The Naked Racer is a unique cafe; you get to have burgers and chicken salads served to you whilst you sit surrounded by motorcycles and flying instructors. It’s an odd mix that comes from the cafe being sited only a few metres from the western boundary of Moorabbin Airport.
And it’s a spot that new Regional Aviation Association of Australia (RAAA) CEO Rob Walker likes to haunt when he’s on one of his hit-and-run visits to Melbourne. It was over a burger here that Australian Flying caught him during a break in a busy schedule, self-inflicted by his many ambitions for the RAAA.
Walker, a former senior manager at both Airservices and CASA, stepped into the RAAA job after then CEO Steve Campbell vacated the seat and returned to the regulator. The progressive attitudes displayed by the RAAA members and the stated desire for the organisation to diversify were the lures that hooked Walker into the job.
“The opportunity for regional aviation – and the bit that really excites me – is that there are challenges that the sector acknowledges, but no-one is giving up thinking that it’s all too hard,” Walker points out.
“The sector is meeting the challenges head-on. An example is advanced air mobility [AAM]. I’m enthralled about the amount of enthusiasm within the regional sector for AAM and embracing new technology.
“We’ve got SkyTrans working with Stralis on hydrogen-electric power, and other operators such as REX that are exploring electric power, and one of our members has
