MAAA Wingspan

29 NOVEMBER WING SPAN MAAALogo. 2019-20 MAAA Financial Review: The 2019-20 Financials have been finalised by the MAAA Treasurer and fully reviewed and audited by the MAAA Auditor and been given a clean book of health. MAAA Executive council held the Special Finance meeting 9th October where the auditor’s report and financial statements were accepted. CASA Instrument 55/20 (replacing Directive 96/17): The New CASA Instrument - CASA 55/20 — Operation of Certain Unmanned Aircraft Directions 2020 replaces Directive 96/17. It provides the same conditions for Remotely Piloted Aircraft as the 2017 CASA Directive 96/17 with the continuation of RPA restrictions under CASA 55/20 which state that; 1. No operations within 3 nautical miles of an aerodrome without an authorisation/area approval instrument; and 2. Must not operation an RPA above 400 feet AGL without an authorisation/area approval instrument. Note: The MAAA together with your State Associations have been working tirelessly to have in place Area Approvals/instruments for many clubs to fly above 400 feet and/or within 3NM of Aerodromes. The process is in-depth but easily achievable with the well-established Risk Assessment procedures. Since October 2018 the MAAA have established over 240 Area Approval applications for our club locations. CASA Bill Consultations and current RPA requirements: There are two bills that have been passed for consultation. The first, facilitates the collection of and transition of fees from the users (operator) back to the service provider (CASA via Federal treasury). The second, is the setting of said fee depending on the service provided (this ranges from Instruments for operators in restricted areas that are commercial operators to the individual Model plane flier registration/accreditation scheme for which MAAA Members are exempt). The MAAA Executive, while not directly impacting our membership, provided a response during the community consultation period for both proposed CASA Bills. The response highlighted the services provided under the MAAA membership in order to provide a yardstick by which CASA should consider when setting its fees for non-MAAA member RPA operators, an appropriate fee for service model. By providing this factual formal response and measurable services, we felt that the best possible outcome of CASA fee setting will result for non-members of the Australia RPA community. Some of the services that MAAA provides to its members and clubs which we highlighted to the CASA Bill consultation included but not limited to: Significant insurance policy coverage: • Public and products Liability; • Association Liability for our Associations and Clubs; • Member Injury insurance; • Club Asset insurance; • Travel insurance for our competitors (World Championships) and executive members’; • Cyber Insurance for the protection of the MAAA, States and club IT assets. Complete Manuals of Procedures and continual review procedures: • MOP’s to cover all aspects of our member’s model aircraft operations; • Continual review and MOPs to facilitate 1. Night Flying Exemptions 2. BVLOS operations for Drone Racing. Complete incident and accident reporting processes facilitating for the diverse range of membership types allowing for on-line and hard format reporting; • A full-time staff members as the Executive Officer to full-fill the necessary tasks for the administration of the MAAA. This includes continual clear and succinct dialogue with the CASA RPAS team; • Implementation of a proficiency wings program across a range of competency levels of members. The MAAA invests significantly to have a Chief Flight Instructor in each State and Territory and invests to allow these CFI’s to continually improve the proficiency and instruction program for all MAAA Members; • Investment of time and investigation materials for the preparation and lodgement of Area Approvals (over 200 since October 2018) for our clubs and Special Interest Groups (SUGs) for height increases or locations requiring such approvals due to Directive 96/17, now 55/20. The current standing of the CASA Drone Registration and Accreditation process for recreational operators (MAAA members) can be found here management matters “The 2019-20 Financials have been finalised by the MAAA Treasurer and thoroughly reviewed and audited by the MAAA Auditor and were given a clean bill of health.”