Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By Flyingfemme
#1885487
Our local airport has, recently, been sending out (lots of) emails with warnings of "obstructions" in the local area for VFR traffic. The latest detailed a construction crane, height 65ft agl, at a distance of 2 (statute) miles from the departure end of the main runway. It also happens to be a mile to the left of the noise abatement departure track for that runway and close to plenty of residential buildings.
Am I wrong to think that this is extraneous information and anyone at that height, in that location, probably has plenty of other things to worry about?
By TopCat
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1885496
Of course you're not wrong. On the face of it, it's CYA gone bonkers.

The NOTAMs are the same. I daresay there are a very small number of helicopter pilots who need to check the bazillions of 'Obstacle Erected' and 'Crane' ones, but for the vast majority of fixed wing VFR pilots, having to scroll through them in the hope of picking out something relevant before your eyes glaze over is IMO a genuine risk to flight safety.

I really, really wish there was a way of suppressing the whole lot in SD.
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By James Chan
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1885499
I'd say just unsubscribe. You don't need an email system on top of a NOTAM system, which is already noisy enough.

Emails are not guaranteed methods of delivery either.
By Ibra
#1885504
For cranes/obstacles NOTAMS near aerodromes/route, is there an easy way to filter these by distance, altitude or height? I just ignore all of it for now on SkyDemon/AutouRouter packs

I am curious who is interested to look at these while seriously scrolling over all the pages and drawing positions & heights? someone designing own IFR procedures? or operating public transport flights in twins?
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By Flyingfemme
#1885517
James Chan wrote:I'd say just unsubscribe. You don't need an email system on top of a NOTAM system, which is already noisy enough.

Emails are not guaranteed methods of delivery either.

Sadly, that's not a solution - the airport "AAN" service does contain information that tenants and users can find useful. Especially when they decide to close the airport at the drop of a hat!
We have tried to explain to the people providing this "service" what VFR stands for and how it works in practice but not a single member of the management team flies. For two years we have been trying to get them to understand about runways and winds but they still think we have a "main runway" and an "into wind runway" :roll: :lol:
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By James Chan
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1885524
Yikes. Well hopefully you can ask the sender of the email NOT to send whatever is already published by NOTAM.

Replace it with a link at the bottom saying: "For today's NOTAMs click here".
By pullup
#1885559
Ibra wrote:
I am curious who is interested to look at these


Air Ambulance pilots when landing anywhere.
Police, when low level.
Pipeline inspection helicopters.
Low level electricity line inspections.

Surely the Vauxhall Helicopter crash hasn’t been forgotten already?
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1885560
@Flyingfemme we should take them flying :-)
User avatar
By flyingearly
#1885561
pullup wrote:
Ibra wrote:
I am curious who is interested to look at these


Air Ambulance pilots when landing anywhere.
Police, when low level.
Pipeline inspection helicopters.
Low level electricity line inspections.

Surely the Vauxhall Helicopter crash hasn’t been forgotten already?


Quite - but I don't think people are saying this sort of thing isn't useful; merely that it is entirely useless to some people, but mission critical to others.

I have no desire to overfly Syria, Belarus etc in my piddly microlight, or deliver Covid instructions in Welsh, or whatever the myriad of NOTAMs are asking me to review. Some way of filtering based on context would be useful (heli/fixed wing/commercial etc).
By Ibra
#1885573
pullup wrote:Air Ambulance pilots when landing anywhere.
Police, when low level.
Pipeline inspection helicopters.
Low level electricity line inspections.

Surely the Vauxhall Helicopter crash hasn’t been forgotten already?


I am sure they are useful for specialized helicopter flying and low level flying <500ft agl but not sure they do receive the useful airport emails? NOTAMS for sure

I doubt much of it is relevant for fixed wings > 500ft agl over flat land? I saw one NOTAMS for tightrope walkers in Chamonix valley in May last year, I think they were attaching it at 6kft but I doubt anyone flies fixed wings that low down there?
By AlanM
#1885577
As said, I doubt that my friend who flew into a crane in London (on a sector I once controlled) would agree entirely.

That aside, It goes both ways; not sure BA/EasyJet pilots give a hoot about our soft grass or procedures for visiting GA and the Club phone numbers.

Every day at work I check 8 airfields NOTAMs….. mostly not applicable to me at work.

Skim read, ignore and move on.

That said, emails with this are a little bit excessive….

PS surely it is NOTAMd because it is inside the ATZ…. Like wot it iz meant to be!
User avatar
By Tim Dawson
SkyDemon developer
#1885631
I’d like to get rid of this stuff in SkyDemon but need some good examples to work with. What route brings up lots of those obstacle erected NOTAMs right now?
Ibra, Flyin'Dutch' liked this