The demise of GA aviation in Australia

[old man emu]

Since I became a free agent, I have spent a few days knocking on doors on Bankstown Airport trying to sell my services. The future for General Aviation and, by flow-on, Recreational Aviation looks bleak.

 

Many of the doors I knocked on were on empty hangars with "For Lease" signs on them. Often when my knocks were answered, the occupants told me that the amount of work had dropped off significantly, to the extent that many of the older people were considering closing up and heading off into retirement. These are people with years of experience in some of the more specialised areas of aircraft maintenance such as propeller repair and overhaul, carburetor repair and overhaul, and instrument repair and overhaul. The worst part of this scenario is that there are no young people working in these areas and having the skills passed on to them.

 

Then yesterday I was heard a rumour that the Padstow TAFE is going to stop providing courses for apprentices working in the aviation industry. This year there are 19 apprentices in Year One. What are they going to do if the TAFE closes the course? What are aircraft owners going to do in the next 10 to 15 years when there is no one qualified to do those specialist repairs that come up sometimes on a regular basis.

 

For Recreational flyers, where are we going to get the people to recommend others for L2 licences? Where are we going to get the qualified people who will be L4s?

 

Australia - the Lucky Country.

 

Bloody Oath - lucky if you can find anyone who knows more than how to assemble a Big Whopper Dinner meal.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

[fly_tornado]

Surprisingly CASA advised a few months ago that they now have 15,000 registered aircraft. A new record.

 

 

[oracle1]

Ask about how the number of valid medicals has halved

 

 

[av8vfr]

Surprisingly CASA advised a few months ago that they now have 15,000 registered aircraft. A new record.

I am not an expert but I will speculate:

 

As VH regos are not paid annually, I imagine they stay current for the life of the aircraft, even if not airworthy?

 

Many new VH regos are homebuilts(?) and the big boys (QANTAS) bringing new aircraft on line.

 

I can buy a 1970 Piper for around $35K with good EHTR and put it on line for GA training. Not as a pilot but a business opportunity.

 

So maybe the GA pilot is on the decline. I have PPL but after wife had kids and said NO to family flights, its only 1 pax for me so RAAus =cheaper flying... much like most people who fly for fun.

 

 

[motzartmerv]

Sydney aviation is dead in the water. Take a look at te Sydney Vtc an compare it to Melbourne or Brisbane. 3 airports in Sydney. For what ever reason there is no GA in Sydney. Its rubbish!!!!

 

Any lame or apprentice would have much better luck in any other capital city.

 

 

[cooperplace]

I am not an expert but I will speculate:

but after wife had kids and said NO to family flights, .

sigh, alas, you're not alone........

 

 

[bilby54]

Lucky Country.Bloody Oath - lucky if you can find anyone who knows more than how to assemble a Big Whopper Dinner meal.

 

Old Man Emu

Or in the case out this way, driving a mine dump truck or loading drill pipe on a rig. The family farm is becoming a thing of the past as there are easier things to do in life for better money.

 

LAME's are copping a very hard time from CASA at the moment for all of the usual reasons with most of them leaving the industry for better pay, less liability issues and less threat of legal action by the regulator. Big shame. CASA is slowly getting its 100% safety record by getting rid of Aussie pilots, LAME's and aircraft

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

Article in Australian Pilot (AOPA August) magazine points out 20% of the VH fleet reported "Nil Hours Flown" for the year.

 

Sue

 

 

[Guest Yampy]

So how is this downturn going to affect your business OME ? ..

 

 

[fly_tornado]

Article in Australian Pilot (AOPA August) magazine points out 20% of the VH fleet reported "Nil Hours Flown" for the year.Sue

The worst thing about that statistic is that those planes are generally in the most conveniently located hangars, meaning that any new pilots are forced to travel further to go flying. Further making flying unattractive to new pilots. People think its the various levels of government killing aviation, its not.

 

 

[facthunter]

In any area I move, the mood is grave and most stay in the game out of "love" rather than as a reasoned decision. Relations with the regulator are the main complaint. Inconsistent rules and things generally being made harder to comply and arbitrary nature of requirements. Lack of expertise of CASA in the ranks a common complaint. Nev

 

 

[old man emu]

So how is this downturn going to affect your business OME ? ..

I'm out of the hardware supply business since I was made redundant. I toyed with the idea of starting my own hardware business, but the market place I was setting up in (recreational aircraft builders) is not strong enough to support such a business fulltime.

 

I have moved into the service sector of the economy, providing management systems consultancy, but seeing as I have been targeting businesses on Sydney's two secondary airports, the number of closures has diminished the size of the market for my products. At the moment I'm providing environmental management systems consulting, which is required by operators on all the major metropolitan airports by dint of the Airports Act, which is Federal legislation.

 

Since the consultancy business runs on a long time cycle, I've also got myself certified to do electrical appliance and cable safety testing (test'n'tag). That's a hard area to break into because, once again, it involves trying to coax money out of small business, despite testing being a requirement of Work, Health & Safety legislation.

 

So basically, I'm an old fellow, made redundant, trying to pick up a few pennies from wherever.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

[AVOCET]

Gees Old man , I know by having read many of your posts over the years that you have a way with words , that last post almost had me tearing up ,

 

I think it may be time to write a book or two , don't laugh , I've givin this advice before , and it only takes a gentle nudge sometimes to get the ball rolling ,

 

Cheers Mike .

 

 

[Guest Yampy]

OME ... I was you a few years ago .. Redundant after many years in the same business . Your closing sentence says it all . I changed direction completely , and instead of a technical direction I moved into health support . Sometimes , and indeed most times we have to accept that our " big pay days " have gone , to be replaced by job satisfaction and a feeling of low stress and fulfillment .. I see you are at Razorback , I'm just down the road from you in Tahmoor .. Anytime you need or want to chat just PM me and I'm sure we meet up in Picton or whatever ... Best of luck .

 

Dave C

 

 

[sain]

go to the big businesses and government orgs OME. They have the same requirements, and may be willing to make use of your services if you can offer a competitive rate on test'n'tag.

 

 

[farri]

The future for General Aviation and, by flow-on, Recreational Aviation looks bleakOld Man Emu

We live in an ever changing environment. Aviation is no different to the many other areas where change has occurred, is occuring and will continue to occur, into the future. The future depends, in part, on the actions taken today.

 

The worst part of this scenario is that there are no young people working in these areas and having the skills passed on to them. Old Man Emu

That scenario hasn`t just started happening, it`s been happening for many years and in many areas other than GA . A good example is the primary industry.

 

Farmers are the people who work hard to provide everyone with food. Without food, what have we got?... The majority of Australian farmers are over, age pension age and still working, possibly, just trying to pay off the debts created by farming. Most of the young people have left the farm to seek a better future so in many cases there is no one to take over when those still prepared to carry on working, can no longer do so. This has happened to me, is happening in the whole of my area and all over Australia as well.

 

In many cases, properties can`t be sold off because no one wants to buy a farming property when the future is so uncertain and the work is hard. If there are any young people who would like to buy a property and become a farmer, in most cases, they can`t do so because they don`t have or can`t raise the money required.

 

Back to topic: I think, part of the answer to GA is the modern LSA. Attracting young people to work in this area, is another, if not bigger, challenge.

 

Unfortunately, there are no short answeres to this situation that GA, primary industry and the many others, who find themselves in similar circumstances.

 

Frank.

 

 

[facthunter]

Farmer Jones being interviewed by TV Personality .

 

" Farmer Jones , having just won the jackpot of five million dollars what are you going to do now with your life?"

 

"Dunno really. I guess I will just keep on farming, till it's all gone.".

 

The tragedy with GA in Australia is where we used to be. Australia was amongst the leaders and pathfinders in aviation, probably as the high involvement in flying in WW1 and the size of this country suited the circumstances.

 

We as a country have not done the right thing training our OWN for years . We skimp on it and try to top up from overseas where people seeking to live here will come at the drop of a hat and leave their own countries lacking in the skills they have obtained. Airlines expect you to get all the qualifications overseas (USA )and then just rock up for a job.. Once they took you on and controlled the standard of the training you got. Race to the bottom on costs. Overqualified people need not apply. We want them amenable to OUR system of doing things, like don't report unserviceibilities till you are home etc. Nev

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

To save it all we will have to take over CASA and turn it into a pro active body instead of the negative mess that it is being run as now.

 

If Padstow TAFE is really going to close it's aviation studies then why is CASA not trying to reverse that decision. Well trained LAMEs are a real step in the 'safe skies' direction that CASA keep harping on about. Makes one wonder what goes on in McCormicks head at times.

