UK Instrument Rated Private Pilot and Instrument Flight Instructor
COVID-19 has made this a difficult year for many, and I have been fortunate indeed not to be too badly affected. A lockdown until mid-April was mitigated with a few engine maintenance flights (once per month) and a few flights to retain currency as an instructor – this included a couple of standardisation flights that undoubtedly improved and aligned my technique with others in the club. Surprisingly, my hourly total
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Today I received my Ground and Revalidation Examiner authorisation from the CAA as an early Christmas present. This will allow me to conduct theory exams at the two flying clubs where I instruct (but not elsewhere), having been sponsored by both. Ground and Revalidation Examiner approval process The CAA turned this around in a couple of weeks. Application sent by email on 9th December, card charged on 23rd, paperwork by
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Today was my first and hopefully last report to the Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB). I was instructing at the Bristol Aero Club at Gloucester and taxied out for power checks for the third instructional flight of the day. While parked at the A2 hold, commencing power checks, a large EC135 helicopter hover taxied close behind us from Spot 5 towards the fuel pumps, tipping the aircraft significantly forward and
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Our last of the four days would be a busy one. We had planned to depart France from Limoges, taking about three hours to fly back to the UK direct in G-CORB, our shared TB20 aircraft. French Immigration/Customs has a permanent presence there and so only requires two hours notice. I also filed an IFR flight plan and GAR form for 1500 local which would get us back to the
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My turn to fly the TB20, this time Figari to Perpignan. The direct route over water was almost two hours and I considered whether to file VFR or IFR and what altitude to cross the water at. There are prescribed VFR routes which reduce the overwater time but take you up north towards Nice and Saint Tropez. A more direct route was suggested by Autorouter with VFR legs at both
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We were keen to make the most of flying within France in our shared TB20. Nic had managed to obtain PPR for Figari, which published a 72 hour advance requirement although it seems is really not very busy at all. He had flown to Corsica before on an intensive flying trip and was keen to return. He filed a VFR flight plan and determined a route flying down the mountain
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Our earlier planning had focussed on entering/exiting France, with all the regulations around COVID and BREXIT, aiming to visit Annecy and depart from Limoges. Some further flight planning we conducted in Auxerres involved flying into Annecy for some quick sightseeing and lunch, then onward as far south as we could while remaining in France. Figari in the southern tip of Corsica published a 72 hour PPR requirement so we were
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My TB20 co-owner Nic and I had discussed a few days touring abroad during September, intending to make the most of the capabilities of the aircraft but with no firm plans. Longer term dreams of Croatia, Italy or Romania would have been severely constrained by COVID travel restrictions as well as time constraints. Travel rules have been changing frequently, both in the UK and abroad, and there was a risk
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Back again. I enjoyed visiting so much on my brief club trip the previous weekend, that I returned with my wife in the TB20 to explore the region in more detail after stopping off for the day in the Aran Islands. We had intended to spend a couple of days in Limerick and then a couple in Kerry. My desktop research uncovered that the normal fee for parking at Shannon
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Light aircraft allow you to visit remote places that would otherwise be quite difficult and time-consuming to reach. The three small Aran Islands lie a few miles off the Western coast of Ireland and are not to be confused with the island of Arran near Glasgow in Scotland. They each have their own small airport, served by Aer Arann using their fleet of Islander aircraft based onshore at Connemara. Frequent
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