Newsdesk – General Aviation

Secondly, the existing ban on such operations may have made sense 50 years ago when it was introduced due to the relatively poor reliability of piston engines of that era, but with the demonstrated reliability of modern turbines, it now makes far less sense.

The question currently being considered therefore is ‘how would the actual long term safety of the fare paying public be affected if approval was given for certain specified single turbine engined aircraft to gradually replace the existing light twin fleet?’

If there was adequate data available to accurately assess the actual safety standards of light piston twins and single turbine aircraft, then the question could possibly be resolved on a statistical basis. However, neither the CAA, Transport Canada nor the US FAA have been able to obtain adequate statistical data to answer the question conclusively.

Transport Canada, in granting single engine IFR approval in February 1993, did so on the basis of a professional judgement that: ‘the principal hazards and risks identified with the carriage of passengers in a single engine aircraft in IMC and at night would not be related to engine or propeller malfunctions, but were hazards which were generic to IFR and night VFR operations.’ It seems likely that the Australian (and US) decision will also be made on the basis of a professional judgement.

It is understood that the majority of the industry responses to the CAA Industry Discussion Paper were supportive, and on that basis it is likely that an Aviation Regulatory Proposal (ARP) will be prepared and circulated for comment later this year.

The aircraft most likely to be affected by a change in regulations are the new high performance pressurised Pilatus PC-12 and TBM 700, and the well proven Cessna Caravan. An indepth analysis of the twin engine versus single turbine IFR situation was featured in our October 1993 edition.

Residents Sue Dove Owner

Entirely predictable in this sad age of American style litigation, residents of the street near Essendon Airport where the Rudge Air de Havilland Dove crashed after takeoff last December are suing the operator’s owner, Ted Rudge, who was also the pilot of the aircraft.

No-one was injured on the ground and the rugged construction of the aircraft helped ensure minimal injuries to those on board, but seven residents are claiming damages for unspecified serious psychological injuries.

The law firm involved has already said this will be the largest group claim for ‘nervous shock’ taken in Australia. Other residents are expected to join the fiscal feeding frenzy. Meanwhile, Ted Rudge (and perhaps many other charter operators) will probably be put out of business if the action is successful.

13th Saaa Mangalore Airshow A Stunning Success

The 13th SAAA airshow held at Mangalore over the Easter Weekend was conducted in almost perfect weather and attracted an estimated crowd of some ten thousand to the Easter Sunday public airshow.

The theme aircraft for this year’s event was the Glasair and the growing popularity of this composite construction kit built aircraft was evident by the number of aircraft on display. Stoddard Hamilton of the USA, the manufacturer of the kit, was invited to attend and was amongst those running workshops during the wide range of forums held on the Friday and Saturday.

There are currently 40 Glasair kits in country and 18 of these were expected to be flying by the time of the convention. Meanwhile, a new era in the amateur kit built (assembled) field has opened up with the approval by the CAA of the Rotorway Exec 90 helicopter and a privately completed aircraft was on display.

A Turbo Lake Renegade recently completed a three week 125 flying hours delivery flight from Kissimmee, Florida, in the USA to Chengdu in China. On its journey the Renegade and pilot Mike Abdo, of Far Horizons International Aviation Services, touched down in 13 countries – the USA, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Malta, Egypt, Oman, India, Thailand, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and China. In the process the Renegade crossed no less than seven major bodies of water – the Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea. Both the Renegade and its turbocharged Textron Lycoming TIO 540-AA1A engine performed flawlessly throughout the trip.

The annual SAAA Easter get together is now an internationally recognised event with representatives from the US Experimental Aircraft Association, the US Dayton Museum, Denmark and New Zealand attending. In addition, the growth in commercial sites indicates a maturity well beyond the humble beginnings of the event some 13 years ago. This was backed up by interesting displays by the CAA, Bureau of Meteorology and the Maritime Search and Rescue organisation.

The air display on Easter Sunday lasted some four hours with a mix of homebuilts, veteran and vintage, current third level RPT aircraft, purpose built aerobatic aircraft and a good representation of warbirds.

All aircraft were displayed to their best but a number of crowd pleasers stood out, most notably the MiG-21, and a close formation performance by a pair of veteran DC-3s. These two magnificently restored aircraft are owned by Qantas and Ansett; Qantas’ aircraft being the original TAA “Rawdon” which carried out the first TAA commercial flight between Melbourne and Sydney in September 1946.

Perhaps more remarkable is the fact that the Ansett aircraft was purchased by Australian National Airways in 1937 and has been with the company through its various guises ever since. It is in fact an authentic Wright powered DC-3 rather than a C-47 Skytrain or Dakota conversion as are most of today’s ‘DC-3s’.

The MiG was put through its paces at a cost variously reported as $3000 to $4000 an hour, and no doubt will be a must for all future airshows providing the organisers can bear the costs.

A spirited performance by a Lancair almost matched, in terms of speed and agility, that of the Mustang displayed later in the show. The only thing missing was the ever nostalgic sound of the Merlin.

A pre airshow flyby of the Beech Starship accompanied by two Long Ezes in close formation was almost surreal with the three aircraft looking like escapees from a kid’s comic of the future.

There is no doubt that the number of amateur built aircraft now on the Australian register indicates that this part of the aviation spectrum is here to stay. This has only been achieved by the close cooperation of the SAAA and the CAA and both are to be congratulated on ushering in a new era in aviation which would have been almost unthinkable ten years ago.

Bad Weather Decision Making Study

In response to the numerous examples of fatalities caused by pilots flying into adverse weather conditions, the Aviation Department at the University of Newcastle is conducting a study into weather related decision making and risk assessment among pilots.

The study, to be conducted in the Newcastle and Sydney region, is seeking the assistance of pilots who hold a current PPL or higher. Computer displayed scenarios of VFR flights will be used to gather information on pilots’ weather related decision making, and will be confidential. The study requires participants to be present at one 30 minute session.

Anyone interested in helping with this potentially important study should contact Mark Wiggins or Nicholas Connan.

Bogus Parts Threaten Safety

It’s been a problem since the beginning of aviation – the use of counterfeit and unapproved parts in aircraft has and always will compromise safety and is still rife in all aspects of the industry whether they be private, commercial or even military.

As long as there continues to be a market for these parts (which have not been manufactured or repaired in accordance with regulations, or are from crashed aircraft or are time expired) there will continue to be a problem. Those out there who create the demand should be reminded they are not just putting their own lives at risk, but also countless others.

The CAA Airworthiness Branch’s Colin Torkington gives the example of a Californian factory which was found to be deliberately manufacturing bogus parts. He says: “one employee giving evidence in court said she was given a list of airlines not to fly with, because her company had sold them bogus parts”.

Although no accident investigations in Australia have proven the use of bogus parts to have contributed – yet – there have been numerous examples of aircraft suffering problems due to them. Among them, a Bell 47 with bogus main rotor blades, a Hughes 269A with a bogus main rotor/drive shaft/hub assembly, a Bell 206B with a bogus No 2 gas producer turbine wheel and a Fuji FA-200 which suffered a broken control wheel shaft – the shaft appeared to be a chrome plated towel rail!

Counterfeit parts is big business with the more ‘professional’ operators going to a lot of trouble to disguise their parts with fake ID plates and so on. According to the CAA, things to look for include the lack of, or unusual appearing documentation; improper or lack of required stamps; altered or unusual surface finish; a price which seems too good to be true (and it usually is); any metal identification tag with a stamp over. If in doubt – seek help.

Glass Cockpit Duchess

The Melbourne Institute of Aviation (MIA) has created what could be a world first in fitting a Beech Duchess twin used for training new airline pilots with a high tech cockpit.

The idea is to provide sophisticated training for those transitioning from general aviation to the airlines. The MIA recognised the need for those pilots to be introduced to the types of flight information systems they will soon be using.

The result is a Duchess equipped with an Electronic Flight Instrumentation System (EFIS), a global positioning system (GPS), weather radar and a radar altimeter. The installation – developed with Moorabbin’s Air Communications and using Bendix-King equipment – took three months to install with the EFIS and GPS needing to be interfaced with traditional analog equipment.

Pilots Wanted

The US Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) has launched a campaign to encourage 10,000 new pilots to start flying this year.

The campaign results from substantial drops in new student pilots (66,549 last year, a record low) and in the number of active licenced pilots in the USA. In January this year the figure was 665,069, the lowest since 1967.

The Australian experience appears to be similar. Although CAA statistics can’t be directly compared due to different methods of counting being used over the years, it’s clear that the number of active pilots has certainly declined of late.

Flight Safety Forums Launched

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), in conjunction with the Australian Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and other organisations, has launched a series of Flight Safety Forums which are free of cost and available to all pilots.

The forums feature speakers who will discuss topics such as improved navigation techniques to prevent controlled airspace violations, pilot responsibilities for aircraft maintenance, the use of radar services, accident investigations, dealing with hazardous weather and the new airspace system.

