Newsdesk – General Aviation

It is known however that Monarch Aviation will take over the responsibility of selling all used aircraft from both Rex and Pacific. Monarch was a joint venture between Rex Aviation and well known aircraft broker, Keith Patterson which was set up in 1986 primarily to market used Cessna aircraft. Rexhasnow sold its hall share in Monarch to Pacific and the effective sales network of Monarch is thus enhanced considerably to now be Australia’s largest used aircraft brokerage.

Meanwhile, the special Cessna Citation jet marketing division under the control of Monty Maughan will continue essentially unchanged as will to all intents and purposes Aerospatiale Helicopters of Australia. AHA is the regional Aerospatiale distributor and also represents the Socata range of light aircraft. As Pacific though is also the official regional agent for MBB/Kawasaki it is felt by many industry observers that it might well be forced to relinquish this distributorship as going on past experience, Aerospatiale would not be desirous of the single company marketing two competing helicopter types. AHA is presently a joint partnership between Aerospatiale (51%). OFEMA (5%) and Rex with 44%. It is expected that Pacific will now acquire Rex’s shareholding in AHA.

Other issues, such as the marketing of both Cessna and Piper piston-engined and turboprop aircraft were still not fully resolved at presstime though with production rates for these types so low, it would not appear to present any real problems at this stage. Either way, the marriage of Australia’s second and third largest GA operators will strengthen both and allow them to better face the future with a more diversified and better mixed sales, spares and support infrastructure.

 New Airport Group in Moorabbin:

Rapid changes in the aviation industry have prompted Moorabbin Airport operators to form a new group to represent their interests more effectively, reports GAA Regional Chairman, Vic/Tas, Mr Peter Hebard.

The Moorabbin Airport Tenants Group embraces 46 local operators with Mr Rob Hart of Civil Flying Services as chairman and spokesman and Mr Hebard as secretary.

In addition, five sub-groups will handle specialized issues: Flying Schools-Charter- SAL (Ross Carrington): Spare Parts (Lynton Hayres): Aircraft Sales (lan Baillie); Engineering (Les Coleman); Helicopters (Spokesman TBA).

Local airport operators’ groups have long been a part of the scene at major capital city airports and can deal quickly and efficiently with local authorities. In fact, the new Federal Airports Corporation recognised the same principle when it decided to give its new airport directors responsibility for on-the-spot decision making and profit achievement.

At other GA airports, Essendon has its own operators’ group while Bankstown has an Airport Chamber of Commerce.

Polair BK117 Ditches:

The NSW Police Air Wing lost their Bolkow Kawasaki BK117 helicopter on January 15 when the aircraft ditched off Balmoral Beach on Sydney Harbour.

At press time the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASI) had not been able to issue a conclusive statement as to the cause of the accident though they did verify that the Lycom- ing LTS101 turbines were functioning perfectly till ingesting water. The probable cause of the accident is thought to be a dislodgement of the left engine cowl, which then impacted at least one of the four rotor blades causing massive rotor structural damage.

At the time of the rotor impact, the helo was at 1500ft over the harbourside suburb of Mosman, about three kilometers from its ditching point off Balmoral Beach. Chief Police Air Wing pilot, Peter Leslie, was praised widely for his skill in recovering the stricken helo and guiding it beyond the populated area to a textbook emergency landing.

Pilot Numbers Continue to Grow:

Information recently released by the Dept of Transport & Communications verifies a pilot population in Australia as at December 31st, 1986 of 43,294 people.

Broken down into their respective categories, there are 9,455 students, 16,478 holders of an unrestricted PPL, 6,811 holding a restricted PPL plus another 8,594 holding some form of CPL or ATPL.

Helicopter student numbers continued to increase through 1986 with some 729 holding a student licence while another 231 had achieved a private endorsement and an additional 950 held a rotary wing CPL.

It is expected that the number of people upgrading from unrestricted PPL (fixed wing) to a CPL will greatly increase due to the large number of younger people now planning long- term careers in the air transport industry as against several years ago when the attainment of this goal was a rather remote possibility.

Fly the Bicentennial Air Race in a Twin Pioneer:

For something completely different this year, why not actually participate in the CSR Hinkler Bicentennial air race in Capricorn Air’s unique Twin Pioneer.

Capricom have entered Echo Victor Bravo in the 11 day air race through Queensland’s coastal and outback regions and still have seats available for passengers. This gives you the opportunity to join in with flight planning and actively participating in the navigation from point to point, not as a regular passenger but rather as a race entrant.

Capricorn are doing well with their Twin Pioneers and have met with demand for their $99 Sydney scenic flights. The entire market for special purpose flights of this nature is now wide open following the surge of foreign tourism into Australia. Aircraft like the Twin Pioneer, DC-3, Shorts 330/360 and F27 are all becoming popular in catering for a rapidly expanding market that the larger operators appear unable to adequately cater for.

Beech Launch New Pressurised Commuter:

Beech have officially launched a new commuter version of the King Air designated the Beech 1300.

The 13 passenger turboprop will be marketed in company with the firm’s 19 seat 1900 and will have a cruise speed of 265kts while meeting fully the requirements of Part 135 Appendix A standards. The new commuter is equipped with 850shp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42s driving three bladed propellers featuring auto feather, complete anti-ice and de-icing equipment, air conditioning and a 6. 5 psi pressurization system.

Centrespread

Since Boeing assumed control of de Havilland Canada in 1985, the company has not looked back.

With Boeing’s marketing expertise, financial assistance and established customer base, the Dash 8 regional airliner has been selling in vast numbers. In fact at press time, DHC had logged some 204 firm orders and options against both marks of the new propjet.

Pictured is the Dash 8-300 which with 50 seats, falls midway between the smaller 36 seat -100 version and the proposed -400 with up to 64. Local sales are handled by Hawker Pacific and have been made to Talair, Norfolk Island Airways and Ansett Newmans in New Zealand.

1987 Another Dismal GA Year:

US GA production reached only 1085 units during 1987, a 37% fall on the previous year’s dismal effort of 1495 aircraft Billings though actually increased from $US1. 2bn to $US1. 3bn high- lighting the continuing shift from low value single engined machines to high priced turboprop/turbofan aircraft.

In all, a total of only 613 single engine piston aircraft were produced which represented a 38% decline on the previous year. One factor influencing this decline was simply that there were in reality very few aircraft in this class that remained in production through the year. Twin engined piston aircraft also dropped 37% with only 87 being built while the light jet market held steady with 122 aircraft delivered. Turboprops actually saw a marginal increase of just over 5% for a production of 263 aircraft. For 1968, GAMA believes that the decline rate will be the smallest in years though it could well be the first that sees less than one thousand airframes produced

Greater Freedom for Ultralight Pilots

Federal aviation authorities have moved to give ultralight pilots and designers greater freedom, but will also insist on more stringent airworthiness standards for ultralight aircraft.

A spokesman for the Department of Transport and Communications said recently that changes just introduced or in the pipeline included:

• A new class of single-place and two-place ultralight aircraft weighing up to a maximum of 450 kilograms;

• A proposal to give ultralight pilots much greater operational freedom in where and how high they can fly: A new requirement for ultralight aircraft to meet airworthiness standards was developed recently by the Department in consultation with interested parties, including the Australian Ultralight Federation.

Following the Federal Government’s general acceptance of recommendations made by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Transport Safety, which spent two years inquiring into sport aviation, the Department is moving to implement most of the Committee’s recommendations. A new Air Navigation Order specifying the design standards for the new class of single and two-place ultralights was signed into law during late January.

The introduction of this new class of ultralight, with a maximum permissible takeoff weight of 450kg, will quite possibly lead to an upsurge of activity in the aviation manufacturing industry while at the same time ensuring that commercially-manufactured aircraft meet basic airworthiness standards which are accepted both by the Department and the Australian Ultralight Federation.

The big advantage of the change is that owner-designer-builders will still be able to do their own thing with lighter aircraft that they build at home themselves for their own use (while still meeting AUF requirements) – but the construction of heavier, more sophisticated, commercially-built ultralight aircraft will be brought under strict controls.

In addition to creating this new class of ultralight aircraft, the Department is moving to amend the regulations concerning very lightweight ultralight aircraft to increase the maximum permissible empty weight of these aeroplanes from 115 kilograms to 150 kilograms.

The Department also plans during March to circulate for comment to the entire aviation industry a proposal to give pilots of ultralight aircraft greater operational freedom. One of these proposals will be to permit ultralights to fly as high as 5000 feet outside controlled airspace.

Bankstown Runway Closure Scare:

Thanks only to the aviation grapevine, Bankstown operators became aware in mid December of an unpublicised plan to severely reduce usage of the airport’s centre 11/29 runway, claims the General Aviation Association. Action has now been deferred pending industry consultation.

Runway separation at Bankstown is below ICAO standards and the rumoured change by the Airways people would have stopped most other operations if twin-engined aircraft were using the centre runway. With Bankstown movements running at the rate of about 400,000 a year, restrictions of this sort could cause chaos in the Sydney Region, which is already desperately short of airport capacity.

The Bankstown situation is well known to users and authorities as several million movements have taken place under the present runway configuration without any untoward incidents being reported, according to local operators. Further confusing the principle is the fact that the separation of Archerfield’s twin run-ways is also below ICAO minimums. This is apparently acceptable.

The potential for asymmetric problems with twins is not to be treated lightly but it would appear in the Bankstown case that better solutions will have to be found. The Department’s action highlights the need for better consultative procedures, in which the Government says it places great store, states the GAA.

New Light Aircraft to Be Manufactured in Queensland:

A new primary trainer and touring aircraft is being designed for eventual manufacture in Queens- land for both the domestic and export market. Respected ultralight designer, Don Adams of Seabird Aviation has established a manufacturing centre with Queensland Government financial assistance at Hervey Bay airport, to develop and build his new light trainer which is to be called the Sentinel.

The Sentinel will be certificated to full US FAA FAR23 light aircraft status and will be a conventional two place aircraft of 1200lb max takeoff weight. Power will be supplied by a British Norton 90bhp rotary (which is also being considered for the ARV Super 2) which will provide the Sentinel with a maximum speed of 100kts and a cruise speed (75% power) of a respectable 90kts. Stalling speed will be below 40kts and the aircraft will be designed to loiter at around 50kts. Range will be 260nm with full reserves at 75% power and fuel burn on mogas will be a mere 4gph.

Visually, the Sentinel is a relatively conventional aircraft with a high-wing pusher propeller configuration and an Optica-like bubble cockpit structure. The prototype of this attractive aircraft is scheduled to test fly later this year with certification hopefully being gained by late 1989. With a competitive price structure, it is hoped that Don Adams, and his chief designer, Bill Whitney, will be able to build sufficient aircraft to begin to replace some of the existing ageing training fleet both at home and abroad.

 New Registration System Not Far From Implementation:

Coming up soon, it is understood, will be four letter registrations for Australian Civil aircraft. Due to the number of new registrations of aircraft, albeit somewhat slow at the moment, the DTC has for some time been looking at the problem of what registration markings to issue when the present VH-AAA to VH-ZZZ system is filled up. The end result of the study is apparently to expand the present three letter system to four letters so don’t be surprised when you sight VH-AAAA somewhere (Er, say that again callsign?). Also don’t forget that our May issue will again play host to the A-K civil registrations while July edition hosts those in the L-Z group.

Jindabyne to Get Upgraded Airstrip:

The NSW Snowy Mountains resort township of Jindabyne (3400ft AMSL) is to enjoy significantly enhanced airport facilities this winter owing to the recent purchase of the strip by Air Jindabyne.

Air Jindabyne is to spend $2m on upgrading the existing strip from 1100m to 1500m in length and finally to 2000m during early 1989. Parking will be provided eventually for up to 80 visiting light aircraft and a shuttle bus will transport passengers throughout Jindabyne village with connections into the various snowfields resorts.

The enhanced facility will also have an NDB by winter 1989 in addition to runway lighting. Previously skiers have had to use the licensed aerodrome at Cooma, which is neither close to it namesake or for that matter Jindabyne. This has presented a number of transport and logistic problems for many years in that people destined for the Snowy Mountains had to fly to Cooma airport and then endure up to an hour’s bus ride to Jindabyne before travelling onto the resorts themselves.

Air Jindabyne is planning to operate a Bandeirante service linking Sydney (and possibly Melbourne) with Jindabyne this winter and hope to be able to expand these services to using one of the new 30/36 seat pressurised propjets during 1989.

Brisbane is seen as a massive, and largely untapped market in this regard and Air Jindabyne is confident that it could service this market using high speed aircraft such as the Saab 340 and Brasilia which could also operate high-frequency services linking the Snowy’s with Adelaide, Melbourne and Newcastle in addition to a number of pre-sold charters into secondary rural population centres within a two and a half hour flight time of Jindabyne.

Bae to Expand Flying Training Organisation:

British Aerospace have been overwhelmed with the interest generated by their newly launched specialist CPL training school at Prestwick in Scotland.

The school is now looking to expand its base so as to be able to graduate up to 192 students annually. Students operate in training cells of 16 with one new cell commencing the 13 month course every four weeks. Some 200 flight hours are logged including 60hrs on the BAe 125 line-orientated flight training simulator to help acclimatise students with real-world airline standard route flying. Flying training is undertaken on a fleet of 11 FFA Wrens (née Bravo). 19 Warrior and 6 Seneca II twins.

Charges Evened Out:

Air navigation charges at Essendon, Coolangatta and Launceston have been brought into line with other Commonwealth non-capital city and secondary airports from January 1, 1988, reports the General Aviation Association.

After lengthy negotiations between GAA and the Department, the then Minister for Land, Transport and Infrastructure Support, Mr Peter Duncan, announced that the Commonwealth would change the system brought in last July and “remove the disparity in charges between (these) airports and capital city secondary airports”.

Separate charges for terminal navigation and rescue and fire fighting services will no longer apply to avgas aircraft at the three airports. An increase of 0. 5 cpl in avgas excise will re-place the unpopular landing fee.

The airport facility element ($4. 40/1,000kg) will remain as this has become the responsibility of the Federal Airports Corporation (which will continue DTC charges to at least March 30, 1988).

New Kit Plane Available in Australia:

Victorian based Avtex Pty Ltd has been appointed as the Australian distributor of the all composite Lancair kit aircraft.

The Lancair is fully FAA approved and is a self-assembly composite aircraft offering a pre-molded airframe using nomex honeycomb for ease of assembly and strength. Powered by either a Lycoming 0-235 or 0-320 or a Continental O-200, the Lancair is capable of cruising at close to 200kts. The retractable landing gear is of tricycle design for ease of handling and accommodation is for two in conventional upright seats.

For further information on the Lancair, contact Mike Davies on (03) 719 7548.

Flying Training Beginning to Be Recognised at Tertiary Level:

It has taken years of hard work to get the CPL integrated with a tertiary course with to date only two organisations in Australia able to provide such a syllabus.

In the USA though things are different and the FAA has been moving since 1983 to promote aviation education at virtually the school level. Funding for the current year is some $A7m and the FAA approved courses are now being taught at 30 institutions with another 20 due to enter the programme by the end of this year. The grants cover the construction of new classrooms, acquisition of instructional equipment and the provision of trained personnel. The objective of the courses is to pre-quality students for a possible career in aviation, which in today’s environment is not such a bad thing.

Aviation Law Conference to Complement Bicentennial Air Show:

From October 12 to 15, the Aviation Law Association will be holding their annual Aviation Law Conference in Sydney to coincide with the Bicentennial Air Show.

This three day event will bring together some of the world’s leading aviation lawyers, underwriters and industry leaders to discuss and speak on potential national and international aviation issues.

Amongst the many speakers will be Jim Marquez who will address the conference on the possible consequences of deregulation of Australia’s airline industry. Mr Marquez is one of America’s most respected aviation lawyers having been chief legal adviser to the Reagan administration in finalising the implementation of America’s airline deregulation. Rod Margo, US lawyer and noted aviation law author, will address the effect on the cost of airline tickets. Eminent Lloyds Underwriter. Ernest Crouch, will speak on the impending doom facing General Aviation as a direct result of the soaring cost of product liability insurance.

For all persons whose business requires a current knowledge of aviation law, this is a conference not to be missed. For further details, contact the Aviation Law Association of Australia, 130 Phillip Street, Sydney 2000, (02) 233 8500.

GE to Sponsor Bicentennial Air Race:

General Electric has agreed to sponsor the Around Australia Bicentennial Air Race.

To be conducted under the auspices of the Royal Federation of Aero Clubs, the 11,000km race begins at Narromine on September 18th and concludes at Canberra on the 1st October. Inquiries have so far been received from more than 250 pilots for the epic air race which will transit through Toowoomba, Rockhampton, Longreach, Mt. Isa, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Darwin, Broome, Pt. Hedland, Carnarvon, Geraldton, Perth, Kalgoorlie, Forrest, Ceduna, Adelaide, Hamilton and finally Canberra. Further details can be gained from your local aero club.

Unique Facility for Pilots at Bicentennial Air Show:

Pilots and other aviation enthusiasts are being given the opportunity to enjoy the Bicentennial Air Show in October from the comfort of reserved grandstand seats and their own exclusive Aviator’s Club’ enclosure. The Australian Bicentennial Air Show, to be held at the Richmond RAAF Base between 12-16 October, 1988, will be the southern hemisphere’s largest aviation event.

The ‘Aviator’s Club’ will provide a package of facilities; those who buy a membership will receive a ticket to the three trade days-which will be open only to those with an involvement in the aviation industry- and a ticket to each of the two public days, with reserved grandstand seating on all five days. In addition, there will be a reserved enclosure adjacent to the grandstand, where ‘Aviator’s Club’ members will have their own exclusive catering, refreshment and toilet facilities.

Members of the ‘Aviator’s Club’ will be able to move in and out of the enclosure at will, but with their reserved grandstand seats available at all times. The cost of the package is $48 per membership. Applications for membership of the Bicentennial Air Show ‘Aviator’s Club’. together with payment of $48 per membership, should be sent to the Australian Bicentennial Air Show Organisation, PO Box 338, Riverstone, 2765.

People

Mr Paul Edwards has been appointed schedules planning manager for Australian Airlines. Mr Edwards succeeds Alan Hoyle who is retiring. Mr Clyde Holding has replaced Mr Peter Duncan as assistant Minister for Transport and Communications to Mr Gareth Evans. Peter Duncan has gone to Employment and Education Services.

Videos

Aviation Profile – Vol 2:

PS Film Productions. This is the second in the PS Film Productions video magazine format, as you might remember, Volume 1 was reviewed in our November edition.

The second volume includes features on the BAe 125-800 corporate jet (with some excellent footage over Melbourne), a segment on air-to-air refuelling, a profile on Conair, the Canadian fire fighting team that is nowadays well known to Victorians for their summer activities in conjunction with the NSCA. Conair of course are more than merely a flying fire brigade as they also refurbish and modify their own aircraft including the F27 and S-2 based Firecat. The Tape is rounded off nicely with a local segment on the Airship 600 and the regular Newsdesk section.

Aviation Profile is available direct from PS Film Productions, PO BOX 326, Croydon, 3136 for $49. 95 for one Volume or $180 as a one year subscription for all four volumes.

Aviation Video Digest NO1:

AVI. This 90 minute tape is good value for less than thirty dollars in that it offers a smorgasbord of aviation entertainment sourced from a variety of USAF and USN documentary tapes ranging from WW2 to the present.

Included in the selection is Aerial Firepower, a demonstration by frontline USAF aircraft at Eglin AFB during the early sixties; Carrier Action Off Korea, a documentary on the part played by carriers during the Korean conflict; Airpower In Action, operations by the USAF during the early part of the Vietnam war; Black Cats, a night bombing raid on a Japanese convoy in the south west Pacific by a USN squadron of Catalinas. We return to the present with a quarter-hour film on the deployment of an F-15 squadron to Nellis AFB for the Red Flag ACM exercises.

Aviation Video Digest is available direct from AVI, 1st Floor, 2 Drewery Plc, Melbourne, 3000, for $29. 95 post paid.

Books

The Historic Civil Aircraft Regis- Ter of Australia, Vh-Baa to Vh-Bzz:

Tony Arbon and David Sparrow This is the third part of a series of books covering the Australian civil register and follows on from the VH-A block reviewed in the March 1987 issue of AA. It gives a potted his- tory of every aircraft ever registered in the VH-B block and includes registrations, types, construction numbers, dates of registration, previous registrations and owners or fates.

Information is correct to late 1987 and as a quick reference guide an asterisk is added to all aircraft that were current at that time. This softback booklet is in an attractive yellow cover with a full colour photo of a Minicab on the front and 21 glossy black and white shots inside. The theme of the book is sport aircraft and the foreword is written by Geoff Owen, the President of the NSW division of the Sport Aircraft Association of Australia.

We strongly recommend this book to anyone who is the least bit interested in aviation for its content, quality and value for money while the information can be kept up to date with AA’s own register update service.

RRP, including air mail postage within Australia, is $7. 00 (A$7. 50 New Zealand) available from AustAirData, PO Box 37, Sylvania Southgate, 2224.

Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft:

John WR Taylor. What can you say about Jane’s annual aircraft guide-it is simply the world Bible of all that is aeronautical and is used routinely anywhere where aviation is relevant – from Moscow to Montevideo, from Bombay to Barcelona.

And massive it is, this year’s edition runs to 1029 pages and includes a full spectrum of data on aircraft, missiles, engines, ultralights, homebuilt and balloons. You can be assured that if it isn’t in Jane’s then it doesn’t fly.

Price in the UK is £76. 00 which makes it in the region of nearly $200 locally. A lot of money but one unbelievable reference book!

Jackie Cochran:

Maryann Brinley. Anybody who read Chuck Yeager’s autobiography will need no introduction to Jackie Cochran, that hellfire lady in Chuck’s book that probably did more for the recognition of women pilots than anybody since the great aviatrixes of the twenties and thirties.

By the time of her death in 1980, Jackie Cochran had chalked up more speed, altitude and distance records than any pilot in aviation history. Her career spanned forty years from the golden age of flying in the 1930s through to the sixties where she was the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound using a specially modified Starfighter. At her ranch, she entertained famous friends and heads of state including the Yeagers, Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt and General Hap Arnold. Jackie lived literally ‘on the edge’ and her own autobiography is indeed more than just an interesting read, it is a journey through an aeronautical time capsule, the like will never be seen (or enjoyed) again. Available at selected major bookshops for an RRP of $29. 95