Originally Posted by
LeadSled
Bend a lot,
That is as a direct consequence of completely unjustified rules changes, in this case at the behest of an electrician who headed CASA airworthiness at the time and a lawyer. This dumb pilot who knows nothing about maintenance can even "name names" in this case. But, as usual, no risk justification was made for the change, no benefit/cost justification, just major extra costs imposed for no "safety" benefit.
Essentially, one word was removed from the regulations, "major damage" was reduced to "damage". Prior to that, a LAME here could do the same level of damage repair as in US, and a (then) CAR 35 engineer would only be involved for major repairs. Thus the practice has grown up that you describe, with a large additional bill for the owner.
Mind you, the change did have the support of a substantial cohort of the "maintenance sector", those who want ever more prescriptive rules, and do not want outcome/performance based rules, where they have to make any decisions that maybe second guessed by CASA.
Again, further evidence of a very sick culture at work in Australian aviation, the same culture that results in demands for less regulation, then in the same breath calls for a whole new third tier of legislated regulation in Manuals of Standards.
And, surprise, surprise, "an addition third tier of regulation" was the one recommendation of Forsyth taken up enthusiastically by CASA.
If you don't understand why "the rules" are the basis for much of the excess maintenance cost here, compared to US/CA/NZ, cost that is all helping to destroy the aviation sector, I will not be able to explain it to you.
Tootle pip!!
Not only in Aviation, for reasons that are beyond me Australians now have this overwhelming need to be regulated out of existence. Woe betide anyone who doesn't subscribe to this puerile paradigm.