Recreational Aviation Australia

Recreational Aviation Australia, known as RAAus, is the national membership body for recreational flying in Australia. Its office is in Fyshwick, in the Australian Capital Territory.

RAAus has more than 10,000 members. They include pilots, flying instructors and aircraft maintainers. The group started as the Australian Ultralight Federation. In 2004 it became Recreational Aviation Australia Inc., and in 2016 it moved to a company limited by guarantee. It holds a CASR Part 149 certificate, which gives it a formal safety role for its members. Fewer than 20 full-time staff run it.

The organisation registers aircraft, including three-axis aircraft, weight-shift microlights and powered parachutes. It lets owners and maintainers maintain, repair and modify aircraft registered with it. It supports members who design and build their own aircraft. It also certifies pilots, authorises instructors and develops training material for them.

For people who want to learn to fly, RAAus lists trial instructional flights, scholarships, a flight training school finder and a flight club finder. It has a page for pilots who want to convert a licence. The RAAus Skytrainer is a hands-on training system for teaching the basics of flight. GoFly Online offers flight training online.

Safety is a large part of the work. The group runs a National Safety Series and takes reports of accidents, incidents, defects, hazards and complaints. Its news pages carry technical articles on topics such as aircraft rigging, control cables and engine options.

Members can use a finance option offered with Stratton Finance, and a classifieds site for aircraft, hangar space and equipment. RAAus also hosts and joins events, from fly-ins and seminars to airshows. A member portal handles renewals of membership and aircraft registration.

Services

• Aircraft registration
• Pilot certification
• Instructor authorisation
• Learn to fly information
• Safety education
• Accident and incident reporting
• Training resources
• Member finance options
• Aviation classifieds
• Events