– Steve Hitchen
There is nothing new about the problem of aviation engineers; as long as I have been with Australian Flying the issue has been constantly highlighted. The problem seems to be that no-one has taken positive action to do anything about it. That was until the Cameron family stepped in with $500,000 in 2022 to energise the helicopter industry's intake of potential new engineers. This was the seeding capital needed, and by all accounts is starting to pay off. A new foundation, the Australian Helicopter Industry Future Foundation (AHIFF) was born to manage the money and make sure it was placed where it would do the most good. That's has proven the case, with the scholarships and workshops held around the country starting to raise interest in young people and encouraging them to think about aviation engineering as a career. This is the helicopter industry in action: doing something for itself rather than waiting for someone in government to solve the problem. It demonstrates that stuff does get done when an industry moves to secure its own future.
My interview with CASA Principal Medical Officer Kate Manderson was very enlightening, even though I don't necessarily buy into some of the philosophy surrounding the new Class 5 self-declared medical. What came through most prominently is that CASA has a risk framework into which just about everything they do has to be squeezed. This is the largest difference between CASA and RAAus, and explains why CASA seems to ignore the RAAus experience on a number of levels: RAAus doesn't have such a stringent risk framework and their Part 149 certificate affords them the ability to establish their own risk standards. Hence an RPC can fly formations on a self-declared medical but a PPL with Class 5 cannot. But CASA has displayed some flexibility here by permitting self-declared medical holders to fly in CTA. That has been a rock-hard "No way" for several years, but a re-examination of the facts has seen CASA completely reverse their position. With a post-implementation review due in February next year, it is not outside the borders of possibility that some of the other restrictions could also be relaxed. It all comes down to the risk framework and whether or not it has enough give to accommodate logic and reason.
New aircraft deliveries for 2023 revealed a more robust manufacturing industry than we have seen for many a year. Over 4000 new aircraft were sent out to customers, which is the best result since before the global financial crisis in 2008. The figures for high-value aircraft like single-pilot jets and SETPs are encouraging, but the performance of the Cirrus SR22 range simply eclipses everything else; nearly 500 airframes rolled-out. In all the years I have been keeping records, that is the best Cirrus has ever done. The gap to other manufacturers is so large that it won't be breached by Piper and Cessna. Diamond has a more modern contender with the DA50, but it's not proving a huge lure for new buyers at the moment. The result in the four-seat trainer market is also outstanding. All models out-paced their own 2022 figures, with the Tecnam P2010 having its best sales year ever. This also bodes well for fleet renewal, as it shows operators and owners are starting to consider new aircraft rather than persist with older airframes, upgraded or not.
Airshows Downunder Shellharbour is only a week away now. Formerly Wings over Illawarra, the re-branded event is now in the hands of AMDA Foundation, which also run the Australian International Airshow at Avalon. The last-minute announcement of Paul Bennet's Sea Fury has been a pleasant surprise; it has been years since we've seen a Sea Fury in action in Australia and it will, I'm sure, become a very welcome participant at many air shows around the country in future. The other sneaky superstar announced late is the Yak 110. To sum, this is two Yak 55s bolted together and augmented with a jet engine between the two airframes. It's sort of like a Frankenstein's monster of the air show industry, but it's performance in the air is something to behold. These two alone should be enough to get you out of your seat and down to Albion Park next weekend.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch