MCR4S

If anyone comes across an Dyn Aero MCR4S for sale, I’d be grateful if they would pass on the details.

Aircraft type and owner personality

From here and here and here and of course the many threads on this I wonder if there is a correlation between aircraft type and the owner personality.

There is an obvious one with cars, and a lot of other stuff.

One huge factor in this – for any product – is the marketing, which tends to be pitched to address particular personality types.

UK CAA reviewing the PMD (Pilot Medical Declaration) system – again Nov 2023, Closes 4 Jan 2024

CAA site

Following the launch of Pilot Medical Declarations (PMD) in October 2016, 14,000 PMDs have been submitted.
A post implementation internal review of the PMD process concluded that the PMD process needed to be examined and potentially amended.
In addition, feedback received from the General Aviation (GA) community from the consultation on UK GA opportunities for change now that the UK has left EASA included a suggested review of the PMD process to enhance user experience and identify opportunities in the context of the simplification and rationalisation of GA flight crew licensing.

Pilot_Medical_Declaration_Consultation_CAP2408_pdf

They are saying 4% of pilots with the PMD are not entitled to it so they want to review it. I think this is actually an extremely good figure and would expect to find way more people not entitled to a Class 1, on the grounds of non-declaration of a relevant condition

Also the CAA should be motivated by

• there is no evidence of a reduction in safety – in flight incapacitation is incredibly rare
• the GA community has gained or retained 14k pilots who are supporting the GA industry which pays heavy licensing fees to the CAA

Here is your chance to respond to their survey.

UK Petition – Reclassify general aviation airfields as greenfield not brownfield sites

For those of you that are UK citizens or residents, looks like a good petition, if you like airfields.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/660502?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0BMQABHTPjPhd

Aircraft VAT / import VAT / getting busted upon landing in the EU (merged thread)

Aircraft in Free Circulation for VAT

What does it exactly mean?

I always took it as meaning that import VAT has been paid and that you have evidence of that.

A few years ago I did some notes on it here.

Just having an invoice from the seller is not proof that the VAT has been paid.

I managed to obtain a Certificate of Free Circulation from the UK Customs, very shortly before they stopped issuing them. But many others were less lucky. Now, the only route I am aware of is to declare some semi plausible market value for your plane, and hand over the VAT on that value, and you get the piece of paper. That could of course be very expensive. Another route is via the San Marino registry, but that has been described by a well known VAT consultant as void.

There are some "interesting" gotchas which can be triggered by the aircraft having been sold to a non EU owner, while remaining in the UK. That can count as an export, and you then become liable for import VAT again (even if you have proof it has already been paid) if the aircraft ownership is transferred back into the EU. Obviously one wonders what happens to FAA trusts but I am told by my accountant that HMRC treat trusts as transparent for tax purposes in this case.