1 Background
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has reviewed its administration costs following the tragic accident at the 2015 Shoreham Air Show. It has published CAP1373b, currently at version 2, here:
http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/statutory%20charges%20GA%20V2.pdf
2 Finding out about it
I urge you to:
* Read it (it's only 9 pages, plus an Appendix).
* Read it again, very carefully.
* Pinch yourself.
* Ask yourself "Did it really say that" ?
As a back-covering exercise for Shoreham 2015 and a whitewash going forward, it has declared that it wasn't recovering its full costs of pushing Air Display paperwork around and is now going to recover a further £250K (for costs it is introducing) from Air Display organisers.
3 Its conclusions
A shortfall of administrative costs had previously been absorbed and was part of its total, reported operating costs.
Let's examine what that means:
* The CAA was quite content to absorb these administrative cost - otherwise it
would have brought forward proposals to recover it, years ago.
* All other UK airspace, air infrastructure and airspace management service users were paying over the odds to allow the CAA to operate the airshow sector at a loss.
4 Deadline
We have until 29 Feb 2016 to provide formal comments on CAP1373b, by completing an online form (see 8.2 below).
5 What the CAA should do with our comments
That means between 1 March (when comments close) and 1 April 2016 (when the new charging regime for the 2016/2017 season begins), the CAA, within 30 days, is going to carefully:
5.1 Scrutinise every comment submitted
5.2 Classify and prioritise every comment for consideration
5.3 Conduct its analysis
5.4 Generate a series of options as responses to the comments
5.5 Make recommendations to its policy and charging board
5.6 Amend and re-publish CAP1373b to take account of the changes accepted
5.7 Amend all the stationery that's already been printed for the forms
5.8 Change its online web presence to include the amendments based on the accepted comments.
5.9 Count the pigs flying past its Kingsway windows.
6 What the CAA will do with our comments
The CAA is going to make these charges from 1 April 2016, no matter what comments it receives to its paper CAP1373b. You know how the civil servants work:
* Don't play the ball, play the man.
* Never explain, never compromise, never apologise.
7 There's more...
And that's not all. The last paragraph on p.4 of CAP1373b version 2 essentially says that there's going to be a root and branch review of the regulations and the charges for Air Displays from the 2017/18 season going forwards.
So we can kiss goodbye to air displays in the UK from then.
8 What can we do about this ?
8.1 - Read CAP1373b and make up your own mind (I am a bit ranty about this, as you can tell from the above).
8.2 - Whatever you think, tell the CAA on this online form BEFORE 29 February 2016
http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/modalapplication.aspx?appid=58
It gives you 6 opportunities to comment on different paragraphs of the report. If you decide to do nothing else, please respond to the official consultation, via the link above.
8.3 - Sign Darren Willmin's petition to Parliament, here:
Ask Civil Aviation Authority to rethink their charges to the 2016 Airshow season
8.4 - Write to your MP about the matter so they know your view, when it comes to a debate:
https://www.writetothem.com/ or http://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-your-mp/
8.5 - Write to as many UK commercial aviation organisations as you can find and tell them that the CAA has been overcharging them for its services for years and to demand a refund from them. If the CAA wants to push paper around, it can push it around getting its own house in order.
8.6 - Please tell others about this page.
8.7 - After 29 February 2016, make an application to the CAA under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000, to force it to explain how much of the 8 stage response to consultation (see 5.1 to 5.8 above) it actually carried out.
You can write to the CAA at:
Civil Aviation Authority
CAA House
45-59 Kingsway
London
WC2B 6TE
Main Switchboard: 020 7379 7311
8.8 - Procedural approaches
8.8.1 Ask the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee to take a closer look at the charging structure of the totality of the CAA's business and examine it for value for money.
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/
8.8.2 Appeal to the Equality & Human Rights Commission on the grounds that the CAA has not carried out an Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/
8.8.3 Ask the CAA to extend its comment deadline until it has supplied you with a usable/understandable version of CAP1373b in large print, Braille, Easy Read, on audio cassette, or in your first language (Hindi, Cornish, Xhosa, Cherokee, Suomi etc).
8.9 Air Display Organisers
You are already paying your Control Tower costs for the necessary air traffic services. Don't organise any Air Displays. Instead, organise a Fly In on the day(s) you had planned. Encourage all participants to make several Missed Approach practices (either procedural or under Radar Control). You will not need any special permissions nor low flying permits, as your visitors will not be "Low Flying" they will be making normal approaches. This should also legitimise your penchant for bouncy castles.
Sunday, 7 February 2016
Wednesday, 16 December 2015
Questions that weren't answered when MPs voted to bomb Syria.
* Who is it we will be bombing, exactly ?
* How will we tell one set of bad guys from another ?
* How do you propose that we establish effective operational coordination with the Russians, to avoid casualties to their people on the ground ?
* Can you really see the Americans sharing their dispositions with the Russians ? If not, how can this possibly work without a catastrophe ?
* Will we be sharing our dispositions with the Russians ?
* What exactly will be the scope of our operations ?
* How will you get the Russians to agree, or at least to stay well clear ?
* How will you convince the Turks and other adjoining nations, not to shoot us down ?
* We may be able to deploy ISTAR/AWACS assets from say Akrotiri but we don't have UAV/drones which are qualified to deliver munitions. That means manned bombers.
* What will the bombers we deploy, otherwise not be doing ? Can we afford to neglect that ?
* We have Brimstone. Do we have sufficient airframes fitted for its delivery, or will that be a last minute lash-up ? Do we have enough launcher sets ?
* Do we have enough Brimstone stocks ? Have we been ordering more Brimstone, without getting taken to the cleaners by the supplier ?
* What arrangements have been made to prove the Brimstone logistic supply chain when demand is high ?
* If we are going to use munitions other than Brimstone, what will we do to avoid collateral damage ?
* How will we identify and validate actual targets for the strike packages ?
* Do we know enough about ad hoc target defence capabilities to surpress / destroy them ? With what ?
* How will we determine that those targets have been destroyed ?
* How will we measure capability / numeric degradation of ISIL as a result ?
* How do we know we aren't just going to provoke ISIL growth ? How do we prevent that; we have been remarkably unsuccessful so far. What's different now ?
* If damaged aircraft make it back to a land base, what arrangements have been made to beef up the military fire and rescue services, to increase chances of survival ?
* Given we have no "proper" Aircraft Carriers with arresting gear for conventional aircraft, what will they do if they have put down in the sea ?
* What arrangements have been made with our NATO allies (principally, the French and the US) for our aircraft to be able to make emergency landings on their Carriers ?
* How many RAF crews are currently qualified to land on a carrier ? If they aren't, are we prepared to risk those crews and lose our bombers in the process ?
* Are all our bombers even equipped with arresting gear, to make this a possibility ? What will it take to embark on an equipment fit ?
* If they can't land at sea when damaged, they'll have to ditch. What Royal Navy assets will you be deploying to recover the crews ? Will they be sufficient for the scale of operations ?
* If they are shot down over Syria, surely a nightmare scenario, how will we get the crews back ?
* The UK Search and Rescue service has just been privatised. You have about 2 months before RN 771 Squadron and RAF 22 Squadron have gone for good.
* You would have had the option to deploy them for Combat SAR and contract at home to cover the domestic SAR gap. That possibility has evaporated. How will we get our crews back ?
* What arrangements have been made with our NATO allies for a Combat SAR service, while we work out what we will do and how we will do it ?
* How will our "Expeditionary Air Wing" (however it is constituted) fit into the overall Allied combat command ? (How will they know we need crews rescuing ?)
* Once we have bombed, how will we tell when we have finished the job ? When ISIL is gone (really) ?, When a free and fair election has occurred ?
* If it's a free and fair election (which I seriously doubt can possibly occur), what if we don't like the result ? Are we going to bomb again ?
* What if the Russians, or the Iranians, or the Saudis don't like the result ?
* I believe everyone is agreed that an air campaign alone cannot produce whatever the result we think we need. Boots on the ground are required.
* Where is this source of "regional" manpower ? Which Arabic nations have committed to supply them ? How many trained Brigades, Divisions, Regiments ? Are they enough ?
* How will they be brought into the command structure ? How will we deconflict our missions and avoid bombing them by mistake ?
* Do they have the same objectives as we do ? How will that potential disjoint get resolved ?
* Once the bombing is over, what is our plan then ? Reconstruction ? Humanitarian Assistance ? Protecting Historic Sites ? Nation Building ? For how long ?
* Who do we think the good guys are ? We need to be cultivating them now (and probably for the previous 10 years) to prepare them to govern.
* Are we sure they are the good guys, or just the least worse guys ? If the latter, how will that help the people of Syria ?
* If we judge we have finished in Syria, what about ISIL in Iraq and East Africa ?
* What instructions is the FCO going to give to our embassies and consulates in the region ?
* What travel restrictions / additional security arrangements will be put in place if this all kicks off ?
