Legally there's no 28-day rule. But a lot of UK clubs/schools insist that you fly at least every 28 days otherwise you have to do a club/school check with an instructor. Thus guaranteeing a nice line of income for the club/school.
Alternatively, it's a rule for private airstrips. If you operate for no more than 28 days in any one year, you don't need planning permission for your strip.
Alternatively, it's a rule for private airstrips. If you operate for no more than 28 days in any one year, you don't need planning permission for your strip.
Or anything else.
It basically says that under English law you can use the the land for something different - airstrip, campsite, motor rally site, whatever - for up to 28 days per year without having to go through any system for approval for change of use.
Legally there's no 28-day rule. But a lot of UK clubs/schools insist that you fly at least every 28 days otherwise you have to do a club/school check with an instructor. Thus guaranteeing a nice line of income for the club/school.
What price Safety eh?
....and the last time I looked there were similar rules elsewhere in the world!
Thus guaranteeing a nice line of income for the club/school.
I rather suspect that they lose money actually.
If I book an aircraft and an instructor for one circuit to keep current I pay them for fifteen minutes. If I hadn't had to do that they could have sold that slot to someone who wanted a full hour's lesson.
So if the aircraft you fly is shared ownership would i be right in saying this rule doesnt apply?
Thanks
Yes.
A complete deriliction of responsibility on the part of clubs. Some pilots need to fly every 28 days others can go a lot longer. They should know their "members" and categorise accordingly
of course if you fly single crew public transport then you have to have a 28 day check ride (assuming you have not flown in that time) regardless of how many hours you have done in the previous months. Surely it is common sense that a low hours pilot should have to do the same! I may be wrong but it might well come down to the insurance policy and the fact that the aircraft that are being rented will be flown on a public transport C of A and presumably insured as such.
Its not insurance the standard club insurance is only done by 2 companys.
When I go home I take an aircraft out solo for 3 circuits and I am over 90 days never mind 28. I don't need to I might add for teaching I just prefer to anyway in case I have to sort a landing out its more to do with the weight of the controls than anything else. I checked with the insurance company and they are fine with it.
We have variable time limits but usually the punter wants to go up anyway even if you can say they can take it. Maybe its reverse physcology or we don't have any knobs as instructors and an hour/3 circuits with an instructor is seen as a fun thing to do and not a PIA. Whenever I do one of these the punter logs PIC anyway maybe that stops the mind set that its just done to fleece them.
How can you say clubs lose money regarding the 28 day rule?
I'd have thought that my post was quite clear.
But here's a slightly longer version for the hard of understanding:
If a club has fixed slots for booking its aircraft and instructors, which sounds to me like a reasonable way of avoiding complete chaos, then if the instructor and aircraft are being used for a check ride and bringing in 15 minutes money they can not during the same slot be used for a full lesson and bring in a full hour's money.
An hour's hire is more money than a single circuit.
The club thus loses 45 minutes money by allowing a punter to book an aircraft and instructor for a one circuit currency flight.
Normally in the UK its the Instructor gets screwed.
1. you do the check and then the punter takes the plane away for the rest of the time. Didn't mind this actually gave me a break.
2. You get the check ride launched at you as you walk in from another lesson and you some how have to fit inbetween 2 lessons. Usually because the punter has turned up on spek and the school wants the solo hire as well as the 2 lessons. Stuff's up the debrief and the brief of 2 students
Legally there's no 28-day rule. But a lot of UK clubs/schools insist that you fly at least every 28 days otherwise you have to do a club/school check with an instructor. Thus guaranteeing a nice line of income for the club/school.
If a club or a school wants to impose its own 'rule' such as this (which can maximise its income) then that club or school should bear all costs of carrying out such a 'check'. And why an instructor? It is not licensed training. Why even a licensed pilot for that matter?
Any club will impose the rules that it thinks are appropriate to safety, good training, and protection of their assets. And they'll inevitably pass the cost of this this onto the customers.
On the whole, most clubs get to know their customers and apply some pragmatism. But equally, anybody only flying a few tens of hours annually isn't maintaining good recency and has to expect to be require to fly regular checkouts.
But a lot of UK clubs/schools insist that you fly at least every 28 days otherwise you have to do a club/school check with an instructor. Thus guaranteeing a nice line of income for the club/school.
Our club has this, but as it's non-profit making and has no employees, no-one stands to gain apart from an instructor getting half an hour's money. It's just a sensible bit of practical safety - seems good to me.
In my experience, one size fits-all 'rules' generally do little to improve safety, they provide somewhere for the jobsworth to hide behind: "Not my fault mate, them's the rules". Those who are not 'hurt' by the rule say "seems like a good idea to me, safety's good mm'kay?", those who are receive accusatory finger pointing: "what price safety?" I'd suggest there's a case to argue that it might be detrimental to safety. It might just engender a mindset of "I've done a check so I must be OK", rather than an objective assessment of whether you are OK. On the other hand, perhaps some people aren't too objective(!)
For example, most of the flying clubs I spoke to when I was looking for a new home require 28 day currency on *their* aircraft, or even individual types in the fleet. So, I can fly 30 consecutive days on someone else's aircraft, then come back and have to do a check? Perhaps I fly a pitts several times in those 28 days, then need a checkout to fly a PA28? And apparently it's not blatant profiteering!
Fortunately there are some more enlightened operators out there, if you keep looking. Oh, and just for the record, this 28 day business isn't (in my experience), common in Aus, or NZ. Don't know about the rest of the world, but the UK is the first place I've seen it.
