A force for good

As many of you would know our Kiwi colleagues have become international leaders in restoring or replicating WW1, WW2 and vintage aircraft. Some of the biggest customers in the world for restored aircraft have been beating a path to their doors. The recent Mosquito restoration was aviation news everywhere.

While the event is pitching to a different sector of the aviation market compared to Avalon, the organisational and presentation standards were of a similar very high quality. The public’s access to the aircraft, pilots and engineers was second to none. Where else would you see the pilot of a WW1 Sopwith Camel, his face streaked in oil from its rotary engine and the aircraft parked within touching distance, leaning over the wire fence talking to a throng of young onlookers? Where else would you be invited to become a part owner in a Yak-3 fighter at a realistic price?

The thousands of people who brought their camping chairs and rugs may not all turn into our next pilots or engineers, albeit with a fair percentage that could, but they are all air-minded and every airshow of such quality educates

them further. Not only did they see very modern aircraft on display but also the aviation roots from whence our challenging and fascinating industry arose.

Every country that has a thriving aviation industry has an interested public that supports its further development. Omaka and Avalon reminded me forcefully that the public wants to engage with aviation but must be given many accessible opportunities. Such high quality events demonstrate that aviation remains a force for good and excites interest among the next generation to pursue aviation professions.

The role of aviation museums in our industry was also brought home at Omaka. The standard of the Aviation Heritage Centre was jaw dropping thanks to the millions poured in by Sir Peter Jackson and his colleagues. The museum exemplified aviation’s early DNA and how war accelerated research and development, unfortunately a painful fact. The sombre but realistic dioramas were a reminder that aviation is always about balancing risks and accepting challenges.

Safe and efficient air travel is how most people will first experience aviation. The large safety buffers that surround commercial aviation are hard-earned and universally supported. The task now is not to become so regulated, so risk averse, that the industry barriers to entry or even survival become insurmountable.

Aviation is always pushing the envelope, albeit carefully. That is what makes our industry so fascinating. It is incumbent on all of us in the industry not to lock ourselves away, not to become too inward looking, too distant, and speak to those who have a keen or passing interest.

Over the next five to 10 years let’s return some excitement to our industry. The greybeards, of which I am one, must be followed by young men and women keen to make their aviation mark. This should be our legacy and we should not resile from it. The interest was there at Avalon and Omaka, and I would suggest at many other gatherings.

If people have access and are encouraged, they will learn. If security and safety arguments become too oppressive, too pervasive, the interest of the young will wander and possibly be lost forever.

Aviation can be a technical business and the commercial side has been described as close to a knife fight in a phone booth. However, it can also motivate people to reach their potential and add more chapters to aviation’s unfolding story.

If anyone ever says to you that aviation has no soul, take them to Avalon or Omaka and stand by the fence for a while.

 If people have access and are encouraged, they will learn.