Newsdesk- General Aviation

Hoover Grounded:

Legendary pilot Bob Hoover’s appearance atTasmania’s Skyrace air racing spectacular earlier this year may well havebeen his last at the controls of anaeroplane.The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has overruled an NTSB administrative law judge and revoked the elderly pilot’s medical certificate. Hoover surrendered the certificate voluntarily in 1993 at the FMs request after inspectors said he was tentative during a performance in the USA during 1992.Hoover’s medical was temporarily returned in January this year after flying his airshow routine for the court, but the NTSB decision states that although the medical testing shows he can perform the routine (in an Aero Commander 500S) because it is so well rehearsed, he might have trouble if new or unusual situations arose during a performance.Apart from his sensational routine in the Commander, Hoover was equal ly well known for his role as official starter at the Reno unlimited air races, supervising the start of races from above in his P-51 Mustang.

Lifesaver With A Difference:

Imagine this – You are flying to an unfamiliar destination in your average lightie, you are naturally only VFR rated, it is getting towards dusk and the headwinds are knocking 30kts off your groundspeed estimates, you are over tiger country and to make matters worse a front has rapidly brought in a blanket of low level cloud that has literally rendered your WAC chart useless and you never did buy yourself that GPS that you promised yourself so long ago.Enough to make any private pilot sweat? You bet, and your two passengers are feeling no better as they sense your growing urgency to be somewhere else. Minutes fly by, ground visibility becomes negligible, darkness approaches and that fuel gauge is not where it should be – what do you do?We all know the options – soldier on in the vague hope that there is a break in the cloud and before last light is met. Tum back, but to where, alternates are few and again visibility and light are eluding you and anyway you are now unsure of your present position. Eventually your fuel will be exhausted and the aircraft will begin it<J terminal descent, and into what, how can you complete a forced landing through cloud, in a glide into unknown terrain, forget it, it’s over!Sounds dramatic. Well it is and regrettably it happens every week somewhere around the world, and often in Australia. You rarely get pilot stories of this type first hand simply because all involved inevitably become statistics in the process of writing their deeds in the record books. However, there is an alternative, and a novel one at that.BRS parachute recovery systems have long been famous for their ultralight rocket powered parachute recovery systems, indeed they have more than three dozen ‘saves’ listed, which is pretty good for a unit that has been in existence since only the early eighties. Now, the BRS system has been designed for use with light aircraft up to Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee class.Essentially, the system includes a rocket capsule system mounted above the cabin in a relatively aerodynamic fashion. The system is designed to be fired instantaneously with full canopy deployment in under two seconds, even from an inverted spin. The system arrests the fall of a 172 in seconds and can land it on its wheels (depending upon immediate terrain, etc) with a descent impact rate of just eight ornine knots or an equivalent of a moderately heavy landing If you can honestly place yourself in the position of the pilot in our story then wouldn’t it be nice to have that final option, when all else fails, of just nosing her up to wash off airspeed and pulling that red handle in the knowledge that you, and your passengers, were going to see another sunrise?

Ga Deliveries Sli Ghtly Up:

US general aviation new aircraft deliveries were slightly up in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period of 1993, although deliveries of business jets and turboprops rather than piston engined types were largely responsible for the increase and overall turnover remains depressed.The total number ofGA aircraft delivered in the March quarter was 181, compared with 175 in the same period last year. The total includes 52 jets, 37 turboprops and 92 piston engined aircraft, the latter figure down from 100 last year and indicating no recovery in the light end of the market as yet.Exports were also down from 85 to 63 aircraft, while total billings declined by a substantial 46% from $US194m to just $US104m. Of the 92 piston engined aircraft delivered, the hopefully soon to be solvent Piper was responsible for 30 of them worth $USS.Sm.

Pac May Stop Building Aircraft:

New Zealand’s Pacific Aerospace Corporation (PAC) is considering ending production of new aircraftdue to the continuing decline in themarket.PAC manufactures the CT-4 Airtrainer and the Fletcher agricultural aircraft as well as building components for Boeing and parts for the Anzac frigates. The company may concentrate on the components side of the business as the agricultural aircraft market is flat and the industry is generally still in the throes of recession. PAC’s staff of 90 is now working a four day week.PAC is owned by Aerospace Technologies of Australia (75.1% of the stock) and Lockheed (24.9%). It is the successor company to New Zealand Aerospace Industries (NZAI) which was in turn formed from the amalgamation of Aero Engine Services Ltd (AESL) and Air Parts.

Charle Ville Gains Aircraf T Maintenance Facility:

The south-western Queensland town of Charleville has gained a light aircraft maintenance facility thanks to some recognition of the worth of general aviation by a government body.Business Advice for Rural Areas (BARA), a joint Commonwealth/State programme designed to encourage and assist rural development, is behind the idea, following submissions by the Queensland Department of Business Industry and Regional Development two years ago. It is estimated the facility will bring more than $260,000 into the town every year, as well as creating employment opportunities for skilled people.Flying operators based at Charleville, including the Royal Flying Doctor Service, strongly supported the establishment of the business, which will also offer aircraft refurbishing and rebuilding services along with light rural machinery engineering.AA Comment: Imagine that – government instrumentalities actually trying to promoteGA! What a concept. Our sincere congratulations to all concerned. What a far cry from the perennial and rapidly worsening (refer Reece) rape and pillage philosophy of the FederalGovernment and much ofits out oftouch self serving bureaucracy.

