Mainframe
I suspect that we are probably in heated agreement on some points, but how do you fix the past?
In my
direct experience as an operator across
all DCA/CAA/CASA regimes and attendant personalities since 1967, I have rarely had a reason to complain about the "service". But I will admit to have never worked in TVL.
Doesn't mean that sometimes I wouldn't "double take" on a requirement or even rupture a ligament on an eyeball whilst rolling it
but I didn't take it personally.
If it was black letter law, it was black letter law, if it couldn't be shown to be so, then we'd have a chat about it and sort it out to a mutually satisfactory conclusion, and if it was necessary, direct to the Minister.
My colleagues and I are in the habit of seeing the "rules" as the
base standard rather than something to strive towards.
We would rather be standards setters than followers.
I and they have held audits from all of the serious flight departments in the world.
Cant afford it if you want to be competitive? Really! Think about it
Many in the industry wish it were how you describe.
the rest don't seem to be having too many problems.
Many in the industry, however, are confronted with behaviour that doesn't reflect the desired model.
In the past I saw plenty of hard evidence that often those "many" were deserving of everything they got and more. I didn't necessarily agree with the method but if the then enforcement rules were worse than useless, then nobody was surprised if out of sheer frustration "other" methods were tried. I agree it shouldn't have to be like that.
"Pencil whipped" 3 hour Major inspections on an aircraft that required $20,000 remedial work just to get sufficiently airworthy to ferry to a heavy maintenance base, a whole fleet of Barons whose 6-10,000 TT hour engines (nobody could work out exactly how many hours and it was probably more) hadn't seen anything newer than the oil changes ? or the cylinders all with carefully documented and signed off log books. Totally running out of fuel and landing on the road with a pilot with 36 continuous duty and 20 odd flight hours having lodged flight plans for the period in different pilot names, blah blah blah. Finding pilots pay checks with three presentations bounced being used as notepaper/flight plan notes in the cockpit.
Guess who closed em down ? the regulator? nah the finance company.
Guess who were the main anti regulator protagonists.
Then we may have the ideal world as you see it, rather than the real world as others experience it.
I'll ignore the patronising bit, and, TVL aside, the "others experience" may just be a problem with the mirrors in the rest room.
Having said that I believe that was then this is now, they will get there.