* What "message" are you giving to organisations such as the British Council ?
* What will we need to do to be seen to assist the Red Cross, Red Crescent, Medicins sans Frontiers ?
* Do we really believe the UN vote gives a mandate and legal cover for all of this ?
* How long will it last ? How much will it cost ?
* Where will Mr Osborne fund it from ? Please tell me we are not proposing to borrow more to achieve this ?
* And lastly, those who usually get overlooked:
* How are we planning to brief our servicemen and women ?
* What improvements are we making to care for the injured ?
* What welfare arrangements are being put in place for the families of those involved ?
* How will we tell one set of bad guys from another ?
* How do you propose that we establish effective operational coordination with the Russians, to avoid casualties to their people on the ground ?
* Can you really see the Americans sharing their dispositions with the Russians ? If not, how can this possibly work without a catastrophe ?
* Will we be sharing our dispositions with the Russians ?
* What exactly will be the scope of our operations ?
* How will you get the Russians to agree, or at least to stay well clear ?
* How will you convince the Turks and other adjoining nations, not to shoot us down ?
* We may be able to deploy ISTAR/AWACS assets from say Akrotiri but we don't have UAV/drones which are qualified to deliver munitions. That means manned bombers.
* What will the bombers we deploy, otherwise not be doing ? Can we afford to neglect that ?
* We have Brimstone. Do we have sufficient airframes fitted for its delivery, or will that be a last minute lash-up ? Do we have enough launcher sets ?
* Do we have enough Brimstone stocks ? Have we been ordering more Brimstone, without getting taken to the cleaners by the supplier ?
* What arrangements have been made to prove the Brimstone logistic supply chain when demand is high ?
* If we are going to use munitions other than Brimstone, what will we do to avoid collateral damage ?
* How will we identify and validate actual targets for the strike packages ?
* Do we know enough about ad hoc target defence capabilities to surpress / destroy them ? With what ?
* How will we determine that those targets have been destroyed ?
* How will we measure capability / numeric degradation of ISIL as a result ?
* How do we know we aren't just going to provoke ISIL growth ? How do we prevent that; we have been remarkably unsuccessful so far. What's different now ?
* If damaged aircraft make it back to a land base, what arrangements have been made to beef up the military fire and rescue services, to increase chances of survival ?
* Given we have no "proper" Aircraft Carriers with arresting gear for conventional aircraft, what will they do if they have put down in the sea ?
* What arrangements have been made with our NATO allies (principally, the French and the US) for our aircraft to be able to make emergency landings on their Carriers ?
* How many RAF crews are currently qualified to land on a carrier ? If they aren't, are we prepared to risk those crews and lose our bombers in the process ?
* Are all our bombers even equipped with arresting gear, to make this a possibility ? What will it take to embark on an equipment fit ?
* If they can't land at sea when damaged, they'll have to ditch. What Royal Navy assets will you be deploying to recover the crews ? Will they be sufficient for the scale of operations ?
* If they are shot down over Syria, surely a nightmare scenario, how will we get the crews back ?
* The UK Search and Rescue service has just been privatised. You have about 2 months before RN 771 Squadron and RAF 22 Squadron have gone for good.
* You would have had the option to deploy them for Combat SAR and contract at home to cover the domestic SAR gap. That possibility has evaporated. How will we get our crews back ?
* What arrangements have been made with our NATO allies for a Combat SAR service, while we work out what we will do and how we will do it ?
* How will our "Expeditionary Air Wing" (however it is constituted) fit into the overall Allied combat command ? (How will they know we need crews rescuing ?)
* Once we have bombed, how will we tell when we have finished the job ? When ISIL is gone (really) ?, When a free and fair election has occurred ?
* If it's a free and fair election (which I seriously doubt can possibly occur), what if we don't like the result ? Are we going to bomb again ?
* What if the Russians, or the Iranians, or the Saudis don't like the result ?
* I believe everyone is agreed that an air campaign alone cannot produce whatever the result we think we need. Boots on the ground are required.
* Where is this source of "regional" manpower ? Which Arabic nations have committed to supply them ? How many trained Brigades, Divisions, Regiments ? Are they enough ?
* How will they be brought into the command structure ? How will we deconflict our missions and avoid bombing them by mistake ?
* Do they have the same objectives as we do ? How will that potential disjoint get resolved ?
* Once the bombing is over, what is our plan then ? Reconstruction ? Humanitarian Assistance ? Protecting Historic Sites ? Nation Building ? For how long ?
