The Last Minute Hitch: 3 June 2016
The Aeroplanes Flight Review (AFR) comes to every pilot and yesterday it came to me. It has been several years since I've had to do one, thanks to a string of new endorsements that pushed the requirement out. Grumpy, but resigned, I subjected myself to having to do a couple of hours with my own personal Yoda in the other seat. After an hour I was wondering what the hell I'd been grumpy and resigned about: it was a perfect day for a fly, the route was challenging and fun and some wrinkles got ironed-out of my processes ... I hope. I think the initial reticence stems from understanding that distance from the training environment does breed a decay in skills, and the horror of the AFR is that you are going to find out exactly how far they have decayed and you may not be ready to face that yet. But, as I found out, you may find that it's not all doom and gloom, which does much to restore a bit of faith in yourself.
Aviation journeyman Sandy Reith has launched a petition on change.org to ramp up the pressure on politicians to do something about the parlous state of general aviation. At the moment of writing this, he has collected over 600 signatures. In concert with the recent efforts of AOPA and TAAAF, a petition such as this can only add more pressure for Canberra to do something about the parlous state of general aviation. Have a read of the petition at least, and if you think it's worth adding your name to it, do so. Every voice helps.
Temora Aviation Museum announced today that they have canceled the flying program scheduled for this weekend. Apparently the weather forecast for the region is ordinary at best, so they've made the decision to jump early. The museum will be open, but nothing flying.
Diamond's DA62 is one of the most innovative machines to enter the market in the last 10 years. Highly-automated, fuel efficient, roomy and good-looking, the 62 is being touted as the logical airframe to replace some legacy twins. The only worm in the apple is that Australia may not be ready to give up the cherished old twins just yet. The older twins (Barons, Senecas, Aztecs, P68Cs ... you know the types) are proven machines, which because of their age have low acquisition costs right now. That's a boon to charter companies that are not swollen with investment capital. It's something we need to break out of, but it may take until we can generate a turn-around in the fortunes of GA before aircraft like the DA62 can get a foothold here in numbers. In the meantime, the big Diamond is on tour August-September, and you'd be doing yourself a disservice to not get a look at it if you can.
I am also very curious to see how the Vulcanair V1.0 fares against Cessna and Piper, who have traditionally been very protective of their domination in the four-seat single category. The V1.0 looks to be a less-complex aeroplane that may be lacking the sophistication of a Cessna 172SP or Piper Archer III, but it also doesn't have a comparable price tag. With the Tecnam P2010 starting to make in-roads, the traditional builders would have to be feeling a bit under seige at the moment.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch