Thu Sep 02, 2021 8:10 am
#1868511
We seem to have adopted 1980s French and Iron Curtain style bureaucracy which needs urgent attention.
There is an increase in commercial licence holders wanting sep ratings for perhaps obvious reasons. It is quite incredible how many different forms are needed post test.
Once the course and test is over, there are 17 pages (possibly 18 if you include one I have to keep) over 5 to 7 different forms (depending on exactly what you count as a form, eg whether you count the email to ask caa "permission to fly a skill test" beforehand too) just to add an sep rating to an existing uk fcl licence.
The time just to coordinate this paperwork (not including filling it in!) before it goes to the CAA exceeds the test flight time. The extra elapsed time to fill in the forms by applicant and examiner, and then scan in (by combination of applicant, examiner plus CAA receiver) can exceed the airborne training time on the course!
The chances of initial rejection are incredibly high . Just one of the forms has an additional 7 page instruction document on how to fill it in, and even this is not clear whether the required copy of the licence needs to be certified or not, the copy proves to the caa the information that they already hold for that pilot. Any assumptions made (like assuming no certification, just a copy needed) risks enormous delays.
For a different pilot wanting the same thing, my previous applicant 8 weeks ago today had his application rejected after 10 days because we had not sent in a form that the instructions to examiners specifically say must NOT be sent in for this particular application. (Naming a form that should not be sent in is quite unusual!). Rejection means his application went to the back of the queue even when the rejection is shown to be spurious. It took me a call and an email to point out they did not need the extra form and indeed examiners are told not to use it. My request to let us know if, with this information, his application was still rejected or still in the system, albeit putback another ten days, was completely ignored, meaning I had to follow up a week later to see if it was still rejected. His temporary permission to fly (8 weeks) expires today.
We seem to be completely swamped in a mix of 1980s Iron Curtain and French style bureaucracy that is simply jamming up the system.
There is an increase in commercial licence holders wanting sep ratings for perhaps obvious reasons. It is quite incredible how many different forms are needed post test.
Once the course and test is over, there are 17 pages (possibly 18 if you include one I have to keep) over 5 to 7 different forms (depending on exactly what you count as a form, eg whether you count the email to ask caa "permission to fly a skill test" beforehand too) just to add an sep rating to an existing uk fcl licence.
The time just to coordinate this paperwork (not including filling it in!) before it goes to the CAA exceeds the test flight time. The extra elapsed time to fill in the forms by applicant and examiner, and then scan in (by combination of applicant, examiner plus CAA receiver) can exceed the airborne training time on the course!
The chances of initial rejection are incredibly high . Just one of the forms has an additional 7 page instruction document on how to fill it in, and even this is not clear whether the required copy of the licence needs to be certified or not, the copy proves to the caa the information that they already hold for that pilot. Any assumptions made (like assuming no certification, just a copy needed) risks enormous delays.
For a different pilot wanting the same thing, my previous applicant 8 weeks ago today had his application rejected after 10 days because we had not sent in a form that the instructions to examiners specifically say must NOT be sent in for this particular application. (Naming a form that should not be sent in is quite unusual!). Rejection means his application went to the back of the queue even when the rejection is shown to be spurious. It took me a call and an email to point out they did not need the extra form and indeed examiners are told not to use it. My request to let us know if, with this information, his application was still rejected or still in the system, albeit putback another ten days, was completely ignored, meaning I had to follow up a week later to see if it was still rejected. His temporary permission to fly (8 weeks) expires today.
We seem to be completely swamped in a mix of 1980s Iron Curtain and French style bureaucracy that is simply jamming up the system.
Irv Lee - (R/T & Flight Examiner)
Deconfusion & Preflight Aide-Memoire: http://tinyurl.com/pilotpal
UK GA Twittering not Tw@ering: @irvleeuk
Deconfusion & Preflight Aide-Memoire: http://tinyurl.com/pilotpal
UK GA Twittering not Tw@ering: @irvleeuk