Bob, so very, very, true. Us old farts saw the best, and what a "best" it was. So many wonderful experiences, so many fantastic people, the good, the bad and the ugly that meandered about GA putting their personal stamp in the memory book.
I got involved in a small way in the GA association not long after its inception sitting on various committees. It soon became apparent that finance was the major problem. The regulator made it almost impossible by scheduling meetings all over Australia, those were the old two airline days when an airline ticket from Sydney to Melbourne cost about six months salary. They knew full well that it would be unaffordable for most GA representatives to attend. I believe the "divide and rule" philosophy was the regulators mantra then as it is today, and as my old dad used to say "He who hold'th the money win'th the argument".
The decline in GA is not unique to Australia and we are not unique in that because of our widely dispersed populations, the tyranny of distance and lack of infrastructure we actually need a GA industry to fill in the gaps. Think of Canada.
Where we are unique is there is no recognition of this either politically nor from our regulator. Elsewhere in the world regulators have recognized there is a problem and are taking steps to attempt to remedy the situation not make it worse.
New Zealand led the way with straightforward regulatory reform which has become the envy of the world and is rapidly expanding in its adoption. Even China, an emerging GA hot spot is considering implementing NZ reg's .
Some European governments are enacting new GA rules, outside EASA, because they can see EASA is killing the industry.
The FAA is actively reviewing their regulations to see where costs can be reduced to make GA more affordable.
Here, our regulator doggedly continues to write rubbish regulations, unique in the world, which stifle any chance of a resurgence of GA.
More than a quarter of a BILLION $ and 25 years to write is in my mind corrupt, because in no sense can the new reg's be considered "Reform", in no sense can they be considered to improve "Safety" and in no sense can they be considered to "Benefit" the industry they purport to regulate.
Last edited by thorn bird; 31st Oct 2013 at 23:32.