Deadline for comments on A NPA 14/2006 approaching

[pilson]

This is a reminder that the deadline for commenting on A NPA 16/2006 (The proposal regarding the new european ppl etc...) is October 16th 2006.

Some links:

The proposed ammendment is here:
http://www.easa.eu.int/doc/Rulemaking/NPA/final%20A-NPA%2014-2006%20General%20Aviation%20(15.08.06).pdf

The comment form is here:
http://www.easa.eu.int/doc/Rulemaking/NPA/Comment%20Form%20A-NPA%2014-2006.doc

NASRAv's sample comment is here:
http://nasrav.org/wiki/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=15

which is based on NASRAv's eppl wishlist which is here:
http://nasrav.org/wiki/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=12


Have your say on how recreational aviation in Europe should be!

regards,
Keith Pilson.
www.nasrav.org

[IO540]

There are approximately 300,000 private pilots and 80,000 aircraft in Europe excluding those aircraft exempted from the scope of the Basic Regulation by its Annex II. This only represents 25% of the General Aviation aircraft registered in the United States, which have has a lower population and comparable size and economy. Moreover, there is a continuous a decline in the traditional European General Aviation sector that is not mirrored on the American side. There is however a notable exception to this decline in Member States (e.g. Czech Republic, France) where the micro-light industry, subject to an extremely simplified regulatory regime, is a vibrant developing activity with a significant exporting potential. The same could be said of the gliding activity in Germany, where the regulatory regime departs significantly from the full brunt of JAA rules.....


This confirms the finding that main causes of accident are related to human factors, in particular linked with an insufficient training. Any new concept should therefore concentrate more on training/licensing standards than on airworthiness or operational aspects.....


Incapacitation due to medical causes appears to be a marginal risk. The impact to non-involved third parties is known to be statistically insignificant11. Refreshing stuff to come out of EASA! An awful lot of the old axe grinders won't like it. I am doing my response today.

[Confabulous]

Fantastic news, the beginning of the end for the inflexible NAA approach. Finally an FAA-based system with a practical approach to problems. And the European EAA is springing up at the same time. It's a good time to be in aviation, especially since this will transform the Irish system - no more of the 'it's not what you know, it's who you know' attitude that's prevalent here. A great day for everyone.

I'm doing my response today as well - this is too important to put off.

[Johnm]

This looks promising so I've sent some encouraging comments. I hope there's finally some prospect of "FAA style" PPL/IR

[IO540]

My reading of the document (and I must say I only scanned it fast) is that it deals with basically VFR GA, while not closing off the possibility of the "new PPL" holders getting an IR.

In that respect it is much better than the UK NPPL which is a dead end for any advancement in that department.

But don't hold out much hope for an accessible IR just yet.

While the business of taking over the VFR licensing and airframe certification scene is controversial to the extent that it will deprive the national CAAs of the regular income stream derived from flogging rubber stamped bits of paper to everybody every few years, there is nevertheless an acceptance in all of civilised world that VFR aviation is a basic human hobby activity which is here to stay.

IFR is something else. Private pilots flying European airways pushes all sorts of buttons among Euro regulators. This is a world run for (in effect, by) the airlines. A lot of the people involved in it are blatently prejudiced against private aviation messing about in their neck of the wood, especially as many of them are N-reg which conjures images of the Airplane movies, John Wayne, and all the other stuff which the self proclaimed intellectually and morally superior Europeans love to take the mick out of. Just have a word with a few senior UK IFR sector ATCOs and see what sort of stuff they come out with about bizjet pilots, particularly N-reg ones. British Airways can do no wrong, of course. These prejudices filter their way down from the CAA, of course.

I am convinced that if it wasn't for ICAO obligations, Europe would kill IFR GA off. The UK CAA has been reported as planning to require 2 pilots for all "light jets" flying in UK airspace. Germany has been widely reported as planning to require an ATPL for every "light jet" pilot. These staments didn't come from policymakers directly but they indicate what some are thinking. These people are s**t scared of 300 of these light jets flying from Luton airport (completely unrealistic unless your view of aviation is based on the Eclipse sales blurb). But this fear is going to be driving a lot of policy in this area.

So any relaxation on the IR front is going to be a tough thing for many to swallow. This is despite ample evidence that FAA IR holders have absolutely no problem whatsoever getting about Europe under IFR, in all kinds of planes. In a light jet they might not get the upper airway routes which the marketing sales and performance figures are based on (due to lower speeds) but ATC will deal with that OK.

IMHO, there is only one thing that is going to ever give us a more realistic Euro IR, and that is EASA's desire to kick out N-reg planes. They can't do that without political repercussions in the USA, and accepting the FAA IR and FAA STCs will be the only way to go about it. The only alternative is to leave the present status quo - at least that doesn't need anybody's agreement :)