* Who do we think the good guys are ? We need to be cultivating them now (and probably for the previous 10 years) to prepare them to govern.
* Are we sure they are the good guys, or just the least worse guys ? If the latter, how will that help the people of Syria ?
* If we judge we have finished in Syria, what about ISIL in Iraq and East Africa ?
* What instructions is the FCO going to give to our embassies and consulates in the region ?
* What travel restrictions / additional security arrangements will be put in place if this all kicks off ?
* What "message" are you giving to organisations such as the British Council ?
* What will we need to do to be seen to assist the Red Cross, Red Crescent, Medicins sans Frontiers ?
* Do we really believe the UN vote gives a mandate and legal cover for all of this ?
* How long will it last ? How much will it cost ?
* Where will Mr Osborne fund it from ? Please tell me we are not proposing to borrow more to achieve this ?
* And lastly, those who usually get overlooked:
* How are we planning to brief our servicemen and women ?
* What improvements are we making to care for the injured ?
* What welfare arrangements are being put in place for the families of those involved ?
The end of the Royal Navy Search and Rescue service - my verse isn't very good but someone needs to say it.
The Royal Navy has shouldered its fair share of the UK Search and Rescue Service, with 771 Naval Air Squadron, from HMS Seahawk near Helston and 819 Naval Air Squadron (since Nov 2001 as HMS Gannet SAR Flight of 771 NAS), from HMS Gannet near Prestwick.
In the past, 705 NAS and 772 NAS also contributed.
At RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk), 771 NAS operated from the west side of the base, near the main road from Helston to The Lizard. Its Sea King SAR helicopters were a welcome sight in the skies over Cornwall and Devon.
What shall we do with D site now that 771 has gone ?
In the rough and in the night time
771's brave boys patrolled,
bringing safety and salvation
to those poor, imperilled souls.
They've done our Search and Rescue
'til January of sixteen.
The job's now gone to Bristows
and they all seem quite keen
to carry forth that blazing torch
(it must be quite a thrill).
Three cheers now for those Bristow crews;
they've got big boots to fill.
And so around our coast they flew
from Penzance to Lundy's Isles:
A final lap of honour, which
brought waves and beaming smiles.
The threshold of Three Six now quiet;
an engine hoist stands lone.
No sounds of tired maintainers
or the whining of those Gnomes.
The hangar's bare, the birds have flown,
no need for Sea King spares
and Westland's icon now has gone
to scrapheaps here and there.
The service lapsed, the crews have gone,
no aircraft for the role.
The training value of these flights
was worth its weight in gold.
We cannot have our Navy
doing jobs that could be paid
for from that Government Department,
that was the Board of Trade.
But Whitehall's full of Knaves and Fools
who've never known the need
to get our shot down aircrew back
from combat zones, at speed.
Let's hope our erstwhile cousins
have Jolly Greens enough to spare,
when hostile acts upon our crews
cause mayhem without care.
What shall we do with D site
now that 771 has gone ?
In the past, 705 NAS and 772 NAS also contributed.
At RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk), 771 NAS operated from the west side of the base, near the main road from Helston to The Lizard. Its Sea King SAR helicopters were a welcome sight in the skies over Cornwall and Devon.
What shall we do with D site now that 771 has gone ?
In the rough and in the night time
771's brave boys patrolled,
bringing safety and salvation
to those poor, imperilled souls.
They've done our Search and Rescue
'til January of sixteen.
The job's now gone to Bristows
and they all seem quite keen
to carry forth that blazing torch
(it must be quite a thrill).
Three cheers now for those Bristow crews;
they've got big boots to fill.
And so around our coast they flew
from Penzance to Lundy's Isles:
A final lap of honour, which
brought waves and beaming smiles.
The threshold of Three Six now quiet;
an engine hoist stands lone.
No sounds of tired maintainers
or the whining of those Gnomes.
The hangar's bare, the birds have flown,
no need for Sea King spares
and Westland's icon now has gone
to scrapheaps here and there.
The service lapsed, the crews have gone,
no aircraft for the role.
The training value of these flights
was worth its weight in gold.
We cannot have our Navy
doing jobs that could be paid
for from that Government Department,
that was the Board of Trade.
But Whitehall's full of Knaves and Fools
who've never known the need
to get our shot down aircrew back
from combat zones, at speed.
Let's hope our erstwhile cousins
have Jolly Greens enough to spare,
when hostile acts upon our crews
cause mayhem without care.
What shall we do with D site
now that 771 has gone ?
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