Freelance instructors to set up as RF

[pembroke]

Straight from the CAA subscriptions via e mail.
Apparently all instruction re a Part FCL licence (and JAR FCL) must be covered by an ATO, ie what we now call an RF. If, as is my case, instruction/examining takes you far and wide, probably attached to a club/school but also doing other work for groups or individual owners, then we need to register as an RF, have the paperwork in by May 31st and do this before the June/July EASA deadline. IN-2012/071 refers, and Stds Doc.11 gives the details. After the deadline we will required to be registered as an ATO!!
Personally I value my independance from a specific flying club, my duty of care is always to the individual student, my licence, and then to the school/club. It will be interesting to see what others think, but I can see why I am close to returnung to the Annex 2 and the microlight world.

[Whopity]

Training for a JAA licence has always had to be conducted from a RF or ATO so there is nothing new there. Individual instructors will still be able to conduct training outside such an organisation for revalidation, it is only in relation to rating renewal that there is a significant change.

[peterh337]

Does that mean that the cost of renewing one's JAA IR will go up?

Currently one can get it done for about £150.

[S-Works]

It should be an incentive to people to revalidate rather than renew!

We have no intentions to change our Examining fees for external work.

[pembroke]

Granted that JAR PPL ab initio training has always required at an RF, but the majority of my flying is for either inclusion of a rating, ie IMC, or it for revalidation/renewal, often outwith the club/school environment. Now one assumes that anything coming from the CAA is directly from EASA, but I wonder if this was written by the same department that wrote the dreadful AICW001/2011. One of the many mistakes in that AIC was the statement that instruction/examining on a permit aircraft must be done c/o an RF, and the instructor and owner had to be members of the said RF!
Back to the IN-2012/071, registering as an RF is a pain and not inexpensive, but how long will it be before that has to be turned into an ATO, and will my study at home suffice as a "briefing area,ops room and classroom".

[S-Works]

The CAA are not accepting any more applications for RTF's. Any new application will have to be an ATO. Current RTF's have 2 years to become EASA compliant.

In order to be an ATO you need a training manual, Operations Manual, Quality Manual and need to consider an SMS. The boot of your car or study at home will not meet the requirements.

However non of this is difficult to do and if anyone wants help in producing compliant manuals drop me a line as I have become quite a dab hand now with manuals for PPL, CPL, IR, MEP, SET and Type ratings all currently on our approvals as JAA approved and I am in the process of changing them to be Part FCL compliant.

I will also allow suitably standardised Instructors to operate under our umbrella and as another option the LAA coaching scheme which is actually an RTF as well can provide you another opportunity.

Whilst I agree that there are few elements of the change that are a bit of a pain, I do wonder if most of the problems people perceive are actually just a resistance to change.....

[Whopity]

The CAA are not accepting any more applications for RTF'sAccording to the IN the last date for applications is 31 May 2012!
The IN only applies to Part FCL licences and not UK NPPLs or IMC ratings.Does that mean that the cost of renewing one's JAA IR will go up?Not if you revalidate it but, if you let it expire expect to have to do a training flight at an ATO before you pay the £150. I do wonder if most of the problems people perceive are actually just a resistance to change.....More likely the £1000 approval fee!

[S-Works]

According to the IN the last date for applications is 31 May 2012!

I stand corrected, the date I was given was 31st March but it looks like it was just for the old scale of charges.

I think the change actually benefits us as we have approval as an RTF, FTO and TRTO and I think under the new regime it all becomes a single approval?