 

 

[rgmwa]

Back to topic: I think, part of the answer to GA is the modern LSA.

Frank.

It's interesting to look at the US experience with the RV-12, which has been available as an LSA kit since early 2009, and is now also available as a factory built SLSA for about $110-$120k.

 

There are about 260 flying, another 500-600 or so under construction, and the age profile of builders/buyers/pilots has a mean of about 60-65, with some builders in their late 70's and beyond. Very few are in their 40's or younger, so you could say that the RV-12 is a retiree's aircraft. That's not to say that all LSA's are flown by old guys, and it may be something peculiar to the RV-12, but over there at least LSA's don't seem to be attracting young people and haven't breathed as much life into the industry as many thought they might. However they have enabled quite a few older pilots who were at risk of losing their medicals to keep flying.

 

Nevertheless, LSA's do seem to be popular in Europe, where I think their main drawcards are relatively low cost, reasonable performance and good fuel economy using `cheap' Mogas. Recreational flying everywhere is expensive, and they are a good alternative to the increasing costs involved in owning and/or maintaining an aging GA aircraft. That applies here and in the US too.

 

Attracting young people into the industry either as pilots or maintainers is a hard one due to the high costs, limited work opportunities, relatively low remuneration for the responsibilities involved, and the maze of regulations. There's no way I would want to have a career as a professional pilot, although fortunately some young people still do.

 

rgmwa

 

 

[farri]

Farmer Jones being interviewed by TV Personality ." Farmer Jones , having just won the jackpot of five million dollars what are you going to do now with your life?" "Dunno really. I guess I will just keep on farming, till it's all gone.". Nev

Thanks Nev, I think that`s quite funny.

 

On a serious note, Fran and I havn`t won any Jackpot other than the one we created through a lifetime of constant hard work. Five years ago,in part, because we didn`t owe anyone any money, I chose to stop farming. The result is, we own and live on a 100 ha of freehold land and I can fly whenever I want, weather permiting.

 

The tragedy with GA in Australia is where we used to be. Australia was amongst the leaders and pathfinders in aviation. Nev

Used to be is past tense. Another era long gone. As I`ve said in my previous post, "We live in an ever changing environment. Aviation is no different to the many other areas where change has occurred, is occuring and will continue to occur, into the future. The future depends, in part, on the actions taken today".

 

The question is or should be! What are the actions needed to take GA into the future.

 

Frank.

 

 

[facthunter]

I know what flying is like today and I know what it was like when I did it under the circumstances of years ago. It is claimed that the modern planes are built to almost think for them selves and are crashproof. While flying is still statistically safe, some of the crashes that occur are so simple in cause that you become incredulous as to why they were allowed to happen . There is a tendency to dumb a job down to the lowest standard with everything done to SOP's. No room for thinking outside the square. Harder to manage THAT situation, and relies on taking into account what skills and APTITUDES the individual has .( You can't use that word anymore). Psych testing of applicants in some instances has resulted in worse results, ( more failures at the command qualification level than before it was done). I'm not suggesting that Psych testing is not a good idea, just that like all things it has to be done properly. Nev.

 

 

[fly_tornado]

Aviation has always been the domain of the rich, the problem for aviation now is there is a lot of competition for the rich dollar. The world has moved on since GAs peak in the 1960s

 

 

[pmccarthy]

The aircraft that will rejuvenate aviation needs a slightly bigger payload than a LSA. Allow for two "typical" people today, who may each weigh 90-100kg, and 20 kg of luggage. 100 litres of fuel is enough for a Rotax 912. So nearly 300 kg of useful load. Such an aircraft would be useful and would have wide appeal, like the Cessna and Piper offerings of the 1960s, but in two-seater form and running on Mogas.

 

 

[AVOCET]

 

That's what I set out to achive with the Avocet , good payload , 2 seater MTOW 700kg

 

Empty 394 kgs .

 

If I could only relocate the engine to the front ,but doing so makes it to big for Raa aus

 

Rego ,

 

It's got potential as an amphib but with the current climate , doesn't get one to excited about spending the doe needed to develop it ,there's not much in the way of grants to develop in the aviation sector ,

 

You know if I was developing an app for smart phones there seems to be plenty of cash available ,!

 

Cheers Mike

 

 

[dodo]

Sounds like a Jabiru - the 160, 170, and 230 would be a close fit. As to getting a Rotax onto a factory Jabiru......

 

dodo