skydriller wrote:Ophelia Gently wrote:I refer the poster to my little 'dit' post #1718310 dated 4 Sep 19 as to the potential ramifications of not requesting a MATZ penetration.
Well, if you were to actually quote yourself I might have a scooby what you're on about
Sorry, but it was a long post and I didn't want to take up everyone's bandwidth with repetition, hoping the cross reference would suffice! But you asked for it........
"H & S Warning - long post!
Back in the day, we just used to luuuurrve you – “I know my rights” - guys. Whereas no-one contests that MATZs are not applicable to civilian operators you may wish to consider the impact your exercising your legal right has on other aviators that want to share the skies – equitably and safely – with you. The following is a digest of an occasion that happened on my watch ‘once upon a time’:
Background situation: Busy flying training unit that pumped out lots of sorties per day; unit used to host regular Harrier detachments from the OCU to simulate deployment to forward operating bases – with whose operating procedures the tyro Harrier pilot would not be intimately familiar - and to operate closer to Spadeadam Range to maximise the unique training opportunities there, which was the focal point of the OCU course at that particular part of the syllabus.
Weather: from memory – Vis: between 3.7 to 5Km, cloudbase: solid at 1500ft, few below but lots scudding through in a fresh wind. In Military parlance, Colour Code Green – that awkward situation between ‘dodgy’ VFR and ‘fuel impacting/sortie length curtailing’ IFR operations.
Four Harriers airborne, (we’ll call them Gold Section) expected back imminently from Spade. (BTW, although the Lightning was the legendary ‘short-endurance’ jet, it was positively long-legged in comparison with the Harrier, that carried less fuel in toto than a B747 uses for start-up taxy and take-off.)
“Gold section, check”
“2”, “3”, “4 – Bingo minus fuel, last bounce has hauled off”
“EG@@ Director, Gold Section on handover heading 120, FL 240 for recovery.”
Director (me): “Gold, squawk XXXX, weather (passed).”
Gold Ldr: “Director, Gold for a 4-ship split for individual GCAs; recovery order, 4, 2, 3, Ldr.
Dir: “Gold identified, radar advisory (long and involved instructions to effect 4-ship split for individual PARs – establish vertical separation, identify individual aircraft then turn to effect lateral separation whilst establishing the required landing sequence, during which…)”
Gold 4: “Gold 4 – fuel priority.”
Get on with the job, coordinating cruise decent through neighbouring airfields’ patterns and coordinating separation with EG## airfield’s LARS transits and EG@@ own LARS and departure traffic. Get the sequence nicely forming and turning Gold 4 in no.1 onto base leg for a 6 Nm final when I notice a non-squawking primary only return trundling – slowly - south to north that’s going to cross the centreline 4 nms out; obviously no altitude info. Call Zone: not working it, not working tower (in case of direct VFR low level joiner) either. Gold 4 now on 40 deg leg toward final at 1500ft (Glidepath intercept height); I have to call it:
Dir: “Gold 4, traffic 10 o’clock, approaching 5 miles, if not sighted turn right heading ABC.”
G4: “Gold 4, in cloud, traffic not sighted, fuel priority, request traffic information.”
(vectors/descent to others in Gold section in the meantime, by-the-by)
At this stage, due to the offset scan split of the PAR on this particular runway, there appears on the edge of the scan the ‘perfectly entitled’ crosser, 4 miles out – outside the ATZ and VMC/VFR (clear of cloud and in sight of the surface) to be sure – showing on the PAR elevation screen AT 1200ft (3 deg glidepath at 318ft/NM – work it out!). The return eventually went right through the 3 deg glidepath.
Dir: “Gold 4 – AVOIDING ACTION turn right, right, heading (reciprocal to runway), previous traffic now showing on PAR at same height crossing left to right, climb report level 2000ft QFE (terrain).
G4: “Gold 4 turning. PAN, PAN, PAN, Gold 4 fuel critical, request short pattern circuit, must land off next approach.”
Dir: “Gold 4 Pan acknowledged. Gold 2 traffic (etc), similar height if not sighted turn left (etc)”
G2: “Gold 2 - not sighted, still in cloud turning left. Gold 2 now Fuel Priority.”
(coordinate like fury with EG@@ Zone ref the LARs transits she’s working that wouldn’t have been a factor if I hadn’t had to turn and climb towards her tracks as 5000ft Mode C didn’t now exist).
Dir: “Gold 3, to re-sequence (to provide a hole for Gold 4 to now go into) turn (whatever it was), stop descent (whatever, to provide vertical against Gold 4 and Gold 2 as he’s re-sequenced no2, in turn).
G3: “Gold 3, (reads back). Gold 3 now Fuel priority.”
Dir: “Gold 3, roger. Pan, Gold 4 turn right (back towards final). Gold 2, for sequencing turn (whatever it was), still no2 to Pan Gold 4.”
G2: “Gold 2 (reads back). PAN, PAN, PAN, Gold 2 now fuel critical.”
And so it went on………. they all got in, of course, ‘cos you didn’t read about 3 x Harrier tent pegs in the press the next day. And no-one died.
Meanwhile, in some clubhouse somewhere – with a nice bacon butty and cup of tea – “oh yeah, nice trip up; dead quiet. Nah, didn’t bother calling EG@@. As long as I’m VFR and clear of the their ATZ, what’s the point?"