Similar forums last year attracted 3000 pilots and this year’s dates and locations for these worthwhile events include Adelaide, Melbourne, Surfers Paradise, Townsville, Perth and Sydney. For more details, contact the CAA’s Information and Communications Branch.

Aaup Backs Safety Awards

The Australian Aviation Underwriting Pool (AAUP) has announced the establishment and its sponsorship of the Australian Aviation Safety Awards.

The awards are the result of consultation with the main general aviation industry associations and will recognise individuals or organisations who make significant contributions to aviation safety.

The awards will be presented annually, the first ceremony taking place in conjunction with next year’s Avalon Airshow. All areas of general aviation are eligible for nomination in several categories including ground support facilities, private and business aircraft, AOC holders, training and sport aviation.

Csiro Supports Industry

The CSIRO is looking to forge closer links with Australian industry – especially small and medium sized enterprises – and is offering $25,000 worth of research time as an incentive to encourage industry cooperation with the organisation. It has also launched the publication Research Results to showcase achievements.

As part of an aggressive drive to get industry and business to make better use of its skills and resources, the CSIRO is offering targeted research worth $25,000 (two person-months of CSIRO consulting) to the company which comes up with the most appropriate proposal for joint work. The organisation is aiming to extend its network of private sector partnerships over the next five years, doubling cooperative work with the many small and medium sized companies which could use its services.

Best Woman Pilot Announced

The Civil Aviation Authority has recognised Yvonne Hayward as Australia’s best woman pilot of the year in awarding her the Sir Donald Anderson Award.

The Award encourages female pilots to further their pilot qualifications; the recipient must pass all professional exams in one calendar year, with points awarded for each subject passed. Ms Hayward completed all her exams for her Commercial Pilots Licence whilst still a student pilot, scoring 138 out of a possible 187 points.

CAA Chief Executive Doug Roser presented the award to Ms Hayward at the Annual Conference of the Australian Women Pilots’ Association. Ms Hayward is from Emerald in Queensland.

Basi Focuses On Proactive Approach To Safety

Australia’s air safety investigation body, the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation, has shifted its emphasis in air safety investigation from reactive to proactive.

Each year there are approximately 270 aircraft accidents per year, of which 10% are fatal. Significantly though the accident rate per flight hours in Australia has largely remained unchanged in almost two decades. BASI is now focussing its efforts on how to reduce this rate, in the face of ever growing annual flight hours. In itself keeping the rate stable is a major achievement, given the major changes in the nature of aviation in Australia over that time. To further improve the record though BASI is taking a number of proactive steps.

In the past the Bureau has focussed on a reactive response to air safety, investigating each air safety incident. In recent times however the Bureau will only investigate those accidents where it thinks it will get a safety return. For example it is highly unlikely now that BASI would investigate the ground looping of a tail dragger, the causes of such incidents are widely known. But it will investigate an accident or incident where the investigations will lead to an improvement in air safety.

Another important step in proactive safety is publishing the findings in the Asia Pacific Air Safety journal for the benefit of 65,000 readers in the aviation industry in Australia and overseas. This magazine is an integral part of BASI’s continuing dialogue with industry. However the Bureau’s field staff now also go out to industry to act as intelligence gatherers, to provide the Bureau with an early warning system of aviation safety issues as they arise.

Provided within each Asia Pacific Air Safety is another method of proactive safety, the Confidential Aviation Incident Report (CAIR) package. CAIR is an incident reporting scheme, aimed at identifying and addressing trends in incidents, and giving BASI a complete air safety picture. About 300 CAIR reports are filed each year.

Austrade To Promote Uniform Training Promotion

Austrade has met with the Australian flying training industry to create an export network from which participants can collectively pursue overseas business opportunities.

Australia is a recognised leader in the training field for pilots, engineers and maintenance staff, air traffic regulation and ground support services. However in the past the industry approach has been fragmented with individual companies left to their own devices. The Austrade network aims to present a uniform approach to marketing the industry as whole.

Austrade says there is enormous scope to improve market share through this integrated networked approach. According to John Bibo, the newly appointed chairman of Aviation Training Australia, “Austrade estimates that the current value of Australia’s international aviation training services is already more than $120m a year. We are confident that, with a more aggressive and coordinated approach, this figure will grow to some $200m a year within five years.”

The network would reduce the wastage of direct head to head competition of Australian training institutions for select opportunities, and the network would instead identify needs on a broader scale.