rhysmcc

Maybe you host a Q&A style discussion in the chat room with some of the people standing for the board elections, could generate some traffic if it was advertised for a set day/time. Or even with other "management" people such as a meet and greet wight he CEO followed by Q&A or the Executive etc.

This a vexed issue, the original intention was to promulgate the draft for comment, but due to the very tardy lack of effort of a certain employee who was engaged to write the draft, RAA was backed into a corner in terms of meeting a deadline to get the draft manual to CASA.This really was a disgraceful situation, we all should have at least had the opportunity to comment, because once it is adopted it will be the rules by which we are governed. This situation is a legacy of a previous board and management.

David Isaac, then why hasn't the draft manual been released today... I fail to see how any deadline would prevent it from being published in draft form. If CASA get a copy, why shouldn't we?

I think people should participate and work with the system we have. Sacking the whole board sounds like madness to me. Being a volunteer Area Rep must be a very thankless job, no wonder they don't take forums seriously. It is so easy to be critical about things. How much input do you think GA pilots have about the rules CASA makes?

You're more likely to vote if you know what exactly you're voting for. Having 10,000 members calling in doesn't solve this issue. RA-AUS is a representative body, they need to have the policy as a matter of public record and put systems in place to gauge members views.

I'm not sure every rule change for example in the Ops manual should be voted on, i'm sure alot of the changes are pushed by CASA then the board/admin, however the policy of the association should be voted on by the members, electric would be preferred due to costs and time delays with postal voting. As for members not having access to computers, most Libraries have free internet access but if it's deemed not accessible for a decent section of members then maybe other means (i.e. phone in system) could be investigated.

As it currently stands, I have very little idea what the policies of RA-AUS are and what they wish to achieve in the future. I have no idea where my elected board member stands on issues or what they wish to achieve, or what they have voted on before. Maybe alot of members don't bother voting simply because all they see is 2 or so names with some personal background information but with no information on where they stand on current and future (read policy/platform) issues.

Rhysmcc,It is a sad sign of the times that a well run course by a knowledgeable presenter is simply not recognised as a structured course where the presenter does not hold at least a Cert IV in workplace training and assessment and the organisation that facilitated the course is not a RTO.

If we are going to do it, it should be done in a recognised form and structure. This typically means at great increased cost and may not utilise the best presenters available.

 

Whilst I do see value in a properly structured course, I sometimes despair at the obstacles placed in the way of potentially good education opportunities.

If it's about making us (as members), better pilots, builders and maintainers then why does it need to be a RTO? Surely RA-AUS can design and run these courses without needing any official qualifications. Do we really need a Certificate III in Aviation (Recreational Pilot) or Certificate IV in Aviation (Recreational Aircraft Maintainer).

What are our other options for training besides RTO? It's a major hurdle for the organisation, and with our track history with administration I doubt we could even hold onto the accreditation.

I don't think conducting a poll online would necesarily give us an accurate representation of membership. I'd love to be proved wrong on this point.Jim Tatlock.

I should add, I'm not just referring to this single issue, a proper members portal with online voting system could save alot of time and money when the board actually wants to gauge the views of the members or with some rule changes (constitution, legal frame work etc) the voting of elections and AGM resolutions.

SAAA - RAA already has a Memorandum of Understanding agreement with them (and they with us) from 2009, signed by Eugene Reid & others. You should read it - RAA, Members Only Portal, Partnerships, SAAA MoU. A straw poll costs nothing, but a formal vote (with reply paid envelopes, postage to our 10,000 members, staff resources to print, collate, etc) well, that costs Tens of Thousands. That should only be done when the concept is mature. Would you have been happier if one of the Board members had asked the same questions?

...

 

Sue

Hello SueAs I see it, I have a big problem with the GM calling the straw poll, is the duty of the board. The GM is in the office getting it to run smoothly and mentoring staff etc. etc.. I can here you say he was asked to do that task OK that would be a "Oi! Your job you need the information first hand."

The board members need ideas to help to form direction hence my reason for thinking on those lines.

 

Magazine online is good however about the people without computers and the number of times we take the mag to work to read and share with friends.

 

With the SAAA there is some work to done, however a vote from membership and that is from both groups would form a good guide here.

 

Regards

 

Keith Page.

Rhysmcc.....yes I feel you are confused. yes the board has to approve a new appointment. If somebody tenders their resignation it is automatically accepted and approved by the board, unless of course they see a strong and compelling reason not to accept the resignation. this was not the case with Mark..............Maj...

Could you clear this up for me and confirm that it was indeed Mark's decision to step down and the board did not request or encourage him to do so?

That is in all a good suggestion, and the duties of the GM is well outlined in the ops manual,. However being that most GMs come in with their own individual styles, that also must be allowed to be exercised in each case. As in Marks case it sometimes takes six months or more to realise a particular style may not be particularly 100% in the organizations best interest long term, and ultimately it is the boards responsibility and duty to make changes if necessary , which it has done in this case............Maj....

The board regularly discusses future direction and planning for the direction of the organization, that is one of its duties. It then make recommendations or directions to the excutive, which they then carry out. The board also is the final word on approving someone for a paid position, a majority of board members have to be in approval on the appointment. The board also has the authority to approve a dismissal of an employee, and this was exercised with Marks stepping down.....The interviewing process of a prospective employee is carried out by members of the excutive or a committee set up for the job which may include outside members with specific expertise. The final recommendation is then passed to the board for its approval or disapproval ......Maj...

Well we are optimistic that we can recruited a replacement that will be even better than Mark has been...............Maj...

I very much like the idea of developing the virtual office, moving all our renewals online and the mag etc. Who needs a HQ if the Board only meet there once a year anyway, would be much cheaper to rent out conference space for that or when face to face meetings are required with other stakeholders.

Lets get serious about moving RAA operations virtual, invest the money now to save later.

Also it would make sense that these top management position have a non-compete clause, in that they can't work for RA-AUS for a year then get recruited to CASA. It's a waste of our resources. (I'm not implying this is the case with Mark, he has done a great job in the last 12 months and RA-Aus will be worse off without him)

Just when you thought things were starting to move in the right direction. I think there needs to be a hard look at this position and what causes so many to leave after only a short period.

Mark had been expressing some interesting ideas lately about how we can move this organisation forward into the future, I just hope his decision is purely based on family life rather then pressures or tensions with the board.

Would make sense given the current attention to maintenance training, together with a push to bring the RPC inline with the RPL, would see a new merged operation highly successful one would think

Thanks guys... wow seems like its a dogs breakfast ... Not sure how one person can take you from TIFF to RPL in one aircraft but not in another, when the student that gets the qualification has the same RPL and can then fly both???.

Maybe I'm not getting it, although given the CASA staff had no idea either i don't feel bad...

The RPL will only apply to VH registered aircraft, no different to the PPL or CPL.

Thanks for the summary of events for those of us who couldn't attend. Sounds like Mark has quite alot of ideas to move recreational aviation in a new direction, most seem sound from my pov.

Looking forward to reading the minutes and hopefully a bit more about Jims presentation, albeit in a few months time.

I am assured that the CRC MkII is beavering away and will have some sort of report for the Natfly General Meeting.We now have the best Board we've had in years and I have confidence in them. There is General agreement on the Board that the numbers need to come down from 13 to 7 or 5. Trouble is everyone thinks somebody else should give up their seat.

 

With a Board of, say, 7 we should be able to get away from a post code as the pre-qualification to run for the Board. It has not been a sound basis in the past for getting quality on to the Board. We should also get away from the idea that the Exec can act with the power of the Board between face-to-face Board meetings. By all means have a President(Chair), a Treasurer (finance director) and a Secretary and even a Vice President (Vice-Chair) but no small group making decisions for the full 7 member Board.

 

I agree the CRC as currently set up is unlikely to come up with much of value but the Board has some good ideas now about where it wants RAA to go. At the same time it is facing massive demands from CASA which are keeping their minds clicking over.

 

The Board has more of the old guard standing down this year with two vacancies in NSW/ACT. As long as we don't get more old guard coming on to the Board unopposed we will have an even better aboard from September 2014.

What do you think about only having 4-6 "directors" and the 5th or 7th spot being the president elected by the members rather then the board?

Victor 1 has Class C immediately above it at 500 ft and immediately West it is Class C from the surface up. The only reason it is not CTA is that it has been carved out. The same sort of thing could be done for the run up Stockton Beach past Williamtown. And something similar for Coffs. If there was a will there would be a way - surely?

Your best way forward would be for the local club/raa group to get together with the local Tower manager and discuss what options could be considered in terms of airspace management for OCTA transit routes. He (or she) would then be able to push the project further up the food chain for safety cases and design teams.

Good point. I don't know the area well (from the air) as I've had to avoid it. But if 500' is not a good idea how about 2,500' or 3,500' wouldn't that be well out of the way of incoming/outgoing RPT? At Williamtown they opened up a GA lane that goes right over (across) the runway at a safe altitude. Why not let suitably trained and equipped RA-Aus pilots through as well?

 

It's not so much CTA Access as CTA transit - all we need is a VFR route that is a similar principle as Victor 1, i.e. day VFR at a height that is not going to interfere with GA/RPT traffic or put us into the trees (or the drink).

I've not flown into Coffs or Sydney, but just by looking at the VTC's I don't think you could even begin to compare possible transit lanes. The Sydney route (outside of the control zone) is far and low enough not to impact RPT operations. Where's coastal through Coff's zone even at 500ft would conflict with the aerodrome traffic.

I would be in favour of CTA endorsements for RAA, provided the correct training.

Seems this thread is more of a personal attack then a discussion on constitutional reform.

I for one would like to congratulate Don on his work trying to improve RAA for all members

Not quite sure that providing flight services would be the direction RAA should run with this

Oscar you have been busy thinking I will go along with what you are thinking.. The semi trailer is great --- would be good for seminars plus there is something for the public to see.We must have something that young people can touch and play with.

Give Brisbane the flick for the head office too expensive and a pain to get about-- what about Caboolture or go further north on the coast be close to airports for work shops.?

 

Andy... bit for the record. You should hear the big fellows when they have not got controlled airspace to help them.

 

You want to listen to their stuff ups in country airports, no one is thinking for them they have to do it all themselves.

 

Got me stuffed why CASA puts us down.

 

Regards

 

Keith Page.