Anatomy of an Infringement
On the 5th March, the pilot of a light aircraft pleaded guilty in Bedfordshire Magistrates’ Court to flying in Luton Airport’s controlled airspace without clearance from air traffic control. The pilot infringed Luton’s airspace several times in the same day during two different flights. The pilot’s actions led to four passenger aircraft and a business jet having to be given avoiding instructions by air traffic control....
Sometimes Two Heads are Not Better Than One
Soon after I got my PPL(A), back in the dark ages, flying friends suggested that I pair up with another recently qualified pilot. That way, they said, we could share the cost, and also benefit from each other’s experience. One could fly, while the other did the navigation and radio; then we would swap for the next flight. Half the cost, half the work, twice the fun, they told me. A well tried and tested way of gaining...
Brexit: Act Now to Safeguard Your Licence Privileges and Job!
Act now….! Is the advice to pilots, instructors and examiners from the UK CAA’s former Head of Licensing and Training Policy, Cliff Whittaker, who outlines how to avoid the negative implications of a potential “hard Brexit”, and the effects the divorce could have on your licence. It is clearly stated on the CAA website that the CAA and DfT are firmly of the view that the CAA should remain a Competent Authority...
Boeing, Gliders, and Tomorrow’s Pilots
I’ve always had a thing about arriving at an airfield before a summer’s flying day begins. For me (and I accept it may just be me), there is often a calmness, a stillness, in the air before the airfield awakes and the business of the day begins. There is also the anticipation of the day to come, adventures and achievements waiting to be experienced, memories to be made and challenges taken up. So it is that I find myself on a rather...
Teaching Threat and Error Management
Include threat and error management from the beginning of flight training. For an activity peppered with so many potential hazards, aviation has achieved a remarkable safety level since its perilous early days, most especially when thinking about public transport (or ‘Commercial Air Transport’) operation in recent decades. Much of the progress in the safety arena has come not just from technological advances per se, but from an...
Permit to Train
UK National Permit to Fly aircraft are to be allowed to be used for remunerated commercial flight training for the first time, the UK Civil Aviation Authority has confirmed. Pilots are now allowed to use Permit to Fly General Aviation (GA) aircraft to train towards post-PPL add-on training and ratings. At this stage, the permission is limited to current PPL holders only; ab-initio training is still restricted to aircraft holding a...
