The aircraft I flew through Avalon had a serviceable Garmin transponder Squawking 1200.
Capt. Bloggs, I’m sorry you feel disappointed by me.
I take issue with your statement that seems to me to encapsulate the whole problem of Australian aviation.
Finally, CASA has said enough is enough and it’s going to recommend ASA replace the E. On that point, have you written to the minister arguing that CASA should have the power to mandate airspace changes instead of just “recommending”? I didn’t think so.
Exactly what constitutes “enough”? This is the nub of the problem. CASA, ATSB and probably Airservices are deliberately NOT using risk management tools to arrive at ANY decisions regarding Australian aviation, therefore their decisions are capricious, personal, biased and flawed because they are not backed up by science.
This sort of shyte is what gives us the Angel Flight regulations, the AVMED colour vision saga, not adopting WAAS, temperature limits on aircraft use, the persecution of Dominic James and probably Glen Buckley and many others, possibly the Mangalore crash, possibly what are now Lockhart I and II and I don’t know how much more. Endless personal opinion, enshrined in costly, complex and ever increasing regulation.
I looked through the CASA airspace report in vain for the numbers of movements of light vs rpt aircraft and found nothing. No probabilities, no opportunity costs, no discounted cash flow. That makes the report so much hot air unless I missed something.
CASA doesn’t know “enough is enough” and neither do you or I because no one has tabulated the huge number of VFR movements through that airspace compared to rpt movements.
I am sick and tired of people shooting from the hip, repeating what their first instructor in the squadron or airline told them. Did you know we had a paranoid senior LAME at Ansett in my day? He was a lovely bloke and even happier when we made him chief inspector. Perfect for that role. However I get the impression that CASA is full of such people who “know best” and cannot be mollified by science and experiment, and worse, they get to write and enforce the regulations!
It is clear that you hold the view that jets and VFR should never mix. Is this, in your heart of hearts, based on logic and science? Class E seems to work in the USA. There is radar and ADSB coverage. Why cannot it work here? What is the science that prevents it working here? What risk mitigation that is available in the USA is not available here?
Or is this hatred of E airspace just visceral yank hating, ex Airforce, public service and airline snobbery? Failure to apply science and instead replace it with personal preference, would seem to suggest it is.
My own opinion is that you are right, there will be a mid air, but airspace will be only one factor, the others being overworked controllers, cost pressures on rpt pilots, insufficient use of ADSB, badly trained VFR pilots and a punitive regulatory environment and culture.