With the trade days at Avalon all but done, there is an optimistic thread emerging from the aircraft manufacturers and sellers: the people this year are fewer, but those that are coming seem more prepared to spend. And we are not just talking about LSAs; some of the bizjet builders are also reporting very good quality prospects. One company expects to get signatures for at least two business jets before the show closes, and another GA manufacturer is boasting four new orders for their GA planes. Optimistic talk is very common at the beginning of an air show; none of the exhibitors really want to report that there's been little or no interest in their products. The difference this year is that so many of them are volunteering the information before you get a chance to ask them, which makes you think it's not just bluster.
This week Mark Skidmore took a deep breath and plunged right into the heart of GA's problems with CASA: the culture. He announced that, in line with the Forsyth Report recommendations, CASA would adopt a just-culture approach. In short this means if you stuff-up something in the air and there is nothing intentional or negligent about it, the chances are CASA won't slap you with an infringement notice. Rather, they will want you to help them understand what went wrong so they can learn more about aviation safety. This is the big one; the prime recommendation from the Forsyth Report that underpinned all the other recommendations. However, Mark told me only a few days ago that he needed the aviation community to be more open with CASA and start to reconnect with them over safety. There will be people in the industry that will blanch at the idea of doing that, but how can we tell David Forsyth and his team that a disconnect with CASA is a major problem, then perpetuate it by trying to continue the disconnect? To this point, many of us would have rather gargled gravel than be honest and open with the regulator, but we have no choice if we want change.
Despite Skidmore's statement, The Australian Aviation Associations Forum (TAAAF) wants a rocket put under CASA. They released a statement urging Minister Truss to get on with the reforms at CASA. We've been waiting years for a sniff of genuine reform, but are we starting to get impatient?
Another key initiative from the Forsyth Report was activated this week: Chris Manning was appointed to be aviation commissioner at the Australian Transport Safety Board. Chris is a former Qantas Chief Pilot and safety advisor to Tiger Airlines. Of late he has been Honorary Chairman of The Australian Aviation Associations Forum (TAAAF). As of 9 March, he will add signifcant experience and aviation smarts to the ATSB. This is well overdue given that most of the ATSB's work is aircraft accidents and incidents.
You have to admire the gumption of Cirrus Australia's Graham Horne. He nit-picked the best bits of the SR22GTS and stuck them all on a non-turbo airframe, then went to Duluth and told them he wanted them to build his custom aeroplane specifically for the Australian market. Normally, you would expect the door to close in his face, but in this case Cirrus agreed, and the Cirrus Australis was born. Right out of the box, it is looking like a winning combination, which is justification enough for Horne's demand. The Australis is a very nice looking aeroplane indeed, and it is interesting that customers are preferring the premium interior option rather than the cheaper standard variety.
Bevan Anderson and AvSoft have another trophy for their pool room. They won an innovation award from Aerospace Australia for the AvPlan electronic flight book. From beginnings that are best described as sub-humble (it was supposed to be something for Anderson's use only) this little app has spread across the aviation world like wildfire, and the company now counts military operators among it's customers. That it beat out the Jacobson Flare app - a very respectable product in its own right - is a measure of the quality and functionality.
At the beginning of the week we reported that CASA had grounded all Robinson R44s using a certain rotor blade in the wake of a fatal crash in NZ. They have since lifted the grounding, but are demanding inspections for all rotor blades for possible cracks that will lead to catastrophic failure.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch