– Steve Hitchen
Jabiru Aircraft is on the march, it would seem, as new management looks to the future of recreational aviation in Australia. Having endured engine troubles in the mid 20-teens, the company has made some future-proofing moves capitalising on some competitive advantages. Firstly, they had to restore faith in their engine reliability, which they have done with the Gen4 engines. Whether you agreed or disagreed with the reliability issues that caused CASA to apply restrictions, it was a PR disaster for them. New Executive Director Mick Halloran has come out upwind of Avalon and announced a determination for improvement that also included a concession about the past woes. Secondly, the new MOSAIC rules are actually playing catch-up with Jabiru, who tested the J230 airframe to a 760-kg MTOW from the outset. All they have been waiting for is a category to which they could certify it. The same goes for the J432 twin; a great idea looking for a design standard. Both the new aircraft are due to be on the stand at Avalon this week, and it will be interesting to see if they are as impressive as they seem on paper.
RAAA's new policy paper is, as expected, a slick, professional presentation laden with commonsense that the ALP government would do well to heed. RAAA papers in the past have warned that regional aviation is hanging on by a very frayed thread, the foresight of which has been proven with the REX collapse. It's looking increasingly likely that the Federal Government will be back in the airline business by 1 July this year, having been forced to take a majority shareholding in the embattled regional carrier. It won't take them long to realise just how precarious the industry footing really is – if they haven't already. Minister King will soon understand the importance of the RAAA policy and its veracity, but will there be the political courage to turn those words into actions? There hasn't been much of that in the past from either side of the house, despite the new White Paper sporting the appearance of great concern. Will REX be a skakubuku, a swift, spiritual kick to the head that alters their reality? Their reality is currently an expectation that regional aviation is important to Australia and will need to contribute to the net-zero campaign by investing eye-crossing dollars in new technology without financial incentives. Regional airlines and charter operators just want the doors to still be open next month and ambitions like fleet renewal have to take a backseat to simple survival. If the collapse of REX isn't a shakubuku, then this RAAA policy paper should be.
Every time I walk through the gates on Day 1 of an Australian International Airshow, I get a strong sense of "We're on again!" I unashamedly love Avalon and this year I get to walk through those gates for the 16th time. Where the excitement comes from is a thought that I might be exposed to something new, interesting and engrossing. Some Avalons you get that; others seem like an echo of previous air shows. Avalon 2025 does promise to be different from the others, which in ways has the aviation community feeling a certain nervousness. Avalon 2023 was almost universally hailed as the best ever. That could be a residue from the COVID shackles being released; shackles that restrained Avalon 2021 to the point of cancelation, or it could be because the formula for the show was one that just clicked. What has the aviation community frowning is whether or not those differences are going to be improvements, or just differences. Naturally, the euphoria that surrounded Avalon 2023 was always going to put pressure on AMDA to repeat that success this year, making what is already a mind-blowing task even harder. Whether or not Avalon 2025 will rise to the occasion is a question that we should be able to answer in the first week of April, but its not a question that I will allow to spoil my moment walking through the gates on Tuesday.
And a final shout-out to Group Captain John "Paddy" Hemingway, who died this week aged 105. Paddy was the last surviving pilot who flew in the Battle of Britain in 1940. As a 19-year-old Irishman, Paddy had also flown in the Battle of France before joining the retreat to the UK. He was shot down once in France, twice over the English Channel and a fourth time near Ravenna, Italy, in 1945. During the Battle of Britain he flew Hurricanes with 85 Squadron under the legendary Peter Townsend. He was the last of Winston Churchill's "Few" to which so much was owed. Well flown, Paddy Hemingway.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch