News from CAA about GA Unit

[Sir George Cayley]

Seen this on the CAA website

CAA announce two major appointments | CAA Newsroom | About the CAA (http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=14&pagetype=65&appid=7&mode=detail&nid=2327)

Not gone down well with those on the 'other' forum.

SGC

[Ridger]

Never heard of Tony Rapson, hopefully he'll be brilliant and it'll run like a swiss watch. However, I can't help thinking Sir John Allison would have been perfect to head up GA!

[bookworm]

However, I can't help thinking Sir John Allison would have been perfect to head up GA!

If I concentrate hard enough while imagining that, I can almost smell the burning copies of the ANO... ;)

['Chuffer' Dandridge]

Looks like the CAA is going back to the days when it was known as RAF Gatwick…….

More Controlled Airspace anyone? :{

[Lima Juliet]

As a Royal Air Force aviator with a quarter century in and also a current GA background for over a decade, I have to say I've never heard of or met the new Head of GA Unit. The one thing that does worry me is that, in my experience, most Air Traffickers are process monkeys who are not allowed to 'think outside the box' - I do hope my cynicism is poorly placed!

LJ

PS. I agree that Sir John would have been excellent, but probably a bit like Oliver Reid running a vineyard!

[Sir George Cayley]

And your point is?

SGC

[Corporal Clott]

Online Profile
Tony served in the Royal Air Force for 28 years as an air traffic controller, instructor and examiner before specialising in airspace policy and management.* A graduate of UK’s Joint Service Command and Staff College he also commanded the London Air Traffic Control Centre (Military), the largest Military Air Traffic Control Unit in Europe, before serving as the Chief of the Air Staffs subject matter expert and desk officer for UK airspace policy.* His last tour was as the Group Captain lead for policy and strategy for aviation safety, overseas operational infrastructure, along with responsibility for delivery of Met services and RAF Fire-fighters.*

In December 2008 he joined the Civil Aviation Authority taking up responsibilities for a pan-CAA co-ordination role for the Airspace Policy Directorate, including the review of safety and accident reports for airspace implications and causal factors.* During this time his main focus was as part of the team developing the CAA’s Future Airspace Strategy.

He was seconded from the CAA to the UK Department of Transport in June 2012 to head up the European Airspace Branch during what will be a critical time in the implementation of Single European Sky legislation, with the introduction and realisation of real efficiency in Air Traffic Management under the EU Performance Scheme.

- See more at: ATC Global Hub - Tony Rapson (http://www.atcglobalhub.com/page.cfm/Action=Visitor/VisitorID=836#sthash.l5mmPpId.dpuf)

I don't see any GA background in his professional profile. It would be nice to know that he has some experience in the sector he is now the head of - he seems to have had plenty of experience in his previous positions in airspace management.

I do hope that they have kept Mike Barnard as the GA Program Manager - at least he has a proven track record in GA as he flies his own Vans RV.

CPL Clott

[camlobe]

Been involved in GA for a few years now, and in the RAF for some time before that. Never heard of Tony Rapson. But it would appear that he has spent most of his career in the corridors of policy and decision makers for airspace, so not surprising that we have never met. Well, we all use airspace, so I can see some relevance, but I haven't yet seen any reference to his previous or present connections to GA. Has he got a PPL? Does he hold an EASA Part 66 Licence? Is he a member of AOPA? Does he have a share in an LAA aircraft? Has he heard of an IMC rating? Is he capable of passing or does he hold a Class 2 medical? Unanswered questions abound.

Now, I know that you don't have to be a banker to become CEO of the Co-op bank, and I know that the head of Virgin Rail is not a train driver. However, rightly or wrongly, I feel that a considerable amount of relevant experience, not personal connections, should form a major part of the criteria to be met for this important position. None of us wish to continue the ridiculous merry-go-round of inappropriate and disproportionate regulation being forced upon us by, say, well meaning but clueless beaurocrats who we all have to suffer for no benefit.

I sincerely hope we all discover that Tony Rapson has been involved in GA for some time, and already understands the severity of the problems facing this vital sector of aviation in the UK. After all, how else will he be able to deal with the task if he doesn't clearly understand the problems at the coal face? He certainly won't be able to learn it in a couple of months.

Camlobe

[airpolice]

Cpl ClottI do hope that they have kept Mike Barnard as the GA Program Manager - at least he has a proven track record in GA as he flies his own Vans RV.


Did you miss the message, about NPPL expiry dates, that he put in the the latest magazine from the CAA ?

[snchater]

I spoke to the CAA Press Office this morning and enquired about Rapson's GA experience.

I was told that he was a lapsed PPL with some gliding experience.

Not the reassurance that I was looking for.

[dubbleyew eight]

he does fit the world wide mould of an ex airforce officer with absolutely no idea of private aviation, no real respect for it, being placed in a position to screw it up with clueless policies.

what he has shown is that when he has to pay for it himself ...he doesn't.

a lapsed ppl indeed.

[Bob Upanddown]

Remember what they said in November:

The Unit will be staffed by GA experts with knowledge and experience
appropriate to the sector. They will be responsible for implementing a
comprehensive programme of deregulation and where feasible allow the GA
sector to take on more responsibilities for its own safety. Work on a number of
initiatives has already started, such as the deregulation for airworthiness
purposes of single-seat microlights launched at the end of September, and will
continue while the new Unit is set up.

