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CAA, MFNZ's hired gunslinger

Once again I have been sorely disappointed by the performance of the bureaucracy in this country.

As some will be aware, I have been developing a "sense and avoid" system which is designed to significantly improve the safety of aviation by effectively giving a massively improved level of "situational awareness" to both "drones" and full-sized aircraft.

After almost two years of very hard work, I've reached the stage where I need to perform some dynamic testing and I had thought that an agreement had been reached with CAA to allow that testing to take place.

The Authority was to issue me with an exemption that would allow me to perform my testing and also allow me to make the videos which generate the revenues to fund the ongoing development of this technology.

Even though there had been inordinate delays, everything looked as if it was going to work out just fine... until politics usurped safety.

The deal I had with CAA was that the exemption would negate the need for me to hold the MFNZ "wings" certification by providing the same rights and entitlements as this certificate.

Indeed, the exemption that was delivered did simply state that it exempted me from the requirements of this "wings" certification when flying at or within 4Km of the Tokoroa airfield.

Excellent! At last I could get on with what needs to be done.

Well that would have been the case, except that the covering letter added a bunch of restrictions that were completely unrelated to safety.

These restrictions effectively negated the exemption itself and make it "unfit for purpose".

When I queried CAA why I had not been told there would be such exemptions and what the justification for them was -- I was told that it was to protect MFNZ's monopoly on controlling who can and can't fly at an or within 4Km of an airfield.

Excuse me?

Despite the fact that everyone agrees that my SAA development work is indeed a commercial activity (something that MFNZ specifically excludes themselves from being involved in), that organisation is still being allowed to dictate the terms and restrictions that were associated with my activities?

What a crock of shirt!

CAA acknowledge that the restrictions have nothing to do with ensuring the safety of my operations at the airfield -- it really is all about appeasing the grumpy old men at MFNZ. Surely this is not the role of a government organisation charged with the responsibility of ensuring air safety and overseeing commercial operations.

I've spoken before about the very unhealthy relationship between CAA and MFNZ and I believe the way this exemption has been handled is proof of that.

Now you might think -- why not just go back to ground-based testing, even if it's going to take longer?

Well it seems that some people's grumpiness knows no bounds.

I've been told that if I attempt to continue my ground-based testing, the MFNZ groups who use the airfield will petition the SWDC to have me removed from the airfield.

Unfortunately, I fear that the SWDC would attempt to do just that as Roger Fisher, a career bureaucrat at the SWDC has already threatened just such an outcome. This is the same Roger Fisher who told me I was not allowed to train and employ some local part-time workers to build some bits of electronics for an export market. So much for catering to the needs of a community that needs work and better career opportunities.

So let's get this quite straight...

I've made a huge investment of time, effort and money in developing what could be a very valuable piece of aviation-safety technology -- without government grants, without VC backing and without any other hand-up help. Now all I want is to move to the next phase of testing, a completely safe and straightforward exercise that poses no threat to anyone.

So why is CAA allowing MFNZ to dictate terms and effectively scuttling this development work?

Does it sound reasonable to put the pride of a bunch of grumpy old men and the "convenience" of a few petulant children flying toy planes ahead of what could be a very significant new piece of aviation safety technology?

Well CAA and the SWDC seem to think so.

Shame on these people -- and surely proof of that unhealthy relationship between these two organisations.

It seems that some elements of NZ society have moved from simply no longer caring about others to actively working to stop those who do.

MFNZ have been moving heaven and earth to try and stop me from helping others, educating, informing and entertaining a global audience of keen hobbyists -- now they want to scuttle my attempts to save lives through technology.

Yes, these truly are the grumpiest of old men and CAA's pandering to them is something that must surely be subject to some serious scrutiny.

On the up-side, I do have a lovely letter of apology from CAA (after the Minister of Transport had to intervene before they would do their job) and now I have a worthless exemption that has already been withdrawn, thanks largely to the meddling of MFNZ and the agenda of preserving an unhealthy monopoly.

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