Reginald Moore wrote: > I notice that some people are suggesting that members unhappy with > flying under the GFA banner fly under CASA.
H'mm. Been thinking a bit about how this would function from the airworthiness side - only because it is the airworthiness side of gliding that I'm involved with. GFA is, as I understand it, totally responsible for sailplane airworthiness under delegation from CASA. CASA, as I understand it, do not issue sailplane AD's, AN's etc. They probably receive a copy of each from GFA and someone in that bureaucracy files it somewhere. As I understand it, the glider manufacturer communicates directly with GFA regarding airworthiness matters with CASA not involved in the loop - except as above. So, if a private owner wants to fly their glider outside of the GFA environment, how would this work? Let's take a fr'instance. Mike Borgelt does not appear to be a GFA member, according to the membership list. The CASA aircraft register has a Mike Borgelt as the Certificate of Registration holder of a BD-4 and a Ventus C. As GFA is responsible for issuing sailplane airworthiness info, I would imagine that GFA are obliged to issue AD's for Ventus' to the CofR holder and you would not have to be a member of GFA for that to happen. The CofR holder can also send their $137 to GFA and receive all the Form 2 info. So Mike could then take all this to a "commercial" organisation approved by GFA and have the Form 2 signed out and Mike's name appears on the Form 2 documents. Nowhere, does it say that any of this stops if a GFA non-member is involved. So Mike can let GFA members fly his aircraft quite happily and all is "legal". In fact, Mike and friends could turn up at most (all?) gliding sites and would probably be allowed to fly the Ventus. I doubt whether anyone is asked if they are a GFA member. In fact Mike could probably organise his own tug and pilot (or winch/autotow/bungee) and fly happily outside the GFA system and no one would be any the wiser. I have personal knowledge of gliders flying outside the system in the past (ie > 30 years ago), just as I have seen GA aircraft, and pilots, that aren't part of the CASA system - Australia is a big place. In fact, Cessna have a tow hook in their parts catalogue and it can be fitted to any Cessna without any paperwork because it is already an "approved" Cessna mod. I know that because I have been towed behind such a Cessna - did I ask to see the tow pilot's credentials? No - but I understand he is "in the system" and he was towing with his own aircraft - and this was only weeks ago. Hence, if Mike wants to fly under CASA's "protection", how would CASA organise the airworthiness side and how would CASA tell GFA that Mike's Ventus now "belongs" to them and not GFA? Would CASA contact the glider manufacturer to send them airworthiness info from which CASA would develop their own AD's in parallel to GFA's and the Ventus' flying under GFA rules? Or would CASA leach off the GFA system? A system Mike wants nothing to do with. Could GFA charge CASA for the airworthiness info that GFA have developed and processed? Etc, etc, etc. It all seems to be a can of worms. Lots of questions and if any of the above is wrong, then I'm sure that I'll be put "right". Good thermals, Leigh Bunting Colonel Light Gardens South Australia <Open Windows and let the bugs in> -- * You are subscribed to the aus-soaring mailing list. * To Unsubscribe: send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] * with "unsubscribe aus-soaring" in the body of the message * or with "help" in the body of the message for more information.
