The effects of regulatory requirements on the cost of providing a flight calibration service

Within the UK there are currently two units cleared to carry out the flight inspection of air interpreted navigational aids. For civil navaids, the National Air Traffic Services Flight Calibration Unit, and for military navaids the Royal Air Force has a specifically trained squadron dedicated to the task. The problems of adequately recovering the costs of civil flight inspection in the UK when the safety of air transport has to be the primary objective are shown. In 1987 it was decided that the flight calibration element of the Civil Aviation Authority Flying Unit (CAAFU) was inappropriate to Safety Regulation Group (SRG) and a new unit called the Flight Calibration Unit should take on board those tasks and become a part of the National Air Traffic Service with the FCU operating the two HS748 calibration aircraft out of Stansted Airport