Calibration Pilots
Just to clarify, Julian Sturdy MP was indeed raising the question of Flight calibration in response to a letter sent from within his constituency.
As suggested by BALPA, a letter outlining concerns for the new FTL proposals was drawn up and I used examples from my current aviation role. For thse who have watched the meeting on Parliament TV, I'm afraid the chap who dismisses flight checking as not relevant.:- Last time I looked in my ops manual the flight calibration pilot is subject to CAP371.
At the moment at least I know that the very max I can do is 13 hours (And I feel the error rate in that discrectionary hour increases noticeably). I'm not looking forward to working longer than 13 hours in busy terminal areas, hand flying all my approaches down to 50ft gear up, flying 6-7 approaches an hour and 50% of the time against the flow (with a 40kt tailwind)!
So perhaps this particular MP was just doing his job and raising the concerns of his constituents!
GQ