Personally the IOSCB have no problem with Phil carrying the drinks, it is the prerogative of the Captain to pick the twelfth man. However let's 'play the ball' and not the man, after all it is just not cricket to sledge a player off the field of play...
601:
Even thought it is alleged to only have has "700" members, pray tell what other organised organisation of that size is there to represent GA pilots?
Hmm..interesting comment and at the risk of drifting towards the inevitable NAOPA wars
(there is another thread in GA for that
) let us do a basic review/audit, say over the last 5 years, of the legitimacy of 601's comment...
Note: Before we start I think 601 has sold NAOPA short in the who?? and what?? they profess to represent, from
'An Open Letter to Everyone Involved in General Aviation in Australia':
AOPA does its best to work closely with other aviation organisations, but AOPA is the only one that truly represents the full spectrum of GA activity: IFR, VFR, helicopter and fixed-wing, aerial work and charter, owner-flown, instructional and private hire.
Let us accept, that in GA terms, for the last 12 months the most significant event in GA circles (the one that drew the most cross-discipline, cross-association, political interest, pprune following etc..and largely responsible for triggering the TASRR) was the Senate PelAir inquiry . OK so we will use that event to establish a baseline for our brief review.
So did our
truly only GA reps offer support to our Senate elected representatives on the release of the PelAir report and its damning findings back on the 23rd of May...
AOPA News link for 2013.?? Err...no!
{NB: I can stand correction here; but in the whole of the news listings that the PelAir inquiry was running there is not one mention that I can find}.
So did our
truly only GA reps at least make a submission to the PelAir inquiry...
Aviation Accident Investigations?? That would be a no!
Maybe they were involved in the other significant GA Senate inquiry...
Pilot training and airline safety including consideration of the Transport Safety Investigation Amendment (Incident Reports) Bill 2010?? Also a no!
In fact the last time that our
truly only GA reps made a submission to a GA related Senate/House inquiry was in 2008 and that effort could only best be described as a
Creamy wet lettuce response, see here:
Inquiry into the Administration of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and related matters
AOPA sub 6
AOPA sub 6A
Hearing transcript from page 30
{To be fair, it is also worth noting that the Captain's pick twelfth man was not selected in that series..}
Sarcs comment: Trolling back through the history of our
truly only GA reps involvement in past parliamentary inquiries, there was one submission of note back in 1999-2000 that the association should seriously consider re-badging/updating (name changes etc) and forward as their submission for the TASRR:
House Committee sub 145 Hmm...on second thoughts perhaps not!
In the interest of balance of our
truly only GA reps (and their 781 members), the elected committee have not been sitting on their hands, from the letter mentioned above
:
Recently, on your behalf, the AOPA Committee has:
• Prepared detailed responses to CASA and attended meetings to advocate more GA-friendly provisions in the new Part 61, 91, 141, 142, 145, aviation medical, ageing aircraft and other regulations
• Actively engaged with the Australian Strategic Air Traffic Management Group and the Bureau of Meteorology to make sure that GA, and not just the airlines, have a say on vital air traffic management, airspace planning, satellite-based navigation, weather and other services
• Re-introduced the AOPA aviation scholarships with the support of Airservices Australia
• Held seminars around the country, actively promoting general aviation safety and making contact with our members.
In summing up (and on behalf of the IOSCB) I can see no problem with the twelfth man selection, however the IOSCB would have serious issue with him taking to the field in any other position except silly mid-on or to carry the drinks!
Addendum:
Aviation Safety Regulation Review Submission Form.
Media Release WT042/2013 06 December 2013