Barry Tempest
”As you will see these major regional air shows have had to be cancelled as far as the flying display is concerned on the weekend.
I spoke to one of the disappointed participants today, Saturday, and this is what he told me.
The application was made months ago in accordance with the required time scale laid down by the CAA in CAP403. Despite this being done the actual permission was granted on Thursday 7th September for a show on the 8th/9th/10th September. A mere single day before the start of the event on the Friday. The prescribed display area was seen to be unflyable for the majority of the aircraft scheduled to take part. These types had been specified in the application. A Spitfire aircrafr flew a practice display over the site and found it impossible to keep within the boundary specified and also to avoid overflying several additional areas deemed by the CAA to be avoided.
The reaction of the CAA GA Unit when informed by the FDD was to suggest cancelling the show if it was not posible to comply with the prescribed conditions.
After considerable deliberation by the EO and FDD the decision was made, with great regret, to cancel the flying element for the 9th and 10th September. They really had no choice but to do so.
This show had been widely advertised locally and nationally and a large number of advance tickets had been sold to the public, many of whom will have made arrangements to travel long distances with possible hotel accomodation in addition. The organisers are left with a huge shortfall in receipts and the enormous task of refunding all the buyers of advance tickets.
All because the CAA GA Unit have failed to do what the Head of that Unit said they would do. To commence processing each application on receipt and not wait until the last minute before starting work. This failing has been endemic within the GA Unit for decades and has been brought to the attention of the CAA on numerous occasions to my personal knowledge. There are always last minute applictions but these should only be processed after those that had been submmitted in accordance with the prescribed timescale. For an EO and FDD to comply with the requirement for early submission of an application for the required permission and yet get treated in this way is utterly intolerable.
Frankly, if I was the EO I would seriouly consider sueing the CAA for their late production of the required permission and to recover both their unrecoverable costs and also for damages to the show’s reputation that has been built up over very many years as being a safe and entertaining event at essentially the same venue.
No doubt this affair and the ramifications will come up at the BADA Business Day in October and probably at the BADA/CAA/MAA post-season symposium in November.”
Barry Tempest FRAeS
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