On Fri, Jun 21, 2002 at 06:47:36PM +0930, Dav wrote:
> This whole debate on this list seems do be dominated by wealthy owner
> operators of motor gliders who want to operate independantly of the GFA.
<fx: mark clears throat>
I don't own anything with wings. With the exception of some kind and
gracious private owners who have let me fly their glider (wave to the
QZ syndicate, thanks guys!), I've only ever flown club gliders.
I object to the GFA's stance on this issue because, as a pilot of club
gliders with nowhere near enough hours for an Ind. Ops rating, my flying
is entirely at the mercy of the social lives of my club's instructors.
This summer I'll fly a 300, which will almost certainly take more
than 5 hours; At that point I'll qualify for my silver badge, and
will apply for L1 Independent Ops. It'll have taken me almost three
years to have reached that point -- three years worth of flying
basically every weekend. Other pilots in my club don't necessarily
fly every weekend; And because it's a university club, the overwhelming
majority of members are with us for less than three years anyway ('cos
they're only with the university for three years, then they move on).
So hardly anyone in my club will -ever- qualify for Independent Ops,
regardless of whether they're capable of handling the responsiblity.
When I fly cross-country, I spend every minute of my flight except
for the moments prior to the launch entirely outside the influence
of the duty instructor. The fact that I have a cross country endorsement
in my logbook tells me that my CFI is happy with that situation. So,
if the only thing I need a duty instructor for during a flight is
to approve the launch, why can't I get that approval by making a phone
call, sending an email message, or (ideally) by having a signature
in my logbook renewed during each annual flight review, subject to
some kind of currency requirement? If that was possible on a wide
scale, my club wouldn't have to keep cancelling flying days (or, in
some cases, entire weekends) for no better reason than the fact that we
can't find an instructor.
That's why I think the GFA's attitude on this stinks, and why their
defense of the status quo is reprehensible. If holding an RPL with a
glider rating would solve this problem, then it has my wholehearted
support.
- mark
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I tried an internal modem, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
but it hurt when I walked. Mark Newton
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