– Steve Hitchen
Here I am back at my desk after a quick trip to France and Switzerland. Whilst over there I was able to catch up with the team from Daher and get a hands-on experience of the TBM 930 turbo-prop, and visited the Pilatus factory, where I watched the first of the Roulettes PC-21s being finished. They have a magnificent new paint scheme that I was banned from taking photos of, but I can say it's very striking indeed! Right now I am busy gathering my thoughts and notes for feature articles both the TBM and Pilatus new PC-24 jet. Look for the results soon. Thanks heaps to Kreisha Ballantyne for taking over the website news whilst I was gone; it really did make the trip possible.
And didn't a lot of things happen whilst I was over there! It seems you just can't leave the country for even a minute!
Qantas has announced a short-list of nine locations for their new academy. Really there are no surprises on the list and each one has the prerequisites needed to support a large flying school, but there are factors that may come into play. Wagga Wagga is on the list, but will Qantas be comfortable co-locating their academy with that of Regional Express? There's probably no reason why not, except for potential crowding of the circuit. Qantas also has a history of shunning tower fees (think Jetstar-Avalon), which may put amber marks against Tamworth, Alice Springs, Launceston and Mackay unless they can get them waived. Juxtaposed to that is that Qantas may see a towered airport as an advantage given that their cadets will be trained to operate in that environment. So who's one-out and one-back in this race? If the fees issue can be resolved, it would have to be Tamworth, especially if QF can take advantage of the soon-to-be-abandoned RAAF facilities up there. Of the non-towered airports, I'd be putting my money on Bendigo.
It's great to see Ausfly back in Narromine, but I have to admit to greeting the news with a bit of a raised eyebrow. Ausfly was originally an event organised by the SAAA as a social get-together with seminars, workshops and a modest exhibition. It morphed into OzKosh in 2016, then into AirVenture Australia, which unfortunately became a very divisive event, most probably due to a clash of philosophies over what it was supposed to be. AirVenture has since moved to Cessnock and the SAAA has virtually nothing to do with it anymore, opening the way for the SAAA to reinstate Ausfly at Narromine. Technically, Ausfly is under the umbrella of the Australian General Aviation Alliance (AGAA), which includes AOPA Australia and AMROBA as well as the SAAA and other associations. Their plan is to return Ausfly to its roots as an inclusive, not-for-profit event. But for the GA community it has created a bit of a conundrum: do we go to both? Some will be able to, but for many, particularly those that hire aircraft, we'll be forced to choose between the two; it costs money to go to fly-ins and air shows and some people's budgets just won't stretch. Although AGAA says the idea of Ausfly is not to drag people away from AirVenture, that may happen anyway simply because there may not be scope and demand in Australia for two national fly-ins.
A weight increase to 760 kg for RAAus-registered aircraft looks all but set in stone now. Both CASA and RAAus have made public statements to that effect, even though it was indicated only a couple of months ago that the industry would have to wait until CASR Part 149 was completed before anything could happen. Regardless, this is a big trophy for the RAAus cabinet. Their future plans depend on expanding their membership and getting the low-end of GA within their grasp is thought to be crucial to doing that. It will also mean homebuilders can build to higher weights rather than skimping on materials, equipment or design to squeeze in a bit more useful load. But is it going to work as RAAus plans? What would be the incentive for the owner of an aircraft like, say, an RV, to switch over from VH to RAAus reg? CASA is saying at the moment that maintenance of aircraft in the 601-760 kg range must stay with an approved MRO, so there's no advantage there. However, there is a huge incentive to change if the medical standards and qualifications are lower. That has caused the SAAA and AOPA to fire off a letter to CASA demanding parity with pilots of aircraft on the VH register. If CASA is forced on the point, will they concede to self-assessment or will they extend Class 2 or Basic Class 2 over to the new RAAus weight category? True equality can work backwards.
The GAAG priorities for 2018 are looking pretty good. There's not a lot in there to argue about. It's pleasing to see that the work they'll be doing comprises things like better defining GA and it's role, how to apply safety regulation consistently and workforce planning. These are areas that have been a bit ignored by the government in the past and are overdue for serious attention and action. It seems to me that behind all of this is the desire for a new general aviation policy for the government to take forward. By the time GAAG and the minister have the new policy framework in place, it should just about be time for the government to change and the whole lot be thrown out when a new broom sweeps through the department. Sorry, I may have accidently put too much cynicism in my coffee this morning.
Nominations for the 2018 Wings Awards close on Monday, theoretically. Every year we have people coming to us at the last minute saying they need more time to complete their submissions, and traditionally we've given them another week to tidy up their work. This year we'll pre-empt that and grant an extension now to Friday 13 July, which is two weeks away. So get going and finish off those nominations soonest. All nominations need to go through the Australian Flying website. There won't be any extensions after this.
Mooney International is making sounds that they are actively looking for an agent in Australia. The company has been through somewhat of a revival in the last two years or so, and is now targeting a re-entry to the Australian market with the new range of Acclaim and Ovation high-speed singles. This represents a great opportunity for a GA company in Australia to work with such a renowed brand, and conversely for Mooney to work with a well-established GA firm that knows well the Australian market. If your company fits the bill and Mooney fits your current business plan, you can contact them direct on the Mooney International website.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch