Communications

[Pete Greed]

Last weekend I had the privilege of watching a student pilot go solo. The experience was a source of great pleasure, not only for the pilot concerned and his instructor, but for the gaggle of experienced pilots gathered around at the time. I’m sure all present would have relived, in some small way, that feeling of departing and returning to earth using nothing but your own resources; the sublime moment your foot touches the ground on disembarking the aircraft, and that walk “in the long grass” back to a world that will never be the same again.

 

 

In a short conversation with the new pilot he mused that he had thought that he may be getting close to going solo and had questioned his instructor as to whether or not, he, the instructor, was still inputting into flying the aircraft. It was a classically revealing comment that sums up the very essence of experiential learning; that personal, seamless transfer of a skill from one to another, without an academic or bureaucrat in sight.

 

 

Now I’m sure that has your attention!

 

 

This bugger is going to bash academics and bureaucrats! And for all you self-made folk who left school at form three listen up and take note. In a world increasingly controlled by regulation, your input into the way your own part of the world is governed is going to be critical. Devolve your responsibilities at your own, your children’s and your communities’ peril. Or as a friend of mine has been apt to say: “Communities crumble when good people do nothing.”

 

 

The process of engagement is of course a political one and it is at this point many Australians become disinterested unless booze (preferably red wine) is introduced as a way of denying any sensible conclusions. Clayton’s consultations and community apathy are surely the secret weapons of those who purport or aspire to run the machinery of governance, or more simply put, the management of our Clubs, Associations, Corporations, Councils and Government.

 

 

In recent times there has been quite a bit said about the governance and management of our very own Recreational Aviation Australia (RA-Aus). As we are aware, the invitation by CASA for the Ultralight/Recreational aviation sector to self administer (under their guidance) was taken up, and now is incorporated into a close working relationship.

 

 

At a recent AGM, directors were elected to the Board of RA-Aus as the people who will shape, on behalf of the RA-Aus membership, the future of a rapidly expanding recreational aviation sector. The question is: How prepared and equipped is RA-Aus, as an organisation, to fulfill both governance and management roles to the satisfaction of not just CASA, but to the 10,000 odd flyers who make up the heart and soul of the recreational flying movement?

 

 

How will a balance be achieved as to what value we, as Australian citizens, place on the freedom of our flying aspirations, against the need to manage regulation? One thing is for sure - without governance - i.e. aspiration and strategic thinking being clearly articulated and acted upon, regulation by others is about all we have left.

 

 

With any national organisation, regional communications are crucial in the formulation of a strategic plan. Without effective regional sounding boards that reflect the views of membership, the only alternative advice for board members, apart from their own personal knowledge and experience, is that of management and the contracted relationships with other organisations or government. (Which in the case of RA-Aus, is CASA)

 

 

At the start of this article I mentioned the importance of experiential learning in the “learning to fly” process. Non-institutional experiential learning can incorporate and accommodate all learning experiences and is resident within regional communities as a reflection of our social and cultural worth. To ignore that resource suggests a degree of arrogance on behalf of regulators, and supports an increasingly worrying trend to the way that business is being done in so many aspects of Australian life. (The Murray Darling Basin Plan is but one of the current political shams.)

 

 

So in conclusion, the informal network of recreational flying organisations made up of RA-Aus members across Australia is a formidable source of knowledge, experience, talent and practical expertise which, in my view, should be formally tapped. This could be achieved by rewriting the RA-Aus Club/Corporate membership agreement which is currently inconsistent. An invitation to a regional network of Clubs to comment on and contribute to the RA-Aus agenda would greatly strengthen the Board’s ability to govern strategically and for management to manage. Currently that balance would appear to be compromised. It would also provide an avenue for CASA to further test its agenda in the field of regulation – something we must all accept, but not without due consultation relevant to our recreational aviation sector.