Well, my first post was deleted by the mods, possibly because I posted the rather rude PM that Mr Spence sent me. So, I'll try again!
As reported by Wales Online:
Spence stated "David Ibbotson didn’t have a commercial licence. It meant he couldn’t get paid to fly but it doesn’t affect his ability to fly, his experience or competence."
I'd say that it absolutely does affect his competence, given that a commercial pilot is required to demonstrate objectively higher levels of aviation knowledge and flying ability in order to obtain the licence. He never did that. In my opinion and based on the reporting from Wales Online, trying to pretend otherwise either demonstrates a lack of knowledge (unlikely) or a pretty tacky way to give the jury the wrong impression of how these licenses work, semantics notwithstanding.
We'll see if he accuses me of libel again. Given that he's a member here he's free to respond directly if he thinks my impression is incorrect, and explain in more detail how a private pilot and a commercial pilot apparently have to demonstrate the same levels of knowledge and ability.
Last edited by Katamarino; 29th Oct 2021 at 01:53.