Is RAAus bigger than CASA

[Admin]

Did you know that there are more schools/clubs associated with RAAus then there are with CASA direct

 

 

[Ian Sugden]

To be sure. Just like John Lennon and the "we are more popular than Jesus" statement. What better way to grow than to make something affordable? With the advent of RA (and RAAUS being appointed the administering body)it has meant a significant reduction in cost. I guess what we need to think about is just how much do you think RAAUS should take on. Do you think that an ever increasing weight limit, passenger number, higher licence(sorry, certificate) qualifications etc. (all of which would take some authority from GA) should be an aim for RAAUS? Or do you think that a line should be drawn based on some parameter, on one side would be RAAUS and on the other CASA.

 

If we keep administering RA as efficiently as possible with clear objectives in mind and contain the costs, the appeal and growth will continue at a pace. Who knows, one day CASA may say "you do it better than we do, would you like to do it all?" LOL!!!!!

 

 

[Guest burbles1]

And wouldn't it be even better if councils could see our vision and stop closing (or refusing to approve) airfields ...

 

 

[dazza 38]

Sounds Good BlackRod.

 

 

[XAIRVTW]

RAA may be bigger but CASA holds the power? I think we should change that!

 

 

[facthunter]

Simplicity equates with safety.

 

Pretty close blackrod. The flimsyness of some of the designs is a bit scary. You have to analyse the thing properly, though. Some planes that LOOK a bit light-on are actually quite strong. Anyone who has built/fiddled with planes will know that everything you do tends to add weight.

 

WE should stick to SIMPLE planes for TWO people. (Keeping our liability low and costs DOWN.). Simple build, simple inspection easy to fly with few vices and nice flying characteristics. Good handling and Control, and STRONG enough to hit a good bit of turbulence without anything falling off or being overstressed. If we want to keep costs down we would have to do more building than we do now, on average.

 

For those with no time and a bit of money ,sure, be able to buy a good thing but you won't get it that cheaply. Nev

 

 

[Ian Sugden]

And wouldn't it be even better if councils could see our vision and stop closing (or refusing to approve) airfields ...

Aint that the truth!!

 

 

[Guest Escadrille]

I agree with your outline Nev, To those ( the uninformed ) in the RAAus ranks,CASA has a big responsibility and therefore a big stick and lots of powerful interests behind it. Most of their staff are ex Airline or Military or high end GA/Corporate background and rightly believe that complexity needs professionals looking after their aircraft. If we (the RAA members) bleat too long and too hard wrt higher stall speeds and heavier arircraft with greater capabilty and complexiy we will suffer the ( bureaucratic ) consequences >if you want higher faster etc buy GA or join SAAA , go experimetal and get a PPL..

 

PS LAMEs will cost you lots of money boys and gals, if you wanna go greater capability..you gonna pay..

 

Mark my words,as someone who flies RAA and has a day job in a technical part of the industry we need to keep our heads down, enjoy the flying we do and be happy OR watch out! Not everyone is on our side believe me! RAAUS is great - lets keep it that way...

 

 

[eightyknots]

John Lennon v Jesus etc ...my thoughts

 

To be sure. Just like John Lennon and the "we are more popular than Jesus" statement. What better way to grow than to make something affordable? With the advent of RA (and RAAUS being appointed the administering body)it has meant a significant reduction in cost. QUOTE]A Bible is cheaper than a John Lennon CD Album! In a hundred years Jesus' words are more likely to be quoted -eg "blessed are the peacemakers"- than John Lennon's eg "give peace a chance". (Making peace requires action, giving peace a chance remains aspirational)

 

Seriously: RAAUS should not be too demanding or insistent in increasing the dimensional requirements for planes under its 'wing' . For instance, if you look at the LSA trend, for the extra 56 kg maximum -from 544 to 600 kg- means aircraft owners have to give up a number of rights (or privileges?). For instance, an LSA modification is only possible if the LSA manufacturer permits this mod ...which in many instances they will not allow. By way of contrast, an ultralight owner has more freedom to alter aspects of their 'experimental' aircraft.

 

Higher speeds or greater aircraft weights will cause bigger impositions of rules by the government. Before long, all recreational aircraft owners will be weighed down with red-tape requirements, even those who were not near the boundaries in the first place.

[Ian Sugden]

Mmmmm......dreams are very important in ones life, they provide the basis of aspiration and the motivation as well. Long live the peacemakers for the practical, and the John Lennons of the world for the inspirational.

 

Hey Escadrille, you have just about nailed it with the explanation, BlackRod too with the first line drawn, Facthunter for a bit more illumination, Eightyknots for making the point as well as the pun (good one). Well done.

 

I would think that in an informal atmosphere such as this that thoughts get kicked around in a more free manner than in a brainstorming session. So, because there is obvious difference in the thoughts on direction of RAAus, would it be worth pointing them in the direction of this little forum so they are kept up to date, or at least aware of, the opposing opinions of members? Being new to this game I don't know what has transpired before or how RAAus gets its feedback from members. Lots of feedback that people get is of the PM's driver type - tells them what they want to hear for fear of loosing his job even though its not what is going down in the real world. (I think it was Paul Keating or maybe John Howard that said he got a feel for the people through his driver.)

 

 

[Guest burbles1]

if you look at the LSA trend, for the extra 56 kg maximum -from 544 to 600 kg- means aircraft owners have to give up a number of rights (or privileges?). For instance, an LSA modification is only possible if the LSA manufacturer permits this mod ...which in many instances they will not allow. By way of contrast, an ultralight owner has more freedom to alter aspects of their 'experimental' aircraft.

I was all for the mass increase to 750kg, but lately I discovered that the Foxbat A22 LSA has an enormous usable payload that makes it feasible for two hefty people and a considerable amount of fuel to do cross-country trips. Maybe I'm leaning towards: if you want more weight look for the right aircraft (or go GA).

 

 

[Dieselten]

Nothing is bigger than CASA, with the possible exception of the orbit of comets originating far beyond the Kuiper Belt.

 

 

[Yenn]

CASA and RAAus are not in the same league. CASA has to oversee the safety of aviation in Australia, whereas RAAus is the govening body looking after us for CASA. While we may not like CASA they do have a job to do. If you want to fly with our priveledges you have to abide by our rules. There are a lot of GA pilots who want to have the same rules as us, but they want ot keep the same planes and seem to think it is unfair that RAAus has an advantage. I agree with them in wanting to fly the bigger planes with RAAus rules , but the only way I see it happening is if RAAus gets a weight upgrade. As for SAAA, they don't have any say in running any part of aviation, except the home building of GA planes. I don't know if they are even interested in governing any part of aviation, nor if they have any expertise in that field.

 

 

[antzx6r]

Very true Yenn, and I think this is the real problem. CASA is the safety authority for all aviation in Australia and (IMHO) should stick to that and hand over the governing responsibilities to a seperate organization. Isn't that how all other countries are running things? I guess its hard for any organization to down size. But they have a monopoly and a vested interest. Much like Telsra had. I don't really care how big CASA are really but it is killing general aviation and giving us rec flyers a complex.

 

Mark my words,as someone who flies RAA and has a day job in a technical part of the industry we need to keep our heads down, enjoy the flying we do and be happy OR watch out! Not everyone is on our side believe me! RAAUS is great - lets keep it that way...