nomadpete

Through each of the disasters of RAAus I have struggled to understand what is happening and why it is happening. This has been entirely caused by individuals failing to advise me, as a member, of their intentions, of our obligations, and of the outside pressures that have been brought to bear. For instance: had Ed advised us that he felt he had 100% approval from the board to act as he felt in a particular situation, then we should be aware of this radical departure from normal process way before he actually applied it. And any misunderstanding by the board/members could be cleared up. The fact that board members report different recollections about the meeting where Ed laid down his requirements, shows that the board comminication itself needs vast improvements. Did the minutes not mention the exact words? Do we get to read them? Much of the debate is fuelled by speculation which could be moderated by direct information from those who are making the decisions. That complaint is not just about Ed. There have been plenty of times when board members should have publicised their personal position on issues. Due to the lack of official information, I Emailed Board members and asked the following questions: “... For instance, we, as members deserve to be advised of the consequences and the plans (I hope there are plans) to integrate this new employee into the RAAus structure: - Is Myles appointment definitely temporary? What are the expected costs to us, What are the plans to ensure that the Constitution Reform Committee continues? What is happening to the treasurer's position? Can we expect correct treasurer's reports on time, given the problems filling the role? When will we see a job description for the STCC? So we know what his duties are. Will his contact details be presented on the RAAus website? When can we expect the STCC to publish his plan to improve our safety? When can we expect the position of STCC to be advertised? Will a recruitment agency be involved? What is the chance of the board/exec releasing answers to issues or developments such as these, by a broadcast email newsletter to members?” I have received a reply from Myles which helps us to understand the picture as he sees it. With his permission, I offer it now as a step toward better communication: “Hello Peter, Your email was forwarded to myself for comment to you direct. As you know I was treasurer and on the executive, I was also in Canberra at the recent meeting, also on the constitution rewrite committee. I can say that Ed had notified his intentions some weeks before being voted in as president with 100% majority to the electing board members, I can also say that the position of STCC is not new and has been known for about 9 years and is a requirement of part 149 of the new regulations being implemented later this year. It has been a requirement of our deed of agreement for some time and became urgent for us to secure the money from CASA and to comply with the deed of agreement before 30/6/13. The reason it became urgent was because previous boards never acted on the requirement, and as we are a democracy, when the motion’s put and it gets voted down, the vote is respected. The exec at the on 3/6/13 had no choice but to act in an emergency capacity under the constitution, also there was no way of filling the position in 3 weeks by recruiting. I have the qualifications to fill the position, " jobs for the boys" far from it, I am a flyer too, I don't want to be grounded with all the other members under CASA's repatriation while they work out a system to allow us to fly legally again. My resignation occurred on Tuesday 4/6/13 at 13.58 hours and I held up my flight home because I left it to the last minute. I didn't want to resign as board member and treasurer but realized I could serve the members better and keep them flying if I did, also I only had 35 minutes to get to the airport and board my flight home. The costs incurred have been all mine to date as I'm working on the deed requirements from home and implementing SMS's to FTF's with the help from the Operations department as well as setting up a Safety Seminar calendar. I was employed in the coal mining industry in engineering until the 5/6/13, there is no way that RA-Aus could ever come within a bulls roar of my former salary. I am not on the board any more and its up to them to let you know of consequences, I can assure you there is severe consequences if we don't. The plans I have, and I do hope I can post them to members if the board members get off their hands and support Ed in keep RA-Aus operating. However, my plans are to implement the SMS across the organization, set up safety learning seminars across Australia, register RA-Aus as an RTO to comply with industry legislation, have an internal audit team accredited to prevent a recurrence of the registration fiasco and set up maintenance accredited training for members. All this has to be implemented before the end of September and this was the intended duration of appointment, its then up to your board as its up to them to allow my program to be posted. As for cost, I've been working on this since the 5/6/13 at no cost to RA-Aus and so far some of the board hasn't supported this position, however the cost to September will be far less than hosting a board meeting. As for the constitution rewrite, I will help and continue but to comply with board direction another board member should step up to the plate and the budget forecast was finalized by me last week with a warning of a deficit, again another board member task. Peter, I want to keep flying, that's why I put my hand up and hope I have answered some of your questions, the rest is up to your board getting behind Ed to make this work. Cheers Myles”

Just a little tangent about the SMS requirement - I note that GFA implemented theirs in 2009 and it, along with other stuff which we would find very useful at times of turmoil are all on the 'members' area of their website: ADMIN 0001 Articles of Association (23) ADMIN 0002 GFA Strategic Plan (17) ADMIN 0003 Board Regulations (25) ADMIN 0004 Board Resolutions (18) ADMIN 0005 MOSP 1 (32) ADMIN 0007 Privacy Policy (10) ADMIN 0008 Member Protection Policy (20) ADMIN 0009 Anti-Doping Rules (9) ADMIN 0010 Meeting Guidelines (13) ADMIN 0011 Expense Guidelines (12) ADMIN 0012 Membership Fees 2013/2014 (20) ADMIN 0013 Safety Management System (6) If we had this, half of these arguments would never have been needed. Wouldn't it be nice for RAAus to take a leaf out of their book?

Folks, Please don't let this degenerate into personal attacks. We are here because we want to be allowed to continue our aviating. We are here to debate the issues. Please do it with respect to all. I welcome everone's contributions and research which goes a long way toward filling the information vacuum that has been clouding our ability to judge what and why things are being done. 1. Due process does matter 2. Results matter 3. If these conflict, then we absolutely must have transparent communication - and the lack of it has created a lot of ill will. Without proper press releases, we are forced to wait to see where 'the chips fall' and that irks us when we are certain that time is of the essence. Peter T

After trying to tie together all the little snippits on this forum ,My summary is: RAAus has been aware of the need for inventing a SMS, for over two years (maybe many more than two) but due to lack of consensus by the board nothing has been done. And it looked like nothing was continuing to be done in spite of all the board's deliberations. To await due process would be tantamount to giving up all hope of ever complying with this CASA requirement. Our options on that are to either comply, or to negotiate out of it. Neither options were addressed. Furthermore, I have heard that having a safety officer is a requirement of Part 149 of the new regulations being implemented later this year. So if Ed had not forced the situation, where would we be? Still unaware of our obligations and still in breach of our deed of agreement? Still leaving our training schools open to litigation because of failure to put in place a control for a known hazard? But I don't really know. I'm still guessing. It would help to unify our membership if only we were presented with open honest communication by all stake holders. Peter T

Thank you Kaz. Your input is invaluable to those of us who don't speak legalese. At last I have enough information to get a grasp of the constitutional position. As you said, not much comfort there. And still no communication from our 'leaders'. Peter T

Well, that sure got me bogged down in my old highschool english grammar ! Now I am not sure about the constitution except that it is poorly written. But now that it has been pointed out, I would go with the word "and" meaning "together". Anyway we can expect the Reform Committee to fix that.... oh rats! Now Ed has another fire to put out - who will chair the constitution reform committee now that Myles has become an employee? Or will it be disbanded again? And if not disbanded, will Ed be seen as inconsistent? Just one more consequence that has not been explained to us members. While we are splitting hairs, it occurred to me that there is a world of difference between Ed getting an assurance of "full support of the board" and being granted "absolute power to do whatever you want without consultation". Anyway, it seems to have ended up highlighting the general temperature of the members who bother to read the news. Pity that the only thing we can count on is a continuance of the traditional RAAus poor communication. Still disappointed, Peter T

Turbs, You have conviced me. I was not aware of those clauses in our constitution. So it appears that our constitution allows Ed's method. It is remiss of me to condemn without checking our rules first. I had never doubted the need for a safety officer, but felt betrayed by the way it was done. Now I am ready to accept Ed's action as not transgressing our house rules, but I am still not reassured that his methods show leadership toward a new RAAus which acts with good integrity. Lack of transparency and lack of open consultation clouds the outsider's view of things. And please note that members should NOT be considered "outsiders". Please treat us, the members, (and others such as staff or board) with more respect. I though that we had made that clear enough back in Feb. Ed, Please accept my apology for my strong comments ( in previous posts) regarding your perceived lack of following our constitution. I was unaware of those clauses. You could have referred us to those clauses in your 'Press release' if you wished to avoid some of the criticism. Yet another communication failure. If we accuse you of giving us more of the "same old" that we used to get, then you must accept responsibility for failing to honour a commitment to open transparent communication with the members. So, please give us the full story. You have not yet fully explained all the causes, expected costs and possible consequences (good and bad - a cost/benefit analysis) of the appointment. Nor have you explained what you have previously exchanged with the board on the issue. Nor have you shown us the scope of Myles' expected contribution to our safety. Nor have you explained why the position had to be salaried at this early stage when Myles could have taken up the role temporarily on a volunteer basis whilst the job description was formulated. So, again I ask, please include us members in the information loop. Allow us the opportunity to offer our input or services. We still need to understand how it all came about, why it couldn't wait a day or two, and how you saw your method as being the "best all round" answer to a festering problem, when you probably knew that it would be a contentious move. We still await more information on the new "Air Safety Roadmap". Your urgent action creating the position and instantly appointing Myles, should result in urgent action by this new employee. Peter T

Ed, Firstly thank you for coming to this group of concerned RAAus members, and expanding on your motives. We need to hear more from you. We need more open communication from you and the board because it is the only way to defuse the rumor mill. If a forum like this was available on the official RAAus website. I'm sure we would all be over there airing the same concerns. But that is another separate issue. It should be obvious that most here are outraged by what seems to be your impulsive actions, and operating outside our proper processes. We do appreciate that you are operating in a possibly hostile environment, and definitely under a lot of pressure but that does not excuse the way this has been done. BUT - Why didn't you work around the problem just a little? If you HAD taken the proper course and asked the whole board for permission, and they had voted it down, You then had the option to make an immediate press release to members by email and forums and RAAus website - a President's Report to advise us what is happening (the urgency, the consequences and the board rejection) so that we the members would see where the problem lay (and not blame you) so the members could then contact their board member/s with pressure to revise their decision. All of which could be done in a couple of days. If a couple of days would have made all that much difference to the consequences, please explain that to us. As members we deserve blunt, spin free honesty. Now I am hearing more snippits, which may be true, or not. When you take drastic steps the whole picture should be seen by all. I feel that your actions have brought the integrity of RAAus into question. All I can say is "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" As for Myles, well, so far we have not heard from him with any urgently required "roadmap to the future safety for all recreational pilots". If it was all that urgent, then Myles has had enough time to rough out something to make us all know that he is actually doing something that we (and CASA) can connect with his new role. Or hasn't that been discussed yet? I am deeply disappointed. Peter T

Sue, In a normal world, all you say is absolutely right and is what we expect. But it seems that our board collectively have not operated successfully in a normal world for some years now. And I sincerely apologise to those individual board members who have tried so hard to drag the others into the normal world. Peter T

If Myles provides us with a list of his action plans and timeframes in the next couple of days, it will restore some faith in the urgency of his appointment. And may ease some of the pain caused by the unconstitutional way it was achieved.

Good point Dazza. At first sight it looks like more of the same old behavior of past exec. However, bear in mind that we have all been bitching about the perceived ineptitude of the board, so in this instance I am prepared to accept that maybe Ed is between a rock and a hard place when it comes to getting RAAus into safer waters. He is privy to inside information that we don't, stuff that may not be appropriate to publicise. We have to take his decisions on trust. At least until we see the longer term results. Would you put every important decision through a board that so many of us seem to have no faith in? At this time we may be better off with a benevolent dictator than a puppet. Come September I may change my mind. PeterT

The way I see it, Given that action was urgent, the options were: 1. Engage the services of professional recruitment agency and in maybe a couple of months get someone to fill this role. 2. Act now and work with personnel known to have skills adaptable to the role. There is always the option to cast the net properly later. I feel that the wording suggesting that RAAus is "guilty of conducting almost ZERO essential safety training" is a bit offensive to all our CFI's who (in my opinion) are already conducting essential safety training on behalf of RAAus, and being audited by RAAus. If that were not so, I would probably not be alive to write this. However, CASA need to be reassured that it is being taken seriously and action has been taken to keep us looking clean. In the company I work for, we have a person filling a similar role, and they are only a tenth the size of our membership. Just my take on it, Peter T

Gary, There two answers here - 1. I'd really like a touring MG so I can go see the outback and experience the Morning Glory. 2. I'd really like a single seat self launching glider to do gliding x - country with the security of not having to have a retireve crew or the inconvenience of needing a tuggie every time I have the urge to go 'feeling up' the air. I'd love to see what you are cooking up though. Peter T

My 'signature' is borrowed from a poem by Robert H Smith. For the full poem, google the first line of it.

Cam home from work and the wife was stretched out on the lounge, naked. There was soft music. There were candles. Can you believe that - Candles! I looked at her and said "What is this?" She purred "Its my love dress darling" I said "Needs ironing, whats for dinner?" And thats when the fight started........

Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked the boat up to the van and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 50mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day. I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife's back; now with a different anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible." My loving wife replied, "And, can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?"

And that's when the fight started.......

I'd have believed it if BEX had posted it.....

Preflight? Just a quick walk around should do... Anyway, you can always check it later.....

A lifting body aircraft would be suitably easy to build, and it is reported to have benign handling characteristics. The structure is robust, which improves pilot safety. I'd like to see one in the flesh and since the only ultralight one is residing in the USA, I cannot afford the tickets just to get a look at it. This one was at Oshkosh in 1994, I believe.

That's Great news! I was always told (by my mother) that it was only girls who could change their minds. How can I earn this new privilege?

If you want to have a cheap aircraft for fun, and also want to fly yourself out west to pester your rellies, then I suggest the practical way to achieve this is to make the fun machine for most of your flying and cross hire a plastic fantastic for the occasional long distance tour. One single design can't be all things to all people.

Clifton is a great place to commit aviation. Except for the cold winter mornings. The training, the scenery and people make every visit great therapy. Congratulations on mastering the drifter.