So here in UK we essentially are at some risk if we fly VFR and do so for “maintenance”. However according to Mr Martin Robinson of AOPA – “I had a lengthy discussion with the DfT today. Following this input from AOPA the CAA plans to issue more specific guidance via Skywise” (apologies if I should not have quoted this) it seems the CAA will respond. The cynic in me expects the response to be coincidental with the lockdown be lifted so nothing can then be attributed to CAA. Am I being too cynical? I truly hope I am.
However according to Mr Martin Robinson of AOPA – “I had a lengthy discussion with the DfT today
Mr Robinson has not been able to get anywhere with the CAA so far. Just some ambiguous stuff which people are still arguing about on the UK sites, with the usual sanctimonious people adopting the usual sanctimonious positions.
Shoreham Airport has obtained a much better clarification (details posted earlier) which makes it pretty clear that one can fly for airworthiness reasons and without having to invent reasons connected with maintenance, and this is completely right. Subject of course to distancing, hygiene, etc but anybody with a brain knows how to do that. The “Stay at home, save lives” type of message is of necessity aimed at the lowest common denominator of society; those who never wash their hands and touch every toilet door handle. I can get from my house to the plane, do a flight, and come back home, without getting within about 10m of someone else (when out of my car) and without touching anything at the airport, or any part of the plane which the hangar crew might touch.
It certainly is a non-essential journey
But, why? Humans, and particularly those who passed through the grotesquely over-regulated aviation sausage machine, have an infinite capacity for interpreting rules in the most restrictive possible way. Feeding a horse is also a “nonessential journey”, because letting a horse live is less important than letting a human live (tongue heavily stuffed in one cheek; you get my drift I am sure). So the horse must die, because if you drive to the horse you might have a crash and then use up some health service resources.
Your aircraft engine is worth say 50k, overhaul say 30k, and this is way more than the average horse is worth. The obvious difference is that you can feed the “horse story” to Joe Public, but you can’t feed the “plane story” to Joe Public. But you don’t have to feed the “plane story” to Joe Public. Just do what all good modern humane N. Europeans do and keep quiet about every € DM $ etc that you have 
If you fly, go high up (a plane is practically invisible at say 4000ft). And don’t do it on a weekend.
Peter wrote:
Your aircraft engine is worth say 50k, overhaul say 30k, and this is way more than the average horse is worth.
I cannot really use this justification, as I am a renter and it’s not strictly “my” engine.
Otherwise, I fully agree with your post and I am not one to generally interpret rules In the strictest possible sense, especially not in an aviation context.
I decided to go flying tomorrow and, if that works out, next week as well. The aircraft I booked hasn’t been used the entire week, so there is no contamination to be expected.
One option may be to get a letter from the school which owns it, authorising the flight for airworthiness reasons. But I really don’t see somebody in Germany getting done for flying. FR24 shows lots of traffic there flying openly. Too many to count even now, early morning. UK shows zero and France nearly zero.
Frankly, there is no public health reason not to fly alone or with family. The “you might bind medical capacity if you crash” reason is absolutely laughable right now because we have loads and loads of spare capacity. 75% of ICU beds in Lower Saxony are currently unused.
Emergency services have much fewer patients than usual, because people are afraid of calling them for a “clipped toenail” (tongue in cheek) as they usually do. On Monday I was on call in a usually very busy emergency services station, where we normally have between 9 and 13 patients per 24 hour shift. This time, it was just 4. Other colleagues and the paramedics report similar experiences over the past few weeks.
Fenland_Flyer wrote:
So here in UK we essentially are at some risk if we fly VFR and do so for “maintenance”. However according to Mr Martin Robinson of AOPA – “I had a lengthy discussion with the DfT today. Following this input from AOPA the CAA plans to issue more specific guidance via Skywise” (apologies if I should not have quoted this) it seems the CAA will respond. The cynic in me expects the response to be coincidental with the lockdown be lifted so nothing can then be attributed to CAA. Am I being too cynical? I truly hope I am.
I think this is one of those situations where they are hoping that you’ll just quietly do what you need to do and not expect an official announcement saying that you are allowed to do it. Notably because such an announcement would be bad press, i.e. “rich flyboys allowed back in the air while the rest of us lock down”.
Flying has not been banned, at any point, in the UK. Airports/aerodromes/airfields may be closed, and if you want access to your aeroplane you may need to take that up with them. From any reasonable point of view they cannot impound your aeroplane because they want to close their business (they have not been mandated to close) and, if it comes down it it, must realistically allow you in to take it away and keep it somewhere else.
What appears to be the challenge is the ‘non-essential’ journey to the airport. Just take a practical view on this, because enforcement is practically nil.
Got a mail from Evelyne at ULPower just now about how to “corona protect” the engine
Graham I think that is a spot on measured way of doing things in this situation. My own grass airfield is strictly private and not published anywhere so I can come and go without any personal contacts except for my family who live with me. I know I am most fortunate.
Come to think of it. We do this with marine engines every year. Some even have automatic oil fogging systems, like Evinrude (BRP). Does Lycoming or Continental have similar procedures? Or is it simply “run the engine” regularly ?
There is only
