Australian Flying - July 2018

July – August 2018 AUSTRALIAN FLYING

australianflying.com.au 75

Maybe GA isn’t dying,

it is just changing

LEFT: Is a truly

national ly-in

that brings

together all

sectors the

answer to GA’s

problems?

FA R L E F T:

RAAus

believes

recreational

aviation

is fueling

the next

generation

of GA pilots.

numbers have grown from about
6000 to around 38,000. This
almost entirely offsets the decline
suggesting that while there is no
growth per se, there is definitely
a shift. Very similar to Australia
and very different to what a lot of
people are suggesting.
Some question our safety
record, and so do we. Our record
over the last five years is evidence
of that. We have demonstrated
a solid downward trend in fatal
accidents and are continuing to
work on that with many initiatives
underway, including those
mentioned above.
The success of our sector isn’t
buried in the fear that it is dying,
it is quite the opposite. As we look

to attracting people to our sector

I ask, would you as a teenager be

attracted to a sector that is dying,

or that continues to say schools

and maintenance facilities are

closing? The way to attract the

next generation of aviators is offer

them a vibrant sector, a unified

sector, a sector where a career is

fun, rewarding, certain and free of

unnecessary controversy.

When I read social media

commentary and mainstream

media commentary, I am

reminded of the drama often

strewn across our television

screams masquerading as reality

TV, where the episode we are

watching is more about the drama

between two warring contestants

than the quality of the food.

Surely our sector should be about

our product, our promise, our

future as a collective. We blame

others for its demise: isn’t the old

adage “a bad tradesmen blames his

tools?" Maybe it’s time we looked

inwardly and fixed the sector

form within rather than blaming

external inf luences.

AirVenture was conceived

as a collaborative event and ran

smoothly in 2016. It will run

again smoothly in 2018 as more

and more people embrace it and

collaborate. I know RAAus’ role

will be to simply work with the

AirVenture team to make the

event the best it can be.

The bigger AirVenture is,

the bigger and better our sector

is. The bigger RAAus is, or

warbirds, or GFA, or SAAA or

AOPA, won't the overall sector

be bigger and better as well?

For too long we have stuck within

the margins and robbed Peter to

pay Paul.

Maybe AirVenture is the answer,

or at least a very big part of it.

STEVE HITCHEN