The SAAA has moved its website to a new provider and has taken this opportunity to modernise the website as well as introduce new functionality that will be of benefit to our membership.
So please be patient with us while we get the new website fully functional, however if you have any issues or questions about the website please email our webmaster to discuss them further.
If you are a current SAAA member and haven't registered for access to this new website please click here. This link will guide you to the website registration process.
Over the last few year's we have seen dwindling numbers attending the SAAA National Convention. It was apparent to your National Council that a change in direction was required if we were to attract larger numbers, not only our membership, but people from all walks of the Aviation Community.
Following last years convention, our first at Narromine, a small team led by our Vice President, David Brown, set about planning for this year's event. This planning is now well advanced. The most significant change is to move away from an SAAA "badged" event into one that will hold more attraction not only for our members but for the aviation community at large.
So start your preparations for AUSFLY 2012 and mark it in your calendar now.
(read more)
In early March 2012, an SAAA delegation went to Canberra to meet with some Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) personnel, to discuss the future of the SAAA, delegations that we would be seeking, and permissions that we believe will make a significant improvement in safety for all our members involved in the construction, repair, maintenance and operation of amateur-built aircraft.
(read more . . . members only)
The SAAA has been successful in extending our fuel supply arrangements and has now more choices at more locations for our members .
The SAAA has been advised of increases in the excise on Avgas and Avtur. These increases will undoubtedly flow onto the retail prices that we all pay.
In 2011 the RAAF performed an aerobatic display in an F/A 18 that rocked the crowd at Wings Over Illawarra and was a real hit with old and young alike. In 2012 the RAAF were not allowed to repeat the experience for those present due to the fact that a vocal minority of a few people that live near the airport put in complaints and successfully campaigned to prevent the F/A 18 from even appearing let alone performing its routine.
The news we have all been waiting for ! RPL (LAPL)? Not Yet....But read on, Continue to fly your pride and joy when your Class 2 medical expires.
A forum has been setup to enable members to be able to communicate to other members, topics that are of interest and relevant to aviation and safety. The forum is only open for members and access is at here. To post to the forum you will need to log in. The username and password are the same as your log in used for the SAAA web site.
It should be pointed out that the views expressed in the forum topics are those of the poster and not necessarily that of the SAAA or of the National Council.
If you have any comments about the forum please contact the webmaster.
Check out the Final report and pictures here.
Please note that the price of the SAAA C of A pack will increase by $200 on 1st March. This is the first price increase since 2005 and is necessary to compensate the AP’s for the large increase in workload now required to issue a C of A.
Those who have already purchased a C of A pack for their project but have not yet had an AP inspection, have 12 months from 1st March 2012 in which to complete the project and have the C of A issued without further cost. After that time, builders will be required to pay the difference between their original purchase price and the new rate.
The latest version of Appointment of persons to issue maintenance releases is available here. Experimental aircraft CASA maintenance instrument 58/11 became invalid as of 27th June 2011. New instrument 146/11 is active as of now until 28th February 2013.
Be aware that CASA Instrument 146/11 states that from 1st March 2012 you must have completed an MPC and hold a certificate before performing any maintenance or issuing a Maintenance Release. If you have not obtained a certificate by the end of this month you CANNOT sign the Maintenance Release. You MUST have a LAME do your maintenance and annual inspection and sign the Maintenance Release.
The Sport Aviation office CASA has been advised by CASA Legal Services and ATSB that incidents and accidents involving sport aviation aircraft are to be reported to ATSB.
That is, that the Transport Safety Investigation Regulations are referable to any aircraft not just Australian aircraft (i.e. VH registered). For your clarification as to what is an accident, incident and reportable matters please refer to the ATSB page via this link.
The SAAA was well represented at Avalon 2011 with a variety of aircraft on display as well as a spacious marquee and willing volunteers. The weather this year was an improvement over the last Avalon with bright sunny days on the main public days of Saturday and Sunday.
Our last few attendances at Avalon had not been overly successful in terms of visitors due in part to the general layout of the Sports Aviation Section at the Airshow. This year however Airshows Downunder changed the layout, including the closure of Taxiway Charlie to aircraft. This has the effect of allowing direct access from the main entry pathway so visitors could walk directly into the Sports Aviation part of the Airshow. Airshows DownUnder are to be congratulated for this change as it certainly did improve access and visitor numbers.
The SAAA Handbook outlines the structure of the SAAA, how the SAAA functions, the role of the Executive and National Council together with the aims and objectives of the organisation. It details what we provide to our members as well as the benefits of membership of the SAAA.
You can download a copy from here.
The authority to maintain our own aircraft is a valued privilege for amateur builders, but it carries important legal responsibilities. Having built an aircraft, in some cases many years ago, does not ensure that the holder of the maintenance authority is up to the job today.
The SAAA Maintenance Procedures Course is approved by CASA to enable all who hold maintenance authority for their amateur built experimental aircraft, the required knowledge and current obligations to meet their responsibilities associated with the authority.
Many of our older members built aircraft under the Amateur Built Aircraft Acceptance system (ABAA) which did not give them any maintenance capability. The SOAG group in Queensland, who until recently operate ABAA built aircraft, approached CASA some years ago to obtain maintenance capability similar to that for experimental amateur built (EAB) aircraft. CASA agreed with the concept provided they completed a course designed to meet the requirements of the CASA Basic Airworthiness Administration Syllabus plus demonstrating practical maintenance competence.
This course has been given freely to SAAA by SOAG. This provides great value to SAAA members, not only in helping our ABAA member builders to obtain maintenance authority, but also to educate all EAB builders and owners. Builders of EAB category aircraft must convince the Authorised Person (AP) who issues their CoA that they are capable of ‘continuous maintenance’ of their aircraft. Experience since the introduction of the EAB category has shown that many may be less than competent for this task. With the MPC now available, new CoA applicants as well as existing maintainers, can demonstrate their competency by successful completion of this course and the final exam and obtaining the course certificate.
Do we have your correct email address ?
From time to time we send information to members via email. This enables us to contact you quickly with up-to-date information for you to provide a convenient reply if necessary. Not all members have provided an email address, and many we have are no longer current. If you have not received an email from us in the last week of October we probably don't have your correct email. Simply email your name and updated contact details to membership at SAAA or click on the 'Update Your Details' in the Members Section of the web site.
If you don't have an email address or a relative who could receive emails for you, contact Head Office and we will arrange for any important information to be posted directly to you.
To update your details online log in as a member, click on the update details prompt. This will take you to a separate, secure log in prompt that will then allow you to update your email address and other important information for our database.
Log In/Forgotten Password.
In the top right hand corner of this home page is the box to login to the members' only section. Please follow the prompts. If you still have difficulty or get no response please email the details to the webmaster.
Click here for classifieds and rates.
To improve safety in all areas associated with our homebuilt aircraft, the SAAA has initiated a risk management system
Rotax crank shaft AD
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