– Steve Hitchen
Welcome to Easter 2023. As it customary this time every year, you are getting the eNews and LMH on a Thursday as we roll into Easter. The next few days, usually the dates of many club fly-aways, look set to challenge VFR navigation with seriously obstructive weather. It's going to be a time for making very good decisions and displaying professional attitudes in our flying. If that means not flying, well, sometimes that's the best outcome and we just have to live with it. There are greater pains to suffer if we try to push through weather not conducive to safe flight.
Every now and then, someone at an airport somewhere asks me, "Do you know what's happening at GippsAero?" I generally have to shake my head. There is close to zero information coming out of Mahindra Aerospace, but that's a company known for being very tight-lipped about everything. To re-cap: Mahindra stopped GA8 production in mid 2020 and walked away from orders for about 15 aeroplanes. Since then, GippsAero has been a service organisation only and Mahindra has been trying to sell the company for more than buyers want to pay for it. Some industry insiders believe that Mahindra is still trying to find a buyer, but you can bank that offers won't be within cooee of the $100 million the Indian parent bought in for. They really nobbled themselves by closing the order books when they did, and never fulfilled the only firm order they had for a GA10. Who wants a company that has no forward demand for it's flagship product? I wrote in August 2020 that I didn't believe Mahindra wanted to retain GippsAero as a service company only, and I've heard and seen nothing to change my mind on that. Is time running out for this iconic Australian manufacturer? Like the rest of the aviation community, I hope not, but those hopes are pinned to Mahindra striking a deal with a buyer who wants to be in the aircraft manufacturing industry in Australia, an industry littered with broken dreams.
CASA is due to release more information about re-instating individual flying instructors next week. Ideally, the GA community is looking for the proposal to state that an instructor doesn't need a Part 141 approval to teach people to fly if they are operating on their own and not in conjunction with other instructors. This is the "hang your shingle out" on any airport concept that is thought to be key to revitalising small aero clubs and flight training in regional Australia. It's not likely to be that simple; CASA will probably load the concept with conditions. It may be that such an operation can't teach CPLs, can't do IFR training, the instructor needs to be higher than Grade 3 ... there are a number of restrictions that CASA could apply. But when the words come out next week, what the aviation community will be looking to read is that this concept will provide an avenue for flight training to return to the regions, and permit aero clubs to employ just one instructor to teach members to fly without all the burden and grief that accompanies a CASR Part 141 approval. CASA DAS Pip Spence said as much in her recent newsletter, but the final assessment will be down to the aviation community and the instructors themselves.
Australian Flying's fantastic Easter subscription deal is still on the table. We're talking about a 30% discount on print and digital subscriptions that will get you six issues per year in both formats for $40.00. The offer is still good until midnight on Monday 10 April, so don't be a bunny and get on the Great Magazines website to score a great price on Australia's premier GA magazine.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch