Australian Flying - July 2018

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10

Editor’s Pick

AUSTRALIAN FLYING July – August 2018

Common Consensus

Hi, Steve.

Minister McCormack's recent agreement

to look at changes across general aviation

if there is industry consensus was

hopefully just a sentence uttered to buy

some time while he gets his head around

his new responsibilities. And let's face it

the responsibility is huge.

GA is a title encompassing everything

that is non major airline. It is f lying

training fixed and rotary. It is private,

charter, emergency service. It is complex

regional airline, yet it is a humble drone

owned by someone with no f lying

experience. I could go on.

The point is amongst a group so

diverse there can and never will be

consensus of opinion, even amongst

each sector.

One fact that can garner consensus is

the parlous state of Australian GA. In

the USA general aviation is enjoying a

renaissance yet at home we see it dying.

The Minister needs to find out why

the difference and fix it. Getting some

experienced US regulators to undertake

a independent inquiry into the state of

aviation regulation in Australia would

be a very good start. Reigning in the

power of private airports to extort their

operators would also be a god-send.

Aviation is a highly skilled sector

that has the potential to add enormous

value to the economy. A good minister

can help realize that potential. What

we don't need is a Wally Walpamur

being led by the hand by the very people

who have done so much to destroy the

industry we all love. Let's hope the new

Minister has the courage to make some

good decisions. I wish him all the best.

Bruce Erwin

On the

Frequency

Steve,

This year marks the

fifth anniversary of AIP

amendment (#75) which,

without any known

consultation process,

changed the broadcast

frequency for use at non-

charted aerodromes

from 126.7 (the

MULTICOM) to the

area ATC Centre

frequency.

For the last five years

industry forums and

individuals alike have

been trying to convince

CASA that traffic at

f light levels in controlled

airspace on the ATC

Centre frequency really

did not need to know that

a Cessna at Snake Gully

West was turning base or

was clear of all runways.

Indeed, CASA/

Airservices recognised this

very problem when they

produced the following

sticker in 1991. Why

wouldn't this important

message remain just as

valid today?

In spite of the plain

evidence in ERSA, it

is apparently still not

understood that, over

very large areas of the

Australia, the ATC Centre

frequencies do not have

two-way coverage down

into the lower levels of G

airspace. The Cessna at

Snake Gully West would

therefore have no idea

when its transmissions

were jamming the Centre

transmissions. The traffic

at f light levels, however,

will hear the entire

cacophony from this and

all other such aerodromes

over a very large area.

Fortunately for us all,

AIP amendment #75 has

been largely ignored by

most G airspace users for

the last five years, but,

surely now, it has been

amply demonstrated that

a return to the common

sense of the original airspace

model is long overdue.

Dick Gower

22 May 2018.

ASIC Idea

Dear Steve,

The ASIC–A Stupid

Idiotic Concept–was

rejected as unworkable

by the Americans,

and proven so here in

Australia. Throughout

a recent trip, I was asked

to produce it only twice:

in Townsville, and Alice

Springs. What was clear,

that with the exception

of the two named places,

nobody was interested in

the ASIC.

In Townsville when

asked to produce my

ASIC, I asked why. The

chap very sheepishly

replied, that he had

been told to check them.

In Alice I phoned the

number on the gate and

was told I would be let

in. A few minutes later, a

chap arrived, opened the

gate, and photographed

my ASIC. I asked for the

gate code, but was told

I could not have it, as I

might place it on the web,

Courtesy of AvPlan

Bruce wins a one-year VFR

subscription to AvPlan for

our editor’s pick! To be in

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editor now!

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page.

This reader believes Minister Michael McCormack should just get on with

the job of reforming GA instead of calling for industry consensus, which

the aviation industry has yet to demonstrate that it can actually achieve.

Minister for Infrastructure and

Transport Michael McCormack.

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA