Safety
Airworthiness Directives. Schleicher Ka6, K7, K8, ASK13, ASK18 Elevator Engagement Inspection. EASA has published AD 2012-0246 revising and updating the “Automatic Elevator Connection” inspection. Compliance is required at the next annual inspection or by 28 February 2013 and at each subsequent annual inspection. For a full list of aircraft types please see the relevant Technical Note (http://www.alexander-schleicher.de/tm/13/130_TM19_DE.pdf). Please note that the AD and accompanying TN supersedes BGA Inspection 003/08/2000 and 010/12/2000 for EASA aircraft. The BGA inspection is still valid for Annex II types. If you have previously complied with the requirements of the AD Part (1) (Required Action and Compliance Time) you can certify that section by entering “previously complied with” and the date it was completed in the log book entry; Part (2) is rectification if found incorrect; Part (3) is incorporation of the TN into the Flight Manual. The AD is at http://ad.easa.europa.eu/blob/easa_ad_2012_0246.pdf/AD_2012-0246_1
Tug Upsets. BGA incident data analysis has shown that the rate of tug upset incidents – those resulting in loss of control by the tug pilot - has markedly increased. We ask all glider and tug pilots to consider the factors identified at http://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/tugpilots/TugUpset.jpg in addition to guidance published in the BGA Instructor Manual, in the BGA tug pilots guidance notes (see https://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/clubmanagement/documents/aerotownotes.pdf) and in other training sources.
GASIL. The latest edition of the General Aviation Safety Leaflet, GASIL (2012/10) has been published at http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/2012 10.pdf
RT Guide for GA Pilots. We would like to remind pilots about the very useful Radiotelephony Phraseology Guide for General Aviation Pilots published by the CAA as a supplement to CAP413. The guide provides an interactive quick reference to the UK phraseology most commonly used in General Aviation operations. The supplement covers arriving at and departing from aerodromes, cross country flight, operating at unattended aerodromes, instrument approaches and emergency messages. You can download from http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=33&pagetype=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=3749
Regulatory
Language Proficiency Endorsements. The CAA is advising private pilots (PPL/NPPL) to check the currency of the English language proficiency endorsement on their licences, as pilots applying for any of the new EASA licences must have a valid English language endorsement. Although proficiency is recorded on current power licences, the level is not. If you do not know which proficiency level you hold, it is probably Level 4. THIS LEVEL EXPIRES AFTER 4 YEARS. As many such endorsements were issued in 2008, PPL and NPPL holders may be unable to acquire an EASA licence until they renew their language proficiency endorsement. Unless a licence specifically states that the holder has a non-expiring Level 6 (native speaker) endorsement, pilots should assume they need to obtain one. BGA advice is that anyone intending to gain an EASA Part-FCL powered aircraft licence should get a level 6 proficiency

endorsement, through a simple ground-based assessment. This should be recorded on CAA form SRG 1199. The form (section 3, no need for section 4) can be signed by any holder of a valid FE, TRE, CRE, IRE, SFE or FIE certificate issued by the CAA. A number of examiners are listed at http://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/instructors/motorgliding.htm. More information is at http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=14&pagetype=65&appid=7&mode=detail&nid=2190 with the definitive reference being CAP 804 (http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP804rfs.pdf), section 4, part M.
NPA2012-15 EASA Part 66 L Licence. EASA Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA) 2012-15 proposes requirements for sailplane airworthiness maintenance staff operating under Part M. Naturally, the finally agreed requirements will impact BGA inspectors. As such, the BGA is looking closely at the proposals and is discussing the way forward, including its response to the NPA, with the European Gliding Union and with the UK CAA. BGA inspectors were advised about this NPA in the November 2012 Engineering News.
BGA
New British Team Manager. We are pleased to announce that Graham Garnett (Lasham GS) has been appointed as the new manager of Gliding Team GB, succeeding Phil Sturley.
Inspector Continuation Training. The seminar at North Hill (Devon & Somerset GC) on 27th April has now been confirmed. A full list of seminars is at http://www.gliding.co.uk/technical
BGA Administration Assistant. The BGA is seeking to employ an administration assistant working from its Leicester office to specifically support the transition of glider pilots to European pilot licensing requirements from early 2013 through to April 2015. Working as a member of a small professional team, the role includes processing and quality checking applications, managing queries and updating data. More details, including the closing date for applications, are at http://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/notices/TransitionAdministrationAssistantVacancy.pdf
Competitions and Cross-Country
British Teams. The selection process for Team GB members for the 2013 internationals is complete. The teams are: Europeans Flapped (Vinon, France) – 15m Class: Phil Jones and Leigh Wells (reserve: Stephen Ell); 18m Class: Derren Francis and Russell Cheetham (reserve: Mike Young); Open Class: Peter Harvey and Steve Jones (reserve: Kim Tipple). Europeans Unflapped (Ostrow Wielkopolski, Poland) - Club Class: Tim Milner and Liz Sparrow (reserve: Matt Davis); Standard Class: Luke Rebbeck and Howard Jones (reserve: Jez Hood). Womens Worlds (Issoudin, France) - Standard Class: Gill Speckley, Sarah Kelman and Kay Draper; Club Class: Ayala Liran, Claudia Hill and Helen Hingley. Junior Worlds (Leszno, Poland) - Matt Davis, Luke Dale, Sam Roddie and Charlie Jordan (reserves: Oli Barter and Matt Waters). The final Junior Team composition is still to be determined.
Juniors
2013 Junior Nationals. The 2013 Junior National Championships will take place at Nympsfield on 17th-25th August. Information about entry will appear in the spring.