Newsdesk – General Aviation

The verdict was overturned by California’s Court of Appeals which said: “In short, the key factual question before the jury was whether defendants had reasonable cause, in light of all the circumstances, to believe the crash was solely due to pilot error … nothing even remotely dishonest or underhanded . . . occurred here. Defendant’s own investigation, by reputable experts, turned up evidence entirely consistent with pilot error. Defence investigators did not deliberately avoid asking tough questions, nor did they hide their heads in the sand and ignore adverse reports”.

After reviewing the entire record, including the largely uncontradicted evidence of Raytheon Aircraft’s own investigation, the Court of Appeals said it was compelled to conclude there was insufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that Raytheon refused to attempt a fair settlement. This finding has now been upheld by the California Supreme Court, thus ending the matter in Raytheon’s (and GA’s) favour.

Skyfox’s Pilot Revival

Light aircraft manufacturer Skyfox aviation has introduced an innovative new scheme to get private pilots whose licences have lapsed back into the air at minimal cost.

Skyfox’s ‘Pilot Revival Package’ has been developed in association with five flying schools and gives grounded pilots a chance to pass their Biennial Flight Review after completing a one day programme. The participating schools are Fogarty’s Aviation Academy, Suncoast Flying and Aviation Academy, Armidale Airways and Jonathon Seagull Aviation.

The package includes an on site medical examination, an information seminar on new or changed flying procedures, a navigation skills update and over two hours of flight training. The one day course costs $300 and the pilots will be trained and endorsed in the Skyfox CA-25N Gazelle trigear two seater. Plans are underway to make this great hassle free idea available at all schools which have a Gazelle on their flightline.

Drifter Chinese Deal

The Austflight Drifter two seat ultralight aircraft will be built in China for the Asian and North American markets following the signing of a deal in late October.

The joint venture agreement between the Shanghai Fenton Light Aircraft Co and Queensland based Austflight will see 160 Drifters built in China in the first year of production and 200 in the second. Popular for training, recreational and property management flying, the Drifter has been in production in Australia since 1983 and nearly 500 have been built.

Beechjets For Europe

European organisation Corpavia Club has ordered 12 Beechjet 400A corporate jets (and optioned 10 more) from Raytheon Aircraft in a deal worth more than $US80m including the options.

The contract heralds the launch of what is claimed to be a new idea in the use of shared aircraft, differing from existing fractional ownership schemes in that customers do not have to buy a share in an aircraft. Instead, they sign up as club members with a one-off entrance fee, then pay an annual subscription plus a charge for the flying hours they use. Each member is entitled to 150 hours per annum with additional time available at a slightly higher rate. Availability of an aircraft within six hours is guaranteed. In the US, partnership corporate jets comprise around 5% of the fleet and fly more than 10% of hours.

The Beechjets will be operated for Corpavia Club by Jet Aviation, the world’s largest business aviation service company. They will be based initially in Geneva with other locations added as the fleet expands. The first two aircraft will be delivered before the end of this year.

The all new Learjet 45 successfully made its first flight on October 7 (32 years to the day from the first flight of the original Lear 23 in 1963). During the 2hr 2min first flight the 45 reached an altitude of 26,000ft and a speed of 300kt (555km/h). The Learjet 45 test programme will continue through next year, involving approximately 1250 hours of flight testing and five aircraft. Certification is anticipated for late 1996, with first deliveries in early 1997 . (Bombardier)

Skyrace ’96

The Country Club Casino Skyrace Tasmania event is on again next year, the 1996 event taking place at northern Tasmania’s Valleyfield between February 16 and 18.

Five classes of pylon racing will be conducted and these main events will be supported by flying and static displays of modern and historical military aircraft, commercial and pleasure aircraft, parachutists, ultralights, aerobatic displays and more.

The Around Tasmania Navigation Race will again be held as a prologue to Skyrace Tasmania, this event taking place on February 10-13. For more details, see the advertisement on page 74 in this issue.

Coalition Opposes Avgas Duty

The Federal Opposition has opposed the 0.964 cents per litre increase on aviation gasoline duty imposed by the Federal Government in order to increase the funding of AirServices Australia.

The duty on the fuel was increased in the 1995-96 budget by 1.847 cents per litre to 19.08 cents per litre. It increased by a further 3% from August as a result of the CPI indexation process. Of the 1.847 cents per litre increase, 0.964 cents is being used to further fund AirServices Australia. The Government originally proposed increasing the airways services component of the avgas duty by 3.4 cents per litre but reduced it to the lower figure after encountering intense opposition from the industry.

According to the Shadow Minister for Tourism, Aviation and Customs, Senator Warwick Parer: “The Coalition believes that funding air traffic control services through a fuel duty alone is inequitable. Many general aviation operators and private pilots rarely use air traffic services because they do not fly in controlled airspace. It is unfair that they are still required to pay thousands of dollars a year in duty.”

For example, agricultural operators currently pay AirServices Australia an average of $7800 per plane per year for airways services they do not use. The Government must reform the arrangements for funding general aviation’s contribution to AirServices Australia”, he says.

Visit Us On The Internet

Australian Aviation has gone online, with the magazine and all our books now detailed at our new internet site on the World Wide Web.

For details on the latest issue of Australian Aviation plus all our books, including the popular In Australian Service and Air Crash series, point your computer to https://msowww.anu.edu.au/-dfk/companies/aerospace/aerospace.html.

Gration Criticises Brereton

The Civil Aviation Authority’s last chairman, Peter Gration, has used the CAA’s final annual report to criticise the circumstances surrounding the winding up of the Authority and the Minister for Transport, Laurie Brereton.

Gration’s comments include claiming insufficient time was allowed for the CAA to solve its problems and the minister did not consult the CAA board on key changes including the decision to scrap the Authority as a single entity and replace it with AirServices Australia and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. Also noted was that the decision for the early opening of Sydney Airport’s parallel runway was made by Brereton.

Rqac Sword Of Honour

The Royal Queensland Aero Club has been awarded the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators’ Sword of Honour for outstanding contributions to general aviation. The citation accompanying the award notes the RQAC’s contribution to aviation over its long and distinguished history, including training pilots for over 76 years.