Olympic Aispace Restrictions.

[Mike Millar]

PS - Brian, a point about flying to Lydd - they have complicated thinks as well. During the Olympics you have to book a slot time with them just to land! (see their website) This lunacy must be catching. I've been told by my friend that most other larger airfields are insisting on the same thing, including places like Staverton! He did manage to get out this week down to Gap. His criptic iphone message said he was welcomed by 5 Douanes hombres, not sure where, Cherbourg I think.

Mike

[John Dean]

Does anyone have an an answer to my original question - for normal flight plans with a ZZZZ DEP or DEST, should the lat and long be included in the comment in Item 18?

It's only needed for Atlas flight plans. Usually VFR plans are only read by humans but Atlas also use machines hence the need to include the lat & long of the departure or destination.

I have been using Sky Demon since the restrictions and this has performed flawlessly. Again, puts Afpex to shame.

Yes, it does most plans well but it can't do a plan if you are shepherding a non transponder aircraft out of R112. AFPEx can!

[Brian Hope]

And unless you have the full (paid for) SkyDemon package it won't do flight plans to go foreign either. Great bit of kit for filing your UK flightplan though.
Yes Mike, I have heard about this slot booking lark, worse is that some airfields are now charging appreciably higher landing fees during the Olympics so best check you are not going to get ripped off before deciding to go somewhere. Delighted that your friend managed to get away to Gap, I really don't think it is necessary to stay grounded for a month but from traffic levels I have experienced since R112 it seems there are a great many pilots based in the SE who have decided not to fly for a month. A great shame.

[mikehallam]

Dear Brian,

What's all this tosh you keep writing about pilots who willy nilly are too nervous to fly in the Olympics ?

I didn't decide NOT to fly in the Olympics - it was decided for me by HMG - we are jolly well lumbered !
{unless you think a £1500 plus transponder is an option}.

worried mike of Sussex

[Mike Millar]

Dear John

Thanks for the explanation about the lat and long on Olympics flight plans. I see the 'logic' now!

Mike

[Brian Hope]

Agreed Mike a transponder is required but you can be escorted out of the zone by another aircraft if you don't have one. However, there are a lot of people who simply aren't flying, and it is not because they don't have a transponder. Three aircraft at the strip I am on have transponders but the owners have decided to do maintenance or go on holiday rather than fly at all during the restriction period.
The guys with microlights are probably worst affected because fewer of them have a transponder, but generally speaking they have a better chance of trailering their aircraft out of the zone if they want to fly.
You can moan about the zone, and nobody is going it say it isn't a PITA, but it was always going to happen whether we liked it or not, and I still maintain that we got the best deal we were ever likely to get. It hasn't been faultless but it is now working reasonably well, only two more weeks to go though and we can get back to normal.

[Chris Martyr]

You can moan about the zone , as Brian says . But actually , I think most of us are over that , we're all adult enough to realise that it was initiated by The Home Office and the DfT . Neither of whom are probably particularly worried about recreational flyers and their habits and all the bitching in the world wouldn't have made one jot of difference . Even though R112s radius is ridiculously large .

I really do feel for the guys stuck inside the restricted areas, especially as I had the opportunity last week to fly in three glorious days of idyllic summer weather. Visiting Popham , Shoreham and Brimpton , as well as blasting transponderless around my local area . But I managed to speak with several other pilots during that time , including Chris, the A/G Operator at Popham . To say that it was
"negative feedback" about AtlasControl would be something of an understatement . Not to mention the Heathrow Wannabe airports outside the zone [but probably wish they were in it ] who have jumped on the bandwagon of price-hiking , arrival slots , allocating squawks to one and all ....

My point is this . We can do very little about government departmental decisions . But the real rot still comes from within the aviation world itself . Where extra diligence so often seems to be confused with extra belligerence .

[Brian Hope]

I was at Popham yesterday for the Andover Strut Fly-in, couldn't route the direct trip between Heathrow and Gatwick because a RA(T) stretched between the two and up to 2500ft so it was totally blocked, had to route south of the Gatwick zone. Chris had received over 35 'flight plans' from Atlas when he got to the airfield that morning, the trouble is they aren't like normal flight plans and he doesn't get a departure message, so unless the person filing doesn't cancel the Atlas plan if he decides not to fly - and there were a fair few showers about yesterday - then Chris doesn't know whether they are coming or not. He also had a bloke turn up from inside the zone but had no flight plan for him, he had actually planned for Lasham by mistake without realising it so he was then in a dilema about departing to get back into the zone. Atlas eventually arranged that he could depart and still use his original R112 approval, he was lucky because generally they have not proved very flexible, usually if it isn't right then you've had it.
Cancelling flight plans is the major thing I find a bit daft about the Atlas system. If you file a plan and it is rejected you would have thought it had been binned, but that is not the case - you have to cancel it or any new plan you file to correct the error will also be rejected. That's another departure from the 'normal' AFPEx system that has caused problems.