Optica And Sprint Forsale:

The chequered careers of twoBritish light aircraft designs – theOptica observation aircraft and Sprint(formerly Trago Mills SAH-1) two seattrainer – have taken another turn withcurrent owners FLS Aerospace offering both lines for sale.Airline maintenance and engineering specialist FLS purchased the rights to the two designs in 1991 with grand plans but only a handful of aircraft have been manufactured. Small batches of Opticas were also built by previous owners, while FLS is now building a batch of five Sprints, the first examples since the 1983 prototype. The Optica has had three previous owners and the Sprint two.FLS invested more than $13m on the designs but has now decided to concentrate on its core business. The company says interest in acquiring the designs has come from the USA and Asia.

Monarch Crash Af Termath Continues:

The falloutfrom the Monarch Airlines PiperNavajo crash near Young in June lastyear continues.The Bureau of Air Safety Investigation’s (BASI) draft report into the accident lists several reasons for the accident (low cloud, dark night, circling below minima for the conditions, improperly qualified pilots, aircraft equipment deficiencies, inadequate approach charts and operations manuals etc) which are damning of the operator but also of the Civil Aviation Authority.From Monarch’s point of view, BASI mentions numerous safety breaches including flying at excess weights, operating aircraft beyond their mandatory maintenance check periods, using improperly qualified pilots, operatingaircraft not fitted with mandatory equipment such as vital navigation and autopilot parts which were not installed in the crash aircraft.The report also mentions Monarch’s financial situation and the fact that it was able to continue operating despite constant breaches of standards and known financial difficulties. BASI has in many ways placed the blame for this squarely on the shoulders of the CAA: “the seeming reluctance of the Safety Regulations and Standards Division to take early and decisive action to ensure compliance with the required airworthiness and operational standards. This was despite consistent breaches of those standards by the company, and the fact that the company was carrying fare paying passengers throughout this entire period”.Inshort, BASI puts much of the blame for the accident on systemic failures within the CAA, the implications of which forthewhole industryare obvious.There has already been a reaction from the CAA, which has moved to apply a financial viability test to operators to determine whether they should be allowed to continue flying and if a lack of cash is creating a situation like Monarch’s where maintenance and other areas were compromised as a result. Such a test is already applied to those who apply for an Air Operator’s Certificate but this is not part of the operator’s ongoing review and renewal processes.At the time of writing, the C.ARs formal response to the BASI report had not been published though was expected during the course of this issue.

On Your Bike:

In an ever moretechnical and state of the art high techindustry such as aviation it is nice tooccasionally stumble across something that reeks of simplicity and lowcost common sense.Parafield’s successful Australian Aviation College is long noted for training the future airline pilots of a large number of Asian carriers. Korean, CAAC, Malaysian, Garuda and most recently Air Vietnam are all customers of AAC and one thing that all of these young cadets have in common is that they mostly do not speak English very well when first arriving at Parafield.As well as teaching them ‘Aviation English’, the school has also devised a cost effective method of teaching them ab initio ATC procedures whilst also improving their manual dexterity at about one millionth the cost of flying circuits in the school’s Tobagos andGrobs.Marked out on the floor of the main hangar is a typical rectangularGA circuit. Downwind, base and finals are all displayed along with an appropriate runway. The cadets ride bicycles around the circuit, maintaining proper separation from one another and making the required radio calls where appropriate. This teaches them to do several things at once, gets their English into gear and improves their sense of balance and respect for the importance of getting it right in a crowded GA circuit.By the time they take to the air the cadets have already overcome the fear of using the radio (which we all initially experience – remember when!) and know exactly what is going on without wasting precious airtime.Another good down to earth Aussie solution to a problem that probably somebody in the northern hemisphere would invest millions of dollars in sophisticated computer based training aids to replicate while we do it with a few bicycles and a tin of paint. Good one AAC.

General Aviation S Urveycommences:

The Bureau ofTransport and Communications Economics (BTCE) is presently conducting a long awaited survey of generalaviation activities in Australia.After consulting all major general aviation associations as to the form and substance of the questions to be asked, the BTCE has randomly selected a number of holders of Air Operators’ Certificates, and private owners to seek their help in completing the survey.There has been no comprehensive study of general aviation for more than ten years in this country, hence the Bureau’s survey will make a substantial contribution to redressing the current lack of published information relating to the significance, and financial viability of general aviation. Such information will provide a better basis for Government policy formulation and will materially assist informed debate on a wide range of general aviation issues.The Bureau urges those who have been selected to take part in the survey to take time to complete the questionnaire to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the study. It is in everyone’s best interests that a proper representation of the general aviation scenario be obtained.While many in general aviation already provide information to government through other surveys, the additional information sought is needed to complete this wider, more comprehensive profile of general aviation.The Bureau, through making the survey forms anonymous, has assured the confidentiality of the information provided. In addition, the results of the survey will only be reported in aggregate hence individuals cannot be identified in any way The BTCE is a professionally independent research organisation within the Commonwealth Department of Transport and is not linked with the CAA or the FAC. Any recipient of the survey form who has concerns about the study, or who has misplaced the survey form should contact the BTCE on 1800 67 3404 (freecall).