Straight and Level Updates from LAA HQ

In hindsight…

Steve Slater CEO

Such are copy deadlines, I am writing this effectively on the eve of our AGM, where I’ll be putting forward some ideas for the year ahead. Therefore, it’s worthwhile this month that I precede those ideas by having a quick look back.

I don’t need to tell you about metaphorically ‘pulling in our horns’. Rising inflation and fuel prices both in the air and on the ground are, naturally, impacting sport flying.

I’m ever the optimist though, and from a flying point of view the best time for us to face these challenges is the winter, when we are flying less anyway. I hope by spring our Government will have got its act a bit more together, and some of the extreme price hikes may have come back down again. I did say I was ever the optimist!

Looking back at the past year, we’ve had a number of things to be proud of. We had a highly successful fly in at Popham and our other ‘Meet the LAA’ events have been well-attended too. There are also signs that many flyers from outside the LAA are increasingly buying aircraft and shares in ‘our sort’ of aircraft, in recognition of our lower cost of flying.

Our membership numbers are robust at more than 7,700 and, while the number of aircraft on active Permits has fallen by around

50 this year, we still have more than 2,700 aircraft and more than 1,400 active projects on our ‘fleet’.

We, rightly, have focused a lot of attention on the account fraud perpetrated on the LAA earlier this summer. By the time you read this, we will have made available the independent review of the fraud. The review was carried out by LAA Company Secretary, HH David Mole, QC, (a former Crown Court and Deputy High Court judge, authorised to try serious fraud cases) and independent members John Holden, a former Head of Companies House and LAA member, and David Wheeler, a retired finance officer of several companies, and not an LAA member.

We have, of course, already implemented their findings in an action plan to reduce the risk of such a fraud ever happening again. However the loss of £64,523 from our accounts effectively negated, at a single stroke, the savings we had generated in expenditures this year. This, along with the upward cost pressures particularly in print and utilities, and the planned investment of some of our reserves in engineering restructuring (see more from John Ratcliffe, below) has seen a fall in our reserves from £1,130,000 in 2021, to around £980,000 this year, effectively returning our reserves to 2016 levels. Even though we are predicting a further planned deficit in 2023, it is our aim to achieve a zero-deficit budget in 2024, while at the same time driving greater HQ efficiency, more effective member services and enhanced training offerings. How do we achieve that? Well, if you missed the AGM, watch out for my column next month! ■

It has been an extremely busy summer for LAA Engineering, during which time we said farewell to Ken Craigie on his retirement and welcomed Lucy Wootton as our new Chief Inspector. Unfortunately, Tim Skinner was unable to join us, so we are still in the process of recruiting for another engineer to join our airworthiness team.

Although there are a number of areas that we are working on to further improve the services we offer to members, I continue to be amazed by the huge quantity and variety of work that such a small and dedicated team of eight has been able to achieve in supporting our 7,700 members and more than 4,000 aircraft, of so many different types, promoting LAA flying, while continuing to put safety at the heart of everything we do.

The first stage of updating the Permit revalidation process is underway. There will be the option for owners and Inspectors to complete and email a set of completely revised forms to us, and there will be updated guidance on how to improve the quality of your Permit application. From this we can start evaluating the merits of taking the process fully online.

The introduction of a Mod application prioritisation system has let us rationalise this aspect of the process and we are looking at a means of expanding on the online progress update facilities.

Unfortunately, we have had a couple of instances recently where members applying to register a kit-built project have been found to have received essentially complete aircraft.

Misrepresenting an aircraft in this way breaches the 51% rule, resulting in the aircraft being ineligible to join the LAA fleet or being granted a Permit to Fly (PtF). It is, therefore, essential that the rules are followed for an aircraft to join the amateur-built fleet.

The LAA is a one-stop shop for all engineering needs, from initial advice about the suitability of an aircraft, support throughout a project, design verification and the issue or revalidation of a PtF. During a ‘normal’ day, a considerable amount of our time is spent answering inquiries by email and telephone, in support of our members. Although an important part of our service, this reduces the time that can be dedicated to Mods and Permit applications and getting out in the field to visit you, so please bear in mind the possibility of liaising with your Inspector in the first instance and using the huge amount of information available on our website.

Another issue that we regularly encounter is providing an applicant with a specified list of requirements, for the reply not to provide all of the requested information. This results in timeconsuming calls and emails to chase up the missing information. Please try to provide all of the requested information in one go. We are also sometimes questioned over whether the requested information is really necessary, often citing the different rules in other countries. Please be assured that we only ask for what is required to clear your aircraft to get it in the air.

As always, please keep your feedback coming via engineering@laa.uk.com ■