DirectorPhillip Tarrant

EditorStephen Kuper

Business Development ManagerSinead Reilly

Head of StrategyBenjamin Foster

Sub EditorJake Nelson

Graphic DesignerJack Townsend

ContributorsCPL Craig Barrett, FSGT Shane Gidall, Senior Airman Mikaela Smith, Victor Pody, LSIS Zac Dingle, AC Ivan Smotrov, LACW Nell Bradbury, Aaron Francis, Richard de Crespigny, Rob Finlayson, Jake Nelson, Damien Lay, Lenn Bayliss, Yujie, Mr Ozturk, Margaret Applebee

Issue #400: The Innovation Issue

Life begins at 40(0)

It’s not every day you get to celebrate such a nice round number as 400 – but this is, in fact, the 400th issue of Australian Aviation. We can’t help but wonder whether its founder, Jim Thorn, back in 1977, could have anticipated it lasting so long or reaching so many people over the years.

Things look very different now at issue #400 than they did at issue #1, or even at issue #300 back in 2012, when Gerard Frawley was at the helm of this storied publication, Virgin Australia had just purchased Tiger Airways, Jetstar still flew A330s, the 767 was still a common sight, Qantas’ 787s were still a gleam in Alan Joyce’s eye, and 747s remained very much the queens of Australia’s skies.

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So, we thought: what better way to mark such a milestone than with a look into the future of aviation? Thus, The Innovation Issue – a deep dive into some of the most bleeding-edge technologies being adopted by airlines, airports, air traffic controllers, and Defence alike.

In this issue, Jake Nelson speaks to Simon Westaway, chief executive of the Australian Airports Association, and Rob Sharp, head of Airservices Australia, about the evolving technologies coming to our major gateways and our airspace. At the GreenSkies summit in Sydney, we see if a lack of support is stalling Australia’s electric aviation ambitions. At the same time, New Zealand’s soaring ahead – and a year after Sydney’s new slot manager took the reins, we have a look at what ACL has brought to the table and how it’s trying to make our biggest gateway fairer, smoother and more efficient.

On the Defence side, Steve Kuper and Rob Dougherty examine next-generation engines, AI-powered killer drones, future fighter jets, 3D-printed helicopter parts, and the latest addition to the RAAF’s surveillance fleet. Cyber security also comes under the microscope, with our colleague David Hollingworth examining how aviation can protect itself against digital threats and malicious actors.

It’s not all about the future, however: we take a peek into two of Australia’s most infamous air incidents of the past – the disappearance of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith in the 1930s, and the incredible story of QF32, the A380 catastrophe that wasn’t, 15 years on. Finally, of course, we have all our regular features, including Traffic, Register and Warbirds, ably presented by Hannah Dowling, plus a look at how the RAAF contributed to the big Exercise Red Flag in Nevada at the start of this year.

While 400 issues is definitely something to celebrate, next year Australian Aviation has a bigger milestone still: our fiftieth anniversary, half a century of charting the southern skies and all who fly in them. You can bet that we’ll have more to say about that when it arrives – but for now, we look forward to the future of Australian Aviation, and hope we’ll get to see where our sector ends up in another 100 issues’ time.

Enjoy the magazine,

The Australian Aviation Team

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