Rob L wrote:akg1486 wrote:......(We don't use the "student" prefix in Sweden.) .....
I'm sure you know, but this is the reason that the "Student" prefix came about in the UK. A 16-year old.
I know this thread is in some jest; long may it be so .
I'm a great believer in the "Student" prefix. Akg1486: perhaps you should promote it in Sweden?
This boy would be 31 or 32 today.
Rob
No, I didn't know the background but I've seen on this forum that it's a thing. It's always seemed to make sense to me.
I don't have the connections to promote such call sign schemes, but there's a big difference between UK and Swedish GA: we are taught and actively encouraged to always file ATS Flight Plans whenever leaving the circuit. You put "student" in them, so ATS stations along the way and at the destination know that it's a student.
I flew a bit out of Popham in 2005 when I temporarily worked in Newbury, and I remember asking Irv Lee (who checked me out) how to file flight plans. After looking at me in an amused and astonished way, he explained that you don't do that unless going foreign or over the Welsh mountains. He also told me that I could file a flight plan if I wanted to, but that Heathrow would be wondering what I was up to. I realize of course that it has to do with the traffic in UK airspace being so much denser than in most places in Europe: it would require so much more staff to deal with flight plans from everyone.
I'll read the report. Those are always interesting, also when the outcome is sad.
Autocorrect is so frustrating. It's always making me say things I didn't Nintendo.