Future of General Aviation - Speak up NOW fellow aviators!
Sure this has be vibrantly discussed on many occasions on this forum and verbally amongst all of us on more than one occasion.
Without trying to regurgitate historical specifics, I firmly believe that enough is enough and people need to start writing some serious letters to their local federal members to have the issues raised at the top levels. If your corrospondance appears to just disappear into the abyss, keep pumping the letters out to other federal members who may be a little more inclined to digest your concerns, eg Nick Xenophon and Bill Heffernan etc.
Forget the industry associations they are a waste of time in most cases, do it individually. Your important opinion deserves to be heard by the people making the decisions in relation our industry. Forget CASA, they are puppets to our leaders. Our leaders must be well informed, accurately and directly - they aren't the subject experts, we are. Hence good accurate unbiased information is what they need to get any positive traction on any possible good outcomes for our industry.
With the reg reform in full process now is the time to get in when the iron is hot.
Additional to this, I strongly suggest that everyone in industry makes it their business to respond to CASA in the correct manner when the new regs go out for consultation which I believe will be happening very soon, the next big one to go out is Part 91.
A couple of issues as examples in my opinion that should be addressed are;
1/ Part 61 requirements in their current form, the whole thing needs simplifying and must be realistic for GA.
2/ Relief for private and airwork operators from complying with additional maintenance (excluding scheduled) in relation to ageing aircraft, eg SIDs and AD/GEN/87 (cable replacements) etc. This should be a voluntary decision by aircraft owners. If such relief was made available, CASA apply operational restrictions on the effected aircraft to manage the risks (similiar to how experimental aircraft are regulated today).
Food for though fellow aviators. I'm just as frustrated as the next GA pilot but without everyone's initiative to speak up to the appropriate people in the correct manner, the only thing that is going to change is that GA will only be available for the rich and the scrap metal merchants will be converting our belovided aeroplanes into coke cans.