A Different Take On Air Regulations
A Different Take On Air Regulations
Hi All, a new guy again....and I'm kind of bummed out that I am finding many interesting topics that have more or less "died on the vine" with no one responding for months or years. I guess that's the price I pay for being late to the party. :violin:
However, I will give it a try anyway. Maybe I just like discussing things with myself. OK, very simply put, excessive regulation is far, far more evil than limited regulation. No, I am not an anarchist and no, I am not a wild-eyed, daredevil. I am just a plain old, older-than-middle-age scientist.
Since I have been in Australia I (and I do love this place, its beauty, its people, its hospitality and its concentration of excellent scientists in numbers way more than would be expected for its population size) I have noticed a terrible problem with over-regulation.
Being from the USA, I never realized how wonderful it was to be able to work in my home lab/shop on virtually ANY project or innovation, invention etc. There is much I hated about the USA but its previous lack of unnecessary regulation has brilliantly driven amazing innovation and entrepreneurship at a level greater than any other industrialized country.
Now, just like in the USA, there are always people that will say "if you don't like our regulation, why don't you just go back to the USA?" But the problem with this cliche' is that it implies that in Australia, private individual's new ideas and innovations are not welcome here. Is that true?
Probably the most frustrating to me is the zillions of regulations based on some politician's/"citizen interest group's" SPECULATION that something MIGHT cause harm. The amount of things, actions and techniques that are illegal because of POTENTIAL issues is astounding.
When I came here I was excited that I was going to be out in the country and would have over a 100 acres to tinker with my various flying machine ideas. Boy did that excitement deflate when I read the regulations. Without getting into details, let me just say that with Australia's air regulations, the Wright brothers would have never flown, civilian flying platforms would be invented, perfected and patented elsewhere long before a single Australian would ever be able to develop and/or patent them.
In fact, Australia's truly talented and brilliant individual inventors and scientists are locked out of the process unless they are part of, or specially-exempted by, the government. A study of history shows that many, many significant advances in aviation (and science)were made OUTSIDE of government's knowledge, much less its approval.
So, why do Australians put up with these sorts of over-regulated, nanny-state rules? I don't really know but I suspect it is a combination of fear, complacency, misplaced "good citizen responsibility" and a culture of people "doing what they are told" by the government.
No don't get me wrong. Some regulations, ESPECIALLY THOSE SUPPORTED BY HARD EVIDENCE OF CAUSALITY AND A PATTERN OF BAD OUTCOMES, are worth considering and passing. However, the passing of regulations should always be subject to the same scrutiny and standards of proof that any serious criminal laws are subject to.
When I moved here, I paid well-over $10,000 to ship over my laboratory equipment, specialized instruments and precision prototyping machine tools (milling machines, lathes, etc.) and titanium, aluminum and CrMo stock. Unfortunately, they are now sitting idle in their crates and boxes because I pretty much am not allowed to use them to build human-operated flying prototypes and various machines. As I subsequently found out from other American ex-pats, a few of them are in exactly the same boat and are sitting on valuable prototypes.
So,all of this restriction MUST be because of REALLY IMPORTANT, PROVEN SAFETY RISKs....RIGHT?
Sorry to say...NO!! Not ONE study of how many incident per year of people working on unapproved flying machines in rural areas, flying their prototypes into an unapproved neighbor's airspace or property. Not one study (or even a single report) of a non-participating person being injured or killed because of a non-approved-for flight, flying machine encroaching on a privately owned area.
In fact, the only flying machines that seem to crash on private property are those that have been approved to fly by a government agency. I am not saying that this means that the government should NOT APPROVE ANY AIRPLANES (though I bet some out there thought that was the obvious solution).
What I am saying is that the ONLY effect of government regulation on experimental testing on local, PRIVATE or permission-given, property is the SUPPRESSION OF INNOVATION! That's It! So, one can reasonably conclude that this sort of regulation's SOLE EFFECT is:
I
NNOVATION SUPPRESSION!
I challenge anyone to produce even a shred of evidence of any r
eal-world benefits of these kind of regulations. I hope you all realize I am bringing this up because i really wanted to come here and launch an R&D laboratory and be able to develop and manufacture innovative products. I wanted to do well here and employ people and compete aggressively with America. Now, I am not sure that is an option any more.
But for now....I have just began to fight! I hope many Aussies will support my (and their own) efforts. :rant::rant: