I do hope you have set up a Bose-x RTF as an "independant instructor".
Since you seem to like everything from the ANO, show us where it is a requirement to sign each flight as an FI or where it is even mentioned?
If you are signing flights willy nilly, do you sign them even where the aim of the flight hasn't been achieved? i.e when someone god awful has tried 15 different ways to break the aircraft in a single flight and showed no imporvement or interest in getting better.
You would still sign their logbook and think nothing more of it?
Would you suggest more training?
What would you do if they refused this offer, got their rating revalidated and a few days later hurt themselves or god forbid killed themself and others with them because they made mistakes that you had picked up, tried to rectify but failed to do so and then gave up and signed the form and logbook anway?
That would be interesting from a professional liability stand point. In the same way that training records are scrutinised after a fatal accident from a solo student and that you can be for the high jump if it is proven that you didn't sufficiently train the student in emergency procedures etc. before they were sent off solo.
I wonder how it would work given the fact that LASOR is explicit and whilst not law, it carries more weight than a blank bit of paper and a smart lawyer acting for an estate would be right on to it to try and prove that it was your fault that the pilot died.
All hypothetical, but having seen some cases like that (not aviation based) where someone who in reality had little to do with why some arrogant s*d killed themselves, gets nailed to the wall and smeared for all time. Horrid to watch. One chap later killed himself after he was found negligent after a sailing accident. Poor guy.
The 1hr training flight is about the only opportunity a lot of the time to try and help people.
It isn't about punishing them for being rusty or some power trip for an FI. It's about making sure that people have the required skill set to fly safely.
I can hear the howls of derision. "Who are you to make that judgement?" My answer would be. Get stuffed, who else is going to do it?
99.9% of the time, the flight is a formality, but as flying is about being prepared for problems, I like to have a plan to deal with that 0.1%.
Most people will undergo some form of training every year and if it falls within the time period and they are flying well, then I will sign their logbook as matter of course, usually without having to be asked and certainly without doing a seperate flight.
But there are a few people who won't see an FI apart from every couple of years. That isn't a problem, but it does mean the "training flight" takes on more of a formal basis as it is a different type of flight compared to the ones normally completed by the pilot.
This sometimes can cause problems as it can make people nervous. It gets percieved as a test and no amount of explanation that you are there to help not simply judge makes a difference.
I can't help it if someone gets nervous before hand and then mucks it up. Anyone who knows me, will tell you that I can actually tell if people are wound up and I always do my best to make them as calm as possible. Chatting, stupid jokes, anything to try and make sure that their flying is as minimally affected by having an FI next to them. Explaining that it isn't a test also helps and that I'm only there to help them with any problems or questions.
However, you can only make a call on what you are presented with. As any examiner will tell you, sometimes you fly with someone who you know should walk a test, but nerves get to them. You can't pass them if they didn't fly well enough, even though it was just a temporary blip. It can happen with even the cuddliest and friendliest of examiners.
I would prefer an American style BFR, but that isn't what we have, so you do your best to marry up the requirements from LASORS, your own commonsense and the desires of the person sitting next to you.
It is the fault of the CAA that this discussion is even possible. It should be laid out in black and white with no chance to be misinterpreted, but as per usual we just have to muddle through as best we can, trying to keep everyone happy. That isn't always possible, but you do have to try.