I just know I'm going to regret putting my head above the parapet but here goes! As Vice Chairman of the PFA:
Mushroom 2, I gather from your post that you are a PFA member?
For your information a full list of EC members is published on the website and on the first page of Popular Flying magazine.
As for not knowing any of us if you fell over us that's probably true, simply because we really are ordinary PFA members who are trying to put something back into an association we have gained a great deal of pleasure from. Chances are that you have seen me at a fly-in or stood next to me at the bar during a PFA Rally.
As for naming delinquent members of the EC, please! Contrary to popular belief (at least on BBs) we aren't some secret society filled with dyed in the wool comittee men and power hungry individuals with big fish in small pond mentalities.
Some of the posts on here and indeed on the PFA website show a regrettable ignorance of the 'official' structure of the PFA. As a member everything about running the PFA is available to you. To become an EC member you only need to be proposed and seconded by ORDINARY PFA members, a couple of your mates will do, whether they are known by a wide audience doesn't matter a jot, especially while apathy rules and there are more places than candidates on the EC (that has been the case for 5 years now!).
Tony R, I would like to answer some of your questions, but I have no intention of answering them publicly as I believe I would be treading in potentially litigous areas. If you would like to speak with me I'd be happy to give you a phone number. Email me at
[email protected].
It's an unfortunate fact that if you count all the posters on here and the PFA website for any particular thread, they are very few indeed compared with the total membership of the PFA. At a recent National Council meeting (where Strut representatives have a chance to debate directly with the EC) your subject - 'The Adams affair' was brought up by the Association Chairman. The response was that hardly a single rep knew anything about it, it was not 'hot gossip' despite the publicity on BBs and in the magazine.
All any of you will do here is to succeed in damaging the association for the future. Members won't leave in their droves, the only ones actually interested in this subject are those with aircraft on a permit, building or about to build, around 2000 members. Those 2000 or so members are the ones who will suffer in the long run if as some here would like we lose our exposition.
If you as members don't like what is happening then do something positive about it, get one or more of 'your' political group on the EC and effect some POSITIVE changes for yourselves. New blood on the EC would be no bad thing, there are indeed some 'old dogs' languishing there, but there haven't been any new dogs to see them off!
Someone here called for the entire comittee and upper management to be sacked........er they did something like that in Cambodia, remember, some chap called Pol Pot or similar.
The George Adams affair has taken a great deal of the EC's time and of course Office time. We haven't dealt lightly with it and the EC meeting(s) when we debated the subject ran well over time, 11.00 pm I seem to remember. It certainly wasn't a whitewash, there was heated debate, and it was extremely difficult to get to where we did. There was never going to be a perfect solution to the problem.
Just to put the record straight on one thing however; I checked after reading this thread, George Adams was phoned on no less than 8 occasions. He has the opportunity to re-apply for his Inspector approval but has DECLINED. Re applying is something EVERY inspector does EVERY year.
Ladies and Gents of PPRUNE, what are you trying to achieve here? Justice, Truth? We ALL want that along with an ideal world!
The PFA is a great association but it's run by a volunteer membership crew, it's frankly a bloody thankless task but someone has to do it and I doubt very much whether the more vociferous of you here will actually put yourselves forward to really effect some change, tho in fact the time you spend here posting at all hours of the day and night could amount to very procuctive time on behalf of the association if that's what you really desired (and some of you obviously do).
Since the George Adams affair, serious changes have taken place in the PFA. A new head of engineering has joined us, tasked with the thorny problems of EASA (the real threat to all GA flying), mode S etc.
As a direct result of the George Adams affair we have separated Inspection from Engineering and Ken Craigie is now head of that department (not what you would expect us to do if we had suspended him for supporting George!). New inspection procedures are in place including a rolling audit of all inspectors to tighten up standards and hopefully ensure safer flying for all of us.
On the EC front we even have a new Chairman and members are working on various tasks to enhance the association.
It would be a lot better if instead of carping on amongst yourselves that you contact one of us directly for an answer. If you don't like the answer then ask another; we fight like cats and dogs sometimes so you are bound to get a better flavour of a particular subject by asking around. I'm at a loss to know how to show you that we are accessible to any member if only you would try. We can't publicise everything we discuss and throw it open for debate amongst 8500 members, nothing would ever get done.
I too fly, microlights, spam cans and my first love now a taildragger. We all want the same thing in the long run and whinging won't get it.