Paul Thompson - EASA Examiner, Florida

[toff]

Hi all,

Paul Thompson's name is one that has come up in the past on here - with him being recommended as an EASA examiner in and around Orlando, Florida. I flew with him many times from the middle of 2010 up until as recently as 3-4 weeks ago. He has in the past been a great guy and very fair too.

For anybody now considering taking advantage of his services, please be aware that he is no an longer examiner, but he doesn't appear to telling people this. Instead, he's taking money, signing CAA paperwork and licences, and then going all quiet. His signature doesn't count for anything.

I fell into the trap. Please don't anybody else do the same.

For moderators of the forum, I am more than happy to evidence these claims so that this post can remain and save a lot of hassle for others.

[parkfell]

Tell the Feds.
Make a statement and they will do the rest.

[Reverserbucket]

Interestingly toff, I recall that Paul Thompson was a moderator of this forum at one time, but judging by the detailed description I have just read on what I presume to be your blog, I imagine he has all the evidence he needs. I'm sorry though to hear that you have been apparently mislead - both for you and Thompson as it sounds like he may be having some issues.

You mention that you have informed the FAA; for the purpose of the revalidation flight, I presume you would have been PIC of the Duchess that you rented from Apopka? Looking at your interesting training history on the blog, can I ask if you have an FAA multi-engine endorsement on your FAA Private (I see you completed your JAA MEIR at BFC), and if so, have you undertaken an FAA Flight Review in the past two years? In the event that you were not PIC (which you would have been as it was a successful reval), have you seen any FAA Certification for the person who was?

The Orlando FSDO are unlikely to be too interested in an expired EASA IRE qualification but will certainly be interested in how legal this flight was from an FAA perspective. You may have opened a bigger can of worms.

[VJW]

Reverserbucket stop with the nonsense. Who goes to a flight school to an examiner they've used before and asks them for their paperwork? Might certainly have opened a can of worms for his examiner, but stop trying to spook toff into thinking he did something wrong.

[Reverserbucket]

VJW - I'm not suggesting for a minute that toff has done anything wrong - but it would have saved a great deal of his money, time and effort if he'd had an opportunity to check the examiners credentials beforehand. A couple of attributes required for examining are integrity and good moral character - neither seem much in evidence in this story...

If the known and trusted acquaintance who has just ripped you off for a little under $1000 including his fee and created no small inconvenience for you in the process is prepared to do that, what else might be amiss? The FAA have been informed, they will look at who rented the aircraft and who was PIC and I will bet money on who that was. I wish toff luck in his claim against Thompson and renewing his IR - I've encountered a number of Florida based examiners in my time, trust me - caveat emptor.

[B2N2]

please be aware that he is no an longer examiner, but he doesn't appear to telling people this. Instead, he's taking money, signing CAA paperwork and licenses, and then going all quiet.

I've known PT personally for 15 years although haven't had any meaningful contact with him in the last 3-4 years.
Unless things have taken a serious turn for the worst ( always a possibility )
I would seriously doubt any bad intent from his part.
Forgot to renew maybe?
Paperwork gone missing?
Nobody told him?
In any case, for everybody involved I hope it gets sorted out.

[turbopropulsion]

Right, always another side to every story n all that.

Give him a chance to explain himself.

[Linda Mollison]

It does not surprise me in the least.

This is a man who, four or five years ago, hired an aircraft from our flying school to do his FE CPL examiner renewal (my sources tell me that he failed to reach standard at this test). His credit card did not work so he said he would return the next day with cash.

He did not.

When I e-mailed him asking him for payment, he basically said 'tough, I have not got the money'.

I thought one of the requirements to be an examiner was integrity!!

Linda Mollison

[magicmick]

Is he related to Adrian Thompson, ex owner OBA?

[Genghis the Engineer]

I have no dog in this fight, but Mr Thompson examined me for a skill test some years ago (I don't think he had anything to do with the OBA Thompson, but could be wrong).

I do remember him saying after I'd messed up some navigation and pointed us into Orlando's class (A?), and was just sorting that out - "It's not the mistakes you make that matter, it's how you sort them out".

Based upon the posts above, it sounds like the same applies to him right now.

G

[MichaelOLearyGenius]

He did examine for OBA, he did my test. I had to ditch some fuel to get the C150 off the ground. He is a big man. He used to be a cameraman for sky sports iirc.

[Reverserbucket]

I don't think he had anything to do with the OBA Thompson, but could be wrong

Don't these British FL based examiners and flight school proprietors share a common link through the long defunct UK CAA Flightsafety program at Vero Beach?