that is a period of change, it will be gradual as most things are
> On 30 Jan 2017, at 2:33 pm, Mike Borgelt <[email protected]> wrote: > > In 20 years most of the current or would be GFA membership will be dead or in > nursing homes. > If this freedom will be available in 20 years why is it not available now? > > It is a lie that GFA has any significant freedoms or low cost. Gliding would > be far better off by relinquishing any regulatory roles, thus easing the > volunteer workload, much of which is unnecessary "make work" caused by the > present setup. > GFA can then run the sporting aspects of badges, records and competitions and > be a political lobbyist to make sure CASA rules are actually workable. > > BTW way there is a current CASA discussion paper on medical certification for > aviation. Don't think this will not affect your medical certification for > gliding as one of the options is to extend the RAMPC to all of sport > aviation. This involves a medical certification by your GP that you are fit > to the same medical standard as that for a PPL. If not, you must be assessed > by a DAME. This has the potential to stop quite a few glider pilots from > flying solo, I think. > > Mike > > On 30 Jan 2017, at 11:12 AM, Richard Frawley <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > >> its a wonderful country that we have so much choice >> >> in 20 years time, gliding will not be what it is today. >> >> Those that want to soar and not be in ‘club’ will be able to do so. >> >> Why put a GP15 into glider category, why not have it as light aircraft? >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>> On 30 Jan 2017, at 1:59 pm, Mark Newton <[email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>> >>> On Jan 30, 2017, at 11:09 AM, Richard Frawley <[email protected] >>> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: >>>> >>>> in time my view is the sport will change. electric self launchers and more >>>> ownership will be the norm. small clubs will die. big clubs will go >>>> commercial. it will take 15 years to migrate to a new model. >>> >>> In my direct observation, people who are exposed (particularly early in >>> their flying career) to the command-and-control mentality of gliding don’t >>> buy $200,000 electric self-launch gliders. They join RAAus instead, where >>> the basic pilot certificate is equivalent to a GFA Level 2 Independent >>> Operator rating which almost nobody in gliding holds, and buy Kitfoxes or >>> Jabirus or SportStars. >>> >>> Of all the trainees I had as a GFA L2 instructor, and all the AEFs I >>> introduced to the sport, far more of them have gone on to PPL, RPL and >>> RAAus than GPC. I’ve notched up 3 PPL and RAAus pilot certificates in the >>> last five years by giving people first flights in my RV-6, which fills me >>> with immense satisfaction; In contrast, I feel like I busted my guts out >>> for a decade in GFA to simply maintain the status quo. >>> >>> So I’m not a member anymore. Too hard, too many alternatives. >>> >>> (maybe, as someone who has drifted away, it’d be worth GFA’s while to >>> consult with people like me: I’m clearly a person who’s been prepared to >>> invest significant effort in the past, and now I’m not, maybe they’d like >>> to understand why) >>> >>> Anyway: >>> >>> My view of 2017 GFA is that it’s a top-heavy organization whose primary >>> purpose is to distribute the cost of training, regulation and >>> administration for a very small number of aircraft owners and competition >>> pilots across a larger number of members. If you’re not an aircraft owner >>> or competition pilot, your duty and function as a GFA member is little more >>> than to pay your membership fees, so that they can be used to subsidize >>> those who are aircraft owners or competition pilots, so they can keep doing >>> what they enjoy doing. >>> >>> Which is fine, as far as it goes — There’s nothing wrong with that, as long >>> as it’s transparent, and the people involved in it aren’t in denial about >>> it. >>> >>> >>> >>> I think it’s prudent to view the future of gliding and the future of GFA as >>> two independent concepts. >>> >>> The largest aviation marketplace on the planet has six decades of >>> demonstrated track record to show that you don’t need a national private >>> quasi-regulator to tell everyone how to fly gliders: The real regulator >>> already does that job at least as well. >>> >>> Richard is speculating about a future in which the club scene changes and >>> GFA remains roughly the same. A more realistic alternative, in my view, is >>> a future in which the GFA shrinks to become a membership-optional >>> FAI-sanctioned competition administration body like the SSA, and much of >>> the rest of their day-to-day functions are overseen by CASA. Give it >>> another decade worth of retirements and membership shrinkage, and GFA >>> simply won’t have the manpower to be effective or safe for many of the >>> functions that it fulfills right now even if it still has a million bucks >>> in the bank, and the regulator will simply take them off GFA’s plate. >>> >>> It may very well be that the most important work the GFA could be doing is >>> to influence CASA to make that almost inevitable transition agreeable to >>> GFA members. >>> >>> Working with CASA to make sure that the GPC syllabus is a qualification for >>> a CASA RPL (in the same way that an RAAus certificate is) would be an >>> excellent first step. At present, if GFA collapses, so do all the pilot >>> credentials it has issued, and nobody will be able to legally fly the >>> electric self-launchers you’re envisaging as the future of gliding. If GFA >>> members qualified for an RPL with a glider endorsement, at least there’d be >>> a path forward for them to fly domestically under the CASA system when the >>> GFA system stops working. >>> >>> Regards, >>> >>> - mark >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Aus-soaring mailing list >>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >>> http://lists.base64.com.au/listinfo/aus-soaring >>> <http://lists.base64.com.au/listinfo/aus-soaring> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Aus-soaring mailing list >> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> >> http://lists.base64.com.au/listinfo/aus-soaring >> <http://lists.base64.com.au/listinfo/aus-soaring> > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.base64.com.au/listinfo/aus-soaring
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