slb

The financial situation should be looking good soon. I see that they are going to charge $50 per day for the upcoming fly in. I won't be there. I went to the last one at Narromine and wasn't impressed and at a 30% increase they can do without me.

also of note is that our Aircraft are deemed safe in the event of an engine failure, unlike GA and we are all taught to fly with that in mind. Might help in some small way especially if the HGFA could back that up for you in writing.

Is he also a LAME?

Are we going to have a Tech Manager though, if Jared Smith is going to be the new Head of Airworthiness and Engineering.

Sounds like Technical has evolved in to Engineering now.

Thank you GraemeK and KP. I tried copying the title of the email, but wasn't able to for some reason.

Key staff member wants to move on, he does, new plan doesnt stack up and he remains on as consultant. Pretty standard across many industries.Gives the organisation time to fill the role and develop proper replacement.

Does any one know if Lea Vesic is the Safety guy who attended the PDPs? If so, he seemed pretty switched on. If not, what happened to him?

Finally it has been announced. Darren will be a consultant to RAAus now and remains the CASA authorised person

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Technical Department

We have made some changes within the technical department at RAAus.

Darren Barnfield has changed positions and is no longer a full time employee with RAAus.

In his five years as Technical Manager with RAAus Darren delivered a suite of positive and lasting changes. The most notable of these improvements was a completely re-written technical manual. In addition to a new technical manual, Darren delivered the modification and repair approval process (MARAP), thereby allowing RAAus members to modify aircraft to ensure ongoing compliance and airworthiness.

Behind the scenes Darren was also a champion of new ideas that both innovated how RAAus tackled the complex world of aircraft maintenance, but also showcased maintenance and engineering in a fun and interesting way. From kit planes for kids to learn about aeronautical design, to our practical L1 training program, Darren was a champion of knowledge sharing.

With that in mind, we have rearranged how our Technical Department operates.

We’d like to advise that Jared Smith is our new Head of Airworthiness and Engineering. Jared will now lead our team in the office, which includes Leanne Cabrera and Mary Miller. Also assisting Jared will be Darren, who will consult with RAAus on a range of topics including MARAP applications, L1 training, 262AP(5) approvals and other engineering specific works. Jared will also tap into the technical advisory network, a panel of experienced engineers and LAMEs.

Our technical team is certainly well resourced and ready to meet the ongoing demands of our now 3,300 strong aircraft fleet.

Operations Department

Jill Bailey continues to head our Operations Department, but with a new title. Jill’s role will increasingly become more Flight Training School focused and her title is now Head of Flight Operations. Jill will be supported by Momota Touli and Kellie Tattersall in Operations with member, instructor and school enquiries.

Neil Schaefer will move to a new role progressively as his focus turns to member education, innovation and school audits.

Innovation and Improvement

We’d like to introduce two new faces to the RAAus family.

Lea Vesic joins us and will take carriage of our safety portfolio, overarching education and member training portfolio and audit framework portfolio.

Joining Lea will be Cody Calder, with Cody’s focus being project management and research and analysis across all sectors of RAAus.

Both Cody and Lea hold RAAus as well as commercial pilot licenses. See September’s Sport Pilot for their biographies.

Janelle Wayling remains in her critical role of safety co-ordinator.

Gentlemen, please!If you wish to know the status of the tech manager position in RAAus, just phone the number in the front of Sport Pilot magazine, and ask. Blind speculation is not constructive

It has already been stated in this forum that when asked, the RAAus they said he was on leave.

It also asks the question as to what is happening regarding the roll out of the practical courses for L1 which have already been announced by management, both at their meetings around Australia plus the email news. Also the seminars at our fly in at Cessnock. Are they going to be affected by the lack of tech support now?

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May not yet happen. I believe there is court action by a few local pilots.

It’s not good enough to say only a few members are vocal about this. Yes a few members comment on Forums but I’m sure RecAus know the discussions off Forums is what counts.

I have just typed Freedom to Fly in to Google search and it came up with a Freedom to Fly Display Team, a Fear of Flying course called "Freedom to Fly" plus several others including AOPA and then Wikipeadia states:

Freedom to Fly is the third studio album by guitarist Tony MacAlpine, released in 1992 through Shrapnel Records (United States)

These are all websites up and running, so I guess RAA could soon be getting some fees to offset any increases to us until at least 2027

Reliable source tells me he was at CASA for 1 week..saw he was going to be banging his head against a brick wall to help bring about some change and the situation was such that he has resigned .....

Maryborough qld have held wings & wheels before, at least two or three that I remember with the Warbirds. May be a first for the Ford club though?

An AME is the holder of a Certificate IV. If you want to become a Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (LAME) you have to do further study

Most RAA owners want to maintain their own aircraft, which is a good thing, but there are L2s out there who do not own a maintenance facility and cannot earn enough to warrant continuing for much longer. Always there to answer questions, but no-one wants to pay for this. Increased liability is one issue, but as long as you only carry out the work you are both qualified and competent to do, there should be no issues.

RAA insurance for maintainers? those who are not regularly employed cannot afford the premium for this. Again it has all been put in place for those who have a commercial operation, not the single L2 on his own.

Even if RAA conduct the training, you have to have enough people in the area who want you to do the maintenance and are willing to pay you.

Does it have a QR Code on it?

I thought they were going to follow the HGFA where it is a permanent card, but you scan the code to check your qualifications.

Thanks everyone. I finally managed to buy tickets!

Problem was my internet security. It did not like the ticket side of the web site so would not take me to the buy your tickets page. Yesterday I used an ipad instead and it worked straight away.

RAAus are rolling out the L1 practical courses and then they are going to start on the L2s.

As you say, I think it will all take time, but nothing is crystal clear, as yet as to what the plan is for all members

What are the stats though?

3344 aircraft on the register for 10,000 members. Only 1000 maintainers which is split between L1s and L2s. Not sure which way round it was but say 300 L2s and 700 L1s.

So, 1000 all up allowed to do some sort of maintenance.

So what do the other 9,000 members do?

Bought mine from the eaa as a member. I think you may be able to search airventure 2018 and get through. Good luck

but unfortunately I was referring to the RAAus version, (now called AirVenture Australia) which is being held at Cessnock in September

Thanks I will try again tomorrow

I have been trying to buy tickets after receiving the eNews from RAAus saying the tickets are now on sale but the website just freezes.

Has anyone managed to buy RAAus discounted tickets yet?

Equally the issue with non factory in the new GA category will be the maintenance and mod requirements- if it’s the same as current GA experimental it’s going to be Lame/L4 if you didn’t build it - that’s not a good situation BUT given the very clear RAAus statement in protecting and expanding LAME/L4 businesses I’m betting that’s where they will probably want to be.As an L2 this really is a pisser - we will be locked out of the new category and basically I see it as RAAus effectively saying we are not competent and unless we want to become a LAME we can never be accepted to look after all RAAus aircraft.

They said it would be explained in the PDPs but it wasn't mentioned at the one I attended. The only item on the agenda for L2s was talking about logbooks which we did not need to know about as they are checked every two years at the renewal stage.

there is a list of BAI inspectors here - BAI Inspectors

He should be able to give you a contact for the hangars there.

I suspect that they have confused the similarity and differences between L2 and L4.  A current L4 is an L2 with additional Amateur built inspection authorities.  I think the RAA letter needs a fact check against the Tech Manual.

The RAA website states under L2/L4 Maintainers

Members who are a CASA LAME (or equivalent acceptable to RAAus) may apply for a Level 4 Amateur Built Inspector (ABI) Authorisation. the applicant for a L4 Authorisation must hold a Level 2 Maintenance Authorisation prior to making the application, or co-incident with it.

Maintenance Authority Renewal

L2 privileges are valid for two years and are subject to renewal. In order to renew these privileges an L2 must conduct at least two annual inspections within two years.

A LAME is issued with a perpetual L2, subject to continued validity of the LAME Licence. No L2 renewal is required.

So it seems they may have to be RAA members and L2s before they can apply for a L4 (if I am reading it correctly) but they don't need to renew every 2 years. I guess they could become RAA if they want to pick up extra work in their spare time, and cover their costs with an increase in their fees. Would they also need to take out specific L2 insurance, or will their LAME insurance cover RAA aircraft. I guess it depends on who the LAME works for. If they work for a commercial entity they wouldn't be covered for work outside of their paid hours, would they?