Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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#1591118
chevvron wrote:
TractorBoy wrote:There used to be a rather 'ascerbic' radio operator at Headcorn; (once threatened to throw a CAA Inspector in the ditch) is he still there?


I think the CAA inspector was fished out of the ditch shortly afterwards :wink:
EGMCATCO liked this
#1591158
chevvron wrote:There used to be a rather 'ascerbic' radio operator at Headcorn who once threatened to throw a CAA Inspector in the ditch; is that radio operator still there?

Thought I'd better re-write my posting rather than let it get too silly :clown:
Friend of mine (yes I've got one or two surprisingly) was flying a Kingair and his projected route took him near enough overhead Headcorn just below CAS, so he gives them a call. No reply although he can hear the radio operator talking to the parachute aircraft. Tries again several times, each time using the callsign on his flight plan. Eventually radio operator replies with 'what sort of f****** stupid callsign is that, why can't you use your registration like everyone else?'
Hence the CAA Inspector's visit.
Last edited by chevvron on Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
#1591166
chevvron wrote:ou could do worse than try Kenley. I understand from a forum elsewhere that the council are re-building the fences around the airfield to keep out errant dog walkers.
Don't know who you would contact to get permission but I believe the airfield itself is still MOD Property.


I tried to get permission to land at Kenley in our EV97 to give my fellow Gliding Club members cross country experience .
Total refusual and a threat that may Jeopardise Gliding Club existence.

The tarmac runways are unfit, breaking up with much surface debris.
The grass has no dedicated runways and is bumpy .
The gliders choose ( mostly ) to land into wind - anywhere .

As far as Dog Walkers go , leaving the filth on the airfield , to get mixed up gliding gear has probably made me very poorly from which has taken a long time to recover from .
#1591168
So if we can't circuit train at biggin, and grass fields are out then that leaves fairoaks which has its own issues with NIMBYs and number of movements!
Someone mentioned dunsfold, Need to draw the line somewhere, other wise the students would have to budget an extra hour tacho per circuit hour to do cct training!
#1591169
Any members of Alouette Flying Club able to share the goings on there over the last month?

Rumours abound that they are about to call it quits, due to the training restrictions at the airport.
#1591170
Just a thought......is anyone willing to take this up with management?

Rather then requiring us to push requests via online PPR systems - why dont the airport publish slots? e.g. they must know when there CAT is coming. why dont they just ban any ccts at ETA +/- 10 mins and then where there are any slots left they are "booked" by the clubs with X number allowed at once ?

Paul
#1591171
Wait till the next proper recession arrives and the first thing to go will be the company jets, then when the the annoying little GA people are seen as a cash cow again, they will be bribed to return with all sorts of deals, but they will probably be too late as most will have bitten the dust by then or be happy with their new locations/arrangements :?
Nick liked this
#1591184
FlarePath wrote:Wait till the next proper recession arrives and the first thing to go will be the company jets, then when the the annoying little GA people are seen as a cash cow again, they will be bribed to return with all sorts of deals, but they will probably be too late as most will have bitten the dust by then or be happy with their new locations/arrangements :?


I was there during the last recession and the first thing to go was the "annoying little GA people", the business aviation reduced, but nothing to the same extent as the light GA.

Even when the economy started to pick up it never really came back to precrash levels whilst I worked there .

With regard to ATZ size, I'm not 100% sure but I thought one reason for its 2.5 mile atz was sthat it was non standard and allocated to try and keep the standard departure routes (SIDS but ocas) within a slightly controlled environment. It's been 6 years though so I can't remember the details.

Either way the document quoted is for new establishment of ATZs it doesn't make allowance for downgrading existing ones.

I can sympathize with the issues Biggin are facing, one of the most challenging aspects working there was integrating cct training with a constant stream of inbounds.

Light aircraft Training circuits and wake turbulence generators don't mix easily, factor in the requirement to visual maneuver for runway 03 and the 3 min requirement for wake turbulence on an T&G versus 2 mins for a departure and it quickly became unmanageable.

I remember Normal general aviation could be easily accommodated, it was in and out relatively quickly, but circuits increased the complexity significantly.
#1591186
i understand the points from the last post - but it should be my decision as a pilot if i want to pay for orbiting for hours due to traffic - that no different to anywhere else. It's the over attempt to basically say "stuff it, it's easier to just get rid of GA then let them work around our commercial customers" that is annoying!
#1591191
I know we keep banging on about how the US does it, but it's true. I have flown in/out of many US fields that not only had significant CAT, but military as well and all well co-ordinated. I have been on final into Boeing Field Seattle with a Gulstream jet passing by on it's final to the parallel runway no probs it just works.

Same with YUMA you mix it with the US Marine corps aviators as well as the CAT, again all well managed. :roll:
Last edited by FlarePath on Thu Feb 15, 2018 4:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
#1591193
Come on now Dugal.... you know even if there wasn't a second R/W it would still work well :D

As an aside. Why can't the circuit bashers be asked to accept the conditions that when bizjet traffic is on approch then they will be required to hold off or extend or any other procedure that would work. Banning all GA because of the Big GA, I stress not CAT. is like chucking the baby out with the bathwater....
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