Job satisfaction!

It was £6 a week. That was what became my weekly wage when I left school in 1971 to commence work as an ‘on-the-job-training’ aircraft engineer at Personal Plane Services at Booker Airfield. My direction had been cast by my childhood family home being squarely within the circuit of White Waltham Airfield. Dad worked at ML Aviation on the airfield (lots of MOD work), and I remember well watching from the family garden as Gannets and the Rotodyne to and froed from WW. That was inspiring enough, but on top of that, our next door neighbour was a DC-3 pilot for WW-based Fairey Air Surveys. On returning to base after an extended mission, often overseas, it was his routine to pass ‘low and slow’ over next door’s rooftop to remind ‘her indoors’ to put the kettle on. On hearing it approaching, if I ran quickly enough, I could make it outside in time to soak in the full drama. This made such an impression on me as a young boy – and it was the sight, sound and ‘feel’ of those occasions which set me on my path. Anyway, I did get a rise, and I spent the next 20 years at Booker, fully engrossed in a busy aircraft maintenance and repair business, sharing a hangar with, at its peak, an engineer-staff of up to 15.

Doug Bianchi was the boss, and throughout the 1970s and half the 1980s, PPS looked after the aircraft of two active flying schools, each with an extensive fleet of spam-cans, and dozens of ‘private owners’ bringing in a whole variety of different aircraft types. This was interesting, but was just the ‘bread and butter’. What made the role particularly fascinating was the work being done to restore, maintain and operate a whole range of vintage and classic aircraft. In its time, PPS was recognised as the leading ‘go to’ organisation if you wanted to operate something unusual. The company benefited from the patronage of several wealthy customers, who entrusted the welfare of their collections to PPS. Not least of these was the Hon Patrick Lindsay, who included in his collection a Fieseler Storch, Fiat G46, Morane 230, Harvard, and Spitfire MK1, G-AIST. Spitfire MKIX G-ASJV (MH434) of Sir Adrian Swire was our baby too throughout my stay. Looking after a pair of DH Rapides was fun, as well as was being involved with a couple of Mosquitos, a Lysander, and a Yak 11 (in which I cherish the memory of a flight with the late Neil Williams). Another memorable, if intensive, activity was keeping the four Stampes (plus one spare) of the Rothmans Aerobatics Team airworthy and ready to display at weekend airshows – later replaced with Pitts S2As. Doug died in December 1977 (incidentally, the same weekend that Neil Williams was killed in the crash of a Heinkel 111 which he was ferrying to the UK from Spain) and the company continued with his son, Tony, at the helm. Tony continues to this day as one of our longest standing PFA / LAA Inspectors.

Throughout all this, supplying and operating aircraft for film and television provided an interesting backdrop (PPS had been one of the main players in putting together and operating the fleet of ‘Edwardians’ used in the making of Those Magnificent Men and their Flying Machines, at White Waltham and Booker in 1965). For me, the most memorable were Aces High in 1976, The High Roadto China in 1981, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1986 – in which I played a ‘small part’!

Many of our customers’ aircraft were operating on a Permit to Fly, and as I eventually passed through the ranks of Chief Inspector and Chief Engineer at PPS, this inevitably brought me into frequent professional contact with the PFA, and in particular the Chief Engineer at the time, John Walker. In the late 1980s, the PFA was going through a time of change. The kit aircraft industry was ‘taking off’ and the airworthiness-business side of the PFA was burgeoning.

Unfortunately, John was not in the best of health and frankly, was not keeping up with increasing demands from the membership, nor indeed from the CAA. This developing situation was recognised by some of the PFA’s movers and shakers of the time, and it was this that brought about the move to increase the headcount and employ new staff –hence the adverts went out for a new Chief Engineer (enter Francis Donaldson) and, for the first time, a full-time Chief Inspector. I spotted the advert in a Flight International magazine while jetting off one day on holiday, and the rest, as they say, is history.

‘amateur’ aircraft engineers seeking to be ‘approved’ as Inspectors (in those days, licensed aircraft engineers didn’t need to be separately approved as Inspectors). Following Doug’s death, Frankie Hounslow (ex-Rollason and Tiger Club) had become an ‘honorary’ unpaid Chief Inspector, and had been in the role for quite a few years by the time I came along.

Some interesting (to me at least) statistics follow. There had been 454 Inspectors approved up to the end of 1990, so the first Inspector number that I issued was No 455. The latest number issued, as of today, is No 968, so a total of 514 Inspectors have come on stream during ‘my watch’. As of today, there are a total of 358 current Inspectors. We get a churn of around a dozen per year, but of the original first 100 Inspectors (a point reached during 1974), only six are still approved as LAA Inspectors. Of the second 100, nine remain approved. Of the 454 Inspectors approved prior to my appointment, 76 remain current today. And of the 69 Inspectors with a number 900 upwards, 67 are still approved. It will be an occasion to behold when my successor gets around to issuing number 1,000, and will be an event worthy of some celebration, I would imagine, and I look forward to being invited to the party!

Moving to West Sussex, I started work for the PFA in January 1991, based in the wonderful art deco Terminal Building at Shoreham Airport. Like Francis, I expect, I had anticipated that I would be guided into my new role gently, but it turned out that only a couple of months passed before John Walker was ‘retired’ (and he died not very many years after that); and so both Francis and I found ourselves in at the deep end, forcing us to learn the art of treading the regulatory water very quickly. On reflection, this was probably a good thing, as we were both able to develop practises and procedures from afresh, without incumbrance, and it wasn’t long before the membership at large was benefiting from an improved service, and in short order, relations with the CAA were tangibly bettered.

Getting stuck into the job, I soon came to appreciate that the PFA Inspector system was actually something very precious. The LAA’s roots go back to the late 1940s, but it wasn’t until the mid-1960s that a ‘managed’ Inspector system started to become formalised. Doug Bianchi was pivotal to the development of PFA Engineering at this time, and was the first to be identified as the ‘Chief Inspector’, albeit on a part-time and volunteer basis. There is a lot of historic correspondence in our archives, which show Doug accepting (or sometimes rejecting) applications from

When describing the inspectorate, the words ‘volunteer’, ‘expert’ and ‘dedicated’ could never be overused. The PFA was thriving on the back of, well, scores of qualified and highly experienced aircraft engineers, many having been active during and immediately post-WWII, and who were genuinely willing and enthusiastic to donate their expertise in getting otherwise-non flying ‘amateurs’ airborne. I think that the amateur aircraft-building industry has since turned around. It all started with a culture of putting in as much labour as possible to avoid as much cost as possible, whereas the trend these days is weighted towards spending whatever it takes to avoid as much work as possible. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but the tradition of Inspectors expecting to be rewarded with the cost of a beer or a gallon of petrol is the exception rather than the rule these days –understandable when it’s now become common to see projects being completed for upwards of £80K.

Notwithstanding that, I suspect that most Inspectors find that seeing another aircraft take safely to the skies is their real motivation.

I often hear concerns about the perceived increasing average age of Inspectors. Well, yes, overall, it is advancing, but only in line with about every other comparable demographic group considered. Without wishing to spook any current Inspectors who may be feeling a little ‘under the weather’, the whole matter is rather self-regulating. On the positive side, a quick analysis of the last 20 newly approved Inspectors reveals an average age of 51 (and with some in their 20s), so while age is not a particular issue focused on during recruitment, I do think this factor should allay fears that the whole system might suddenly collapse through a sudden outbreak of ‘old age’.

Naturally, safety of our members is always the prime consideration of all the LAA Engineering personnel, and it would be neglectful if I did not raise this matter within this article. It is a raw fact that since 1991, there have been 91 fatal accidents occurring to LAA aircraft, with many of those of course involving a double fatality. There were many serious injuries too. Not one of those events passed by without leaving a permanent scar on the fabric of the Engineering department, whether or not there was any technical aspect to the occurrence – however, we can all take some heart from the following analysis. The rate of all ‘reportable’ accident types occurring to the LAA fleet as a whole runs at around 60 per year, and this rate has been constant since 1991. When viewed against a continuously expanding fleet size, from less than 1,000 PFA aircraft in 1991, to nearly 3,000 LAA aircraft now (and with aircraft consistently averaging between 35 and 45 hours per year), the net result is a demonstrably improving safety record.

I wouldn’t dare to presume what may be the main factors influencing this trend, and my best guess would be a little bit from a whole lot of things, but I will stick my neck out and proffer that an experienced, motivated and well supported LAA inspectorate will have been at least one positive element.

