Airservices looks like closing an inequity gap if they start charging RA-Aus aircraft to use Class D airports. Intially, it was thought that recreational aircraft wouldn't make up a lot of traffic, but the stats show things have changed. General aviation flying schools have been looking to redress this for some time, with the contention that circuit caps include RA-Aus aircraft, effectively shutting out GA ... the paying customers! It's a compelling argument that looks like being adopted. It will be very interesting to see what happens to the RA-Aus traffic levels now.
NSW coroner Mary Jerram has called for CASA to make radios mandatory in gliders. I can't see this one getting up given that radios are not mandatory in powered aircraft. It wouldn't make sense to enforce it on the powerless ones when the disadvantage is so great in terms of weight. Can you imagine the silliness of gliders being forced to carry radios at CTAFs where powered aircraft are not necessarily doing the same?
It's very heart-warming to see the name Col Pay amongst the 2014 inductees into the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame (AAHOF). Col was not your hero's hero, but he did a lot for agricultural aviation, firebombing and warbirds. His work is everywhere across NSW. He was the driving force behind Warbirds over Scone, restored a Mustang, Spitfire and Kittyhawk, brought Trojans out of Thailand and Laos, a Dragonfly from Vietnam and piloted the Narromine Wright Flyer replica. Col also pioneered crop spraying and firebombing techniques in Australia. The AAHOF was always going to be missing something without this man as part of it.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch