Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority is seeking public comment on a proposal submitted by Recreational Aviation Australia to increase the maximum take-off weight of aircraft that the organisation is permitted to administer.
The RA-Aus proposal comes as the less regulated sport and recreational aviation sector in the country is booming, while traditional general aviation is on the decline.
The organisation is currently permitted to administer aircraft up to 540kg (1,190lb) maximum take-off weight unless they are certificated as a light sport aircraft, in which case the limits are 600kg MTOW for a land aircraft and seaplanes up to 650kg MTOW.
RA-Aus wants to increase the limit to 750kg MTOW, which corresponds with the upper limit for certification to the European Aviation Safety Agency's Certification Standard - Very Light Aeroplanes (CS-VLA). Under proposed Australian Part 149 regulations, sport and recreational aviation activities will be self-administered by approved organisations such as RA-Aus as much as possible.
RA-Aus says that industry demand is driving it to pursue an increase in the MTOW limit. It wants to be able to administer any two-seat aircraft up to 750kg MTOW and a stall speed not exceeding 45kt (85km/h) calibrated airspeed if the owners want to be administered by the organisation. The move would allow existing GA aircraft, up to the size of a Cessna 150, to operate within the RA-Aus administrative system, says the organisation.
Maintenance of this type of aircraft is no more complicated than the type of aircraft that now come under its remit, while older GA recreational aircraft are often easier to fly than some of the lightweight aircraft, it argues. This would affect about 1,100 current GA aircraft owners of two-seat aircraft that now come under CASA's more costly and bureaucratic administrative system, says RA-Aus.
RA-Aus believes that if the proposal is adopted it would have a positive effect on the industry. "RA-Aus has been able to demonstrate that given common-sense rules and an attitude of fostering aviation, the downturn affecting GA can be reversed," says the discussion paper.
CASA, however, questions some of RA-Aus' comments and accuses it of generalisations, saying that there is no evidence to support the claims that older GA aircraft are easier to fly than newer designs. CASA says that 812 aircraft would be affected, rather than 1,100. It also says there is no factual basis for claims the move would have a positive benefit to the aviation industry.
The deadline for comments is 11 November.
Source: Flight International
