The general aviation industry is so immersed in cow dung at the moment that it's hard for some of us to remember that we're trying to fertilise the ground. In the past month, we've had to dig up all the angst caused by onerous regulation and political apathy and splash it all over ourselves in order to show what we're covered in. In doing so, we've had to ignore the good bits about the general aviation community and keep reinforcing the dire straits in which we find ourselves. Now, other than meetings in Canberra near the end of May, we are now freewheeling our way to the election, so maybe we have time to sit and look at the good stuff again. Celebrating the good stuff is why the Australian Division of the Royal Aeronautical Society and Australian Flying set up the Wings Awards; so the industry can collectively stand up and say "thank you, we're proud of you." At the industry rally in Tamworth last week, there were quite a number of people who I suspect would one day be nominated or even win the Col Pay Award for Service to General Aviation. Such a great depth of dedication and passion; it shows we are indeed a cause worth fighting for.
Minister Darren Chester said something in Tamworth that I think certain people in the general aviation industry need to take on board, and perhaps flagellate themselves over: Jeff Boyd is our best chance. Never before have we had someone so deep inside CASA who loves general aviation as much as he does. Some people who loudly applauded his appointment are now just as loudly lamenting his appointment because Boyd hasn't draw swords and charged. Ask yourself this: if not Jeff Boyd, then who? Someone who has more experience in GA? Someone with more passion for GA? I don't think you'll find such a person, and if you do, they probably won't be inclined to shift their energy away from their business and direct it into a role that inevitably draws derision no matter what you do. So, I ask again: if not Jeff Boyd, then who?
ADS-B got quite a run in Tamworth as IFR pilots try to forestall the mandate for installation. But now the focus has turned to ADS-B for VFR. OK, hang on there. Firstly, there is no indication of a mandate to install in VFR aircraft, and secondly, VFR systems are likely to be very different. ASTRA has issued a paper that recommends approvals for low-cost systems and less stringent regulation; the idea being to encourage VFR to install so they appear on ATC, TCAS and ADS-B In systems. Both ASTRA and CASA recognise that voluntary fitment won't work if aircraft owners have to shell out a Sultan's salary to install a system they actually get little - if any - benefit from. This paper is worth a read.
Another IFR mandate applied in February: no GPS, no IFR. With satellite systems now the primary form of IFR navigation, Airservices sees little need for Australia's extensive navaid network, and so will start shutting them down in the next couple of weeks. This has been coming for several years, so no-one should be surprised. Even VFR pilots have been using GPS as the primary form of navigation assistance rather than navaids for the best part of 20 years. So, if your favourite navaid stops talking to you, it's not being a snob, it's just not there anymore. Check out the list in the Australian Flying news feed to see which aids are marked for destruction.
By the time the new CASR Part 61 becomes effective at the end of 2016, it will be roughly two years since the whole debacle began. Put bluntly, I believe Part 61 is effectively junk regulation that should never have been signed into law, but it was. It seems to me that it was a parting shot from a CASA regime that branded itself "regulator with a capital R". The new management in Aviation House has been issuing exemptions like scattering Smarties to deal with the problem, and that itself is not an ideal situation, which is why there's new regulation coming. At least we are not being told to take it and like it, which is what the capital R probably would have done.
May your gauges always been in the green,
Hitch