Microlighters

MISASA has drawn attention to our increasing concerns for more than a year now and thus far meetings & suggestions have not helped. We believe that it is time for a call for corrective action and make an urgent appeal to ALL MISASA MEMBERS to follow this link and complete the survey.

Ladies & Gents.... this is truly a dire situation. We have been taking stick for some of you not getting your mags, not getting your membership cards, not getting value for money, payments disappearing into oblivion etc. YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW THIS LINK and share our concerns

http://www.weboonline.com/MISASA/websiteform.php?id=322

This is not about who is right it is about what is right. It is a very sensitive and unpleasant matter but what is right is that we have consistently been ignored and the membership now needs to offer their opinion on us taking a stand which is not going to be pleasant but it is needed - as our Chairman said a year ago it's an UNFORTUNATE TRUTH.

Please do offer your opinions even if you are not paid up for this year.

OK John and the MISASA team, obviously you have the figures at hand.

Question, What percentage of members does MISASA have compared to other sections as a percentage ? This will give the negotiating team a position from which to negotiate from. I would believe its in excess of 50% which gives the high ground to negotiate from...Almost like a wage negotiation forum.

This simple anwer will then determine a way forward...

Good Luck and if you want me on the negotiating team, I am your man.

Paul

Hallo John and Alan.
Lets hope you get a good response to the link.
Vernon.

We believe that we will enjoy the support of the other sub-sections - we have in the past year had their full support on this matter - yes, it has been without a single objection. Thus the %'s are not relevant The EAA have also expressed serious concerns - we now believe that it is time to "go public." our membership are silent but MISASA believes that they deserve to be informed and be given the opportunity to express their views.

This matter is serious and affects all - walking away will not fix it - suggestions and even the "light hearted" Wally Award did not get the message across - we need change.

Hmm - interesting.

I cant answer some of the questions as I do not know the background, and I believe other than the MISASA committee, anyone else answering all the questions would be doing so without knowledge of all the facts and hence would be making a less than informed opinion. As we have all become acutely aware on forums such as these, there are always 3 sides to any situation.

I will abstain until these facts become public knowledge.

I can answer some of them easily - such as "Should MISASA collect its own subscription income?:", but others are not that straightforward to answer a yes or no. How can I decide if the GM and Chair of AeCSA should resign without knowing what the issue(s) are.

There is some mention of the AP insurance not having been paid for 4-12 months. That window is rather large - if 4 months - could be just processing of the bill - 12 months is more serious - so need more accurate account of that specific issue. Is this the only issue?

We all know that AeCSA is not good at communicating on what they are currently doing - they could probably do with a marketer.

So where do we lie? Lay out all the issues if you want our opinion.

As I have said before, on numerous ocassions: Do I have:

1. Valid licence (inclusive of my medical etc.)?
2. Do my aircraft have a valid ATF. ?

"Yes", to both - I am legal.

I was grilled on this - NOW see how the cards play out! Dudes, really - all this sub-section strooi is typical of NSA admin. If you are legal, and your plane is legal - THATS IT - as far as I am concerned. The rest is "nice to have", and can be organised outside of the regulatory framework.

Now I have to read a link to something that I am used to in the NSA: something I am REQUIRED to pay to be "legal", and now the typical NSA MO dictates that this, also, is not managed according to civil standards. See my point?

To reiterate: Government (CA) and any semi-goverment institutions derived from it, Rasa, Misasa, Aepa, " skop - my - holla", etc. Should be concerned with 1 AND 2 ABOVE! Legal pilot and plane: END of regulation. The rest is everybodies own personal business.!

So, in plain terms: Once a year I get an ATF and PAY for it, (per plane), and once in every licence-cycle I go for a test-flight (pay for it), and/or go for a medical, go to CA, fill in the forms, wait the whole day, get my docs, and FLY!

BUGGER THE REST!

Any form of "association / club /etc" is then done in the private sphere, without government sanction / interference.

Like driving licences / reg papers. You go to government for your paperwork Thats it. If you have a "special car", you then go to your chommies with the same car, and you form a club.

Asterix... with what you have said clearly shows I (and the rest of the MISASA EXCO) have waisted 2 years of my time to assist you and others....

John, so take a queue and don't waste two more.

Thank you for the nudge....

deleted

For those that require more facts please do read the Chairman's report in each of the magazines since last year as well as the wally award citation - that should give you a good start.

For new pilots the mags are all available online - see the MISASA website for links.

If there are those that want to know more - may I suggest that you offer this comment in your response - the Committee meetings are open to all.

John - take heart - there will be many that agree that the contribution that you have made is significant - if we walk away from problems and do not fix them then there are many with over 5 years of voluntary service notched up that have maintained our access to our skies. Diverting the debate undermines the seriousness of the situation. If AP's understand the risks they will not do inspections. Microlighters that experience an incident will have no recourse. You are told to belong to the Aero Club because the AP scheme covers members - it is necessary but the Aero Club let the scheme lapse!

I am on my way to renew my ATF today. The application requires 12 supporting documents!

For my radio license and AEROCLUB membership I can take only receipts.
First time for membership and 5th time for radio license I can take only a receipt

Enough said....

Asterix, its not so simple boet. You offer an opinion but it is not informed. Go read the Chairman's Reports.... even better... go read the Aerofiles (the mouthpiece of the AeCSA)....not one mention of all the problems within the organisation, or what they are doing to rectify them...

My opinion...serious problems exist with the following.

1: We have not had a new DCA appointed at the CAA since the last one buggered off 18 months ago. In short, we have a rolling charriot with no one at the reigns? My guess is that the Minister of Transport has not found a suitable family member to fill the position?
2: The efficiency, and functionality of the AeCSA is not up to std. Payments made by members are not captured or processed.(Myself included ) The database is a shambles of incorrect/incomplete personal information. A lapsed insurance scheme for AP's. No constructive dialogue regarding disciplinary procedures or a disciplinary process? It appears that no body wants to take charge of this very important issue. Issues of importance put forward by Misasa (The biggest section of the AeCSA) for comment or action are often swept aside, or ignored completely.....

I do not believe the system is at fault, in fact I think it is designed quite well. The problem I see is that it is not being implemented as intended, and it is clear that the management of the AeCSA do not seem to think there is a problem? If nothing changes soon, chaos will ensue and I for one will not attend the Awards Dinner this year in protest.

Have read the chairmans reports in the online magazines. Thanks for that pointer.

To summarise what I now understand as being the issues.
- To start the AeCSA website was an issue and reported as fixed in Xmas 2011 report
- AP scheme insurance - still outstanding but still no background as to why it has not been paid.
- Membership Cards outstanding (in my life not a huge issue)
- Lack of member details - beeg problem
- Payments not allocated - beeg problem

Unfortunately I cannot attend your open MISASA meetings and have no rep close by that I can go have face to face chat to around these issues as even in the chairs reports - I am guessing may only be touching the surface in a summarised format.

The last two issues can be fixed with a few process changes and tweaks to current systems. How can I help?