Nobody

That's a great idea just as long as the knitting is wing rib stitching and the cooking is mixing epoxy or proseal!!!! Seriously, I think that times have changed a little. Aviation needs new people who have a passion for aircraft.

Here is a link to a map showing all the airports and airstrips listed in ersa. There are many other airstrips but this is a reasonable list for broad planning.

Don, Are the 700kg slings Experimental or factory built? Aircraft built from a kit can be within reason (justified by calculation or flight test) any weight as they are experimental. The primary category allows for factory built aircraft designed and tested to a consensus standard (ASTM 2245 or another equivalent) to be sold and flown. RAAus need to be a little bit careful comparing the rights and restrictions to the GFA in getting access to the CTA. Do they want the GFA maintenance rules as well? ie giving up the ability to do most of the work yourself without an formal qualification/training. Or how about not being able to operate independently of a club until you have over 100 hours? Or annual flight reviews instead of every 2 years?

I think that one of the successful things that occurs at Oshkosh is a range of things that occur on the site that are of interest to an audience outside the hard core aviators. For instance they have a concert and are able to attract quite good acts to perform. The year that I was there they screened the worldwide premiere of disneys planes. Having these activities occur on the flyin site adds to the atmospheres and builds the impression that flying is a fun social activity. Busing people off site just builds the perception that aviation is not for them.

relax guys, we are supposed to be friends. I think that there is a little bit of a generational difference in attitudes here. Modern wives are much more likely to be involved in the recreational activities of their husbands and vice versa. At the recent Ausfly most of the younger people who flew in, did so with their wives or girlfriends. I am in my 30's and I know that my wife would be interested in attending for the same reasons I would go, to meet people and see interesting things. She isn't necessarily interested in the technical side of aviation but will tolerate that if it provides interest in other areas. She would be disappointed to be bused off to something else. That being said I think that there is a great opportunity to showcase local attractions at a fly-in event. I suspect that after last years cancellation, Ausfly had to make a huge effort to regain the confidence of attendees, exhibitors and the local community. Committing to hiring a fleet of buses to run people around when it is unknown how many people might turn up would be a huge ask. Hopefully for next years event.

Don, You should get the imported/dealer for the sling to investigate the possibility of registering the sling in the Primary category. If the aircraft complies with ASTM 2245 it should be relatively striaght forward for CASA to approve, as per: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_reg/casr1998333/s21.024.html Some background can be found here: https://www.casa.gov.au/sites/g/files/net351/f/_assets/main/rules/1998casr/021/021c07.pdf This would require you to register it as VH (and have a RPL) but you would be able to operate legally at the higher weight.

I will say it again slowly for you: As far as I know at Ausfly 2015 CASA did not do any ramp checks. Over 400 aircraft turned up and a lot of people had a great time. http://www.australianflying.com.au/news/ausfly-2015-draws-a-crowd Stop being so grumpy, If you have genuine suggestions about improving the event pass them on to the organizers. If you just want to complain about everything to do with aviation take up golf.

Its not just a matter of parking the aircraft. You need hangar space to have the presentations and workshops, facilities for camping, suitable display lines for an airshow and a reasonable certainty for good weather. Mainland also already has the Hunter Valley airshow and past experience suggests that having 2 events per year at one location just dilutes the volunteer support and both events eventually die.

You have said that it should be moved twice. Where should it be moved to?

The organizers were aware of the issue and the airshow finished spot on 3:45 and by 4:00 aircraft were streaming out. Having the airshow earlier in the day (or the same time later in the year) makes it worse for the spectators and photographers because you are looking into the sun. In every hard decision there will be compromises to make, that's why they are hard decisions. Edit. It depends what you fly but a jabiru would have had you back at the oaks or wedderburn by 17:40 about 30 minutes before last light. An Rv-7 or 10 and its earlier.

These are just my thoughts on who comes to Ausfly and why they come. In thinking of what to change or where to hold it I think that it is useful to break it down logically. There are 4 kinds of audience members at Ausfly: 1. The Entertained These are the mum and dads with kids and a dog. They come to be entertained, watch the spectacle and marvel at the shiny aircraft. They would come to a car show or a steam tractor day if it was on, it just happens that today is an airshow. This sector is important as it is where in the long term potential builders and pilots come from. They are there for recreation and to get out of the house. They won’t drive 5 hours to get there, they probably won’t drive 2. If they come it is just for 1 day. 2. The Aviation Curious These are the people who are into aviation but perhaps not this specific sector. They might fly professionally and are about to retire and are looking around. They might be the photography bufts who are there to spot aircraft. Or the Student pilot who is thinking of what to buy when they get their license. They want to try out some of the building techniques to see if it is for them. They will travel a reasonable distance to come to a show but will probably do it only once or twice. They either move into another category or don’t come again because there is “nothing new to see”. 3. Builders Underway These people have committed to buying a kit and are building. They come to see completed examples of the aircraft they are building. They want information about building techniques, registering their aircraft, test flying... They are also looking to buy an engine or avionics and so are interested in what is available. They are into Aviation and will come a long way to see the show. 4. Flying Builders or buyers. People who have built an aircraft or bought one flying come to meet up with their friends. People they have met at past events. If they are a recent builder they come to win awards and bask in the glory. Because they have an aircraft they will come a long away to go to the show. The “Journey” is as much part of the attraction as the end result. So which groups were well looked after? Ausfly at Narromine doesn’t cater that well to the first category of attendees. It is too far from a major population centre. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the event should be moved .When considering where to move it to there are not too many better options that don’t already have a major aviation event. Events like Wings of Illawarra, Avalon and the Evans Head fly-in cater to this market but it is important that there is a strong SAAA and RAAUS presence at these events to improve the profile of GA Aviation. Dubbo is close enough with access to RPT that Brisbane and Sydney are connected but given the commitment level of this goup it is unlikely that they would come. The second category was reasonably well catered to at Narromine. There were quite a few sellers of RAAus aircraft. Other than Cirrus there were no GA aircraft manufacturers represented which is a little disappointing. There were displays by Aviation suppliers, airpark land sellers. The SAAA workshops give an introduction to building techniques. The builders underway had pretty good options too. They could look at garmin, dynon and camit. There were talks that were relevant to them and there was quite a diverse range of aircraft that flew in. Awards were given out for completed aircraft and there was a lot of good fun to be had socially at the event. The weather scared a few people off as getting back to the eastern side of the mountains on the Sunday was hard and the WA mob had some weather getting over. This is the luck of the draw and organizers cant do much about it other than picking the best possible time of the year. In my way of thinking Ausfly needs to be about the last three groups of people. Making it about the first group is setting the event up for failure.

looks like someone out on a nav: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/VHZEW/history/20150908/0410Z/YMPC/YMPC

Each state has a department of Aviation. Most produce maps and airport directories. Provide grants for airport upgrades and generally promote aviation. https://www.nevadadot.com/About_NDOT/NDOT_Divisions/Planning/Aviation/Aviation.aspx http://www.ncdot.gov/aviation/ http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Operations/Aviation/Pages/default.aspx Some do though charge an annual registration fee. For instance Ohio charges $15per seat and so a 2 seater is $30 per year while a 172 would be $60. It only applies to aircraft that are based in that state. Generally in the USA public use airports do not charge landing fees. Compared to Australian landing fees $30 a year is a bargain.

There is a good basic description of the process of producing, "town gas" or "water gas" or "coal gas" at the link below: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_gas depending on the process is could be CO or H2 that is being burnt

There was a lot of discussion about having it on this date within the SAAA many months ago. The choice was to have it that weekend with the attendance of the Federal Aviation Minister or to change it by a week. The decision was made to have it then but on the Friday and Saturday so that people could travel home for fathers day if needed. I would ask though wouldn't taking Dad to an airshow be a great way to spend fathers day?

I suspect that casa are finally taking small steps in the right direction. They allowed Ausfly to run without ramp checks and except for a few areas, which hopefully will be ironed out before it is implemented, part 91 seems reasonable.

I wouldn't say that it is dying in the USA but it was wounded. The GFC had a huge impact on new deliveries and hours flown as shown in the attached publication. http://www.gama.aero/files/GAMA_2014_Databook_LRes%20-%20LowRes.pdf But what is very different between the two countries is the attitude of the pilots. In the USA there is an optimism that things will improve as the economy improves. In Australia there is a gloomy pessimism that pervades.

I don't think that it was intended that it was the same weekend as the show it just worked out that way.

[sarcasm] Coal is amazing....[/sarcasm]

Anybody recognize this one?

One minor correction, wasn't it the Rotary club van. They did a very good steak sandwich......

whatever you want to call it, it seems like a much better way of getting the leaves off the lawn than using a rake.

Look, if the food is the biggest gripe then the team putting on the event have done a great job. There was the aeroclub, the gliding club and on the friday the Rotary club as well as some of the commercial stands selling food. The Narromine show was on robbing some of the local food supporters but in part, that date was chosen to enable Warren Truss to attend. There were some great aircraft, both those on display as well as those flown in by builders. Many people flew great distances, from Western Australia, North Queensland and Victoria. From an external viewpoint, CASA didnt cause too much grief and I didn't see any ramp checks, but no doubt they probably made some aspects difficult. There will be things that will be improved upon. This is only the beginning, having successfully run this event it will give the general members and the exhibitors more confidence that future events will be well run allowing them to commit to attending. The success of this event will also give those who ran it the confidence to dream bigger and improve on it in the coming years. Aviation in Australia is sick at the moment. It may still die in the future but the past weekend has given a glimmer of hope that the end of general aviation in Australia isnt a certainty.

Flying up for the day for sydney is easy and possible and many are doing/have done. Driving up and back would be a long slog....