CAA and GASCo offer advice for return to flying

Both the CAA and the General Aviation Safety Council (GASCo) have issued advice for pilots returning to flying after the long break because of the pandemic.

GASCo has produced an updated version of its Return to Flying Video which focusses on your first flight after Lockdown.

In the UK GA pilots will be able to fly solo or with a family/bubble member from Monday 29 March 2021 subject to currency and your own personal risk assessment.

The course is absolutely free and takes the form of an interactive presentation. It will take about 20 minutes to complete although sections can be skipped if desired.

Click here for the GASCo course

The CAA has also issued its GA Roadmap Out Of Lockdown in the form of  Safety Notice SN-2021/009. Click here to download it.

“The purpose of the Safety Notice is to highlight and provide guidance to GA pilots on the issue of the two-week gap between the date on which non-professional GA pilots are permitted to resume flying, and when they will have the ability to fly with an instructor,” said the CAA.

“There has been an unprecedented lack of GA activity over the last 12 months as a result of Covid-19 restrictions. As part of safely resuming GA activity, the CAA advises any GA pilot who has not flown for an extended period of time to take a check flight with an instructor before they resume flying as Pilot-in-Command especially if there are any concerns or issues of low confidence about resuming flying.”

The CAA acknowledges there’s pent-up demand for pilots to get back in the air and for student pilots to resume lessons.

“There will inevitably be a bow wave of demand for instructors from 12 April 2021. Instructors have been enabled to stay current during lockdown to help facilitate the return to GA flying,” added the Authority.

“To smooth out the inevitable demand for examiners in the coming weeks and months, we are working on an extension to General Exemptions Nos 1416 and 1418 until the end of July 2021.”

Let’s not forget that FLYER has also produced a guide for returning to flying, working with top instructor Mark Greenfield of Ultimate High. Read the feature here, again for free.