Tinpilot -- I'm a glider pilot myself (after a fashion). I've done my CCE, and am on my way to finishing the Silver C. I'm also a professional powered aircraft pilot, and I take issue with several of your points.
First of all, it is completely impractical for 40+ pilots to individually self-brief using the limited resources at a small airfield.
Put simply, this is balls. Take a half mil, some sticky-back plastic and a pen. Put map behind plastic, hang on side of launch point bus, DI draws notams for local area / task on map. No excuses. Yes, it still relies on one chap with the notam, but if you stick the printout next to it for people to cross-reference, then errors get spotted. This system works, it's simple, and pretty fail-tolerant.
the requirements for an XC endorsement include passing an airlaw exam (equivalent to the power exam)
No -- they're nowhere near equivalent in depth and breadth. Compare the
JAR-PPL(A) theoretical requirements, especially Air Law, with the single page six of
this one .
If biscuit74 believes his club instructors are incompetent, the fault lies with his CFI, who is responsible for standards at his club.
He's not the only one -- I (as a relatively experienced PPL(A) at the time) had to fully rebrief my then-club CFI about NOTAMS (this was when I started gliding, c. 2004). He had *no* idea. I've since seen similar levels of knowledge from other BGA-rated BIs through to club CFIs.
I'm prepared to believe that the BGA Bronze badge (which requires the ability to acquire, understand & use NOTAMs) post-dates goldeneaglepilot's dim & distant gliding experience.
It doesn't post-date mine...! And I don't recall a single question about NOTAMs in my Bronze theory exam, nor even meeting the concept during the training. Nor, come to think of it, during my CCE flying -- apart from the aforementioned discussion with the then-CFI...
I have another question for those who question the need for the Red Arrows transit NOTAMS (and, in extremis, the need for a RA(T)!) -- take a moment to try and understand the workload required to manoeuver a nine-aircraft formation, of fast jets at low level, through cluttered airspace whilst doing all the other good stuff that comes with a long navigational flight. Now imagine doing that at three times the speed of your average light aircraft. Can you now begin to see why poor Red 1 might appreciate it if you could possibly not bitch and whine about why the 'Reds expect us to get out of their way in our God-given and inviolate Class G' as some people seem to think, and just do the poor bugger a favour and stay out of the way temporarily?