In recognition of the current difficulty of arranging consultations with GPs and AMEs, two temporary changes have been made to BGA medical requirements. Please note that these two changes affect only pilots flying gliders within the UK and have no effect for any flight for which a CAA or EASA…

The BGA publication ‘guidance for SPL holders’ has been improved and updated. You can view the document here.    

In September 2020, the CAA published guidance on ‘readiness for Brexit’. The CAA guidance includes; all current technical requirements will be retained in UK domestic regulation; all type certificates and certificates of release to service for aeronautical products and parts issued on or before 31 December remain valid; all other…

Gliding training in the UK continues under BGA requirements until October 2021, when Sailplane Flight Crew Licensing (SFCL) rules  and associated Declared Training Organisation (DTO) rules will apply. The BGA is developing the resources that will be required by clubs. You can read more here.

Human factors are issues affecting how pilots operate and include social and personal skills, such as communication and decision making which complement technical skills. Most occurrences leading to incidents or accidents involve an element of human factors. Traditionally in general aviation, human factors have been taught in isolation. Adopting a…

The CAA has appointed Sophie O’Sullivan as the General Aviation Unit interim lead. Sophie is also the Head of the CAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems Unit. The BGA works closely with the CAA GAU on behalf of sport gliding and the BGA membership. We welcome Sophie into her new role and…

The UK is leaving the EASA system in 2021, and the CAA have made a commitment to the Secretary of State for Transport to undertake a “Post-Brexit GA Challenge”. This challenge will be one of the key mechanisms for enabling the CAA to help the GA community overcome the challenges,…

Assistant and full rated instructors who have converted to an SPL* include Flight Instructor (Sailplanes) – known as FI(S) – as a privilege on their licence ready for when its needed, ie by October 2021. Meanwhile, all instructors including those with FI(S) privileges on an SPL are operating under the…

We are sad to report that Dr Peter Saundby has passed away peacefully at his home following a long illness. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. As Peter’s long term friend and colleague Max Bishop notes, Peter made a huge contribution over many years to gliding and air…

To stem the spread of the COVID19 virus in England, N Ireland, Scotland and Wales, significant public health related restrictions are either already in place or have been recently announced in those countries. Detailed public health restrictions required in each country apply including re essential travel only, re meeting others,…