BIENNIAL 'TRAINING FLIGHT'
Currently it is unacceptable for the 1 hour training flight (required as one element of the 'revalidation by experience' option for JAR/FCL) to be split into 2 or more flights adding up to 1 hour.
But wouldn't it be reasonable to allow such a flight to count if it took the form of no more than 2 consecutive flights with the same FI/CRI adding up to not less than 1 hour? Surely there's nothing wrong with doing half of it from A to B, landing for a bacon buttie and a chat, then doing the other half back from B to A? I've just had to fly an hour with a pilot who'd flown far more than 12 hours in the last year, but had done his 'biennial training' as a 40 min training flight with another FI culminating in a landing at a different aerodrome where they'd landed, had a cuppa whilst they'd been briefed on local short-field and noise abatement requirements, then did a short field departure before completing the other 20 min on the way home. I reckon that's pretty sound 'training' - but it doesn't meet the current requirements. Fortunately he was entirely happy to do another training trip - just the very day before his SEP Class rating would otherwise have expired.
Does anyone else have any other comments on the conduct of the 'biennial training flight'?