Short Finals

The Federal Government under the Constitution has a responsibility to provide training for all young Australians in their chosen career and if we are prepared to fund training for doctors, engineers, air traffic controllers and aboriginal welfare officers etc., why can’t professional pilots be funded in a like manner. The Department of Aviation is continually thumping the safety issue in aviation and here is a chance to make aviation safer, yet it is being pushed to one side.

Qantas, TAA and Ansett have all expressed interest in the course and surely they should either sponsor some scholarships on the course each year or support this type of course in some other financial way to reimburse us, the taxpayer, for the education we have just paid for largely for their benefit.

Even though announced in February 1986 the Review is not to happen until October 1986 (and bureaucratic timetables always slip) and the Chairman of CTEC is on record as comparing pilots to truck drivers so here’s wishing you the best of luck, Barney. The question of the most suitable location, the funding of substantial new expenditures, a substantial change in approach and a lobby against such courses were matters the CTEC said have to be looked at in the Review.

This is not the first time though that Barney Fernandes has been deeply inconvenienced by bureaucracy. Back in the early eighties, at a time when the Prime Minister was exulting us all to employ more young Australians through new small business ventures, Barney through AFTS negotiated a sizeable training contract on behalf of China Airlines. This was a big business that would have employed a large number of local instructors and ground personnel. Unfortunately, Taiwan was duly decreed by Canberra as not being the flavour of the month and so none of the budding aircrew could even obtain entry permits. Gone again, through the hypocritical decisions of politics and bureaucracy, was another golden opportunity for an Australian training organisation to further expand its capability and earn in addition some much-needed foreign exchange for our country.

In this current matter, we question why they waited until the last minute to call a Review. Government enterprises can afford the delays caused by Reviews as the budget blowout is simply funded; private enterprises can go broke with costly delays and surely the appropriate time for a Review was when the project was first mooted or the alternative is that the course and Review should be allowed to run concurrently and any changes recommended implemented at a later date. Also why is location so important when the students on the course come from all states in Australia and aviation is a mobile industry anyway?

As Bill Lear once said, “You can tell the pioneers by the number of arrows in their backs”.

Goodbye to the No Threat For Fifteen Years brigade!

Events during the course of our last issue· concerning Indonesia have graphically illustrated the vast cultural differences between our two nations. Indonesia does not have a free press and obviously does not understand how such an institution works. That a free press may at times say something that is contrary to official government thinking is the price our leaders have to pay for what is called democracy.

The Indonesian overreaction to what was a fairly simple (and from personal experience entirely accurate) article on suspected graft and corruption within the Jakarta hierarchy was to say the least alarming from an Australian point of view. That the often tenuous but relatively stable relationship Australia has enjoyed with our northern neighbour should be shattered by such an innocuous incident is a true cause for concern. Most Australians within the foreign affairs and defence community have consistently scoffed at the preachings of the No Threat brigade and certainly, the events of April have justified their scepticism.

Australia is a small country by population standards, Indonesia is some 165 million people comprising more than 100 different ethnic groups spread over 13,000 islands spanning 3,000 miles of our northern perimeter. Speaking some 300 different dialects and with a strong Islamic faction ever ready to create mayhem from the present declining petroleum revenue base, Australia may at times feel justified in believing that it would not take much to replace President Suharto’s relatively stable regime with more akin to the Sukarno sabre-rattling years that all of us remember so well.

The lesson for Australia is that strength in our armed forces, and our official foreign policy, gains us respect. Australia must never again be pushed into a position akin to that of the late thirties or the early sixties. Indonesia for its part must realise that we are not here merely for its benefit and that a sound, beneficial and peaceful future can be had by both countries if mutual cooperation and understanding is truly a two-way street.

Next Issue

Some great features are scheduled for the 116-page September edition. Our new series, which has also enjoyed excellent reader support, A Day In The Life, sees us joining an RAAF C-130E crew to analyse their typical working environment. If you fly Boeings then this is an interesting opportunity to see how the other half live. What happened to the thousands of WW2 aircraft that were in Australia at war’s end? Their fate, and a very special photo coverage, is the topic of a special feature we have literally been working on for years. Photos of hundreds of Spitfires and Kittyhawks being put to the axe is depressing but rich in a message that fortunately nowadays is understood well. We also look at the new 737-300s that both Ansett and Australian Airlines are acquiring, this feature includes a technical cutaway and special colour spread. We air test the excellent Canadair Challenger 601 and resume our special DofA Aircraft Register Update service listing the additions, deletions, changes of ownerships and returnees to the Register for the period covering February through July. We also begin a two-part series on the Israeli Air Force and play host to our annual Regional Airline Directory which lists all the third-level commuter operators in Australia.

Then there are all our regular features – Reece, Newsdesk, Yesteryear, Airline Affairs, Warbirds, Rotor Torque, Ultralights, NZ News, Airbands, Defence Update, Traffic and Aeromart.

The September edition will be available from your local newsagency in early September so order a copy today or subscribe directly and save up to $32 over the course of a three-year subscription. Full details are presented on the centerspread insert in this edition.

(Please note that due to technical reasons, there may occasionally be a variation from the above-mentioned content)