Hmmmm. It’s all a bit odd. I’m left thinking that:
a) the ‘not for profit safety charity’ aspect of the punishment courses was less then tenable, and;
b) the CAA probably took the courses off them because, well, why give them to a charity when you can give them to one of your mates who makes a little business out of them. The new provider is ex-CAA and ex-RAF so doubtlessly known personally to those awarding the contract, and;
c) time for a change all round, diverts attention and makes it look like you’re not all just swimming along in a greasy river of taxpayers (and aviators) money.
They guy who wrote that article is a decent guy – he did my PPL skills test actually. But I can’t help not liking the GASCo attitude – like they have to ‘reach’ every pilot and bring them into their fold, attending their safety evenings and following their doctrine. What if I just want to exercise, as a private citizen, the privileges of the licence granted to me and do so without further advice from various experts? I wish people would stop campaigning to try and teach me how to live a better life…. it’s all a little bit too like religion to me.
@Graham , if I understand correctly, this isnt about the “punishment courses”, but the safety evenings… which is really wierd…
@skydriller I had no idea the CAA paid them to deliver those. I thought that was an activity they undertook of their own volition.
I’m sure they’re very good, if you like that sort of thing, but I’m not one for being preached to.
Ive never been to one, I wouldnt know… would I go to one? Probably, if I was in the UK and one was where I was at the time, because it cant hurt, and I like to make up my own mid mind about such courses.
Been to a couple of FAF “safety days” since Ive been in France, where a base invites local aeroclubs in to talk about their activities – usually the mil-ATC controlling the adjacent restricted area shows you their control “tower” and gives a talk about what they do and what makes their life easier etc. Often they have a jet or helicopter you can look at and they talk about their mission profiles in the local area. Its interesting and I usually learn something new, but the aeroclub hasnt had an invite to one for at least 3-4 years, they used to be every 2-3 years rotated around the regions bases.
Regards, SD..
skydriller wrote:
Ive never been to one, I wouldnt know… would I go to one? Probably, if I was in the UK and one was where I was at the time, because it cant hurt, and I like to make up my own mid mind about such courses.
That is exactly how how had done it – they were running that thing (normal one, “non-punishment” version) in the hotel next to the airfield.
OK for one visit, no revelations but got some info I did not know before. Not sure if I will go again.
I did some safety evenings way back in my early days and they were excruciatingly embarrassingly tedious. They were aimed at the 5hr/year pilot. They were also full of groupies – the sort of pilots who love the CAA, read all their Safety Sense leaflets cover to cover, and hiss at you if you mention the dreaded word G-P-S. I am sure the safety evenings have moved on a bit but I am sure they are still aimed at the same audience.
Graham wrote:
the CAA probably took the courses off them because, well, why give them to a charity when you can give them to one of your mates who makes a little business out of them. The new provider is ex-CAA and ex-RAF so doubtlessly known personally to those awarding the contract, and;
Doesn’t the CAA simply have to make a public procurement? When the UK was an EU member, it certainly did. If one of your mates had the best offer, then you have to give it to him.
The standard way to get around that is to draft the spec so that the parties which you do not want to get the contract cannot [economically] meet it, and/or your mate can meet it.
Anyway, if this looks like gasco lost only the “safety evenings” but retained the “pilot punishment courses”, it will put even more pressure on the system to send as many as possible to gasco. This, as we noted here a long time ago, is what the CAA was quite visibly doing, by top-slicing about 20 pilots per month and sending them to gasco, and the rest getting warning letters. That maintained the gasco income stream. But once this got publicity (here on EuroGA; nowhere else) they gradually reduced this, as the numbers clearly show. Now they will likely work their way up again, even though right now the gasco expenses must be very low, running the £200 “course” on Zoom.
Presumably GASCo will reduce the cost of these courses from £200. If these costs covered all the travelling and venue hire etc, there should now be a considerable saving?
Airborne_Again wrote:
Doesn’t the CAA simply have to make a public procurement? When the UK was an EU member, it certainly did. If one of your mates had the best offer, then you have to give it to him.
I think part of the original complaint around the GASCo punishment courses was that there had been no procurement process when, as you say, there should have been.
Of course in this sort of sphere what @Peter writes is absolutely correct about how such things are taken care of. Same reason all the speed awareness courses are run by ex-policemen.
