Australian Flying

It’s been a long time since I edited a magazine, and I miss the process dearly. What Hitch didn’t tell me, initially, was that he would be hiking in the wilds of Tassie with his mobile phone turned off. I’m diagnosed with an affliction called Aphantasia, which means I have no visual imagery in my mind’s eye. Where the average person can close their eyes and ‘see’ an image, I just have blackness. This means I can neither fantasise or visualise, but I can recall and remember (just without images). I can plan a flight, visually, if I’m going somewhere I’ve been before in an aircraft I’ve previously flown by recalling data from previous flights, but I cannot access any visual data if I need to imagine something. Not being…

More than 180 aircraft and 30 different type groups are expected to be featured at Avalon this year. The dedicated GA/Sport area will feature a live build of a Zenith CH750 STOL aircraft and a conference centre where associations are invited to run their own seminars. The dedicated GA area will feature displays from the Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia, Airtourer Association and Angel Flight, to Recreational Aviation Australia, the Sport Aircraft Association of Australia and Victorian Model Aeronautical Association. Presentations will focus on various aspects of aviation, including aircraft restoration, women in flight, flight safety and how to attract more young people to the industry. As part of the event, the Australian Sport Rotorcraft Association will also celebrate the centenary of the first successful flight of the autogiro, which…

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has issued an Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) to new Australian airline Bonza after the carrier submitted final documents and successfully completed proving flights. The AOC is the regulatory approval required by Bonza to fly scheduled passenger-carrying flights in Australia. A specialist CASA team has been working with Bonza since it submitted its application last year, progressively assessing various components and providing feedback. CASA Director of Aviation Safety and Chief Executive Officer Pip Spence said Bonza went through a rigorous assessment and validation process to ensure it could operate safely. ‘This is a significant milestone and we congratulate Bonza on achieving its air operator’s certificate,’ Ms Spence said. Ms Spence said the AOC process was designed to ensure that everyone boarding an aircraft in Australia could…

Col Pay Award for a Lifetime of Service to General Aviation CHRISTOPHER SIEVERS A member of HARS Historic Flight Association, a registered Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (Airframe and Engine), a Responsible Person for a number of companies with CASA, Responsible Person and Owner of a registered training organisation (Aerospace Training Services) and Lifetime Member of a number of aviation related businesses, Chris has been a GA stalwart for over forty years. “I am extremely flattered to receive this prestigious award for my commitment to the Australia aviation industry.”Chris Sievers Chris and a business colleague started a small company – Air Affairs - in the early 90’s providing advisory and training services to the RAN at Nowra, which still flourishes to this day. His advanced manufacturing centre, which focuses on producing products…

Relax, for a minute, and take yourself back. Feel the hot, squeaky-soft sand. Breathe in the salted air. Hear the kids on the beach, playing totem tennis or flogging soggy sand at one another, and the whirr of the Victa (no, the motor mower) slicing up the grass at Aunty Joan’s old shack nearby. Feel the burn on your bare soles from the sticky bitumen while slogging down to the local corner-store for an Icy Pole at lunchtime. Then feel the cool of the ocean on your blistered feet as you rinse off the sticky sugary drips from your hands. At days’ end, you’re exhausted, with sand in every crease of yourself and your wet togs (cossie, bathers, whatever). Mum’s now dragging you back to the sage green Holden station…

Absence, it is said, makes the heart grow fonder. If true, it goes a long way toward explaining the yearning the aviation industry has for the Australian International Airshow. After four years away, it returns to us in the form of Avalon 2023, and the Australian aviation community is more than ready to embrace the event warmly, welcoming it back as the last vestige of aviation to return to normality post-COVID. We are whole again. Love that large brings with it expectations of grandeur, and the team at organiser AMDA Foundation is very aware that the aviation community is looking at Avalon 2023 to make up for lost ground. Co-incidentally, the returning air show is also the first one for new AMDA CEO Justin Giddings, who replaced retiring boss Ian…