As the poster of the original thread (rope?) I’d like to make a few further comments. The suggestion that anyone, whose skills an instructor is not happy with, is trying to find a back door method to keep flying IS NOT MINE; likewise the comments about would you let your grannie/uncle/dog fly with someone like this are very sensible BUT NOT RELEVANT HERE; also the suggestion I’m trying to uphold the position of anyone who may have had an argument with an instructor IS NONSENSE.
This situation was mentioned (I wish to hell I hadn’t) simply to indicate that what amounted to a “fail” had started a discussion about “has a test been introduced by a back door method?”
As far as I can see (correct me if wrong) the CAA website mentions only a “training flight”. Now in my own case, this training flight was carried out by an instructor (not an examiner), at the end of which he signed my logbook. The CFI (an examiner) then filled out CAA form LPC/SPA (parts one and two). Section 3 of this form is headed “notification of completion”. While admittedly is does not say “pass”, the next section is headed “notification of failure”. Three lines further on is “class rating: pass/fail” with on mine the “pass” ticked. Now as a layman I associate a pass/fail outcome with a test, not a training session.
The rest of section 3 relates to the actual flight (a/c type, timings, etc) with a space at the bottom entitled “signature of examiner” (not instructor) again reinforcing the notion of a test. On mine the CFI has signed. Now while a lawyer might argue it does not explicitly say so, a layman would assume the person signing here had carried out the flight detailed immediately above. In my case this was not so.
Moving on to part two of the LPC/SPA form, this is a detailed record of the elements making up the flight. Again it says “result” then “pass/fail” where again pass is ticked. Below this is again “signature of examiner” which from the layout of the form again appears to indicate the person who carried out the flight although in my case it is again signed by the CFI whereas it was an instructor who carried out the flight.
The concern about signing of the logbook fades into insignificance when an actual form indicating the outcome of a test is required to be submitted to the CAA. Or is this so cobbled-together an inappropriate form is being used? Or is the wrong form being used in our area?
Again clarification is genuinely sought and apologies for being long-winded. This is being posted on both Instructor’s and PPL’s forums.