Hi Peter, A reminder this thread is about the forum not LAA as an organisation. A massive amount of work has already and continues to be done by volunteers to professional standards inside LAA.
I think "gentlemen amateurs" may have applied to the PFA but is an out of date description for the current LAA board of directors. There are some very talented individuals working for us who I doubt members could afford were they to charge the market rate for their time.
Anyone that thinks PFA --> LAA has just been a name change has not been paying attention. LAA has been able to expand both it's fleet and remit because CAA see a safe (and businesslike) pair of hands at both engineering level (paid professionals) and board level (volunteer professionals).