Reflecting on the important things

True, it hasn’t rained enough in many parts of the country and true, flying as a business is more challenging than ever. If you enjoy being a pessimist there is no end of depressing fodder for you to grumble about.

But why torture yourself? It is a new year and hope springs eternal, as it should when we sit back, regain our perspective and see how many positives we have in our industry.

It seems the weather patterns are changing, with La Nina deepening, the Indian Ocean dipole moving into more positive territory and the 35 year weather cycle due to roll over. Some are even talking of a return to the patterns of the 1970s with higher rainfall. There has been some very useful rain in Queensland and northwestern NSW and a spurt of work for aerial application operators over Christmas.

Aircraft, both fixed-wing and rotary, are being recognised for their value in aggressive initial attack in firebombing, and government agencies seem to be getting the hang of using aircraft more effectively.

Hopefully more contracts will follow as the beancounters finally work out that aircraft actually save money by protecting assets and people and reduce the spread of fires.

CASA is changing, albeit slowly and not uniformly.

Nevertheless, it certainly seems easier for our sector to do business with CASA than it was five or 10 years ago.

The challenge for the people at CASA is to stay motivated and believe that they really can do things differently and better. This needs to be supported by industry helping CASA to develop policies that give both us and CASA staff the consistency, transparency and efficiency that we need to do our jobs.

Fuel prices continue to spiral, but while ever the price of crude stays high, you can be sure there are innovators out there coming up with ways of ensuring aviation stays viable. The incredible surge in corn plantings in the US last year for ethanol production has meant a significant lift in work for their air ag sector, and while you can debate the logic of sacrificing fertile food crop land to grow bio-crops, it is clear that alternatives to oil are being taken seriously.

Similarly, the existence of ethanol powered ag aircraft is a reality, with the Brazilian ethanol powered Embraer Ipanema having been certified and available for several years. Bio-diesel for turbines may not be that far away if the service life, manufacturer warranties and overhaul issues can be addressed.

So maybe aviation is not such a bad industry to be in after all. Especially when you add in the friendships and fun that are a feature of the ag sector.

Perspective is a very valuable business tool. It’s a pity it seems so hard to maintain throughout the year when we have our noses so close to the coalface.

So next time you are feeling like the world is against you, step back and regain the perspective that makes all of us think, at least sometimes, that we have the best job in the world.

VALE COL PAY “The greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing”.

Ag aviation lost an icon when Col Pay was killed in an aircraft crash while testing water skis for a firebombing aircraft in December.

Col started in ag in the 1950s and trained hundreds of ag pilots over his career as an ag ATO.

While Col’s wider fame in aviation was through his meticulous and faithful restorations of a Mustang, Spitfire and Kittyhawks and his wonderful airshow displays, Col had built enormous respect with the ag aviation community because of his business acumen and his commitment to training the next generation of ag pilots.

Col’s funeral was attended by over 1100 of his colleagues.

A flypast of his C185, an Air Tractor 802 and a Spitfire brought home to many just how much Col will be missed.

Col’s commitment to his family was the rock solid foundation of his success in so many other areas – whether it was agriculture, warbirds, test flying or annoying bureaucrats. Family was the thing Col lived for.

Col Pay was a lot of things – an inspiration, a hard bargainer with an in-built radar for a good deal, a superb pilot, a skilled engineer, a hard marker and a generous man.

But above all, Col Pay was a husband, a father, a grandfather and a mate. He went too soon. r Australian Aviation is proud to be the official supporting journal of the Aerial Agricultural Association of Australia. The views in this column are those of the AAAA, and not necessarily Australian Aviation’s.