Ok, I'll spill the beans on some goings on within VGS over the past couple of years that I've seen (and, no, I won't name the VGS, but they may recognise who they are):
- Flying when the wind is gusting out of limits. (Using hand held anemometer to measure wind without applying the correction)
- Landing an aircraft in an area of rough ground following a rough running engine. Doing a non-engineering qualified inspection on the aircraft to release it for flight following the rough landing and a couple of engine ground runs before flying the aircraft again. (Apparently within the allowable regulation for suspected carb icing)
- Flying in flying suits that have not been accepted by a SE fitter.
- Stitching their own badges on their flying suits with non-approved thread and no inspection by an SE fitter.
- Flying after SS+15 (which is night time in air cadet orders, which is prohibited). (An error in time keeping)
- Breaching the flying order book on opening hours.
- Having out of servicing headsets.
- Anomalies in the parachute paperwork.
- An out of date extinguisher on the fire trailer. (Issue technically belongs to the fire section)
- An out of date fire extinguisher in their caravan. (Likewise above)
- Anomalies in the F700 paperwork.
- Caught speeding in the yellow landrovers on several occasions.
As I said before, the VGS organisation need to get sorted out before someone gets hurt. Maybe they've been lucky over the past 30 years?
-[added as afterthought] I think the issue is that many VGS operate at remote sites or on stations with very few full-time staff at the weekends. They are normally not full time aviators and so do not 'live and breath' the military flying orders/regulations. Hence, I suspect, they have not yet been indoctrinated like the rest of us into the new safety regime that the rest of us have endured over the past 6 years. That is what is changing - the engineering oversight has changed and there are/have been far more assurance visits in recent years. Apart from the speeding, the rest were likely errors (some more serious than others) or maybe a regulation that is too liberal in my opinion. [I hope that adds a bit more balance to the examples above? However, I deny they are defamatory as I've had 1st hand knowledge of them over several years]
Finally, please don't take the above as a dig at the organisation - I think its great, but it must do its great work
safely and beyond reproach.
LJ
PS. Edited to put context in brackets