needed aviation infrastructure after making arbitrary declarations that it was no longer required. Hangars have been destroyed and tenants left with nowhere to go; the local municipal council is looking daggers at the airport because of the effects of non-aviation development. But somehow they are the metro airport of the year. Cue the guffaws. But I also look at it this way: if the category is going to exist then it will likely be presented to an airport that doesn't have aviation as the main source of income, regardless of which metro area the airport is in. It highlights that the business of running an airport and the business of aviation are not always the same thing.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch