TRAINING COURSES

Green light for LAA training courses to restart

Brian Hope says let’s work together to expand the range of LAA training courses…

While the function of this article is to look to the future and where I believe we need to go with LAA courses, I have always believed that the best way to proceed is to take a look back at what has been done in the past… and, most important, learn from it. In the years since the Association was started after WWII, the nature of the nation’s industry has changed radically and, from around the 1980s, globalisation has Above Whether you want to build or maintain an aircraft, LAA Training Courses will hopefully soon be able to once again offer you expert advice. led to a major decline in our traditional manufacturing base. Combined with the exponential growth of digitalisation, the inevitable result is that the days when a good many of us received basic ‘hands on’ training in wood and/or metal at school, and then went on to apprenticeships in one the ‘mechanical’ industries, are long gone.

Today the norm is for a builder, or potential builder, to have minimal knowledge of the skills required to build an aircraft, and probably not have experienced

translatable mechanical knowledge via their education or career. Likewise, the larger portion of aircraft owners – purchasers of vintage/classic types or second user homebuilts for example – will also likely have minimal mechanical empathy. There are naturally a number of downsides to this situation, not least that a lack of knowledge undoubtedly dissuades potential builders and owners to take that leap of faith into our exiting and fulfilling world of affordable aircraft ownership.

A very brief history

The LAA Educational Courses came from a discussion by the Executive Committee, later to become the LAA Board, in late 2006 when it was decided that the Association needed to do more to enable members to better understand how to build and/or maintain their aircraft. We have a fabulous cadre of LAA Inspectors who mentor builders and owners on an individual basis, plus many members who have a great wealth of knowledge and expertise. Wouldn’t it be great if we could expand the availability of that knowledge to a wider audience?

In 2007, the Executive Committee employed a chap on a part-time basis to organise an LAA Educational Training Course Scheme (ETCS) and raise sponsorship for the LAA Charitable Trust, under which the scheme would run. Six, or maybe nine months and a not inconsiderable amount of money later, we had neither a brass farthing of funding nor a single course organised and, naturally, we parted company and had a rethink. I figured that it really couldn’t be so difficult to pull a few LAA people together to run some courses and was given the OK to give it a try. Although I was confident this was an initiative that would work, I also had a nagging doubt that it could turn out to be something that was really only wanted by a minority of members, so might become financially unsustainable after an initial surge of enthusiasm. From the outset it has always been an aim to ensure that the courses, as a general rule, cover their cost and add something to the pot so that we had funds to expand the scheme – we didn’t want to end up paying rent for a facility for example, but no longer have a demand for courses.

So we, a small group of friends and volunteers, renovated at minimum cost, an old Portacabin that had

Above Kevin Dilks’ Rotax engine courses explain how to get the best form the ever popular 9 series engines.

Left John Michie helps a participant with his Van’s toolbox, it is very much a ‘hands on’ course. been dumped over the far side of Turweston aerodrome awaiting scrapping, to use as our training ‘classroom’. If the courses proved to be more than just an itch that needed to be scratched, we would hopefully be able to improve on our facilities as time went on. In November 2008 we held our first course – an Aircraft Metalwork course ran by Gary Smith and John Michie, and very soon after, Dudley Pattison started his Aircraft Woodworking course, using his home workshop near Swindon. Needless to say, the courses have turned out to be in continuing demand, in fact the demand for these and other courses such as Kevin Dilks’ Four-stroke Rotax and Nick Long’s Basic and Advanced Aircraft Wiring courses has often exceeded their availability.

We therefore have indeed improved our facilities, buying a much better and larger Portacabin, which we were able to site on the airfield apron and have a permanent electricity supply instead of having to use a generator, and later still acquired a dedicated Training Room in the LAA HQ building.

Restart and growth

restart them early in 2022 and I am delighted to say that our current course tutors are all enthusiastic to once again ‘get up and running’. We are also currently in the early stages of planning to expand the range of subjects.

It is regarding these expansion plans that I would like to appeal to our Inspectors and experienced members for help and ideas. Although Turweston is our base, we currently run courses at other locations, such as Duds’ Woodwork course and Chris Thompson’s CAA Radio Operator’s Certificate of Competence (ROCC) course from Popham, so whether you live in Scotland or Cornwall, Northern Ireland or East Anglia, if you think you can help, please get in touch.

We don’t expect you to work for free, we pay you to run the course plus your expenses, and also provide the admin. Your ideas, skills, and a desire to pass them on are what we would love to have, and we are not tied to purely engineering subjects either. Some of the ideas we would like to progress are:

How do I get involved in PtF aircraft?

All you need to know about owning and operating a Permit aircraft.

Basic airframe maintenance

Although most aircraft are pretty straightforward machines, thorough inspection and maintenance is vital. For the novice this can be a daunting challenge, so let’s show them how to keep their airframe up to scratch.

Above

Demonstrating the LAA courses in the early days of Aero Expo.

Basic engine care and maintenance

These courses should cover operational issues and general maintenance: The four-cylinder Continentals The four-cylinder Lycomings The Gipsy Major The four- and six-cylinder Jabiru Two-stroke Rotax

Pre-Permit prep

Too many members arrange for their Inspector to come for an Annual Permit Inspection and do no preparatory work prior to their arrival. Let’s show them how to remove appropriate panels and check, clean, adjust and lubricate as required, so that the Inspector has more time to do what he is really there to do – giving the aircraft a thorough inspection.

Fabric work and spray painting

Fabric repair and spraying are two subjects that many owners face at some stage of build or ownership. They both require a level of skill, but like most other skills, the average man in the street can learn how to do them. The biggest problem is having the facilities to undertake the job, particularly the spraying.

Composite construction

In the mid-1970s the use of composites in the homebuilt movement really started to take hold and it is a medium that can provide for complex forms that are

virtually impossible in most other mediums. Learning how to use composites materials and techniques in order to design and build the ancillary components of wood and metal aircraft such as fairings, spats and cowlings is a useful and interesting exercise.

Magneto check and basic maintenance

Magnetos are considered by many to be old hat, unreliable and something of a black art. Let’s provide a basic check /minor overhaul and timing course.

Overhaul kits and required tooling are available for most versions of the Bendix and Slick types used on the majority of ‘traditional’ LAA types, so let’s enable owners to keep abreast of magneto maintenance, ADs and SBs.

Emergency First Aid skills

Aircraft accidents have their own particular issues and there is nothing worse than being faced with the consequences of an accident and not having a clue what to do. Doing the right or wrong thing can have a bearing on whether an injured party survives or not, so a First Aid course targeted toward air accident situations, in particular – major trauma, burns etc – would certainly impart some much-needed knowledge that hopefully we will never be called upon to use.

Type specific days

about specific types could attend an informal day’s event where owners of a certain type could discuss the build, if relevant, and ownership in terms of flying, maintenance, performance etc, giving them an insight into the merits and potential ‘gotchas’ of buying and owning such an aircraft.

Many types have clubs supporting them, which naturally we would hope would be enthusiastic to become involved.

Above It is certainly reassuring to understand how to look after your engine – here a Gipsy Major.

Getting involved

Getting a series of courses as wide as even those mentioned above sounds ambitious, in fact it is ambitious, but it is by no means impossible.

The Association has the desire, there is a requirement, and we have many expert members, Inspectors and industry representatives who I hope will want to become involved.

If you have any ideas, questions, offers of help, or even the faintest inkling that this is something that you might be interested in being involved in, please drop me an email at bfjjodel@talktalk.net or call me on 01795 662508 any time, please leave a message if I am not available.

Let’s work together to raise the game and provide our members with the knowledge they need to own, maintain and fly their aircraft to the absolute best of their ability. Together we should be able to create a training scheme that the Association cab be proud of. Thank you. ■