So LASORS isn't authorative? So let's just ignore it as a publication then. What rot.
What part of His function is to ascertain the applicant’s
knowledge and skills, and interject if necessary to improve
on these. do you not understand? Simple commonsense gives us the hint that whilst it isn't called a test, that is what the CAA really want, but if they called it a test, then it would have to be done by an examiner not an FI.
You'd land and offload me. Really, how childish. So with the benefit of an instructor next to you, you get a chance to practise an manouvre you may not have performed for a while and pick up hints and tips. Do you think the aircraft will tell you in advance that it's about to have a failure of some description? Of course not. And you accuse me of arrogance. Oh how sweet is irony!
I also can't remember saying that I wouldn't brief the flight properly and mention the likelyhood of practice emergencies occuring at some point in the flight, or is your flying of such a low standard that you need to know exactly what will happen and when so that you can prepare yourself in advance?
Wouldn't it be better to be upto speed on everything, so when a real problem occurs, you have an idea of how to deal with it?
As the flight is about training, I like to introduce things that someone might not have seen before or thought of, so whilst they might not know what to do there and then, when we debrief we can have a discussion and they go away having learnt something new.
I will agree that the flight is not just a test, but there has to be some element of a test involved, such as a minimum standard or put even more simplly an ability for the person doing the flight to be able to perform certain tasks. It isn't black and white, but if you fly with someone who has no awareness, poor skills, ie are unable to fly at an assigned alt or heading, and can't perform basic manouvres such as a PFL or EFATO then you think I should just shut my mouth and sign the flight off?
If you think that is alright, then you are living in cloud cuckoo land and I'd be very suspicous about your own capabilities if you were that anti being asked to perform to a minimum standard. We're not talking about everyone being Ace Rimmer, just of a decent, safe level where they are unlikely to smear themselves across the countryside. Most of it comes down to the attitude of the pilot anyway and that you can tell from just having a chat before hand, the flight generally just confirms your inital thoughts.
To me it's clear what is sensible and what is written in LASORS. Again if you don't like it, then contact the CAA to change the guidance. FI's have enough to think about and do and really don't need hours of static from people about something that is so simple.
Why the big fuss anyway? If the rules were changed and you were asked to do an LPC every 12 months like every other class would it change much? Apart from putting even more people off flying all it would do is increase the standards not drop them.
The current system is flawed, but when you look at the thinking behind it, you can understand why it has been left wooly. For me, the CAA want a test, but know all it will do is put people off flying, so their revenues drop, so they fudge this where they want FI's to take on the burden of checking and testing, even though we aren't really trained to do so. This then puts you in conflict with the bolshier of PPL's who don't want to sit a "test". The vast majority of brown licence holders, couldn't give a monkeys, it's only a very vocal minority who whinge and they are whinging at the wrong people. FI's just do what they think is best for PPL and for the industry.
If you have a real issue with this, take it up with the regulator or with the CFI at the club, generally you'll simply be told to bog off and stop wasting time.
You may find a freelance FI like Bose who'll be happy to sit there and do nothing and get paid for it. You'll both be happy. He got his £30, you got a sign off for another 2 years, but doesn't that make an utter mockery of the system. Who has benefitted from that flight? No-one.
Once you have a licence you are still on a continual learning curve, why not use the opportunity every couple of years to find out where you are weak or strong and where you need to work on to become a better pilot? You can't do that if the FI beside you is just along for the ride and to fulfil a legal requirement.