What's going on at CYFD?

[flyingdan]

The flying club's been grounded for the past two weeks for some Transport Canada Quality Assurance program. Anyone been through this before or has heard anything about the Brantford Flying Club?

I've gotten in touch with them and all I could get was that they're trying to get back up and running soon. I'm a little weary of the situation (Peninsulair was where I started my training).

[Dyski]

They will stay grounded until Wednesday 'at least'! I'm very disappointed as well, they seemed To be running a very safe and smooth operation. I wonder what's Transports problem with them ?!

I really hope they get back up and running very soon, it was frustrating enough to move PenAir !

[deflux]

Yeah they seem to run a tight ship there. I never trained there or anything but I often stop for lunch at the little restaurant.

I have flown their 172RG and a 150, they seemed to take pride in their airplanes.

[davidv]

I was in the final stages of my PPL when they got shut down. All I know is it's some paperwork audit and I got a call yesterday that it will be at least Wednesday the 12th now until things are back up and running. Things seemed to be run just fine to me - maintenance on the plane I fly is always done on time and by the book as was everything else as far as I could see. If anyone knows exactly what's up beyond that it would be nice to know. Also if there's any reason I should be concerned as a student there do let me know, though I don't see any reason to be concerned right now, other than the inconvenience of it taking even longer to get my license, especially now that I'll have to play catchup once things get going again...

[flyingdan]

I'm exactly where you're at too davidv: X-countries, instrument lessons then review and test were all that I had left. I was hoping to finish before school started up again in September but that's not going to be possible now.

Ah well, let's hope everything goes ok, they get the new 172 online and we can continue our training!

[davidv]

The new 172 will help a lot, I'm flying INS right now so it will be a perfect fit. Fortunately I'm just working full time while working on my license so I don't really have any deadline but the longer it takes to get the PPL the more it's going to cost.

The way its booked up lately I think they could almost double the amount of instructors and planes and still fill all the timeslots lol. Good thing I booked myself right up through to the first week of September ahead of time.

[davidv]

Still shut down until Thursday at least...

And of course this all happens when we finally get some decent weather lol - should be back to rain every day by next week

[flyingdan]

That's almost 3 weeks now. What the heck could be taking so long?

[CaravanStan]

Hi Everyone. Sorry I didn't find out about this thread earlier, I would have posted a reply sooner had I known.

First of all - you have your facts straight. The BFC is shut down due to TC's dissatisfaction with our quality asurance program which came to light during our latest program validation. To be clear, "quality assurance" is not a code or fast-talk for a bigger or different problem. The QA program (internal audit process etc.) IS what's holding things up. TC's definition of what makes up a QA Program, has been expanded - and our existing program did not meet the new standards. Despite frantically trying to bring our QA Program into compliance, the NOS expired and we were handed a suspension until the outstanding items were deemed satisfactory. Our many attempts have been reviewed and rejected each time due to smaller and smaller clerical errors. I should take the time to mention that nowhere in the CARs does TC outline what is expected of a Quality Assurance Program - Nor were we given clear direction as to how our system could be brought up to speed. It wasn't untill after the suspension was in place, that we were shown (during a very expensive training course) a free document (which TC had never offered us) which outlined the minimum requirements for a Quality Assurance Program.

Never the less... I'd like to make it abundantly clear how sorry we are for the inconvenience this has caused our students, renters, and especially instructors. Please know that BFC management is doing everything in their power to bring this unfortunate chapter to a close. Family holidays have been post-poned, weekends are a distant memory,... even sleep has been invaded by dreams of raging statistical process control charts!

As many of you have said, the BFC does run a tight ship. There was never an issue with the safety or quality of our aircraft or staff. However, once we have fully implemented the new Quality Assurance Program (now that we know what's required) we're confident that the BFC will be poised to offer an even higher standard of not only Maintenance, Flight Instruction, and Charter - But that these principals will also be applied to our FBO, Customer Service, Airport Maintenance, and every facet of the Club. This is our 80th anniversary. It's a sad way to celebrate it - But like they say "what doesn't kill us..." This painful experience will no doubt make us stronger and better prepared for the next 80 years!

Finally, the latest update: TC finally appears to be satisfied with our latest submission, but is taking one more day to do one last "once-over" of all the bits and pieces that have been submitted to them over the last 7+ weeks. We expect to get the final word from them tommorrow (wednesday) at 2pm. Once again, we apologize for the great inconvenience this has caused. Cross your collective fingers...

[flyingdan]

Thanks for shedding some light on the subject. Best of luck with the TC submissions and I'm looking forward to taking BSL out for a spin (FIGURATIVELY!!!) soon!

[Hedley]

My sympathies with your paperwork difficulties. As
I have mentioned before, Transport's bizarre insistence
upon treating a mom and pop FTU just like an airline
results in a crippling amount of paperwork overhead.

And it isn't just FTU's. My tiny, one runway airport has
been told that we need to spend $60K on a consultant
to develop an SMS plan

None of this incredible overhead translates to the
slightest improvement in safety that I can see.

And no one cares.

Big taxes, big government - it's the Canadian way!

[flyingdan]

Another example of the "process instead of progress" doctrine.

[Hedley]

Once you realize that Canada is a government
owned and operated enterprise, everything else
falls into place.

[Shiny Side Up]

And it isn't just FTU's. My tiny, one runway airport has
been told that we need to spend $60K on a consultant
to develop an SMS plan

There is a way around this that can be explored, though its not for everyone. Running in to the same problem.

[davidv]

Thanks for the explanation and clarification.

Now, lets hope the weather holds out next week so I can get my solo CC in finally.

[flyingdan]

Thanks for the explanation and clarification.

Now, lets hope the weather holds out next week so I can get my solo CC in finally.

You'll probably have to do a dual to get checked out on the aircraft again. Students that haven't flown a BFC airplane for 2 weeks or longer have to have a dual flight before they can solo again.

I just wanna get started on the instrument portion!

[davidv]

I planned on doing that anyways given the near month long break, have alternating flights next week - dual , CC etc. to make sure one gets through.

[Tibor]

Any updates???? Is everything up and running???

[flyingdan]

Yup everything is back up and running. At least as far as the silly TC stuff is concerned.

BSL is down for an engine rebuild and they're trying to get JNN (the new C172) on line but they're waiting on TC approval or something so the BFC is down to one 172 (INS) and a 172RG.