It is pretty obviously just another way of raising money. If the high
use gliders are getting 100 hour/3 month inspections there is
obviously no safety issue here. GFA just wants to charge for another
Form 2 pack.
It is just like the brilliant tug pilot tax. Forcing tug pilots to
belong to GFA is just another dumb move. The claim CASA didn't want
to worry about tow ratings doesn't ring true. They still need to
issue them for banner towing. Simplifying the tow rating or
eliminating it by just
requiring a proper briefing might actually help the sport.
I've had lots of launches behind pilots who weren't GFA members. At
Beverley in the 1970s Dave Woodward organised not just a towplane but
a standby one that could be called on complete with pilot. There have
been times at contests when ag planes complete with pilots
have been hired. Forcing GFA membership on the pilots will in many
cases either result in the pilots saying "screw that!" when required
to join the GFA or the club/contest organisers will have to buy a
membership for each. Hence the "tax".
Unfortunately there is nothing that anyone can do about either as the
GFA Board own the organisation and aren't subject to either adult
supervision or the discipline of elections by the "members".
As for the GFA chat forum, why would anyone bother? Anything regarded
as controversial by the Board will not see the light of day or if it
does come complete with rebuttal/belittlement/denigration of the originator.
Mike
At 08:11 PM 30/07/2015, you wrote:
In the most recent draft of MOSP 3 (19 June 2015), a new requirement
has been added in by the GFA. A form 2 now lasts only for the lesser
of 250 hours, or 12 months (Section 11.3.2). Particularly for clubs
with high use two seaters, this is an extremely expensive burden.
For example, at Southern Cross, this means we'll be almost doubling
our Form 2 inspections across the fleet in any given 12 month
period. Our DG1000 will be probably subject to 3 most years.
Is anyone aware of the rationale behind this change? Considering
most of these high use gliders are already subject to 100hrly and/or
3 month inspections, it seems like an extremely expensive exercise
that is will not make us any safer. These gliders have been
operating for years or decades with a single yearly main checkup.
--
Justin Couch http://www.vlc.com.au/
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