Mad? Ridiculous? Or a fiendishly clever plot to raise lots of dosh, get rid of JAR anomalies and hassles, and in the long run be hailed as the person who made UK GA logical?
Let's have a look in Whirly's Crystal Ball, at a CAA conversation:
Mr Doom: What are we going to do? JAR was a mistake, no-one likes the NPPL, they won't do it in 32 hours anyway, everyone's giving up flying because of the costs so we don't get any money...it's a mess.
Mr Fiend: Don't worry; I have a fiendish plan.
Mr Doom: Tell me more.
Mr Fiend: We make sure that everyone ends up with an NPPL, whether they like it or not. We'll start off with these microlight bods; not enough of them to cause much hassle. We'll get some of the older and poorer guys in on it anyway, because it'll save them money on medicals. Then we'll add an IMC and a night rating and a go-overseas rating, and say the JAR licence can't include an IMC because it's only British, thus making the NPPL more attractive to everyone. Then we'll up the minimum number of hours to make it realistic. Then, since no-one will bother getting a JAR licence anyway unless they plan to go commercial since it'll be uneconomic, we'll get rid of that altogether, or make it an add-on to the NPPL as part of the CPL/ATPL. We'll incorporate helicopters in eventually, and gliders too - why not; more dosh for us. Eventually, it'll all be completely logical and under one umbrella, and everyone will forget that we did it to raise lots of money, and I'll be hailed as The Greatest.
Mr Doom: Oh Mr Fiend, you're so clever. But I foresee one problem. When it's all logical and sensible and saving pilots money, what then? How do we get more cash then.
Mr Fiend: Ah, I'll tell you about that one in a minute...
Crystal ball fades.....