Sorry Colm
have been a bit maxed out
flew over to Uk today for a meeting – (a bit connected with BF)
wild wind both ways
38 knots at 20-30 degrees off on arrival back
Got a load of responses to make tonight so I will try to put the Irish submission on Goav8.net tonight – I cant put up the UK Associations’ response yet until it has been uniformly agreed but its looking good.
It is still pretty important for individuals to respond if only to answer the poll – we’re about 400 responses right now – a very good statistical sample but I’d like to get 1000
FWIW I think the Irish group response is a very eloquent submission and makes me think it might be interesting to push back and try to make the CTA, a British and Irish Isles schengen (perhaps to future proof that it should be British, Irish and Scottish Isles ;-) ) rather than some terrorist ghetto.
Ireland is an utterly wonderful place and it should be open to flyers who bring in money not restricted by outdated UK attitudes or as the authors of the Irish document have said offline, by Irish officials copycatting UK regs. I have a vision a simple system where one GAR does it for all jurisdictions but for me it must be on same process as all Aviation operational procedures so for me it is in line with FPL though I sympathise with more business flyers who say same as Airlines – before EOBT.
brgds
John
ps how’s it going with PFMS ? ’bout time they had an automatic link to GAR – Eurofpl have done it but it is not very intuitive
UK GAR forms and who looks at them?
Last night I emailed a GAR for taking three young passengers to LFAT.
They were born in 1993 1993 and 1996. And you can guess when I was born, from my Nokia phone 
We cancelled the trip due to bad wx at LFAT. But there is no means of cancelling a GAR.
While waiting for the wx to lift a bit locally, I got a phone call from the Border Force at Newhaven, saying I was carrying some “minors” (under 18 people) and the man wanted to know more details.
I told him we cancelled the trip, so he agreed it was irrelevant anyway.
I do know for a fact they look out for GARs which show passengers under 18 whose surname is not the same as the pilot’s (a child kidnap / divorce dispute type of scenario). But could people born 1993 1993 1996 be “minors”?
I guess he just wasn’t too good at maths
FWIW, onlinegar allows cancelling GARs.
If I sent GARs via mail to the NCU, I would just send another e-mail, with the same subject line and the words " Cancel GAR please" in the e-mail text field.
Monday evening last, for a Tuesday 21st pm inbound flight, I filed a GAR with On-LineGAR to EGSX from Merville then, on Tuesday morning, I decided to change inbound destination to Southend, cancelled the first GAR and re-filed.
I received multiple calls (5 in total) from UKBF, Southend customs & immigration and Rocket Route to me and to Merville ATC demanding that I call them before take-off from Merville, to answer certain “serious questions” – however offering a fax number but no telephone number – nada.
After scurrying around and probably six calls later I finally unearthed a telephone number and called, only to receive an ‘issue resolved’ response – no explanation and no reason when I questioned them – WTF??
Too many people, with too little to do!!??
So Peter, someone is looking – for all the wrong things!!
Rex
An “emergency” GAR telephone number was published in March this year as noted on the AOPA website
It’s quickly found with a google for that term.
0845 723 1110
An emergency may be described as:
* medical emergency of a pilot/passenger; or
* air ambulance with critical passenger; or
* other emergencies requiring a change to information contained within an already submitted GAR; or
* last minute changes to a submitted GAR, only when changes to online version are not possible.
It does appear that these are being scrutinised more thoroughly, but I still get the feeling that the computer systems they have to use are (ahem) somewhat basic, leading to plenty of opportunity for confusion.
Frankly, I also think its daft to use an 0845 number which may not work from some foreign countries and/or cost extra to call from mobile phones. It should be an 03. I also have this complaint with certain credit card companies/banks, where the fraud prevention department calls you and leaves a message to call back on a number you can’t reach from abroad.
I had this “under 18 experience” several years ago, so that part is not new. The policeman explained they are also doing the job of [some child protection agency I can’t remember – NSPCC?] and he wanted the number of the child’s parent. I gave him his mum’s phone number. Of course had I been a proper criminal I would have given him the number of a woman who is in collusion with me
Yes the 0845 is daft and I have a 01273 (Brighton) number for a fax2pdf service for this reason too. I could have had an 0870 number which would have given me a free fax2pdf service! Same with VOIP numbers. But not many people know about these things…
UKBF did provide a number asking that I re-submit the form via fax rather than using the Internet – ‘their’ preferred method! – however as I have now deleted those numbers I’m unable to provide them.
The emergency number provided, referred to by DavidC at #04, I was aware of but were not appropriate.
I neglected to include in my post above that I had received acknowledgements for both GARs therefore no responsibility can accrue to OLG, whose programme works excellently on each occasion use it.
On the issue of AOPA, is there a straw poll anywhere on EuroGA as to how many pilots posting / reading here are actually a member and do other pilots think it worthwhile? (FYI I am a member and have been for some years) – perhaps there could be a separate thread initiated for pilots to provide their views?
Anyway UKBF are in disarray but have, given recent terrorist activity / scares, been galvanised into closer scrutiny of the GA pilot population entering / re-entering the UK and even, in Peter’s case, leaving it.
I have personally never been checked on the way out – ever – now watch that change!
Just hang on a minute – presumably this was the incoming GAR they were querying? as you sure don’t need a GAR to travel out of UK to France!
I have never ever had this queried, although once Special Branch phoned me about a GAR to Guernsey (outbound) confirming I had permission!! I informed them they could neither allow or forbid my flight as this is a declaration service only NOT a request for clearance.
It was clear (on both occassions where presumed “kids” were carried) that it was the outgoing flight (the “child kidnap” presumption) they were concerned about.
You make an excellent point, PhilTheFlyer, because an outbound GAR is not required (if all are EU citizens and travelling to EU), so if I was travelling abroad with an under-18 kid whose surname is not same as mine, I would be 100.000% legal to not file the GAR until I am out of the UK and then file it just for the return flight!
It is just that if going to say LFAT for a lunch and a walkabout, 4hrs may be a bit tight, which is why one files it before departing from the UK. In that case I might get someone to email it to BF just after I cross the FIR boundary
How completely ridiculous!
although once Special Branch phoned me about a GAR to Guernsey (outbound) confirming I had permission!! I informed them they could neither allow or forbid my flight as this is a declaration service only NOT a request for clearance.
Yes – the Channel Islands is a hotbed of terrorism 
and they are really hot on those. But France?
I filed a GAR on line early last week for a return TO the UK on Friday from Germany but did not file for the outbound as I, like Peter, believe it is clear no GAR is required for leaving the UK if you are all EU citizens. No one has questioned me.
