Can General Aviation restart now ?
 

In his television broadcast at 1900 BST Sunday 10 May 2020 Boris Johnson said "you should go to work if you cannot work from home". Does this instruction from the Prime Minister mean that working within general aviation should now recommence with immediate effect.

Can professional work teaching students for their PPL, CPL, and IRs recommence if mitigation measures are put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as far as is reasonably practical. Cleaning and decontamination of aeroplanes use of face masks and perhaps screens between the instructor and student such as seen in supermarkets and pharmacies ?

Does the instruction from the Prime Minister to return to work over turn the CAA's blanket ban on GA ?

People have been told that they should return to work were they cannot work from home but have been instructed to avoid public transport were possible. On the odd rare occasion were a light aeroplane might be feasibly be used to commute longer distances within the UK for work purposes this would seen to be in the spirit of the instruction namely both going to work which we are told we should do and also avoids public transport which we should try and do were possible.

Can a PPL pilot working towards a CPL recommence hour building i.e they are a professional student working towards a professional qualification remaining socially distant and avoiding public transport.

Is it now time to responsibly get GA going again ?

Er, no - the previous guidance stands until it's replaced. :ok:

GA's been permitted in other European countries. A mate of mine in Amsterdam has been flying (light aircraft, solo pilot) every week or so since lockdowns started.

He's more socially distanced in the cockpit than on the ground!

The instruction is to return to work were you cannot work from home and to avoid public transport were possible.

Flight instruction cannot take place at home and need not involve any public transport so hence is in full compliance with the most recent instruction from the Prime Minister.

As is some private flying of which some will be travel for business and professional reasons as opposed to recreation.

Although the instruction has only just been given the CAA are now lagging behind the Government.

It will of course be extremely challenging to mitigate the spread of the disease but stepping up to the challenge is better than rolling over and letting business die.

Hours building isn’t work, at the moment it’s fairly pointless recreation ( for five years ish )

That's because it's a conditional plan and not an instruction - so further guidance will be made available by the relevant department.

Instructing
 

I’d say be careful and check CAA website tomorrow. True you can’t work from home but you still need to socially distance which would be difficult in a C152 or PA28.

UK = Only mentions places of work plus exercises with people of your household only. So I see the current CAA guidance being in effect until later. Undoubtedly the CAA will come out with further guidance soon hopefully.

The CAA will publish guidelines tomorrow. The advice from Central Government is that you can drive to other destinations and play sports, with family, observing social distancing.
As GA is a sport, our interpretation would be to get GA flying again, solo or with family. Instruction would be allowed with family only. Solo hour building would also be allowed.

They stated you can travel or play sports with members of the same household. Also GA is either a job or a hobby, hardly a sport for the majority.

The law has not changed.

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations 2020 never explicitly instructed Flying Schools to cease business.

However guidance from the CAA and DfT did. This is guidance and not legislation.

2 meter "social distancing" is appended with "if practical". For certain jobs and businesses 2 meters separateion will never be practical.

WHO guidlines for workplaces are very measured; emphasising good hand washing and cleaning protocols. They emphasise not coming into work when feeling unwell. There is also detail on protecting and providing information to the vulnerable.

There is going to have to be some common sense, you can’t social distance in a C152...

There will always be commentators that sit on opposing sides of the fence. For those that wish to remain grounded, what do you propose? What will it take to get solo flying back in the air?
GA is a sport, it’s the most exercise I get, pushing the A/C to the pumps, in and out the hangar, cleaning, pre flight etc etc.
Lets be positive in these challenging times and let’s get things moving in a safe and considered manner.

Can we restart instructing in Scotland then? OK to pop into Club? Start catching up on existing students records etc?

Not sure being physical makes it a sport, exercise yes but not sport. GA is definitely a hobby. If you can now drive to a lake, is there really any harm in being at the lake but in a washing machine orbiting overhead?

Here in N California on any given day FlightAware will show a huge amount of GA traffic. Way more than before. You can tell also just by being outdoors and listening. Lately there has been some formation flying in my area with one or more Nanchangs and accompanying hotshot single engine GA types. I'm always too late getting out there with the camera.

You have to recognise Gliding and Parachuting as a sport...

What falls under the umbrella of GA in your neck of the woods?

Air ambulance, a corporate jet, single engine cargo, etc.

Never seen so much GA activity around this place. I live close to CPH, and the GA community have certainly embraced the lack of commercial traffic, and are seen several times a day entering the control zone and overflying the airport. Heck, the other day they towed a vintage glider up from one of the runways, and a few weeks ago a pair of hot air balloons were launched just outside the airport, and were allowed to fly over as low as they wanted "as long as you don't touch". We also had one of the army helicopters hover right next to the tower, exchanging pleasantries; I suppose ATC are just happy to have someone to talk to.

Also seen loads of gliders on Flight radar. Maybe not more than normal, but due to the lack of commercial traffic they are now showing up.

In other words, no GA restrictions in this neck of the wood. And why would there be?

As the law is written, yes, this has always been the case.