Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By As I CFIT
#1854134
MichaelP wrote:I am as entitled as anyone else on here to have an opinion.


You are and I haven't interfered with your ability to express it. I am , however, entitled to disagree with your opinion.
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By kanga
#1854143
TopCat wrote:..

We have a culture where box-ticking to prove the process has happened, is more important than the content of the process.


indeed. But I suggest that this might be because the machinery of government (including of government-mandated Regulators) has since '80s moved away from the traditional 'public service' ethos on the national Civil Service and Local Government employees with pertinent experience, training and expertise (and concomitant understanding, empathy and flexibility) to one of maximum delegation or outsourcing to minimally paid, minimally trained, people whom it is senior management and central government policy not to trust to do anything other than 'box-ticking', with potentially dire personal consequences for any public servant who deviates from the mandated process :evil:
Last edited by kanga on Sun Jun 20, 2021 7:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By Dave W
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1854144
But the CAA management are the ones that mandate those not-fit-for-purpose processes.

So it remains fully valid to criticise the organisation accordingly.
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By marioair
#1854177
I haven’t had to request anything hugely complex but I’ve never had a problem.
I always include a cover letter which lists out what I’m applying for, what forms I’ve provided and drawing attention to anything in their own form that is ambiguous (and where they can find what I think they’re actually asking for)
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1854328
Another little wrinkle today. Medical was all going well, cellma updated, £8 paid and off we go.

At the end AME chooses the PPL with IR option for my class 2 medical and it decides I'm an initial issue and tries to issue a medical with today's date instead of the right date.

Manual issue of correct cert OK and now poor old AME has to go and sort out what went wrong.....
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By ls8pilot
#1854561
The CAA just published CAP1721 "Alternative Means of Compliance". In this P14 covers English Language proficiency and 5.1 (b) says:

b) passing a language assessment as set out in FCL.055(b) and AMC1 FCL.055 section (a) to (l) inclusive, with the holder of a UK Examiner Certificate; (see Note 1). If the examiner assesses the candidate as being Expert Level 6 (the standard of a native speaker of English) he may certify to that effect by submitting a Form SRG 1199 to the CAA. If the examiner considers that the applicant is not at Level 6 the examiner must not give a proficiency endorsement, in which case the alternative means of assessment of 4.1 c), d), or e) must be used.

So why on earth are the CAA minions rejecting submission of SRG1199 forms as proof of English language competency.... talk about a*rs and elbow! You really could'nt make this up!
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By PA28
#1854569
They like to change things to justify their existence. They remove forms from the website with no notice and then tell you to use that form. You couldn't make it up. Reminds me of an episode of Yes Minister.
Let's not talk about eExams.
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By MichaelP
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1854575
I recently did the training for a rating here.
CAA wanted my logbooks (I have nine, and they’re too precious to me to risk in the post, let alone their weight), I agreed to send signed copies of representative pages...

The CAA correctly questioned my application because the ATO had a “Limitation” on this course.
If ATO’s post their approvals on the Dispatch wall I would have spotted this and questioned it myself.

CAA asked me to send scans of both my UK and EASA licences again due to this limitation which could preclude me getting the rating... This would potentially affect prior candidates who were successful in the issuance of the same rating from the same ATO.

Although I have a six month certificate, I will not use the privileges of this rating while there are questions.

My response:

I had everything but everything certified.
You’ve had two copies of my EASA licence, one by post that was certified, and one by email that was not.

I will send you another copy of my EASA licence, duly certified, again.
Please check that you have not lost the original certified copy of my EASA licence in the mass of paperwork I have submitted for this rating.

Please excuse me for being frustrated.
I have dealt with Transport Canada, with the CAAT (Thailand), the FAA, and with CAAC (China) during my career, and I have never had the trouble with any of these authorities that I am having with this application.
​​​​​​
Does the CAA not keep their own records of the licences I hold through them?

I am astonished. I have been an Authorised Person, authorised to sign off PPLs and various ratings. I did my job correctly and efficiently, and so I am qualified by experience to question the efficiency of the CAA.


I am so very very fed up.
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By MichaelP
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1854619
In Canada when I apply for a rating, or a renewal, I am not required to send in a ‘Certified Copy Of’ my pilot’s licence.
A form is filled in, a copy of the logbook and /or Pilot Training Record pages showing the completion of the specific training required, signed and cosigned by the instructor and student, and if a flight test was required, a copy of this too...
Transport Canada has a record of all the licences it has issued, the validity of medicals and all the ratings it has issued, and the competent official has access to this information when there’s an application for a rating.

Indeed I was an “Authorised Person”. I myself assessed an applicant’s application for a rating, a PPL, or an RPP, and if it met the requirements I could sign that person’s licence with the rating, or Student Pilot Permit with a PPL or RPP.

The only time I need a Certified Copy is when I apply for a foreign licence or validation.
I am used to doing this for Thai validations... But not when applying for something in the country in which my licence has been issued.

The implication is that CAA do not have a record of the licences it has issued, and so it requires a certified copy of the piece of paper, easily forged, it supposedly issued.

Is the CAA guilty of not maintaining proper records?

When I renewed my Driver’s Licence, the DVLC process was easy and efficient since clearly DVLC keeps proper records even if the CAA apparently doesn’t.

Is keeping proper licensing records required by ICAO?

UK pilot’s in Thailand pay £45 to the CAA to release their records to the CAAT in order to be issued Validations on the basis of their CAA and EASA licences.
How can the CAA do this, and yet require their native pilots to send them Certified Copies of the licences that the CAA themselves supposedly issued?

CAA:
To Thailand, “yes we have proof of this pilot holding a licence.”
To the customer in England, “prove that we issued a licence to you”.

Is there a means, perhaps through an ombudsman, to file a complaint against the CAA for failing to do its job as an ‘Authority’?

The only other awful authority I dealt with was CASA in Australia which wasn’t incompetent, it was simply slow, very slow!
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By Bald Sparrow
#1854663
MichaelP wrote:Is there a means, perhaps through an ombudsman, to file a complaint against the CAA for failing to do its job as an ‘Authority’?


Corrected - see post below.
Last edited by Bald Sparrow on Wed Jun 23, 2021 12:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By MattL
#1854666
As an FE and Head of Training I deal with forms and paperwork nightmares everyday. I also deal all the time with people who feel they should be credited for more flying experience than they actually are.

While it is quite reasonable to be annoyed and raise the issue / lobby for changes; there is a reality that in the short term you just need to jump through the hoops to get what you want. Far too many people carry long standing grudges and anger about it all which really isn’t healthy.
JAFO liked this
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