Two weeks or so ago the first meeting of the Director's Advisory Panel took place in Canberra, and already there are worried looks coming from several sectors of general aviation. The DAP is a panel of representatives from all over aviation that brings knowledge and expertise together and puts it at the disposal of the Director of Aviation Safety. It's modeled after a similar panel used by the US Federal Aviation Administration, which anecdotal evidence indicates works well. The DAP consists of just about every aviation stakeholder you could think of, and as such falls within the bailiwick of Rob Walker, manager of CASA's Stakeholder Engagement Group. At the first meeting, RAAus CEO Michael Linke took on the Chairman's job and AMROBA's tireless Ken Cannane became Deputy Chair. It all sounds great, so why the furrowed brows? Well, there is no compulsion for DAS Mark Skidmore to take the advice given, and some groups don't like the sounds he's making, particularly his stubborn stance over the ADS-B mandate in February. Some see an advisory panel as worthless when the DAS has the absolute power to ignore anything but his own opinion.
Or you could see it this way: Skidmore has acknowledged in the past that CASA is lacking expertise in many areas, and the DAP could be used to put Spakfilla in those gaps. Such an advisory panel is something that GA in particular has lobbied for in the past, and now we've got it, there doesn't seem to be much point in eroding it before it gets a chance to be effective. For every furrowed brow, there is also a satisfied grin, depending on who you're talking to and what their own experiences dealing with CASA have been in the past.
How can you tell it's Oshkosh week? 1) everyone's in the USA but you, and 2) the aviation manufacturers that have been dormant for so long are suddenly out in the streets with their megaphones. The result is a litany of announcements about new products, aeroplanes and services to bring people into their stands at Wittman Regional Airport. Hence, this week Textron finally revealed the brand and name of their new SETP, ONE Aviation revealed plans for an upgraded light jet, Garmin announced the G5 STC and Cessna detailed the MTOW increase for the T206H.
Although not directly related to Oshkosh, it was a handy week for Tecnam to celebrate the first flight of the P2012 Traveller. This really is a huge step forward for Tecnam; they're introducing the first dedicated charter twin for many years, and doing at time when charter thinking is leaning towards single-engine turbo-props like the PC12, TBM 900/930, or the ubiquitous King Air series. But in many cases, for one reason or another, the new aeroplanes aren't options for some operators, so they've kept the old twin pistons going years after they should have been given their gold watches. Tecnam has come up with another option, to replace the old twin pistons with a new twin piston, and they're getting a lot of interest.
The SAAA has a very strong case in their petition to CASA for an exemption to medical requirements for pilots flying with a take-off weight below 600 kg. They argue, in different terms, that it is basically discrimination for RAAus pilots to be exempt from Class 2 medicals when pilots who take their administration from the SAAA are not. It's very compelling; how does the source of admin effect the medical safety of the pilot and the operation? All things being equal, there's no difference and the SAAA is not asking for anything not already the privilege of RAAus pilots. CASA, by delegating admin responsibility based on a magic weight limit, has set the mark, and if pilots are operating below that mark it's hard to see how they can justify continuing to discriminate. If the exemption is given, there might be a few pilots in the general GA stream putting their hands out for an exemption as well.
Uni student Ben Reddall is seeking input from pilots on how they use synthetic flight training devices (flight sims). The information he gathers is going into a minor thesis to be submitted to the University of South Australia. If you've got the time, he'd appreciate you going in and completing the survey he needs to get the thesis done. The survey is on SurveyMonkey here.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch