! DECEMBER 2012 Welcome to our latest newsletter. I hesitate to say December as they are meant to be "ad hoc" but I will confess that it's the intention to ensure that we send an update to you all every month. Due to the substantial interest and angst surrounding the CAA charges, it will necessarily be longer than the short news updates that newsletter contains, as it has full reports on what we are up to plus suggestions for members themselves to remain involved. We will send it as a separate email directly after this newsletter CAA The CAA fees continue to dominate pilot discussions in clubhouses and hangars around the country. We have been trying to work collaboratively with other aviation bodies and interested individuals, focusing on actions not just words. In particular the AIA (aviation industry association) have been very active and we have stayed in close contact with them. Whilst they represent the aviation business they do employ a number of full time staff in Wellington, and thus have a very good ear to the ground with politicians and consequently a very good handle on what may actually be achievable. Please read the note following later for a fuller picture. AIRFIELDS -There has been quite a bit of activity in this area over the past month DOC We are pleased to advise that the National DoC Office has reviewed the requirement for non-commercial aircraft landing permits. For the time being, they have now agreed to reduce the original cost of $110 plus gst down to just $20 plus gst, for all applications for non-commercial activity. Please note that the department is currently undertaking a review of cost recovery across all concession activity, therefore this situation may change in the coming months. The $20 plus gst is for a whole day, regardless of how many landings you make. You apply at your local DoC office and we recommend applying for your first concession well in advance of your required date, in order to provide DoC with sufficient lead-time. Remember DOC will close for the holiday period so make sure you apply soon if you wish to fly then. It is worth taking the time to build an on-going relationship with your local office. The Wanaka office can handle applications over the phone or by email, especially for Sunday applications. For the Aspiring Park please contact Annette Grieve 034437660 , email [email protected] Greasr Greasr, a computerised payments mechanism for landing fees has been popping up more and more and now has a number of airfields under its wings. "Invented" by AOPA members and West Auckland airport owners, the Lockie family, its intended to simplify the whole process of dealing with all the pieces of paper sent out from councils re landing fees; with aircraft operators having only one online bill to pay, and airport owners no admin. It would appear that some of our members have been having issues with the system and we would be keen for you to contact us if that's the case so that we can collate and pass these on. There is also concern that an unintended result of the systems efficiencies could be for Airfields to look to frequent landing charge increases. AOPA is monitoring this, and has contacted two council controlled airfields to express concerns that the money generated should be ring fenced to be put back into those airfields. We have contacted the Greasr team and they have some very interesting insights from both from a Greasr and Airfield operator perspective as to how the fee/cost mix works. They also informed us that ! the aviation community almost lost Raglan Airfield as the cost/income ratio for the council had become financially untenable. We have invited the Greasr team to write an article for the next AOPA magazine to give us a bit more background on the system, and the financial pressure some of our airfields find themselves under. Great Barrier Aerodrome NZGB is now a Greasr airfield. We have been contacted about issues re using the ramp (reserved for airlines?) and parking issues in general. We contacted Operators Auckland Council, who we very happy to hear from a representative of GA ops. They have offered to seal part of the airfield ramp exclusively for GA drop offs which is good news. They would like to engage re any other issues, especially GA parking areas for the future. We invite any members with an interest in this popular fly out spot to get in touch and let us know your thoughts. The council also informed us that they intend to seal Okiwi Airfield on GB in the next year or so, making it much more useable throughout the year. Nice to report some positive news! Te Kowhai Airfield The friction between the family of the late Max Clear and the airfield residents regretfully continues. AOPA exec member Phil Pacey is monitoring the situation as AOPA does not wish to see another Airfield lost. At the moment it is a merely a watching and supportive brief as the residents group is well organised and focused. We hope all works out for all parties, and the threat to the airfield ceases. CAA Airfield news Exec members Don Ryder and Graeme Donald met with CAA manager Mike Haines this week to discuss the CAA plans surrounding rules applications and SMS. There has been a misunderstanding resulting from the Vector article on Part 139 which referred to “all airfields and operators” but should have said “all certified airfields and all certified operators” so our original fears that this proposal would adversely affect small fields and operators has now been allayed. Certification currently applies to aerodromes which service aircraft with seats for 30 passengers or more, and the Part 139 NPRM is looking at bringing this down to 10 or more PAX which would then include Beech Air NZs 1900D traffic. Currently there are 26 certified airfields. Half of these have chosen to be certified, rather than being required to be, so if the proposal is eventually adopted (not yet agreed), then this would only add about six new aerodromes to the list. Mike Haines is also responsible for airspace, so there was considerable discussion around CFZs (common frequency zones) . We will be reporting back to members on this topic as consultation and development timings become more definite. Cessna SIDS A number of aircraft have now started going through the procedures. Please do be aware that these do not all need to be done at once and current advice is to do them in phases alongside normal checks. It is very important we get feedback on how these checks have panned out if we are to mitigate the effect of overburdensome ones for the future. If your plane has been through the checks we would be extremely grateful if you could get in touch and write up a short report for AOPA on what, if anything, was found. We will strip out the reg/owner of aircraft if any members have concerns with respect to that. Only by getting reports will we be able to build up a picture of what has been happening and will be able to challenge inspections that are consistently showing up little of real concern. Conversely we can also point members and their maintenance provider to areas which are constantly getting flagged up. Colloquially we hear that the inspections are proving to be not ! such a big deal, but we do need hard facts to back that up.. Airways As members will be aware AOPA managed to head off for a two year period, their plans to charge for VFR flight into controlled airspace earlier this year. They are starting the consultation again on charges,(yes, already!) and have been initial communications so that we can get advance notice of what's on their mind and have a chance to input. It's good to get some genuine consultation as opposed to that currently offered by other aviation organisations in Wellington! CAA NPRM 09-02 Part 61 This is a multifaceted "notice of proposed rule making" which, according to the CAA mailout, “has been designed to enhance safety, raise training and competency standards, clarify some rule requirements, and align with ICAO standards and practices.” Amongst other things, it proposes a complete revision of the structure of Part 61, introducing new licences for PPL Balloon and CPL Microlight, requirements re English language proficiency, reorganising systems of ratings and authorisations, amending and clarifying requirements for flight tests, amending instrument rating requirements and some type rating requirements, plus some amended requirements for written exams. It was originally slated for submissions to close 11th Jan, but after some robust lobbying from AOPA and AIA that has been extended till 1 Feb. The relevant part of the CAA documents for the submissions is below. Please do have a look and comment if you feel that any of these will affect you. Of particular interest to AOPA members we feel would be the ratings, and mountain flying syllabus. Below is from the CAA note.... http://www.caa.govt.nz/rules/nprms/NPRM_09-02_Part_61_Stage_II.pdf The NPRM will be made available for comment 29 NOV 2012 on the CAA web site, www.caa.govt.nz, “Rules Development – Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) Open for Submissions”. The NPRM will also be made available for viewing at Level 15, Asteron Centre, 55 Featherston Street, Wellington on prior request to the Docket Clerk. Please use the NPRM Submission Form available on our web site and email it to [email protected] The CAA prefers to receive submissions by email in MS Word format to ensure efficient and secure cataloguing of all comments.