CAA will not further extend licence validities
The CAA have confirmed that they will not make further extensions to the validity of pilot licences and ratings, despite the UK entering a second national ‘lockdown’. During the initial lockdown the CAA had recognised that pilots could inadvertently be put in the position of having a licence or rating expire through no fault of their own – by virtue of not being permitted to fly and revalidate a licence or rating that was due to...
UK Lockdown#2 begins
The UK has entered its second ‘lockdown’ of 2020 with renewed restrictions on General Aviation and flight training. Following the UK government announcement on Saturday 31st October that a new national lockdown was required, the fresh movement restrictions came into force on Thursday 5th November. Shortly before the new restrictions were imposed, the government published its new guidance on General Aviation flying. The key points of...
Wycombe Air Park to reopen 01 August
Wycombe Air Park (Booker), located in Buckinghamshire on the outskirts of London’s TMA, has been closed to all but resident aircraft since the coronavirus lockdown commenced in late March. Sean Brown, CEO of British European Aviation, the leaseholders of the airfield, has now confirmed exclusively to FTN that it will reopen fully from the beginning of August. FTN understands that one reason for the delay in reopening has been...
From the Flightdeck – James McBride
Stable Approach From my position, sitting behind the two pilots making their approach to land, I could see that things were not going well. The B737 was well above the glideslope, not yet configured for the final descent and with way too much energy. The airspeed was eye-wateringly high and they were only just inside the limit speeds to deploy the flaps. Needless to say, as their instructor I was more than a little curious about how...
Recreational flying training resumes in England, while devolved nations remain grounded
After an unprecedented three-month shutdown of the vast majority of the UK’s flight training industry, the long-awaited news that Government was changing its advice to the flying schools of the UK came at around midday on 26 June. The message from David Harding, (Department for Transport Deputy Director, General Aviation, Skills, Safety and CAA Division), to General Aviation associations was succinct and to the point: “I can confirm...