More on popup clearances into Class A

[fuzzy6988]

Haha. I'm not that nasty. I'll leave something like that to the Americans!

[pplir2000]

Just found this topic and would like to recall my own limited experiance. Have successfully flown IFR in France, but the last time I attempted an IFR flight from UK home base (strip) near Duxford, IFR to Lille, flight plan filed and accepted the day before the flight. On the day whilst flying the leg BKY to BPK ocas and awaiting my clearance through LI, I was eventually told "London can't take you due to ??? "(I forget the exact excuse). This was on a an IFR weather day with cloud base around 1200ft. Next day I wrote to the powers that be and asked why was my legally correct flight plan not accepted etc. The answer was CAA legalese but the essence was that "IFR clearances are issued on an availability basis" (This from memory,not verbatim). The impression was that they are there for the benefit of CAT not nuisance GA. I have avoided the exercise since that time and mainly fly when it is VFR. I renew my IR every year,but I don't know why I bother?