Australian Flying — November-December 2017

November – December 2017 AUSTRALIAN FLYING

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CASA has allowed

RAAus to develop a

safety management

system that all 165

flying schools can use.

australianflying.com.au

An SMS is a way of

doing business, it’s not

a folder on a shelf.

committed to delivering for our
members.
The other major project
due for delivery next year is
our organisational wide safety
management system (SMS). In
reality an SMS is a way of doing
business, it’s not a folder on a
shelf that every six months you
dust off and tick a few boxes.
In reality much of a solid SMS
is already in place. We have an
organisation wide safety policy
and safety objectives. We have
a macro-level risk appetite.
We have our occurrence
management system (OMS),
a central and vital part of any
successful SMS. Additionally
we have a range of safety

promotion activities, events and

communications.

So in essence we are just about

there. Next year will see a major

push to work with our f light

schools and ensure they have in

place an SMS that suits them. It’s

not a one size fits all. The beauty

of RAAus developing an SMS

for our 165 schools is that it will

be scalable. We will offer a Safety

Toolbox from which schools will

be able to pick and choose the

components needed to help them.

We had a major win on this

front with CASA agreeing to

allow RAAus to develop a single

system, rather than an expectation

that all schools self-invest and

develop their own system. In real

financial terms this represents

around a $15,000 saving

per school.

There are a host of other

projects in the pipeline. Major

project areas where significant

effort is being invested include our

training and education portfolio,

communication and marketing

portfolio and member services

portfolio. We have some exciting

plans which we will be sharing

with members in the coming

months.

What the crystal

ball tells us...

So where will all of this leave

us in, say, five years? RAAus

needs to remain relevant and

the work we are doing is always

done in the light of relevance and

what’s best for our members.

The difficulty we have is that

our member base is so diverse

and growing constantly. Our

members want to do so many

different things, but all these

things ultimately lead to some

fun, quality air time. We have

members, heritage members,

who want to want to enjoy the

simpler idea of f lying. We have

members who love the thrill of

the new breed of plastic fantastics

on the market. We have members

who see RAAus as a stepping

stone to a career in aviation.

Any career can start at RAAus.

From the obvious pilot, engineer

and military career. Less obvious

careers we create are air traffic

controllers, safety experts and

educators.

So how does RAAus be all

things to all people? That’s our

challenge for the future.

Add into the mix the next

breed of aircraft; imagine self-

piloting two-seat craft weighing

350 kg with12 to 16 electric

engines.What does training

look like for this type of craft?

What is the rule set? Will they

need traditional airports? We

are not talking science fiction

here. Prototypes exist and in as

little as three years we will see

them!

So stick around, RAAus is

getting a lot of things right and we

have a bright and exciting future

for everyone.