peterg

I suspect the legal advice said something like "if they don't like it they can challenge it". His position will be challenged in the Court. He is an unsuitable person for both the role and the Board - not smart and no special skills. He has driven some ripper members off the Board and I have dealt with him and found him lacking in commercial skills. Further, I advised him Tizzard was not the right person for the job early in 2012 - his reply was something like other people have told me that. He failed to act until, I suspect, CASA told him to. As for Middleton ...

I have a few comments on the General Meeting held on 9 February 2013. Middleton’s Letter to Members – I found it disturbing that the Secretary took it upon himself to send a letter to all members requesting proxies without giving those who requisitioned the meeting the opportunity to also make a statement and request proxies. This is particularly serious since the Board and Executive’s performance was a major part of the agenda and likely to be voted on. The letter was carefully crafted and possibly not the work of the Secretary but had the effect of getting Middleton a large number of proxies such that if a vote was taken, he and his group would have a significant influence on the outcome. Jason Parkinson – the attendance by the organisation’s legal representative was unusual. I am not clear who he was representing – the Board, the Executive, the Members or indeed, Steve Runciman. If member’s funds are to be used to have a legal representative available to instruct should not those who requisitioned the meeting have funds for similar services made available to them? If Mr Parkinson is the organisation’s legal representative, is it proper that he represent a part of the organisation that may be in conflict with another part? This is perhaps a question for an ethics committee. Steve Runciman’s Resignation – Steve acknowledged that he had resigned as both a member representative and Board Member so the question is simply whether or not the Board has the power to reinstate him. The Constitution is reasonably clear about how member representatives are to be elected. In my opinion, the Board has acted beyond its power. Steve said he had legal advice that his reinstatement was OK but would not table the advice. I asked a number of Board Members if they had seen the advice. The only one to answer in the affirmative was Eugene Reid. The Board – it seemed clear that the Board is dysfunctional, divided, lacks appropriate skills and is often not provided with essential information by the Executive. The Executive also lacks the appropriate skills to provide adequate governance for an organisation the size of RA-Aus. Middleton and Reid have been involved RA-Aus for a long time and have been a constant feature as the organisation lurches from tragedy to tragedy. The Casa Report – the Safety Alert at the end of the CASA report says it all – poor governance. It has been ongoing since the 2009 audit and Middleton and Reid have been part of the governance group. They should both resign. However, it seems they will not. They (and Runciman) want the membership to believe that they acknowledge the problems and even though they have been in the governance group while problems continued to escalate, we should trust them to fix them. I think not.

I rarely comment on posts no matter how bizarre or stupid - however, this is the most insensitive and stupid comment I have seen for a long time

UK to Ausralia in a 1950 C170 VFR in 1990 (pre GPS) & 1991 around NZ airrace (we were not racing) in a C170. Quite a few outback trips in Australia - most memorable - from YMMB up to the gulf and back down the coast.

I have quite a few hours in GA & RAA aircraft and gliders and am interested in trying trikes with the view to purchasing a nano trike. I have contacted a few trike schools (both RAA & HGFA) in Victoria and have received some very different views as to an indicative number of hours to solo in a trike. It appears that the RAA may treat it like a new Pilot Certificate thereby requiring 10 hours minimum training. I am interested in the experience of others who have undertaken a similar transition.