Opinion | GAA

More than 6000 GA pilots get EU grants to upgrade their comms

January 29, 2019

Funding provided by the EU has helped more than 6000 GA pilots and private aircraft owners to change from their 25 kHz radios to 8.33 equivalents. This issue is essentially no different from New Zealand’s switch to ADS B transponders, because in both cases GA operators must incur costs for equipment in a change that profits commercial players in the aviation system, and provides …

Why attempts to restrict New Zealand airspace for UAs must be blocked

November 20, 2018

Many folk in and around Alexandra (pop. 5440) were up in arms when a Christchurch-based firm called Skybase sought to restrict more than 500 sq km of Central Otago airspace in which to test unmanned aircraft. We do not know how many untested UAs are owned by Skybase in New Zealand, but we do know that Skybase is backed by US interests. We know …

Ice cold in Alex: UA operators get a frosty reception – and the threat of court action

October 22, 2018

Since we last looked at the Alexandra Restricted Airspace application for UAV testing, there have been some developments. Following a public consultation meeting held on 18 September, and requests from users, the closing date for submissions has been extended to 5 pm on Wednesday 07 Nov. The CAA has refused to release details of any risk assessments and Alexandra aviators are now threatening legal …

Unmanned Aircraft: Segregation is not integration, Mr Director

October 6, 2018

Remember the bad old days of New Zealand’s Next Big Thing? They featured such silly ideas such as farms for ostriches, alpacas or Angora goats, as well as the oft-confused Robert Muldoon’s pipe dreams. Most of these get-rich-quick notions crashed (and burned the investors). But those days may not be gone. Our government, and its Ministry of Transport in particular, has latched on to …

Cheaper ADS-B is already on the way – but somewhere else…

September 30, 2018

CASA in Australia has listened to its aviation community and will be developing rule changes aimed at making it cheaper and easier for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology to be voluntarily fitted to visual flight rules aircraft. This action follows consultation which showed broad support for the voluntary adoption of ADS-B across general aviation. The consultation made it clear the installation of ADS-B in …

Changes: Why are we waiting? Because we’re at the bottom of the pile

July 28, 2018

The GAA has had a meeting in Wellington with CAA Board Chairman Nigel Gould and Director Graeme Harris. One of the topics was the length of time it takes to achieve a rule change. On his whiteboard, the Director drew a triangle which had the airline sector at the top, commercial GA in the middle and recreational GA at the base. He explained that …

No apologies for acting in the public interest, says the CAA

April 5, 2018

The CAA has now had the opportunity to consider the material presented by the Des Lines and Brian Mackie including their “Overview” document and the results of their “Client Satisfaction” survey. The CAA welcomes feedback on its performance. As a responsible state sector entity, the CAA must – and does – operate in an environment of accountability to the public, whose interests it ultimately …

We’re calling for a public inquiry into the CAA

The GAA is seeking a public inquiry into the Civil Aviation Authority. On 5 April, the GAA released a report detailing known and alleged CAA failures and shortcomings and another showing the results of the independent CAA client satisfaction survey. The dossier of failures and shortcomings has taken about six years to compile. It contains evidence of failures by the Authority and its governing …

2018 January-February Bulletin

March 1, 2018

Urgent warning: Meet this amnesty deadline, or face a hefty fine If you are a commercial or private GA aircraft operator, you need to know right now about the New Zealand CAA’s bizarre behaviour regarding overdue operating reports. The Authority recently began issuing infringement notices and fines to commercial operators who did not send in their quarterly aircraft operating statistics on time. The fine …

2017 December Bulletin

December 31, 2017

The ‘Empty-skies-are-safe-skies’ policy is killing Aussie aviation (and New Zealand has the same symptoms) By DICK SMITH in The Australian, 28 December 2017 I don’t think you should ever regard aviation safety as what is affordable. — Australian Federal transport minister John Anderson, October 5, 2000 I welcome the appointment of Barnaby Joyce as Australia’s new Transport Minister. He certainly has a challenge in …

Category: Opinion