FlyingVizsla

I don't know why there are so few women, or why they retire at the same rate as men. I suspect that a number are wives & girlfriends who joined when their man did and either quit when he did, didn't finish their training, or decided to save money on a second membership (I know at least one of each). I was single when I joined, already had a GA licence and plane, had been flying before the AUF started but joined because I became involved (as an office bearer) in an ultralight club in the 1990's and wanted to keep up to date with U/L issues. I subsequently did a conversion, but once married he did all the driving. I suspect that the men tend to grab the toys and the wife decides its a waste of money keeping up membership. I saw flying as an efficient way from A to B (I was based in far Western Qld with a strip on the edge of every town), whereas the blokes were "look at me; I'm a pilot, hey I can throw it around, scare the pants off you, did you see my landing?" The aircraft we trained people in was minimal, grotty and our instructor a smelly guy who got a crush on every female, so I was the only female member and flyer, while we turned a number off the idea completely. RAA needs to highlight young women flying and flying as an attractive way for girls to travel to exciting places with friends. Emphasise how clean, modern, safe and desirable aircraft are now. Partner with Aust Women Pilots' Assoc (AWPA) to increase participation of women in flying. A bit of research on how many RAA members are active pilots and why they trained, would help too. Sue

This figure is not certain, as the information was a bit vague. The Annual Report says "Over the past 5 years ... male membership hovering between 93.5% to 94.1%" therefore females between 6.5% to 5.9%. The membership figures are not published for 5 years, so I took 2010/11 from other sources (the Annual Report for that year overstated membership as 11,079). At the end of 2010, according to John Brandon, membership was 9,674 coming off growth of 13% the previous year and he expected it would reach 10,000 in 2011. Membership 30 June 2015 = 9,117. Not knowing if 6.5% was 2011 or 2015, makes an accurate figure unlikely. Over 5 years RAA has lost far more male members - the Annual Report says 175 per month (2,100) of which (on the percentages) approx 1,970 are male; 130 female. This is offset by new younger members (the average age of pilots is actually going DOWN). As for why females are not renewing membership - there are just as many reasons as the men. The concerning thing is that, all things being equal, there is one female for every male, yet they find RAA & ultralight flying so unattractive there's only one female to every 16 males. Plenty of scope for growth. Sue

Once title is granted, there is little the Council can do. The planning part is there to mitigate future problems. Developers will "tell you anything.." to get the approval at the least cost to them. Then future land owners have to live with it. I suspect the restriction to <600kg recreational had to do with the developer talking his way out of sealing the strip and taxiway by saying they won't fly much and they prefer grass. The land owners (the Body Corp) will have to deal with complaints from Council about GA aircraft and excessive noise, movements etc. and pay the rates, insurance, maintenance etc on the strip and club-house (landing fees anyone?). Then again, as I have seen before, the whole thing could be on-sold to another developer as a potential for $11mil in sales for little outlay, for them to develop. This development is not attractive to me, as firstly we would have to hangar one of our planes elsewhere and never fly home with it, secondly I think the house/hangar build and on-going body corp costs (going into retirement) will be more than we can justify and thirdly, it looks just like suburbia. It might suit someone else with a spare $mil.

Australian Women Pilots Association (AWPA.org.au) have been encouraging women since Nancy Bird started flying. The actual discrimination is mostly gone - the days when the airlines made it impossible for women to fly and the Forces wouldn't take them, are mostly over. Despite offering scholarships and doing great things with girls, the number of female pilots is no where near the percentage in the population. The number of female members in RAA has declined - the Annual report says the % women has remained stable over 5 years (see above) - however the membership total was larger 5 years ago, making that LESS women members. RAA did give their only female board member (Carol Richards) a terrible time, forcing her resignation despite her sterling work on Natfly, GYFTs etc; but the Board and management have changed since then. I am confident that our newest female board member will be treated on her merits. Most of the dinosaurs are gone. There are women flying, instructing, building - just have encourage more girls to give it a go. Sue

That's a much larger development than the one I saw previously. What facilities are the developers providing? Power (underground or overhead), water, sealed roads, kerb & channel, storm water drainage, crossovers, communal septic system, telecoms (NBN ready) etc? Can the blocks back from the strip have hangars (is the road the taxiway) or only those facing the runway? Who maintains/owns the airstrip? RAA is looking at a weight increase, so some of their aircraft (in the future) may be over 600kg. Restricting the aircraft to RAA / ASRA only has taken the gloss off it for me. I would rather be in a community that welcomed all forms of flying; gliders, balloons, gyrocopters, recreational GA and not restricting it to members of two organisations. I have found a photo we took when we flew over last Saturday. The proposed Airpark is on the Right.

