Plog Blog

I am Kelley Malcher, and I am a GA pilot (although I am recovering!) I gained my private pilots licence when I was eighteen.  Most of my training was from Norwich Airport in the East of England while working for various flight training organisations, although I also have an FAA licence.  More recently, I have been flying from RAF Coltishall.

From time to time I and a few respected colleagues will be posting blogs that are relevant and hopefully interesting to those of you who are enthused by the prospect of flying light aircraft.  Therefore, please feel free to post your comments, and hopefully together we can create a GA forum that will benefit us all.

I just stumbled across an intriguing fact that the UK CAA are organising an awards event for GA.  The General Aviation Safety Awards 2005 are for those of us who have demonstrated good airmanship and actively averted incidents/accidents throughout 2005.

I dare say that every GA pilot can say that they have averted incidences within the last year.  After all, it is in everybody's nature to analyse risks before taking or not taking them, however, the CAA are after 'one-off' incidences.
The question that I pose is; is this a sneaky way of getting GA pilots to report incidences?  Surely I am being too cynical!

If anybody should like to nominate for the awards, the closing date is 16 January 2006, and you can find the forms in the General Aviation section of the CAA site.

What span of time between taking to the skies is too long before we become less competent?  I am sure that it varies with every individual, so how do the authorities decide on a time limit that makes us safer pilots? 

Most UK flying clubs insist that we fly their aircraft more than is legally required each year.  For example I have worked at two flying schools where the limit has been 35 days.  The first school also insisted that an hour should be flown within the 35 days on a particular aircraft type; otherwise an instructor would have to chaperone.  Of course a UK licence stipulates that we have to fly 12 hours every second year, and that if we do not land three times in a single piston engine within 90 days, we cannot take passengers. 

Personally, I wonder if the flying club rules are sometimes too strict, but at the same time would not feel as confident if I were to only fly 12 hours every second year.

I have been flying for about 9 years.  Initially I was flying around 40 hours a year.  I felt confident (sometimes overly confident) and safe.  I now fly much less frequently, and am much less ambitious about where and when I fly. 

I would love to hear your experiences as a GA pilot.  How confident are you?  And how often do you fly?  What are the rules in your flying club?  (If you belong to one)  And what is the legislation in the country that you fly?