Australian Flying

As Shane Carmody prepares to ride off into the sunset, one of his legacies is to leave aviation agonising over the question of whether any future Director of Aviation Safety can effect meaningful change at CASA. The general aviation community has alw

Got something to get off your chest? Australian Flying welcomes your input. Send your AirMail, with your name and contacts (which can be withheld from publishing upon request) to: stevehitchen@yaffa.com.au or write to: Australian Flying, GPO Box 606

Poor aircraft shipment figures have fueled speculation that Mahindra Aerospace is looking to off-load GippsAero. Customer delivery numbers published by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) reveal that just one Airvan 8 was sold in th

The Federal Government announced in May that it had approved projects totaling $41 million in the first round of the Regional Airports Program (RAP). The RAP is a $100 million program announced last year to upgrade Australia's regional airport infras

1 Research Paper highlights GA Maintenance Issues 2 Letter to Minister urges Rethink on Bristell 3 BRM flies Prototype B8 4 Falcon 6X on Target for 2021 First Flight 5 Pipistrel makes Electric Motor available to OEMs 6 Carmody to leave CASA at Year E

Eviction notices have been sent to several Moorabbin Airport operators in order for the land to be made available for commercial development. Operators at the western end of the Northern apron–several who have freehold buildings on leased land–have b

AMDA Foundation announced in July that it was deferring Rotortech until June 2021 because concerns about the spread of COVID-19 are unlikely to allow restrictions on travel to be relaxed in time. Rotortech, Australia's national helicopter and UAV ind

The inherent fragility of the general aviation industry is no news to those who exist within it. It operates tenuously at the best of times, and, heading into what is being touted as the worst recession in 90 years, it is nigh-on impossible to constr

Formerly known as the Robin R2120 and R2160, Alpha Aircraft is still alive and living in Hamilton, NZ. The Alphas are low-wing, bubble-canopy two-seaters that have found some favour as aerobatic mounts. The baby of the fleet is the 120T, which is pow

Aviat Aircraft’s A-1C Husky is a justified legend of US back-country flying. Built to outlast an apocalypse and out-climb a mountain range, the Husky has been a favourite of both tail-wheel and STOL flyers all around the world. Nowadays, the Husky is

Flight Design’s F2 is a two-seat aircraft that can be registered as either an LSA with a 600 kg MTOW or as a CS23 aircraft with an MTOW of 650 kg. All composite like its more famous CTLS sibling, the F2 can be ordered with a Rotax 912iS or a turbo 91

Australia’s own utility aircraft is one of the most versatile in the single-engine piston category. An eight-seater with a large cabin and belly pod, the Airvan 8 is employed right around the world on short-haul airline, freight, parachute, special m

The P2002JF MkII is certified to 660 kg MTOW under FAR 23 and CS 23. The aircraft is equipped with Garmin G500 TXi avionics designed specifically for FAR 23 and CS 23 aircraft. The twin touch-screens are integrated with the GTN series navigators and

Rockwell is a big name in military aviation and space, but not in general aviation. Arguably, its most well-known product is the B-1 bomber, but Rockwell is an enormous conglomerate. It grew from a small company making truck axle bearings, to a large

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Human beings are the great engineers of the universe. We take what nature creates and change it to suit our purposes. We reshape it, heat it, bend it, paint it; convert it into something that will perform a desired function. Then mother nature does h

Everyone who laid eyes on the Garmin Aera 760 (officially “aera 760” but called “Aera” here) said the same thing, and asked the same question: “Looks like an iPad Mini, how much does it cost?” This was a natural reaction, as was “What!” when the pric

Flight simmers around the world had come to accept that 2006's Flight Sim X (FSX) was the tenth and final version of Microsoft's breakthrough flight simulation software. It seemed the platform had reached a maturity that left it nowhere to go. FSX wa

Airbus Helicopters recently announced that it has joined with over 20 Australian partners to form Team Nightjar to offer Australia a fleet of the proven Airbus H145M helicopters along with a substantial in-country support sweetener. Team Nightjar was

It can be hard to understand for those that started their flying careers after satellite navigators arrived, but once, dead reckoning was the primary source of guiding an aircraft through the sky, and it took very skilled people to get it right. PG T

A distant rumble caused me to look skyward one chilly morning in July in Canberra. Noise from above has become a rarity these past few months, but this noise, while a surprise, was familiar. It was distant, but it was there. And it was growing and co

Earlier this year the Civil Aviation Safety Authority marked its 25th anniversary. This gave us the opportunity to not only reflect on events, issues and challenges already faced but what we will focus on and improve into the future. CASA has impleme

Aviation has been amongst the most damaged economic sectors throughout the world since March this year. Business aviation in Australia suffered a major downturn in March-April followed by a reasonable month in May, including repatriation flights. Sin

Helicopters and unmanned aerial systems, or drones, as they are known by the general public, have an interesting and challenging future together. Military drones, mostly fixed-wing, have been operating at high altitudes for many years and mostly unno