Badly worded ... but I think I know what they meant. At the AGM, where they ran through the new website, the membership & aircraft rego area was demonstrated. They explained that you can change most things, but there are some (eg change of name) that requires some backup proof, so a contact form will allow the staff to do the necessary checking and changes for you. Perhaps they should have said "However, for fields that you can't edit, please use the contact form ..."

The ABC have posted 17 colour enhanced photos of the Australian land mass with the challenge to identify their location. I thought I knew where 17 was, but the orientation of the racetrack and cross strip didn't match Google Earth. Some are the sand dunes. Have a go. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-14/scott-kelly-snaps-australia-from-space/6853052

I was talking to Andrew (Assistant Ops) at the AGM. The cross country training is going up to 12 hours of which 10 must be dual. The old Ops took it up to 10 hrs (up from 5) total, but no mention of minimum dual. I didn't ask anything beyond that. Sue

The news on MTOW increase was just that it was being favourably considered, no time or figure. The CTA, on the other hand, was "this summer" with Skidmore "positive". No one asked in question time for clarification. RAA was also looking to future innovations to stay ahead of the game eg new fuels/ propulsion systems - electric / solar etc. Better to have something in place or simmering than get forced to make up the story with the "first of type" wanting rego.

I couldn't find an age break-up in the Annual Report, except for the statement on page 22 that the average age is now 50yrs 3months, down from 51 years (excluding the under 16yr members). If it hasn't remained stagnant (average age now 52yrs), that is an indication that; older members are retiring, or younger members are being recruited, or a combination of both. There are less women, down to 5.9% or 540 members (loss of 144) . The other interesting statistic is the growth in flying per person - from 10.77 hours in 2011 to 24.72 hours in 2014. It was noted that under reporting might be responsible for part of that. Sum total - less members, more aircraft, more flying. If instructors aren't getting older, we should be promoting flying as the Elixir of Youth, bottling it and promoting it. The CFIs might be getting on, but I have met a number of younger people, bitten by the flying bug, and getting into Instructing as a way of passing on the disease, an excuse to fly more and a way to financially assist with that. The last few years have been disruptive, the RPL, Jab restrictions, RAA debacle / CASA audits; which may have influenced membership trends. Despite the 3% drop, the Board are looking at ways of promoting recreational flying which may translate to more and younger members. Some more flying females would be nice too. Sue

The results of the recent survey with the Australian Institute of Business were briefly mentioned at the AGM (a formal statement to come). 1,500 responded, with cost being the biggest issue, 90% live within 200km of a Flight Training Facility; 70% of those who left went to motor cycle clubs. Will have to wait for the formal results, but I thought perhaps the RPL might have had a bigger impact. AGM was good with about 40+ in the room and 50 by live streaming. News on MTOW increase, CTA, discussion on L1 training, Member's Charter, the new constitution etc. An aircraft register will be required under 149, the membership card will be phased out (when you can get your "proof of licence" up on the web, on smart phones etc). The new website launches 21 October where you can manage your details, pay your fees (there are options for 1, 2 & 3 year payments for aircraft and membership). There will be no members forum or discussion area. It is simply a business tool. It was remarked that the one thing that was growing was the age of members. Looking round the room, apart from Board and staff, I was one of the youngest. I met some forumites and got to put names to faces. Sue

I had a look at the RAA information sent with our membership/licence renewals - his is 1988 (when he registered the aircraft, but he was probably a member before that), and mine is 2001; however I have receipts from 1999 & 2000. In my case it might be moving from one category to another (I did a conversion on a Lightwing) however that is a year or so late for 2001. I had another theory about the membership number - that it was the same as the aircraft - but our Scout was 10-0298. The Karasport was 10-033 but was changed to 10-1382 (no idea why). This is probably all due to the early AUF not realising the future popularity of ultralights, not planning for the computer age, and perhaps losing some corporate knowledge and making odd decisions. For example, the number 033 may have been issued for three aircraft eg 10-033, 25-033, 32-033. Today that number is issued once only, allowing aircraft to move between categories. As I work through the old AUF magazines I might find some answers.

