DimDim the new webex
Posted by admin on 29/08/2010 under Uncategorized | 
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Moi is featured in Annemasse hospital newsletter….
Posted by admin on 11/08/2010 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment
I have been featured in the Annemasse Hospital newsletter (page 7) and yes, its in French
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L’ABREGE N°70 – juillet-octobre2010 – Le magazine du CHI Annemasse-Bonneville
la grande bbq
Posted by admin on 30/07/2010 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment
Last night we went to La Dorat where the centre of the town turned into a grande barbecue.
To a non-French, and there were many, it was totally confusing. You bought your meat then brought it to a BBQ area, rented plates and cutlery and washed this all down with locally produced wine.
About 800 people sat of long benches. Many had not met before. We sat with a Polish couple who spoke perfect English and live here in the region near our house.
As night fell the music started and everyone just enjoyed the atmosphere.
Reader’s Question?Clubs in South-West France
Posted by Les King on 20/07/2010 under Uncategorized | Comments are off for this article
Brian Yeats writes:
Hi
I'm a UK PPL with some 12 years' flying behind me, currently haunting the skies of Ireland flying out of Newtownards.
Following a few extended tours in the south west of France in the past few years my wife and I are committed to buying a house here in the nearish future. Strongest candidates are the northern Lot, southern Correze and eastern Dordogne.
The thing is, I'd obviously want to buy a place within easy driving distance of an airfield with club aircraft to hire.
Is there a simple list of such happy holes I can access and keep up my knowing sleeve for useful reference? Sorry if I've missed an obvious reference point!
Why i couldn’t care less about the world cup
Posted by admin on 12/06/2010 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment
I don’t follow football so this posting will oddly enough not support the world cup.
In fact if I were to bet on any country winning France gets my vote. Why because they are truly patriotic.
I personally find the array of red and white flags nauseating and moreso the associated behaviour which borders of Anglo fundementalism.
I’ve just had my hair cut in my local barber and I’ve just seen a truly sorry sight of a kid probably 12; mirroring his obese father having his hair spray dyed white with a thick red cross in it. The bit that guals me is his attitude that we are the best. Really? Well read the papers and see how good we are and our society.
I should seperate the issues of the country from national support. I hope for then countrys mood England gets through. But like many I don’t see them getting any further than the semis. Drink sales will up, at least that’ll help the national black hole. Behavior will get nasty as well loose and the country will go into a form of grieving. And well be back to normal.
Other countries will embrace true national pride not the alcohol hedonistic behaviour of a few which will shame a once again. Let’s start leraning and stop pretening to be a nationalistic country when it suits those who behave the worst.
The collateral damage of government health reform
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The UK government, and in particular, the English health system, is facing major financial efficiency challenges. The new government is expecting significant savings, in particular in back-office functions as it commits to protect and support front-line services.
While this reform is appearing to be by reducing some of the performance monitoring elements of the system, by according to the Health service Journal (HSJ), possibly relaxing of some ‘targets’ which will emerge in the revised operating framework; means that experienced leaders and managers will be the nature of this policy shift be surplus to requirement.
The reality is that the NHS will have a new independent operating board and the signs are that the strategic health authorities will be replaced by independent regionally based commissioning boards. So, does that mean the same people pop up in the new reorganisation, or does it mean with a red-pen everyone is removed?
Either way, the NHS will loose talented individuals who have brought a great amount of skill and supported the change to date. Some of that change was and continues to be necessary to deliver an efficient and unduplicated service to patients. These people have developed skill sets and rapport by working collaboratively and effectively with clinical staff. These people who are today’s middle managers and leaders will inevitably be the collateral damage of the economic reform required to bring the NHS as part of the governments change reform and the country into balance.
On one hand it could be said you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. Equally you shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. The interesting thing is that labour strategists in key positions in SHAs will come out of this well; the people delivering the work will be the casualties. As someone who saw the previous middle tier change from 28-health authorities reduce to today’s 10, I saw a major loss of information and organisational memory. Policies were picked up and lost overnight by people who led hem one day, gone the next and then allocated five times their size to someone who didn’t understand or have any handover of what was needed.
So how does one prepare for this, network and make your successes well known; by failing to so that you will not get noticed, but equally make sure you have a wide but equally specialist repertoire which can be used by a variety of organisations, and don’t limit yourself to the NHS basket. As baskets go, the bottom appears to be falling out at a rate of knots.
At least 1.6m people came into the UK without being checked by immigration
Posted by admin on 05/06/2010 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment
The fact that Stansted airport doesn’t arrival passengers in the same way check flights from the Republic of Ireland (including internal and Channel Islands) as the rest of Europe meant that in 2009 according to official stats from the Civil Aviation Authority, resulted in 1.69ms arrival not even being check! incredulous to say the least!
Our holy border
Posted by admin on 04/06/2010 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment
The UK like many counties has seen the effect of what terrorism can do. The previous government made it clear that it intended to tighten the UK border to ensure we counted everyone in. This policy, we were led to believe was to help it identify any characters of dubious concern.
Have they done that, no! In fact I wrote to my MP several years ago outlining the situation of what I call the ‘holy border’ or a border with a severe hole in it.
The hole is the fact that some airports (I can only confirm that Stansted is the main culprit) has a bizarre approach on treating people from Ireland. Travellers from the Republic of Ireland and the Channel Islands do NOT have to clear UK immigration. All that is required is you to be on possession of a boarding card (at Stansted). You are cleared with a visual holding of a boarding card. Anyones boarding card in fact.
I am writing to BAA and the main English airport authorities to declare under FOI how many people they have treated in this way to emphesize the problem.
Could this pose a threat to security. On effect yes. Because the Irish immigration authorities while needing to see a passport do not screen passports routinely for known watch lists, as such, people wanting easy access to UK just need to get to the ROI and then hop on a flight to the UK and they are in and nobody even knows. It that isn’t a major hole in the border then I don’t know what is. But even those who don’t have a UK visa could get here so it’s a major issue.
I have written to Theresa May alerting her and advising her I did raise this some time ago with her colleague for Hertsmere let’s see if this government really wants to solve the problem.
CPL Training Recommendations Please
Posted by Stu Morton on 23/04/2010 under Uncategorized | Comments are off for this article
Les,
As I think you are aware I am over in the USA, residing in Miami where I am currently working for my new company for a few years. My long term aim is to return to France after a few years here, and whilst I am here I want to get some flying experience in a different country, and gradually do my further exams, my CPL and then my instructor ticket with the aim of being able to teach flying back at my home base in the south of France.
I have been here in the US for nearly 6 months and trying to find a decent straight forward flying school has been harder than one would imagine being in Florida where the highest of concentration of training schools are perhaps in the whole world are.
I started at one school and to cut a long story short the aircraft was not airworthy let alone good for training in.
I have found plenty of people who give me advice on where not to train but not finding many who suggest schools that have left a good impression. So I wanted to ask if any of your readers have any suggestions, and also if there are and recommendations for a good school to study the CPL theory rather than the ATPL theory anywhere across europe.
I have been keeping one eye on the new EASA regulations due to surface in 18 months-2 years and the latest suggestion with them is to only require the CPL theory and the FI course to be allowed to teach across europe rather than go down the full ATPL route costing thousands of pounds for a course that doesn't really fit the job.
Any advice from readers would be welcomed.
Stu
And my first flight was to Isle of Wight
Posted by admin on 18/04/2010 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment
What a great day to fly, no BIG aircraft, lots of open airspace; while the volcano was affecting the most of Europe however these restrictions applied to commercial aircraft didn’t apply to General Aircraft – however there was an alert to us General Aviation (GA) pilots, that we fly in effect at our own risk… bet the insurers wouldn’t pay out.
We (Ivan a pilot friend and experienced Jabiru pilot) and I flew westbound from Elstree (EGTR) west to White Waltham who allowed us to transit their route ‘no less that 2,000 feet’. We maintained 2,500 and noticed the visibility fall from CAVOK = usually 10km to about 6; and then south towards bembridge.
We tried (to no avail to speak to the RAF at Overil but got permission to fly from Farnbourough to cross their zone and then over Andover/Gosport and directly to Bembridge from the east. We (well Ivan went to 3,000 feet as he’s like to have a safety margin) I flew back at 2,000 back to Elstree and we had a lovely day’s first flying.
