The President's Report - October 2008
This year's Annual General Meeting marks the end of the first five years since the formation of the Australian Piper Society
In those years there has been a lot of effort by a large number of people, both from within the general committee and from the general membership.
The initial enthusiasm for the founding of the Society soon translated into the work required to develop the Aims & Objectives, the Charter for the Society, establishing programs and activities and further developing these into professional programs of high quality.

The Society does not engage in lobbying or involve itself in issues outside of safety, pilot proficiency and promotion of goodwill.
Our programs include the Pilot Proficiency Stage I, the first of which was held at Deniliquin and attended by 6 members. This program is directed toward increasing pilot's knowledge and competency in the use of their own aircraft or aircraft which they regularly fly. It is not a test and there are no passes or failures. The knowledge which can be gained from attending this program is such that we have members who have attended it two and three times. It is interesting to note that one of the regular attendees has many hours in command and has a Command Instrument Rating. Stage II was developed and was run for the first time during the past year. This covers Piper Systems, Abnormal Situations, Weight & Balance, Weather to fly or not, Performance Graphs and Emergencies. It also includes a GPS component and Controlled Airspace.
Every year since formation we have held a major fly away. Last year we were able to have members who were unable to attend for the whole trip, join for a weekend or for a few days. This option was very popular and gave the opportunity for more members to be involved. The annual fly away has been formulated so successfully that it is developing a reputation as being the most professionally run and the most interesting event of its type. The 2009 Fly Away will be covering the Gulf, the Cape and the north east Coast in North Queensland, which in broad terms is the only area we have yet to visit.
Day and weekend Fly Ins have not been a regular or well attended feature of our event calendar and maybe members have just too much private or personal demands and don't have the time to fit fly ins into their busy schedule. On the other hand, the fly in to Evans Head a couple of years ago attracted 39 aircraft over the weekend. Next year we will see if we are able to emulate that highly successful event.
Membership initially peaked in the months immediately following formation of the Society and over the next couple of years fell by about 10%, where it has remained at a consistent number. Each year we have members who sell their Piper to buy another make or terminate their flying activities. Some have left to work overseas. Interestingly, we have members who own Jabiru, Cessna and Cirrus aircraft.
Many of our members are active volunteers for Angel Flight, giving their time and contributing to the cost of flying medically or financially disadvantaged members of the community to medical appointments or for compassionate reasons. At least two of our members have performed over 50 missions and another has over 100 missions.

As the Treasurer will advise, our finances are in good shape. This year we have produced APS name badges. Some of these have been distributed and other will go out in the mail in the next few weeks.
Since the formation of the Society in 2003, there have been many persons both on the committee and from the general membership who have contributed to building the organisation, running events and fostering cameraderie between individual members. Thanks to those people and a special thanks to those who continue to be members, and I am sure that, as in the past, future committees will continue to seek and value your opinions, suggestions and advice.
This year about half of the committee are not seeking re-election. Some of us feel that it is time to move on, due to pressure of work or just to devote more time to our other interests. New committee members can bring new ideas and a fresh enthusiasm. I thank all members for their support. I have really enjoyed my time on the committee and have made many new friends and acquaintances. I look forward to the continued growth and success of the APS and hopefully I will get to meet with more members in the coming years.
PS - Since writing the above, most of us who decided not to stand for re-election are back again, but with renewed enthusiasm and determined to make this not only our last year on the committee but also our best year..... Come and enjoy it with us.
Tom Courtney
President
15th October 2008

Past President Pages

From The President 2005/6

Overall, I believe that the Society has had a very successful year. I have had a great year as President. It has been a year I have enjoyed meeting so many people, attending so many Piper Society events and have learned so much from attendance at the four Pilot Proficiency Programs. From a personal perspective, the additional confidence gained from those programs and from meeting and talking to other pilots who have similar fears or concerns or learning from their different and sometime frightening experiences has been invaluable. The Outback Pub Crawl was an interesting, sometimes challenging, fun event with members from as far north as Mackay, as far south as Cobden and as far east as New Zealand. Although I missed the Evans Head flyin due to weather and was personally very disappointed, I understand that it was enormously successful. I was fortunate to be able to attend the Benambra fly in and the Piper Short Wing fly in at Tocumwal which both great events.

The year started with a bit of a shock when we found that the web site data base did not function properly and couldn't be relied upon for accurate membership information. This lead to confusion about who were members and who were not. It took us five months and a lot of frustration before resolving the membership to a reasonable degree of accuracy. The web operated database does not yet function properly and we have problems running two separate database systems.

We determined that the membership was stagnant which we felt was due to failure to provide members with adequate communication and with activities which would be expected from a society with such a diverse and geographically separated membership.

As such we initiated a fly in program, centred in different places around Australia, which allowed many members to meet each other and enjoy social interaction at these different locations. Each fly in and each of our PPP's were organised and hosted by a local member, and our thanks go out those members who were involved.

We tried to make these activities accessible to as many as possible and even our committee meetings were designed to coincide with Pilot Proficiency Programs or with an opportunity for a local fly in.

Our meetings and activities were at Deniliquin, Benambra, Narromine, Evans Head, Toowoomba, Latrobe Valley and Orange with the AGM at Cobden and the Aldinga fly in planned for end of November.

We continued with the exceptionally successful Pilot Proficiency Programs which were professionally designed and which had been operating successfully since the foundation of the APS. We changed the venue, which had been at Deniliquin on all previous occasions and took the program to the members. As a result we had Pilot Proficiency Programs at Deniliquin, Latrobe Valley, Toowoomba and Orange. This of course adds cost and administration for the Society. The increased number of attendees proved the value of the additional cost and administrative time.

We are now working on producing PPP Stage II which will deal in exciting detail with many of those practical and air time issues which confront us as part time pilots. We think this will be a great program which everyone who wants to improve their confidence, competence, efficiency and aviation skills, should attend.

The Outback Pub Crawl, although somewhat of a misnomer, and the largest event on our calendar, continued the initiatives of the previous committees and again proved an outstanding success. Nineteen aircraft and thirty nine persons from all over Australia took part and the riotous 70's night at White Cliffs was the culmination of an event which saw many friendships renewed and many new friendships made. In May next year the flyaway heads down the West Coast of Australia and is already 50% booked.

Evans Head and Benambra have been the subjects of individual reports.

Communication has been a major focus in the last year. The focus has been on activities which allow members to participate and to meet each other. Hopefully, this year the Committee will find the time to facilitate a system which provides members the opportunity to interact more freely on an individual level.

The web site has been revamped in stages I & II and stage III is in the process. We know that many do not have broadband access to the web and we have continued to mail out the bulletins, to ensure that members are kept fully informed. One area which needs some attention is to improve the system which allows members to advise when their email addresses change, as there are several who missed out on a number of emails later in the year.

Over the year membership has increased and the committee is conscious of the need to provide members with increased and better levels of activity and to encourage members to take matters into their own hands and organise events and activities which help members to meet and enjoy each others company. It doesn't have to be anything other than an open invitation to meet at a certain place on a certain day while having a bar-b-que. Make it a byo at a country or private airstrip or a fly in winery or a strip with a caf� or restaurant so that it doesn't matter whether one or one hundred turn up.

The year was at times exhausting and at times frustrating but the highs of meeting so many people, attending so many events and enjoying the company of others and learning something from just about everyone I met. The experiences were worth the work and effort and overall very rewarding. On balance, I came out the winner for being a part of the Committee.

The coming year has just as many challenges as the past year, but hopefully we will then have a Society which functions without too many problems and with a very much reduced workload for the Committee members. As volunteers, the work of the committee is done in personal time and often at the expense of family and private commitments. It is only through being on the Committee that we can appreciate the enormous amount of time and effort of individuals and previous Committees, which went in to forming this Association and establishing it as a successful aviation group.

Thanks to the present Committee for the efforts and contributions over the past year. Despite our glitches and hiccups, I believe that congratulations are due for the overall result and achievement and building on the work of the previous Committees.

We expect that 2006/07 will provide members with even greater potential for enjoyment and learning, which is the sole purpose for the existence of the APS.

Tom Courtney
President
15th October 2006

From The President Spring 2004

Hello Members & Fellow Piper Enthusiasts

Welcome to our web site. Also welcome to all those Piper aircraft enthusiasts who are viewing this site for the first time. Our society has only been in existence for a short time but in that time membership has grown beyond our expectation. The aim of the society is to foster social and educational interaction between Piper aircraft owners pilots and enthusiasts. Members are sent a quarterly news letter as well as participating in fly aways, fly in's, pilot education programmes and general information sharing. The society held it's first annual meeting at Port Macquarie in September 2004. Following is my report to members on the 2004-2005 year. We look forward to welcoming you along to one of our functions or programmes.

Firstly let me thank you all for the honour of allowing me to bey our President for the next 12 months. I see the society not only growing and hopefully fulfilling the expectations of members, but being a beacon to all Piper enthusiasts: where we can assist each other in keeping our aging aircraft and in some cases our aging pilots, flying safely and facilitate a fraternity where we can all benefit from our unique experience of being able to defy gravity and sore with the birds.

Thank you to our three new committee persons for so willingly taking up the challenge and giving of their time. Also a big thank you to our retiring committee persons Rob McCombie and Andrew Barriskill. Your contribution is appreciated by us all. Fortunately Andrew who has been posted to the USA, has volunteered to continue as our website Co-ordinator. Thank you Andrew. The big job of Secretary/Treasurer has willingly been taken on by Faye used to be Miller now Warren.

Faye and her husband John hale from Gippsland Victoria where they are both actively involved with the Latrobe Valley Aero Club. I can tell you from experience that this is a very demanding job so if and where you can, please give Faye as much assistance as you can.

Faye has also taken over compiling and producing this newsletter. Ray Peterson has agreed to remain in the position of Social Director,as has David Law who remains as Member Co-ordinator. One of our new committee Duncan Morris, has agreed to take on the responsibility of co-ordinating our training and technical needs. This position also encompasses the Pilot Proficiency Program. Across in the west our past president Min Stokes and new committee member Olga Ward will be looking after all things in WA. Olga is a bit of a celebrity, being a regular contributor to Australian Flying magazine with her column on aviation medicine. I'm sure Olga would be only too happy to assist any member with problems associated with our flying health.

As for me, well I'm just going to sit back and delegate out any problems that may arise. Any organisation is only as good as the input it gets from it's members so please don't be backward in coming forward with any ideas or suggestion you may have regarding our Society or the direction you would like to see it going. All I ask is that the Society remain non political and concentrates on it's core objectives. The Society is at this time an Associate Member of Australian AOPA and a member of the Aviation Safety Foundation Australia ASFA.

One thing I do wish to accomplish in the next 12 months is the formation of regional groups of the Society all over Australia. This way members within those regional areas can get together easily for one day or weekend get togethers. To accomplish this we desperately need volunteers to come forward as co-ordinators. If you believe you have any skills in this area or if you would consider giving it a go, please contact any member of the committee. Australia is a big place when your aircraft only has a TAS of 120 knots or less and we don't want any member to miss out just because they do not reside in the higher density population areas. On the same note we need to accommodate the older Pipers of the rag and wire era, but we cannot do it without your help. With enough dedication and co-operation the Australian Piper Society can be all things to all people.

On the social calendar there are many exciting events planed. I'msure these are listed elsewhere so I will not elaborate. Suffice to say it is no good saying your Society does nothing for you if you do not participate in planed events. I hope to have the opportunity to personally meet many members at the Avalon Airshow in May. The Australian Piper Society will have a stand at the airshow in the GA area which will be manned on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday - please come and say hello. Over the next 12 months I hope to meet as many of you as possible.

Until then - safe flying with a fair weather - following wind.

Geoff Derrin November 2004

geoff@deni.com.au

From The President Summer 2004

On behalf of the committee, I would like to wish all our members a very happy and safe new year. The Society has got off to a great start.

The Deniliquin Fly-in was a great success, despite some disappointing weather, it was an excellent opportunity for us to meet new friends and see some fine examples of ?Prides and Joys?. For those of you who were unfortunately unable to make it, we look forward to meeting you this year. Many thanks are due for the success of the fly-in, particularly to Geoff and Kerry Derrin for keeping us all entertained and fed, to the Deniliquin Aero Club for hosting the event,to Marjorie Pagani who came along as our guest speaker at what was a somewhat turbulent time for her, and to Joe Moharich and Danielle Maxwell from Piper Aircraft Sales coming along in a very nice Seminoleand assuring us all of their support, which will of course work both ways.

Here in the West we are having a busy and very hot summer, now that world events are more settled and CASA have streamlined their overseas licence verification procedures we once again have many pilots from the UK and Europe coming to tour Australia by air. ?We only want to fly Pipers? they say in various accents, which is great for us!

In the Minovation camp, my trusty Tomahawk FIG should roll out of the Alert Aviation hangar any day now with her overhauled engine and Paul Sterling's wing life extension mod, which should give her another ten or more years of flying. Rob Kendrick has recently purchased a companion Tomahawk for her, very appropriately named JAM! With KTP andUFA watch out for the FIGJAM formation team!

My husband and I hope to fly our little red Warrior PMW to the next AGM. She started her career at Port Macquarie, hence the callsign,as the first Warrior to enter service in Australia. Look forward to seeing you all there, if not before!

On a more serious note, there will be many changes to GA in the next year or so, one of the more disturbing of which being the proposal to introduce security checks for all GA pilots. I urge you all to keep informed of developments. Although the Piper Society is an a political organisation, we all still have a democratic voice.

Keep the ball in the middle!

MIN STOKES

From The President Spring 2003

I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the members of our new Society, which will give us all an opportunity to get to know other Piper owners and enthusiasts and get even more from our Piper aircraft!

A brief introduction, I own and run a flying school and aircraft hire business at Jandakot Airport which has been nominated as the local Piper Flight Centre. We have a Piper ?haven? in what is predominantly a Cessna enclave. We use Tomahawks, Warriors and Arrows for training and hire as well as a Dakota and Archer for hire, and a Cub for low level and tail wheel training. We are proud owners of the oldest Tomahawk and oldest Warrior in Australia which are still going strong!

One of my Tomahawks is about to undergo the wing spar modification and I would love to hear from anyone who has already had this done. With an engine overhaul being done at the same time, FIG will be as good as new and carry students safely through their training and first solo flight for many years to come. As a contrast I am currently working on a project which will hopefully lead to ordering some brand new Warriors and Archers from Vero Beach- the next generation!

Being in Jandakot will mean that I will be a long way away from many of you but hope that any members from ?over East? visiting WA as well as our local members will come and see us. All members are very welcome to use our facilities while here and we can help you with parking and maintenance, and the weird Jandakot procedures!

Finally I would like to thank Andrew and the other members of the committee who have worked very hard to make the Piper Society a reality, and on behalf of the committee I would like to thank all the members for their support so far. We hope to hear from you all and any ideas you may have for the Society that will benefit us all.

Happy Flying

MIN STOKES