Aviation Advisor
McGowan,
Was doing a little checking up on your question about the Aviation Adviser that keeps the industry safe. Seems that there are a variety of comments from industry and military alike.
A source tells me that the expert come from a military (Navy) back ground with very limited commercial civil experience. After leaving the employ of the big ship, he joined BASI in the west as a Photographer and assistant investigator for several years till rejoining the military flying Seahawks. While back on the NSW South Coast he assisted in starting the consultancy business he now works for to give himself a hobby after the pay off.
His consulting reports nearly read the same from the one to the DPI to the NSW RFS and I have been told that his cut and paste now has hit a power provider that he is consulting for. One of the suggestions that he had for the power company is that the power line inspectors have a HUET course in the event they fly near or over water. How much water does one thing power lines cross??
If one was skeptical, one may think that he is trying to build an empire in consultancy as well as create work for ex-military buddies!
As for fire fighting experience, I believe he once flew a Seahawk during some fires but has no more operational experience then that.
Not knocking military pilots at all, but commercial operations take years of pain stakingly living to a budget and most ex-military pilots I know have initial difficulty understanding the power of the almighty commercial pressure.
Brace! Brace! Brace!