Tech manager gone.

[turboplanner]

Will this do Andy:

 

And the legal industry, while handling some of the most delicate subtleties of reason has been absolutely hopeless at explaining the reasons, needs, and processes of what they are doing.

 

 

[johnm]

Turbo

 

$ 750k costs for a divorce settlement !

 

Obviously the divorce parties did not have a 'rusted out' car body on the front lawn ........................ and the legals got into some good old time consuming legal argument ?

 

 

[kaz3g]

You have been Kaz, and it is derogatory to the lawyers who have saved people's freedoms, careers, livelihoods, and property.However, you do have an Industry problem when it takes $750,000.00 to make a decision on a divorce settlement.

And the legal industry, while handling some of the most delicate subtleties of reason has been absolutely hopeless at explaining the reasons and needs for most of the laws we have today.

 

And I mean plain bloody screamingly hopeless.

Thanks TP

 

It would take me 10 years to earn that fee. A first year lawyer in any of the big corporate law firms earns more $ than I do as a Principal in a community legal centre.

 

I'm the first to admit that the law is often unclear, unfair and unnecessarily punitive. I also accept that my profession has done little to improve its image...at least until recently. There has in fact been a huge increase in the amount of pro bono work being done by the major (and smaller) firms in the last few years. This has been especially so since the Rhonda McCabe (big tobacco) case when more than one leading firm was found to have acted unacceptably in its protection of its multinational client.

 

Laws are made by the Parliaments and, unfortunately, too many parliamentarians have legal or union backgrounds and their prejudices are reflected in what is finally used to burden us citizens sometimes to the exclusion of common sense. They also reflect the politicians' ( perhaps, more correctly, the parties') needs to be re-elected. We see the results in the skewed policy decisions favouring the predominant views of those living in the far north and far south of eastern Australia, respectively.

 

It's a bit like the RAAus at the moment. Those in charge are steaming ahead with their agendas but seem to have forgotten about their raison d'etre and all us little folk out here whom they are supposed to be acting on behalf of and to whom they are ultimately responsible.

 

Kaz

 

 

[fly_tornado]

... so there is a down side to marriage!

 

 

[Sapphire]

ML said: This amateur sounding stuff in a world of professionals. Particularly the lawyers looking at us. Lawyers.....Not my favorites amongst the pond scum....

 

Not so derogatory. I am sure many biologists have made analysing "pond scum" a career. Isn't that were life began? [oops:sorry:]

 

 

[winsor68]

It is not the individual lawyers but rather the law that is an axxe... Many lawyers probably understand this better than we do... or at least I hope!

 

 

[facthunter]

I have some good friends who are Lawyers.

 

The bad crooks have most of the money. Working for the bad guys can be very lucrative once you get a name. The same faces keep turning up on all the bad cases. "Don't blame me . I'm only the hired gun" they say,, and they use stalling tactics adjournments, fail to produce documents etc and we are supposed to love them? !1500 dollars for a letterhead on a letter even though you told them the message you wanted conveyed any how

 

. There are a few questions to answer by all participants in the legal process we have . It's too slow, too expensive and too unpredictable as to the outcome. Don't go there unless you are dead broke or filthy rich. Lawyers who work for Community Legal Services are the salt of the earth , by contrast.Nev

 

 

[Fatman1238]

Why don't you read the Tech Managers Duty Statement in the Tech Manual. It's not an engineering position and having someone with 20 plus years working on all types of GA and Defence aircraft (hands on) is better than a pen pusher engineer. I have worked with Adam on and off over the last ten years on our RA-Aus and AUF aircraft, he was more concerned about safety and aeronautical practices than most LAME,s being a LAME my self I am quite happy to say that. Does the treasurer need to be an accountant or the president a politician, we need to look at the plebs that are controlling our great Organisation not the ones who actually were doing there job, as I have said on another post I know of some horrible skeletons in our closet that have not appeared yet, now is the time to have the exec dumped and put someone like John Gardon who used to run things back in, he was heading us in the right direction for our growing Organisation.

 

 

[M61A1]

TurboI think your off track. These days the majority of law comes from the various parliaments. Like all things that come from parliament it's likely to be a compromise or in language we are more likely to understand what was potentially good got turned into Bullsh!t as it was modified/corrupted to meet the needs to allow passage.

 

The reason for that statement? It's not up to lawyers to explain why we have the legislation we have, I believe it's the pollies that need to provide that explanation. Perhaps the point of confusion is that so many of the pollies come from a law background

 

Andy

I'm fairly sure that the laws come about because some dropkick does something stupid and hurts/kills themselves, the remaining family get themselves on 'today tonight' or other such worthless program and raise a stink amongst likeminded people to blame someone else. The politicians, seeing a chance to win some votes enact some vile piece of legislation. The community then find out there is a new law to make them safe, but also find that you literally can't fart with breaking a law, unless you have enough money to commision multiple studies to prove that farting will have minimal impact on anybody .

[Kyle Communications]

dont forget the enviromental impact study and the workplace health and safety audit everytime you feel the wind coming but before you fart you do have to do a risk assessment

 

 

[M61A1]

Not in aviation, the LAME is at the top of the food chain for certifying aircraft to be airworthy and it takes longer/more experience to gain a license then a degree. The Aero E works behind a desk doing the designs Cheers

Not sure I agree there. The engineer is putting his/her butt on the line for all non-standard repairs that he/she designs and crunches the numbers for. I would put them as equals but necessary for different tasks.I think perhaps a good engineer may serve us very well as a tech manager. Just as a good man manager is what we need to run the show. Perhaps also, someone with a background in quality management may work well to deal with the documentation side of things.

P.S. none of these statements are any reflection on Adam's suitability for the job.

 

 

[facthunter]

Where have I been for the last so many years? I thought acceptance of a calculated level of risk was part of this scene. If they still allow bungee jumping parachute drops motorcross/ speedway etc we should be in air with the minumum of red tape. Practical safety by education and example and reasoned supervision. If we have to stay away from built-up areas etc so be it. perhaps as an interim measure all planes operate without a passenger unless that person is an instructor instructing. till all this is sorted out. Grounding the lot looks tough, though doesn't it.. Do you do brain surgery with a sledgehammer? Nev

 

 

[winsor68]

Can anyone specifically post the facts regarding just what it is the Tech Managers Job entails.... I am guessing that it is not something that can be done alone... I have not heard much at all about Ra-Aus Regional Assistant Tech Managers or Maintenance Courses... I would have thought that these volunteer positions stopped being filled or are they out there?

 

 

[Guernsey]

... so there is a down side to marriage!

When I married I promised my wife that I would love her until 'death do us part' and as a result I have inherited tremendous life riches and it would appear that I have also saved myself, financially, around $75.000. Woo Hoo!

 

Alan the brave.

 

 

[M61A1]

Where have I been for the last so many years? I thought acceptance of a calculated level of risk was part of this scene. If they still allow bungee jumping parachute drops motorcross/ speedway etc we should be in air with the minumum of red tape. Practical safety by education and example and reasoned supervision. If we have to stay away from built-up areas etc so be it. perhaps as an interim measure all planes operate without a passenger unless that person is an instructor instructing. till all this is sorted out. Grounding the lot looks tough, though doesn't it.. Do you do brain surgery with a sledgehammer? Nev

I suspect it has a lot do with a lot of people who want to go out and buy a factory built a/c with someone else's guarantee that that it won't kill them. I agree though, that grounding all aircraft instead of just those with issues is heavy handed. Also, bungee jumping, parachuting and motocross all have their own heavy handed legislation to deal with.

[turboplanner]

Win, the Constitution is one of the more amateurish around with many aspects which could do with improving, particularly the ones which led to the current fiasco.

 

If there is a Technical Manager's job description, it may not be that relevant to what is actually required in terms of certification.

 

Fatman, I know where you're coming from; I don't have an engineering degree, yet I'm the best in the world at one of the things I do, and if a case came up I would have to hire an engineer, explain to him, then have him sign off - that's just the way it is.

 

There is a good chance that in fact this is either a dual role of Service and Design, or we even should have employed two people.

 

As for your comments about Adam, no need to defend him, from what I'm reading he has the support from all the posters.

 

 

[turboplanner]

Also, bungee jumping, parachuting and motocross all have their own heavy handed legislation to deal with.

Exactly, we all had to change and surprise surprise we're still doing it, but much more safely.

 

 

[Guest Andys@coffs]

Arguing that LAME is more inportant than Engineer or vice versa is liker having an argument over whether Part A or Part B of Araldite is better....Neither can do their job without the other. For example almost without fail every technical manual that a LAME works to and signs off against will have been authored by an engineer (or at least released by an engineer) , without the LAME what was the point of writing the manual in the first place....

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

I also accept that my profession has done little to improve its image...at least until recently. There has in fact been a huge increase in the amount of pro bono work being done by the major (and smaller) firms in the last few years.

I don't want to add to the pressure on an ethical legal person, but whistle blowers like me can prove dishonesty, abuse of process and waste of public money, yet our appeals for legal help yield an amazing amount of indifference. If you can suggest a lawyer prepared to work for justice let me know.

 

 

[Powerin]

Can anyone specifically post the facts regarding just what it is the Tech Managers Job entails.... I am guessing that it is not something that can be done alone... I have not heard much at all about Ra-Aus Regional Assistant Tech Managers or Maintenance Courses... I would have thought that these volunteer positions stopped being filled or are they out there?

Win..here it is. It's in the Technical Manual....

Section 2.1 – Technical Manager’s Duty Statement

 

 

[Mriya]

Not in aviation, the LAME is at the top of the food chain for certifying aircraft to be airworthy and it takes longer/more experience to gain a license then a degree. The Aero E works behind a desk doing the designs Cheers

As a LAME/L2 I must point out that in order to certify an aircraft as airworthy, I need to be able to refer back to approved data. One source for this data is of course the Aeronautical Engineer, without which I have not got the legal authority to do mods or repairs beyond those already approved in manufacturers data. The reality is that both skill sets are required and that without the LAME or AE aircraft would be grounded.

As an example of our complimentary nature, recently our workshop had an older style 172 main leg with some corrosion damage which was beyond Cessna limits. Our gut feeling was that the location and depth of blendout should not adversly affect the strength of the leg, however we require the AE to 'crunch the numbers' and provide us with a legal approval to repair the leg. End result is that the customer does not need to purchase a new leg saving a few thousand dollars.

 

From my perspective it makes perfect sense for a Tech Manager to have LAME & AE quals if at all possible as the skill sets of each qualification would be useful in that role.

 

I am in no way trying to make any comment on whether Adam was qualified for the role. I do not know what quals he holds or any of the background regarding his departure. All I know is that he was very helpful in the limited communications that I had with him as Tech Manager and wish him well for the future.

 

 

[kaz3g]

I don't want to add to the pressure on an ethical legal person, but whistle blowers like me can prove dishonesty, abuse of process and waste of public money, yet our appeals for legal help yield an amazing amount of indifference. If you can suggest a lawyer prepared to work for justice let me know.

PM me and I'll try.

 

kaz

 

 

[Ben Longden]

Having been away from the forums for a LONG time, can anyone here put in a two paragraph summary of what is going on?

 

1) why did RAA fail audit?

 

2) why were new registrations stopped?

 

3) why the massive staff changes?

 

and the most important;

 

4) can we legally fly?

 

 

[dodo]

Having been away from the forums for a LONG time, can anyone here put in a two paragraph summary of what is going on?1) why did RAA fail audit?

 

2) why were new registrations stopped?

 

3) why the massive staff changes?

 

and the most important;

 

4) can we legally fly?

1 Unclear "several outstanding issues to be addressed" according to the Pres report of Oct 2012 in Sport Pilot, quoting the auditor? One comment from the Pres was that many aircraft files at RA-Aus are not compliant with the requirements of the 2007 Tech manual, implying new requirements in that revision. Rumour and innuendo suggest the requirements might include photographs of the aircraft are required showing compliance plates, rego numbers, etc. As you will have noted, we don't really know.

 

2 Unclear. One obvious observation would be that the October/November 2011 audit raised issues that had not been resolved by November 2012,during three or four follow up audits. A conclusion you might come to is that RA-Aus did not address issues raised, even through a number of follow up audits over a year, and CASA took the action to encourage compliance.

 

3 Unclear. The CEO obviously needed more time with his grandchildren, despite the situation RA-Aus is in. Maybe one of the grandchildren is ill. The technical manager, who was only hired a few months ago "is no longer with RA-Aus" according to the website, despite this being a time where RA-Aus needs a good technical manager. There is no indication that he needs to spend more time with his grandchildren. One conclusion the unkind might jump to, is that blame and recriminations are being thrown around.

 

4 YES! Your certificate is still valid. Your aircraft rego is still valid (in most cases). However, when your aircraft comes dues for renewal, you may not be re-registered,or it may take some time to be re-registered. And if RA-Aus has been pinged over aircraft registration, what is to say a pilot certificate audit may not occur, and what would be the outcome of that? In short, keep flying, because you can, for now.

 

Summary: the board has told us very little, so we don't know much. But you can keep flying for now,

 

dodo