Is the flying car really the future of air travel? Will drones finally take over your parcel delivery and render your local postie redundant? Are vertiports actually more than just glorified helipads?
Date
That's just a few of the question our remotely piloted aircraft subject matter experts (SMEs) will be on hand to answer at the Avalon Airshow next week.
Drop in at our brand-new stand in Hall 1 - 1G21 and have a chat to one of our emerging aviation technology specialist's, Simon Butler.
While only a year into his role at CASA, he's tasked with developing the people items described in our Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems and Advanced Air Mobility roadmap.
Simon also has 21 years' experience as a professional helicopter pilot with a background in oil and gas both in the UK and around Australia. He was also an all-weather search and rescue for the UK coastguard.
He holds airline transport licences from both the UK and Australia, as well as a commercial pilot's licence and instructor rating from the US Federal Aviation Administration.
Our other SMEs on the stand include:
RPAS
Warrick Hickson – RPAS inspector
Primarily responsible for the remotely piloted aircraft operator's certificate (ReOC) training organisations within CASA's Regulatory Oversight Division, Warwick has more than 15 years of military experience.
He has a diverse background in training, assessment and military aviation. As an aircraft captain and mission commander, Warrick has experienced many challenging work environments while ensuring all operations were conducted safely. He primarily operated the Shadow 200 TUAS and other small RPAS in beyond visual line of sight (BLVOS) operations.
Weidi Koh – RPAS inspector
Weidi has been involved in model aircraft flying and drones for almost 20 years. He started in aviation with some flying lessons for a private pilot license when an opportunity arises for him to get into the drone industry instead.
He was a chief remote pilot of a small business that specialises in using drones for photography, building inspection and thermal imaging work. Some of his work has been published in magazines and books. Weidi is also an avid caver and spends his free time underground mapping unexplored caves.
Darren McGrath – RPAS inspector
Darren has been with CASA for just over two years and brings with him experience in both conventional and remotely piloted aircraft industries. Prior to CASA Darren was a senior flight instructor, teaching airline cadets in a busy aviation environment. His RPAS experience includes Chief Instructor of a RePL training school along with operational experience on military and civil RPA conducting BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) missions.
Dangerous goods
Trevor Amos – Senior dangerous goods inspector
At CASA since 2017, Trevor has been involved in aviation for over 30 years. He joined the RAAF as an aircraft technician (engines/airframes) in 1992, working on both DHC-4 Caribou and C130E/H Hercules aircraft. In 1999 he switched over to aircrew as a loadmaster with postings on both C130H Hercules and Boeing 707s.
He has also been the dangerous goods manager for Qantas and the RAAF. At the airline, he was one of 12 International Air Transport Association (IATA) dangerous goods board members from around the world and acted as the advisor to the International Civil Aviation Organization Dangerous Goods Panel Member. Trevor has also been deployed to South Sudan for 12 months with the Australian Defence Force contribution to United Nations mission, acting as the dangerous goods specialist.
Tara Ahearn – Dangerous goods inspector
Tara joined CASA in 2022 within the Regulatory Oversight Division as a dangerous goods inspector (DGI). DGI's evaluate and make recommendations on submissions, exemptions and other instruments related to the training of personnel and the carriage of Dangerous Goods by air.
Tara brings a wealth of knowledge in dangerous goods and cargo movements, ground operations and training. She draws from her 10 years of experience in the Royal Australian Air Force and time within the civil aviation sector.
Cherie Love – Safety performance specialist
Cherie has worked within the aviation industry across a variety of roles and airlines before commencing at CASA. Cherie focuses on implementing risk management strategies to improve overall safety, health, and wellbeing.
She has a wealth of experience in implementing, maintaining, and improving fatigue risk management and safety management systems for regional, domestic, and international airline operations in Australia, New Zealand, United States and Asia. While also having experience in human performance and academic research areas relating to sleep, fatigue, and cognitive performance within safety critical operations.
More information
Check out our social media channels for the daily roster of our experts.
Find out more about our Avalon activities and aviation experts in our latest updates: