As another of what looks like an increasing number of ex-PFA members, I think all this talk of Moody throwing a wobbler at the rally is just clouding the issue - which is that to an ordinary, subscription-paying member, beyond taking our membership fees, the 'powers that be' within the PFA seem totally disinterested in the views of 'ordinary members'. They give the impression of being an arrogant, aloof, old-boys network - and the only way anyone can join the ranks of the EC is by invitation. Hardly democratic!
But FWIW, my take on last July's events is this:
1. Unlike previous years, the PFA did not have any sort of display authorisation from the CAA for the PFA Rally at Kemble.
2. Late in the day, the home-based Extra team approached controllers in the caravan to ask if they could go through a few routines - and the controller(s) agreed. I am assuming that this was on the grounds that the Extra team have some sort of general permit to do aeros at their home airfield anyway - and this was 'out of PFA ours' - ie when the airfield had officially reverted back to the usual FISO service, and was not therefore still under the special CAA rally rules and regs.
3. Anyway, the 'display' started - and yes, Moody went beserk. Whether this was because he thought the Rally 'no aeros permit' rule was being broken, or just because he hadn't been consulted, I've no idea.
AFAIK, ATC authorised a couple of specific manouvres, and then the team requested that they do a couple of their 'routines' without having to talk to ATC between each one - and ATC said OK.
4. But then during this (no doubt adding fuel to Moody's aready raging fire), the team then flew quite low - in a direction which ran from directly over the main crowdline, to more or less over the control tower, crossing somewhere over the runway - as GF says, directly over both crowdlines, at roughly right-angles to the runway.
5. This is where things start turning PARTICULARLY messy. Given that Moody is already letting rip at everyone and his dog, the fact that a possibly illegal manouvre has now been performed is just going to turn him into a man on a mission. Yet how can ATC back him up? If they join him in his prosecution, then they have to admit they gave the go-ahead - but that they possibly weren't fully aware of what the team would do - which seems to me tantamount to saying "Fair enough, here's my licence - I never really liked being an ATCO anyway!" So it was bound to get messy. Moody ain't the sort of guy to give up - being like a dog with a bone at the best of times - but then again, if he HAD backed down, and some smart-arse spectator had gone to the CAA about 'dodgy low flying, endagering his wife and kids!' - yet the rally organisers had tried to sweep it under the carpet, then what???
IMHO, Moody totally overreacted initially - but then the pilots pushed their luck a bit and showed off ("hey, this'll look good - and most of the day-trippers have gone by now, and so it's not THAT much different to when we do it over an empty airfield!") - and the !!!! hit the fan. Moody (apparently) is hell-bent on 'protecting the PFA' - but the controllers and pilots stand to lose their licences, from the course of action he takes. So it's inevitable that it gets messy, and everyone seems to be telling a different story.
So apart from the fact that he did indeed use a lot of words that my mother wouldn't like - and threw his toys out even before the questionably 'fly-past' occurred, how exactly has Moody brought the PFA into disrepute???
One quick question to Girl Flyday though... are you a good friend of 'Steve'? ;-)))