I don’t know how the airports which “closed totally” are going to deal with engine corrosion.
In some quarters there is no limit to human arrogance but the bill for this could be huge.
Some means will have to be found to either do a local flight or do an extended engine run, or allow people to carry out engine preservation procedures.
In Belgium, the NOTAM allows for maintenance flights to be carried out. The main issue however is getting to the airport; it is a non-essential trip and thus forbidden.
I would challenge the “non essential”. Everything has an economic value – even a human life (in national health provision decisions). Your engine is worth say 30k.
And the clear intent behind stopping travelling is not stopping travelling. It is to stop people mixing.
The non-essential is clearly defined; work, food, health, assistance to people in need.
For me, my plane is essential. But I’m afraid the state sees this differently.
Peter wrote:
I would challenge the “non essential”. Everything has an economic value – even a human life (in national health provision decisions). Your engine is worth say 30k. And the clear intent behind stopping travelling is not stopping travelling. It is to stop people mixing.
I note there are various GA flying around the UK today on FR24. Glad you have the opportunity to do so. I personally see no problem in getting in a car alone, going to your aeroplane, flying alone, then going home again alone – as long as there is no interaction with others to do so.
But try explaining to a French Gendarme that the reason you are going to the local grass strip is because your aeroplane must be flown to prevent engine damage. I believe someone here has already been tracked, met by Gendarmes at the airfield and fined in the middle of nowhere in Brittany. I do note however there appear to be an awful lot more biz-jet/prop flights than I would normally see around France right now, so some are certainly still getting about, and Id guess there is more people interaction for such flights than there would be for the guy that was fined… But then the French lockdown rules arent about what is logical.
Regards, SD..
airways wrote:
The non-essential is clearly defined; work, food, health, assistance to people in need.
For me, my plane is essential. But I’m afraid the state sees this differently.
Peter wrote:
I would challenge the “non essential”. Everything has an economic value – even a human life (in national health provision decisions). Your engine is worth say 30k.
It is more a question of “can wait” for 1month rather than “essential” for whole life?
The “essential” means buying time for core health and core economy sectors to get beefed up and adjust short-term, the rest will just have to wait, because, if one of the two break in next month then everything else gets fried, how much it costs to save hospitals or food logistics in next months? well everything you have 
once tests, protection and treatment kits are all around the place, everybody else will have to go working again and resume normal life, surely, in the next 24months, every aspect of life will go in a formula like (Expected Gross Domestic Product)*(Average Life Expectancy)^x where x is something that get openly discussed in parliament…
The FAA is doing something. This notice appears when you log into the FAA Medexpress website (which every FAA medical holder has to do, before visiting his AME)
Here’s hoping the FAA does nothing and goes back to sleep. The last thing I’m looking for is a responsive FAA. I note they are only “exploring options” which may mean they are so tied up in bureaucracy that they’ll only be talking about it, until it’s OBE.
That aside, it’s amazing how business-speak buzz words travel between organizations like a virus… If I’m forced to read the phrase “senior leadership and subject matter experts” one more time I’m going to be sick 
I’d give that one a half life of about two more years, at which point I also hope nobody will be “crafting” anything or “reaching out” to me any more either.
One indeed needs to keep corporate bullsh1t generators regularly updated.
Starting sentences with “So” and portrait videos are my favourite annoyances
However, European based N-reg pilots do have real problems. They are stuffed between a small number of AMEs, some of whom are shutting down because they are operating from NHS premises*, and the FAA shutting down its already ponderously slow machinery for processing anything out of the completely ordinary. The FAA procedure for “self grounding conditions” is one smart part of a system which EASA never had (the whole of EASA Part MED is de facto one long list of self grounding conditions).
* I know one AME posted that this is not, or not necessarily, the case, but I spoke to one medical professional in the last few days who told me that all such facilities in his area are closing down as of last night.
This is the UK law as of today
The penalty is £30 or £60 depending on how one reads it (I skimmed it quickly, only).
The usual UK aviation chat sites are packed with the usual sancimonious righteous people reporting FR24 contacts. It’s often been said that we should be grateful that GA is not regulated by pilots, since pilots would shut it down immediately.
