Jack Ranga
Thanks for the nice words, however I consider my best achievements have been in aviation reform. One day Im going to write a book of the changes that have been made that are now accepted by pilots and air traffic controllers.
Can you imagine if you told a Sydney tower or approach air traffic controller that he or she had to start separating VFR helicopters from each other? They would go crazy!
Well, for the first three years of my flying helicopters in Sydney, this is what happened. I even wrote a complete chapter in my book, Two Years in the Aviation Hall of Doom. By encouraging people to copy modern overseas practices, I managed to get this changed, and now helicopters can fly in Sydney and in other places in Australia especially Hobart using modern international procedures.
I can well remember having to hold at Hornsby for ten minutes orbiting in a single engine helicopter over a built-up area whilst the controller was waiting for the Channel 9 helicopter to clear the control zone so I could be allowed to fly in to North Ryde. The whole thing was ridiculous, but believe it or not at the time there were controllers and mainly their bosses who maintained that these procedures were necessary for safety.
What a load of rubbish!
No-one would want to go back to that today. Thats why we need to support our controllers and allow them to use modern, international procedures in Class C airspace.
Last edited by Dick Smith; 18th Jan 2011 at 02:42.