Well over a year ago, I wrote a little quasi-historical piece on what I thought the new Director of Aviation Safety needed to bring to CASA. Within that article is contained the paragraph "The problem the aviation industry has with CASA goes deeper than just the person at the top of the hierarchy chart; it penetrates deep in to the middle management level, and replacing the Director will work only if the embedded culture of those below is rooted out as well." We are about to test my theory. CASA Deputy Director Terry Farquharson is leaving in July, and a replacement will need to be found. But from where will the replacement come? Unfortunately, there is now a stigma attached to going to work for CASA; like anyone doing so has crossed to the dark side of the force. This stigma may act like a firewall to prevent experienced, talented aviation people from moving to Canberra. We can hope that new CASA Chairman Jeff Boyd will have the influence to punch through the firewall and encourage industry people to change the regulator from within. Failing that, we will probably get another ex-RAAFie, or someone from overseas. The worst thing for the industry is if we are forced to elevate someone from middle-management at CASA. That will only drag the embedded culture up one level.
I was told by a freight operator years ago that they could run two Piper Chieftains for the cost of one Cessna Caravan. That's quite a testimonial for a very old airframe, and it may be such thinking that has encouraged Tecnam to develop their P2012 Traveller. With the project on track for a roll-out by the end of the year, charter operators will have something to replace their ageing twins with other than a single-engine turbo-prop (SETP). Like any aircraft, a measure of its success will be the sales, and how the P2012 goes in getting market share off the SETPs like the Caravan and PC-12. Once that measure is in, we'll have some idea if the SETP boom is based on performance and economic superiority over twin pistons or just a lack of a viable alternative.
When Matt Hall went smoke-on for his last run at Rovinj on Sunday, he was favoured to grab his first Red Bull Air Race win. Having clocked a blistering time to get into the final four, he could have been half-a-second slower and still won the round. Alas, it didn't happen. Matt was a full second slower this run and finished in third place. But the news was not all bad. Championships are won with points not number of race wins: ask Keke Rosberg, who won the 1982 F1 Championship with only one race win to his name. Hall's third gave him a share of the championship lead and leaves him as the only pilot to be on the podium in every round so far this year. He's sort of satisfied; consistency is important, but the hunger for a race win goes on unabated.
There's less than a month to go until nominations for the 2015 Wings Awards close, so get your skates on and get those submissions in before the deadline. We've received some very creditable nominations at the moment, so the more polish you can put on yours the better off you'll be. Just don't work so hard on it that you miss the deadline!
And speaking of deadlines ... I've just booked my accommodation for Ausfly in September to be told I got the last room at the motel. Now, there are many more places in Narromine to stay, but it's obvious you'll have to get yourself and the rest of your team sorted pretty soon. Fly-ins and air shows such as this one usually need committment many months in advance, and if you haven't made the firm decision yet, now is very much the time to do it.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch