Are you still grounded

[Guest ozzie]

Well it's Christmas eve and still grounded.

 

The mail man did manage to bring a 'final notice' letter from middo today. Lost all the photos i sent them years ago so have to send them a full set. Now i bet the warning plackards (they peeled of the tool box pretty easily with some steam) will be useless as they state AUF and not RAAus, so one would have to think that maybe whoever is running the show could have taken the initiative and included a new set. Why the letter and not email/phone as others had? So it was due on the 1st dec probably won't get done until the second week of jan.

 

So why am i not happy about this whole sorry mess? Well i have not had the chance to fly this thing for a couple of years due to work, lack of a good location to fly it plus a demanding partner. (anyone else been there?) Well a little while back i had a good wake up call with the passing of my younger brother and a couple of close long time mates, so had a long hard look at my life and realised that there are only so many sunsets to see. I spent all this year changing a few things. I semi retired starting a small low stress business, got out of Sydney and moved onto my skydive clubs drop zone. To top it off the limited time on this rock realisation was reinforced in october with the passing of my little sister. Hell am i running on borrowed time here. So for the first time in years i have me, the lazair and a couple of hundred acres all in the same place at the same time. And this happens.

 

So thanks to the incompetents that are responsible for all this mess. The only thing i need to work out now is how to stop having the rest of my life from being pi##ed up against the wall by idiots. I mean like how hard is to just go fly and jump. Suggestions?

 

Ozzie

 

 

[turboplanner]

Well they must have picked you out for special treatment Ozzie since everyone else seems to be saying "Problem?, what problem!"

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

The special treatment thing has crossed my mind.

 

 

[turboplanner]

Well there are Australian laws which have been introduced in recent years to deal with actions like that, if that turned out to be the case.

 

 

[dodo]

I doubt it is deliberate. In my limited experience, the office simply didn't have the time to be petty. They were just wading through the work. And after that it went to the tech manager, then the consultant (so unless you have upset Dean or Neville, there isn't any opportunity for malice - if anyone had the time).

 

So I think they are just working through the backlog,

 

dodo

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Never heard of them two but i have been in the other ones ear for a few years now. but honestly i don't think he would.

 

 

[drifterdriver]

Hi Ozzie,

 

I'm real sorry to hear of your dramas of late. You're certainly having a bad trot. By the way its the one year anniversary of the "accidental" grounding of the junior pilots so you're not alone in having a non-flying Christmas.

 

 

[slartibartfast]

The special treatment thing has crossed my mind.

Then I must be special too ozzie.

1 month now and still grounded. I too got the "final notice". The office lady I spoke to said that was an automated process and they couldn't stop them all. She said to ignore it.

 

Not holding out much hope of getting to the Great Eastern. Not even sure of Natfly at this stage.

 

As I fly a Morgan, I might get caught up in the witch hunt. That is - even further than I have already.

 

 

[driftamark]

Hi Ozzie make sure that you have all the placards that are needed, I took photos of all the placards and there was 1 missing the ' warning bla bla persons fly at own risk ' so now I have to photo that 1 and send it, then I might be up in the air again. Mark

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

yes i am sure there are others out there like you and me scratching their heads wondering why it all went like this. i really feel for those who have invested vast sums of money and time to now have to sit and wait.

 

yes i have to send them the whole lot, rego numbers as well. wonder what happened to the photos i submitted with the original paperwork.

 

 

[slartibartfast]

Thanks to dodo I found out they didn't have photos of my placards, so I sent them in - 2 weeks ago.

 

 

[Captain]

Well it's Christmas eve and still grounded.The mail man did manage to bring a 'final notice' letter from middo today. Lost all the photos i sent them years ago so have to send them a full set. Now i bet the warning plackards (they peeled of the tool box pretty easily with some steam) will be useless as they state AUF and not RAAus, so one would have to think that maybe whoever is running the show could have taken the initiative and included a new set. Why the letter and not email/phone as others had? So it was due on the 1st dec probably won't get done until the second week of jan.

So why am i not happy about this whole sorry mess? Well i have not had the chance to fly this thing for a couple of years due to work, lack of a good location to fly it plus a demanding partner. (anyone else been there?) Well a little while back i had a good wake up call with the passing of my younger brother and a couple of close long time mates, so had a long hard look at my life and realised that there are only so many sunsets to see. I spent all this year changing a few things. I semi retired starting a small low stress business, got out of Sydney and moved onto my skydive clubs drop zone. To top it off the limited time on this rock realisation was reinforced in october with the passing of my little sister. Hell am i running on borrowed time here. So for the first time in years i have me, the lazair and a couple of hundred acres all in the same place at the same time. And this happens.

 

So thanks to the incompetents that are responsible for all this mess. The only thing i need to work out now is how to stop having the rest of my life from being pi##ed up against the wall by idiots. I mean like how hard is to just go fly and jump. Suggestions?

 

Ozzie

So while Ozzie and others still appear to be grounded, the RAA Office has closed until January 7th. That is almost 2 weeks.

 

FYI, I wrote to the Board urging them to keep the office open and process grounded member's paperwork on the working days through this period.

 

My judgement is that in every company in which I have worked over the years in private enterprise, if we had been responsible for anything remotely like these audit failures and the resultant groundings, we would have mobilised a crew and worked the non-public holidays to continue to address the issues.

 

The only excuse for not putting in a special effort over this period is if all of the groundings have been cleared up. If this is not the case at RAA, then in my opinion this is another example of "not good enough" for the members.

 

If members are still grounded while Tizzard has his feet up working off his entitlements during this period, it is almost criminal.

 

 

[turboplanner]

Throughout my career Captain, I've had the same experience - either holidays were cancelled, or requests for volunteers were made, but one way or the other the critical jobs got done.

 

This subject needs to be revisited in the New Year

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

How it should have been handled

 

Dear member

 

it has come to our attention that your aircrafts data package is short several items, namely photos showing cockpit placards and rego markings.

 

As this does not pose a hazard to your aircrafts airworthiness we will process your renewal on the following conditions so as not to hamper your privileges to continue flying over the fesitve season.

 

Conditions;

 

1: This office must receive within 30 days the photos showing compliance of said placards duly dated and signed with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one.

 

2: failure to comply with above will result in cancellation of your aircrafts registration.

 

3: members are reminded that flying an aircraft whilst unregistered is a no no and risks 2 years in the pokey.

 

4: no further reminders will be issued.

 

sincerely the dropkicks from Canberra

 

or wording to that effect

 

to freaking easy huh.

 

merry Xmas numnuts

 

BTW i did receive an email late yesterday from a Caitlin asking for just the warning and weight placards. the letter from Middo wants the whole lot, rego numbers etc. So as the office is closed until the 7th that means it may be completed by the 15th if it is not lost in the backlog so that kisses the holiday period goodbye.

 

 

[facthunter]

can I suggest that since this is a poll to have any current validity it should be sunsetted and done again. Nev

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

We got the email followed by a letter asking us for photos of the placards which we posted yesterday - so nothing will happen for us until after 7th Jan. The only time I could get off was from now to 7th Jan. This plane is about 7 hours away from our home and we're travelling there. Fortunately we have others we can fly, but my sympathies to those who have nothing.

 

We have moved out of the "Grounded - haven't heard" to the "Grounded - know what to do" (but still GROUNDED). Our others are coming up for renewal soon. Roll on Feb - to let them know how dissatisfied we are.

 

Sue

 

 

[JabSP6]

AndyMy Rego runs out on Saturday 22nd December. I received the renewal forms on the 23rd November and sent the renewal forms back to RAAus on the 3rd December.

I then followed that up with a phone call to ask if they received the paperwork and was told that yes they had received the paperwork.

 

I then asked if they could check my file to see if anything was missing so i could also send this in prior to the renewal date.

 

I was told that there were a lot of aircraft that were already out of date and they didn't have the resources to look at my paperwork as they were concentrating on the other aircraft that were currently out of date.

 

At the time i thought this was fair enough.

 

I have since made another phone call today to see if they could look into my file and was told the exact same thing. There were still lots of aircraft that were out of date and they were trying to get through that backlog first and couldn't look into my file.

 

I then went on to say that i use my aircraft to get to work and back and if it runs out friday and can't be renewed by friday i can then no longer go to work until it is registered.

 

The reply from the administration girl (very polite) was that there are still 3 1/2 working days to go until they stop for Christmas and if i could ring back later on that would be great.

 

I told them i would leave it til friday to call again but would not appreciate being told on friday that they still can't even look at my file to tell me if there is anything missing.

 

I guess i am still able to fly home friday so i guess i will have to wait and see if i am able to go to work next week or am forced to sit at home and fall into the same catorgory as many others here having an unregistered aircraft sitting in the hanger over christmas.

 

Can i just say that the girls on the phone at RAAus have always been very polite and professional and it must be hard for them through this time so i hope they get the management and leadership they deserve to keep this organisation going in the right direction.

 

I feel for all those people that have unregistered planes out there. I may be joining you shortly.

 

Andrew (JabSP6)

Ok.

 

I rang the office on Friday 21st and at 4:30pm received a call back saying we have a picture of the left side of your plane and under the wing shot but no right side shot showing the numbers. I quickly drove to the hanger and took a picture from both sides of the plane showing the rego numbers, printed them out and signed, dated them and email straight back.

 

By this time it was just after 5pm so now the office is shut and I have no indication that my rego is good to go.

 

So this now means no flying until the 7th so no going to work for 2 weeks. Unfortunately I will now have to take 2 weeks holiday's but at least I will get to spend some time with the family.

 

I hope to hear back on the 7th that I can go to work otherwise I will be forced to use up more holidays.

 

So I have now joined the ranks of the grounded.

 

Will keep you posted.

 

JabSP6

 

 

[alf jessup]

I got the letter the other day, Need the under the photo shot of the wing numbers and the placards inside the cockpit, wish they would have had that in the transfer papers as I sent everything that was required on that, no mention of the placards, I sent all this over a month ago.

 

So the drama continues and I will get them to RAA as soon as possible, just hope they don't lose the condition report and all the other stuff I have already sent or I might get really PEEVED.

 

Alf

 

 

[poteroo]

It's one long saga!

 

Received request about 20th Dec for pics of MTOW and PAX NON-LIABILITY, which I sent off within a few days. Have not heard whether they were acceptable.

 

Then received terse letter demanding rego pics?? What? In our case, aircraft registration pics were forwarded in January 2007 just after it was ferried home. Now - they want pics with all sorts of requirements to validate them??? Seems that our files have been 'lost' in the interim! Thank you RAAus for creating additional work!.

 

Also - no sign of a 'renewal' of registration sheet either - would be nice to have this as my rego expires 9th Jan 2013.

 

Anyway......business will continue as usual - regardless of what mess RAAus have made in Canberra.

 

I'm in the business of running a flying school - which is where pilots are trained, and then buy aircraft, and then pay RAAus fees. This is what drives the aviation business! It's about time that 'Canberra' recognises this fundamental fact! We pay your salaries, pay your travel expenses, pay exorbitant transaction fees, and pay your overheads. If our regulators and administrators can't expidite flying schools paperwork - then the entire industry will eventually grind to a halt.

 

Am I angry - you bet!

 

 

[nomadpete]

So to bring it up at the special General Meeting which has an especially general agenda........

 

Question No:2 for the Board:

 

Please advise the members now, on what points did RAAus fail the four successive audits?

 

I feel that we need to have a list of specific questions to table at the meeting. How about that one? Is there any reason to keep the questions to ourselves at this point? Would it be more productive to air the questions in advance?

 

Peter T

 

 

[AlfaRomeo]

Some requests for information will need to be given to the Board "on notice" like "Please have available for each member attending the General Meeting the full written text of the questions of, and answers from, the Board's legal adviser in connection with Steve Runciman's resignation from the Board and his subsequent reappointment as Nth Qld members' representative. This seems like it is the only way that anyone other than Middo will ever see "advice" that has now achieved mythical status.

 

If this advice turns out to be "verbal" (oral) it is worth as much as the paper it's not written on.

 

Other questions, many starting with the word "Why" are likely to arise as a result of answers to questions by Board Members.

 

 

[slartibartfast]

For those following, I got the registration renewal email today.

 

That's about 7 weeks.

 

Only a few days since Middo rang me back to say he'd look into it though.

 

Now I just have to remember how to fly.

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

I am still grounded but have only just sent off the photo today via express post so i can track it. Let's see how long it takes from arrival to getting back to me. There is no hurry now missed the available time i had. Next available window is Easter maybe.

 

 

[pylon500]

I sent the newly (2007?) required photos via e-mail, on behalf of an owner, for a 25 class aircraft, and the registration was finalised, approved and sent to the owner.

 

Aircraft flying again......

 

 

[drifterdriver]

Now I just have to remember how to fly.

well Slarti, I'll give you a tip that has been passed down in the family for generations and usually holds true...

 

"push the stick forward and the houses get bigger"

 

"pull the stick back and the houses get smaller"

 

if you get that part right the rest should come naturally.