And the biggest joke of all is that the guys who DO pay say £50,000 pa to keep an AOC ( all the fees , plus manpower to do ...whatever ) have to say no to picking someone up from their garden ....even a REALLY BIG garden , Have to say NO to flying into Battersea in a single without floats , have to say NO to night VFR ..............and the guys who dont pay for an AOC can do ALL of the above legally on a lease deal
I know i sound like a stuck record, but would love to know why they put up with it ?? I understand if your business is loads of weddings etc , which make very little money , but if you have some good regular clients why not fly them privately and get rid of all the nonsense ? In a few years there will be just a handful of bigger operators charging a fortune and a handful of lease companies and that will create a market for the ppl cowboys to fill , and people will use them as they will be a lot cheaper.
I say the CAA should deny this easy market for the cowboys and get the operators ( ALL of the good ones who have operated for 20 years or more usually without a blemish ) to all come into a workable AOC system that actually WORKS . That maybe , perish the thought , allowed you to lift up to a 10ft hovver and cross a fence before t/o
And maybe allowed you to plan your flight without having to employ 5 other people to file it in triplicate ..... No , that could never happen as its just TOO sensible and would allow people to charge less , do much more flying and even make a profit .