Unexpected problems for students
After you’ve been instructing for a while, it can become fairly routine for most of the time. You give pretty much the same briefings for each flight exercise, although you may adapt them a little to suit the individual student. And, especially in the early stages of flying training, teaching the actual exercises is fairly similar with every student. For each manoeuvre, you go over what to do, you demonstrate, then you let the student...
Commercial flight training resumes in UK
LEA at Oxford Airport have sent FTN a report of their activities, following resumption of flying training earlier this week. As reported previously, LEA were the first ATO to approach the CAA to inform them of their plans to resume training under a highly modified operation, designed to keep their customers and employees virus free. Day one of our new regime was both an exciting day and one peppered with anticipation. Six students,...
Sinking-in-the-Marsh is in lockdown. But first, how are you? – Tad Higher
That’s the question now, isn’t it? How are you doing? And it is a different question from before. What was a superficial greeting has become something more. Our language hasn’t changed, we have. So how are you? I suspect that we here are Lockdown Britain in miniature. We clap our health workers. It doesn’t make up for lousy pay and conditions, but they tell us it’s deeply appreciated. A lot of our pilots own small businesses. Some...
CAA issues new advice for GA pilots & flying schools
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has issued new advice today for GA pilots, flying schools and clubs as many begin to make preparations to re-start operations after having been in lockdown for the last two months. The advice has been published in CAA publications CAP1924 and CAP1925 CAP1924, which contains advice for flying schools and clubs, opens by stating: “We appreciate that GA pilots will want to return to the air...
Leading by example?
After around seven weeks of inactivity, on 15th May, UK General Aviation (GA) pilots were informed that they can return to flying, subject to following the general guidance on social-distancing. In effect the guidance is that GA flying is currently restricted to either solo flight, or flying with passengers that are part of the same self-isolating group as the pilot. At face value, this means that flying training cannot yet...
Commercial flight training resumes in the UK
FTN has obtained updated advice from the Department for Transport on its return to flying guidance, following the news that at least one UK flight school is to shortly to recommence flight training for its commercial student pilots. On Friday 15 May 2020, the DfT confirmed in a statement that recreational flying could recommence subject to pilots observing social-distancing advice, but that this guidance precluded ‘dual’ flying...
