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I don't remember ever doing a "formal flight test" to fly gliders. Unquote Al, surely you must be doing an annual check each year? The annual check, if conducted properly constitutes a formal flight test. In our club the annual check consists of two flights covering all key aspects of flight competency including emergency procedures such as an actual low release forcing the pilot to land on an alternative runway. The instructor then checks off each item on a form as being satisfactory/competent and submits the completed form to the CFI . If any item was not satisfactory then the pilot is required to complete further instructional flights focusing on that item before being cleared for solo. In general I would say that a well managed gliding club will maintain the standard of pilot competency above that of other forms of GA John Parncutt Phone: 0418 966 087 Fax: 03 9885 1320 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _____ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Al Borowski Sent: Sunday, 7 September 2008 3:01 PM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Independent operator requirements Hi Brian, These accidents have been terrible. The article is clearly going to make some people say "we should just ban these dangerous things, I don't want one crashing into my house". The problem is, a lot of the points made in this beat-up apply to the GFA as well. Pilots can fly with a minimum 20 hours' experience and, according to Recreational Aviation Australia, which is responsible for matters relating to ultralight aircraft, students have to pass only two multiple-choice exams and a formal flight test before receiving an RAA Pilot Certificate. No medicals are conducted. As we all know, the GFA doesn't require medicals either. The multiple choice exams aren't rocket science but were much more difficult then the GFA's - the GFA even gives out the exam beforehand, so it's just a simple memory test. I don't remember ever doing a "formal flight test" to fly gliders. Several accidents are mentioned in the article. From memory, I think some of them involved (please don't sue me if I'm incorrect, I'm only going by what I've read on forums) *A private pilot, possibly with a medical condition, illegally taking up paying passengers *Illegal aerobatics in an ultralight *An unregistered, illegal, thirty year old ultralight whose pilot refused to disclose his identity *A birdstrike The Recreational Flying Forums, http://www.recreationalflying.com.au/forum/ , has a section on incidents and accidents that list many of the above tragedies. An easy way to minimise the number of ultralight accidents would be to require 200 hours of experience before granting a license. That way, most people would say "bugger this" and quit. Not a practical solution. More training could be put in the syllabus, but then you may as well get a PPL (aside from higher costs). Best regards, Al On 9/7/08, Brian Wade <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: There is an article in the Brisbane Sunday Mail today, titled "Dice with Death" and "Thrill-seekers die as ultralight trend takes off", which cites seven ultralight accidents. It also talks about the recent YAK and the Motor Falke fatalities, but the emphasis is overwhelmingly on the "minimal" RAA pilot qualifications, and states that there have been 10 deaths in ultralight crashes in the last 16 months. Food for thought!!! Regards Brian Wade _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
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