Talking of accidents, one event that should feature highly in any memoir of mine was the good fortune the owner and I had to have suffered only minor injury when, in 1992, flying just off the Algarve coast in Portugal, one ignition coil on the Rotax 532 fitted to a Renegade Spirit decided to fail. With the engine running on the one remaining coil, we were unable to maintain altitude, and the pilot did well to get us back over the cliffs and find a gap between the boulders to pull off a ‘successful’ forced-landing, though as you will probably guess from the photo (below), the aircraft never flew again.

A large chunk of the LAA’s annual expenditure goes towards ensuring that all of our Inspectors are insured for their activities as an Inspector, and it is a sad fact that over the years there have been a few occasions where the LAA Engineering department has needed to engage with ‘ambulance chasing’ legal teams aiming to progress a claim.

Francis and I have both accrued a degree of ‘court time’ over years gone by, and we have learned that it can be expensive to defend a claim, even when you have done nothing wrong. Inevitably, this is always very time consuming and imposes quite a drain on our resources. This is an unfortunate and depressing reality, but one which, as we all know, is unlikely to fade any time soon.

An important feature of my tenure is that I have made a point of getting to know every Inspector personally, and I don’t think there is one who could walk in unannounced whom I could not immediately recognise and greet on first name terms (and sadly, usually remember their Inspector number too!). Routine visits, along with the need for occasional auditing etc, coupled with being called out to deal with all kinds of inspection and airworthiness issues, means I have met up with most Inspectors at their place of work too (when aviation related). The range of skills, craftsmanship and achievement so readily evident within the whole LAA community has so often been breath-taking (mind you, I’ve seen several horrors too, but that’s another story…). All of this has been one hell of an education for me, and I really hope that the ‘personal touch’ strategy can endure going forward.

I have also enjoyed turning out to deliver more than 100 ‘talks’ to LAA Struts, and other local aviation groups, usually woven into trips to visit Inspectors. It’s been a pleasure to have met so many ‘rank and file’ PFA / LAA members in this way, and fantastic to have visited pretty much every corner of the UK. Most of this was done pre sat-nav, finding my way with reference to a road atlas, and often a torch (and no mobile phone, in the early days), and now I just can’t imagine how on Earth I ever managed! Looking back, I reckon I have covered close to half-a-million PFA / LAA miles in 31 years, using up seven company cars in the process. I wish I could say I’d never bent one, but I can at least say I never hit anything that was able to claim back, and I always got home!

It has forever been a form of standing ‘joke’ within LAA offices that when an aircraft turns out well, or is used to attract good publicity, the LAA quite rightly takes the opportunity to loudly broadcast the merits of ‘our’ Inspectors, but when things don’t go to plan, perhaps when there is a complaint made about a quality matter, then the gist is “Ken, ‘your’ Inspector…”. Oh well, it goes with the territory I guess!

Despite that, I can say that I have enjoyed my aviation career so far. It’s a fact that after 51 years of working life, I am still often rubbing shoulder-to-wing with the same airframes that I laid tools to back in my formative years, and often still meeting and hearing from the same faces and characters that I remember from all that time ago. As an aside, I feel privileged to have never spent a working day without a view over a grassy airfield. Hares, painted ladies, skylarks and sunsets have always been an integral part of my life, and when mixed with the beat of a RR Merlin, there’s nothing better. And now, having spent 13 years based at Shoreham Airport, and having brought up two lovely daughters in that part of the world before moving to Northamptonshire, you can add the ‘smell of the sea’ to that list. Moving back to the south coast now beckons as a short-term ambition.

So, on the basis of half-baked qualification, no skills and a modicum of knowledge, have I ‘winged’ it for half a century? Well, yes, of course I have. I’ve had the privilege of working with a fine team at Shoreham and that continues today at Turweston, where one could not ask for better company. I am confident that LAA members remain in great hands both on the engineering, and on the commercial side.

In signing off, I would like to thank the membership, and our army of Inspectors in particular, for all of your inputs over the years, and especially for keeping me on my toes so vigorously! It has been an honour to have headed up such a skilled and experienced team. I wish my successor all the very best, and while the job will undoubtedly bring significant challenges, I will say that if they have half the fun and satisfaction I have enjoyed, they will be holding no regrets. ■

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