Interesting .... His card from 1992 (valid for 2 years) has "Membership No. 101523" and "Pilot Certificate No. 004446". According to John Brandon's history http://www.recreationalflying.com/tutorials/regulations/benchmarks.html there were 2400 members in 1990. I found some handwritten (Kalamazoo system) AUF receipts from the late 1980's - some with no detail apart from date, name and amount. I found one for 1988 for membership renewal and one for aircraft registration. John Brandon reports 1,150 members in 1987. So, at some point the Pilot Certificate number became the Membership number. It also appears that the certificate number exceeds the number of members at the time of issue. I am guessing there was some form of coding in the numbering. Eg 4 for Qld, or 10 to start off, being 95-10 (member number 1,523 seem more reasonable for the time than 101,523). Another theory - after the great Server collapse (when no one did a back-up and all the records had to be re-entered from paper files), perhaps it was easier to use the Pilot number rather than a separate member number? Sue

Add one more to the 70+. As both hubby and I use the same computer and user name we can only vote once. I got in first. Sue

Husband joined in the 1980's and has a membership number in the 4,400 series, I joined in 1999/2000 and have one in 13,000. His number seems a bit high for his join date, but I'll have a look through his early stuff to see what date he joined. I have invoices etc from 1981 - 1986 from Ron Wheeler & others, when he was building the Scout; and the initial registration from June 1988. Sue

Nomadpete - interesting observation. I discovered flying as a child when I flew with my father and he let me take a hands on role from a young age. My 3 younger brothers were not interested; maybe 'cos I hogged the RH seat? Mother came from a non flying family and was not interested either. My husband's father started flying in 1932, my husband was the eldest and the only one interested in flying (although his father had abandoned it due to cost). When he was older he went into models and then into the early ultralights. Neither of his sons fly, but both are into models. Would be interesting to see how many "eldest child following in parent's footsteps" there are among us. Sue

Mr & Mrs Vizsla finally got the RANS sorted out and went for a fly, just for the fun of it. We went over the day before, did a quick fly to check everything was in order, cooked tea and bedded down for the night. Several critters were banging and scratching in the hangar so he insisted I join him up in the single bed rather than on the floor with the snakes, possums and resident goanna (some guys will tell you ANYTHING). It was an early start because I had been awake for most of it. Wednesday morning was glorious, clear blue skies, light wind and the RANS was tail up and off the deck in a wink. Flew around sight seeing, photographing and looking around for about 2 hours. This is the first relaxed flight we have had for at least a year, not test flying for faults, going somewhere etc. Just thorough enjoyment. We heard a number of Jabiru calling inbound Biggenden and wondered what was on there. Flew over our farm and neighbours and took photos for them, then returned to base to find morning tea on at the Club house and two other Jabs flying in behind us. A good time was had by all, stories large and tall exchanged, over cream bun and coffee. Then off to wash the plane. Next Sunday we plan to do a short flight to Pacific Haven (weather permitting). Fantastic feeling to have one plane flying. Now to finish fixing the others..... Sue

I think you have to have an ISSUU account and be signed in. It took me a while to work out where it was - click Share - then Download even if greyed out. The dialog box took "ages" to come up and I ended up with two, being impatient. The ISSUU site covers a lot of my interests and magazines that I used to read - all for free, and some allow me to download too, even books.

I got September Sport Pilot from the ISSUU website and uploaded it to Mr Vizsla's iPad where he has been reading it for a couple of days. It is a bit confusing as one email from RAA said ISSUU was now the permanent home of Sport Pilot, then another refers to alternatively picking it up from the Facebook page. I have not had much trouble downloading it from ISSUU provided I pick my time (low traffic for higher speed), however I am having trouble downloading the latest upgrade for the iPad - it keeps timing out - an hour or so and it gives up.

Not off topic - it is about planes. I watched this episode too. 27 planes in one hangar! The house was a bit avant-garde and looked worse in the flesh than on the plans, but it did have a fantastic glassed lounge / kitchen area to watch the airfield and a glassed section in the roof to view them flying over. My husband doesn't like "calamity Kevin" so he missed out on a bit of plane porn. I like watching Kevin to follow the mistakes people make and see the innovation. So glad I live in Qld after watching so many "snowed in, iced up, fogged in" episodes. Sue

The Australian Women Pilot's Association's annual event has a "partners program" and has for as long as I can remember (been a member for about 20 years but don't go to every one). It is not limited to partners as I use it as an alternative when the official itinerary isn't my cup of tea. Tour operators picked us up (as they normally did for other groups) and knew how many as we either booked in advance or let them know in the morning for the afternoon. Some things were walking distance or at the venue. The focus was on tourism or entertainment, not a tent offering creative spanner arranging, but things showcasing the area or allowing social interaction - most had a fee attached. AWPA moves their event every year to another State (known years in advance) and that State is responsible for arranging things. This year is South Australia - Victor Harbour - 30th March – 3rd April, 2016 and no doubt Victoria 2017 planning is already under way - WA 2018, Qld 2019, NSW 2020, Tas 2021 etc. Perhaps the National Fly-in could move between the major players - SAAA at Narromine, RAA etc. I wouldn't expect SAAA to host an event at other than Narromine because their headquarters and staff are there.

Unfortunately hubby wants his old magazines preserved, so no time saving to be had cutting the bindings. I accept that the scanning will be slow and boring, but it is a finite stash, and I have the time and patience. We live a long way from "civilisation" so services are thin on the ground. Our local library has two F/E employees and relies on volunteers like me to index, preserve and catalogue their non-core materials. They have one simple photocopier - it makes b&w A4 copies. So folks, me doing page by page scanning is a given. How to process the scanned image is more the question. I have Adobe Reader, which means each image remains as one file. I could put the bite on RAA to provide a short term copy (licence) of Adobe Pro; or do you know of a better platform to manipulate images etc. The aim is to keep the cost to the members as low as possible. I am presently looking at other software. Remember I have woeful internet speeds, so downloading and uploading to a website will take HOURS. rhysmcc - the CEO says they don't have digital copies prior to Sport Pilot. This goes back to 1986 with a typewritten newsletter - remember those wax sheets you typed on, fixed errors with pink waxy goo, hooked to a screen, inked up and turned the handle? AUF also had the "great server failure" where they lost everything because no one backed it up. I hope to have each magazine as one file, but also have it able to be searched without having to download every magazine. For example, if you were researching Accidents & Incidents, then only that article, but from each edition would be displayed. Similarly if you were searching for "Chinook 10-003" you should get every mention in all magazines. I do a lot of work on the TROVE digitised newspapers correcting the OCR text and like the way it works. Any ideas? Sue

My husband has all his old AUF magazines back to the 1980's, so I have volunteered to scan these for RAA. The CEO says the prior editions of Sport Pilot will be available on their new website - all 44 of them. I will do the rest. I have yet to talk to their website developers, but I am looking for any suggestions. I have an A3 scanner and OCR software. I am going to do a test run to see what I can produce. I would like the whole library to be search-able, rather than having to open each magazine to search. Maybe a choice between HD or smaller files; keeping in mind people with slow internet. Any ideas? Sue

When a major fly-in is combined with a major town event there have been issues. This one was the same days as the annual Show (probably so Warren Truss could attend both) which put pressure on accommodation and services - catering for example. Monto was another example, where it was held in conjunction with the Dairy festival - no rooms in town, we slept in the plane trailer, it was below zero overnight so people left a day early. I can understand the organisers thinking that another event might give the non-flying partners and children something to do, but I think the lack of accommodation, overstretched catering and volunteers out weigh that notion. The first Ausfly we attended was brilliant. I don't think there was another major event that weekend, the food was fabulous and plentiful, lots to see, many displays and well organised. Sue

I was just reading the AUF magazine from January 1994 - the cost of the Magazine was an issue back then too. Editor Peter J Lewis wrote: "The Editor has heard a number of rumours that the cost of the magazine being produced in the office is much more expensive than when it was being published under contract. At May 1, 1993 (my first mag) the cost of my duties as Editor was approximately $1,040.00 per issue and has remained consistent. (Remember I am also the Assistant Executive Director whose duties are costed separately). The contract rate with the Holbrook Publishing Group for April 93 was slightly (Approx. 1%) less than that. Not only is the costing about the same, I also do all those "in office" and other duties - paste up advertising, liaise with printer, arrange inserts, etc. which were not part of the Holbrook duties and until my appointment were done by the Executive Director at a much higher rate. So in fact this editor is saving AUF (you) money." In 1993 there were 12 issues, membership was 3,300 and the magazine was 40 page black & white, a full page advert was $168, members market $7. In the same magazine there were complaints that Lightwings and Skyfoxes were not ultralights, and Notes Re Crop Spraying - by the National Flying Coach (apparently it was approved).