mark king wrote:
This gets back to what the role of the GFA is. In my view the obsession
with being the "regulator" and keeping CASA at bay has been at the
expense of what GFA should be doing which is getting out there and
developing gliding on the ground. Is the USA system of the government
through the FAA regulating gliding any more onerous then the system we
have here with the GFA regulating gliding?
Absolutely yes, it is.
Tug pilots need Commercial Pilots Licenses, and are hired on a charter
basis. Maintenance can only be performed by FAA-approved personnel in
FAA-approved organizations with FAA-approved parts. Operating out of
anything that isn't an FAA-approved airport is next to impossible.
Instructors are also CPL holders hired on a charter basis. And licensing
can't happen without an FAA examiner.
Every aspect of the operation has some degree of FAA interference in it.
That makes it expensive.
By the time I'd chartered the tug pilot, chartered the instructor (because
I don't have a PPL) and hired the glider, my 1.5 hours in a DG505 at Llano,
California worked out to US$200 per hour. And that was by no means the
most expensive operation within 100 miles of LA.
GFA have to get CASA approval for their regs anyway don't they?
In a manner of speaking. It's a process of negotiation, usually.
- mark
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I tried an internal modem, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
but it hurt when I walked. Mark Newton
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