The Unit will develop a full GA reform programme that will build on and
supersede the CAA's "RA2 programme" that emerged from the review
conducted in mid-2012 of the regulatory framework applying to the sport and
recreational sector of GA. The full delivery plan will be in place by April 2014.


We have 10 weeks to wait and see. They have appointed the boss who may not fully understand GA. Hopefully, he will employ GA experts.

[octavian]

Sadly, the CAA has a reputation for appointing people with limited experience in the field of their appointment, requiring the consequent appointment of an entire pyramid of advisors to support them. Witness Diedre. All of which gets paid by us lot. No wonder their fees are so outrageous. They are an industry in themselves, and they are in denial, and would have been better advised to subscribe to AOPA, the LAA and a few others, and start bl--dy listening to an industry which is dying as a consequence of over-regulation, focus groups and a blind following of everything coming out of EASA.

Tony is a nice chap, or at least he was twenty plus years ago when an ATC instructor at EGOS, and I doubt that the man will have changed. He may well be good value, but I too would have liked someone with a detailed grounding in GA and all it's problems.

Leon, I'm a former RAF, and current civil, ATCO with a lot of GA experience, and rather hope that, like most, if not all, ATCOs I think outside the box. Process monkeys? I don't think so. Back in your box sir.

Sorry chaps, and Tony, rant over, but I really do despair.

[Lima Juliet]

I'll take that as a bite, Sir! :ok:

I did say "most"...

[Whopity]

The only reason for closing the GA Dept was because it did not make any money and had to rely on spending the income from other departments. Nothing has changed, so who is going to finance this U turn?

[octavian]

Marvellous. Thanks Leon

[VORTIME]

I was very disappointed to see someone who has essentially been a government employee all their life appointed to 'revitalize' GA. Money, time, form filling - none of this matters to those in government positions, in fact, it is what keeps them employed and what their unions actively encourage. What we as a GA community need would likely reduce government employees labour requirement.

For example,
1) Why on earth are we still travelling hundreds of miles to sit exams that can be done anywhere on computers in the US? (allergy to technology)
2) Why on earth do we all pretend to use ADFs for exams and then bin them for GPS (allergy to technology)
3) Why can't we use E6B calculators like the US (allergy to technology)
4) Why is glass cockpit, autopilot, GPS 'stuff to beware of' but vacuum, unreliable old nav (guess where the mountain is - surprise!) is glamourised? (allergy to technology)

So what do we do to solve the lack of progress? We appoint someone from an organisation that invented most of the road blocks to fix it?! If he wants to make a positive contribution, he needs to recognise how we fly - shared access, SkyDemon, electronics, with limited budget & time outside of work etc.

[airpolice]

I think he might actually be an inspired choice.

All of you guys advocating that "another of us GA types would be better" should perhaps consider this: We are all already on board and things are not great.

Bringing one of "the enemy" inside the tent to piss out might be better for us than the other way round.

Appointing a long time GA defender would not be conducive to getting agreement in the corridors of power. At least Group Captain Rapson knows who to poke with a stick, and who to be nice to.

The CAA have created a yardstick to measure his success by. Let's give the guy a chance. This time next year, we'll see if he has improved things for us.

For the purposes of GA, it's not what he's done in the last 24 years that matters, it's what he does in the next 24 months.

[mad_jock]

Depends if he had anything to do with the abortion which is ATCOCAS.

[Mach Jump]

Here's a quote from the CAA website requesting applicants for this position.

'The ideal candidate.

This is an important and demanding role. You will be a self-motivated individual, able to operate at all levels and have demonstrated highly developed leadership and communication skills across multiple disciplines. You will be experienced and passionate about General Aviation and able to collaborate on how best to achieve safety performance in a risk focussed and proportionate way. You will have related experience in evolving organisational cultural and influencing stakeholder groups.

A detailed knowledge of the current regulatory framework for General Aviation would be an advantage and it is likely you will have experience working in the General Aviation environment at a senior level'

:confused:

[airpolice]

Mach, are you suggesting that he wasn't the best candidate to apply?

Perhaps he ticks more of those boxes than anyone else who put their name into the hat.

[dash6]

A background in airspace regulation would be useful in assisting that part of "GA" that operates Learjets and the like.

[Bob Upanddown]

All of you guys advocating that "another of us GA types would be better" should perhaps consider this: We are all already on board and things are not great.

Many GA types have been “talking” with the CAA for many years and have not made the advance that the GA Unit potentially represents.
My own experience earwigging on meetings with one of the groups dealing with the CAA was that it was more a briefing from the CAA telling the group what the CAA were going to do (cherry picked to make it sound like the CAA were “on our side”). These guys were meeting with the CAA once or twice a year so the speed of dealing with anything was painfully slow. But this was acceptable to these guys as they were as much “establishment” as the guys from the CAA.
Suddenly the Red Tape Challenge exposes the rump of the CAA and the CAA promise action.

Alternatively, here is possible scenario from the teachings of Sir Humphrey. Set up a unit to answer the Tory minister’s demands, put a nice guy who knows nothing about GA in charge of the unit (so has to deal with existing groups who, we know, are used to months between unproductive meetings), wait until the next general election, government changes, minister is promoted and forgets about GA, GA unit closed quietly. GA complains through existing associations, CAA say “we tried the GA unit and it didn’t work” and the associations all say “yes you did, what a shame it didn’t work”. Problem dealt with. Nothing changes, CAA happy. GA disappears with only homebuilts remaining under LAA control. CAA even happier.