Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
User avatar
By Genghis the Engineer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1886146
Well this is interesting

https://www.nats.aero/news/the-biggest- ... in-the-uk/

I just loaded up EasyVFR on my phone and had a look at Scotland, comparing to a CAA chart I have from 2017 to hand - it looks like a whole bunch of class E and class A just vanished, leaving some inevitable class D around the major airports.

Unless I'm missing something, this is really rather positive.

Now, could we have something similar in England and Wales pretty please?

G
User avatar
By xtophe
#1886150
Genghis the Engineer wrote:Well this is interesting
I just loaded up EasyVFR on my phone and had a look at Scotland, comparing to a CAA chart I have from 2017 to hand - it looks like a whole bunch of class E and class A just vanished, leaving some inevitable class D around the major airports.

Unless I'm missing something, this is really rather positive.


This free route airspace is for above FL245. That's not shown on your 2017 half-mil chart and unlikely to be shown to you on EasyVFR (I don't know your settings)

There is still some Class A between Glasgow/Edinburgh and Aberdeen and Some Class E+TMZ going between central belt/ Inverness / the islands.
Maybe easyVFR filtered them out.
AlanM liked this
User avatar
By CloudHound
#1886160
Both Glasgow and Edinburgh Airports have reawakened their Airspace Change Proposals recently.

I sat through a 2 hour webinar on GLA CAP1616 Stage 2A this afternoon.

All good stuff but looking only from the runway up to 7000’ so without the NATS enroute bit only a partial picture.
User avatar
By JonathanB
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1886255
Brest Control’s Western area (basically the Bay of Biscay and Brest peninsula to Oceanic airspace and the London FIR boundary down to the Madrid FIR boundary) has also gone FRA today.

Work is in progress for some of the London FIR, but like Scotland it’ll be the higher levels and probably just the South West to start with.
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1886355
I don't think I understand what Free Route Airspace implies, is there a simple explanation anywhere???
User avatar
By xtophe
#1886382
The old system is to have airways. So if we consider some entry point AAAAA at the border of Scottish FIR and an exit point EEEEE, the airway might take you to B, C and D and that might not be a straight line ( or portion of a great circle).
Also you might rather go to exit point FFFFF but there is no airway going there. So you cannot use it in your flight plan. In practice the nice ATCOs might give you a direct FFFFF but it's not guaranteed so you need to carry the fuel to go the longer way via EEEEE.

With Free route airspace, the concept is that you'll be able to flight plan and fly a direct route from any entry point to any exit point, so direct from AAAAA to EEEEE or FFFFF. So no extra miles due to kink in the airway, no extra fuel onboard because you flown route matches your flight planned route.
Last edited by xtophe on Fri Dec 03, 2021 6:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
johnm, AlanM, Ben K liked this
By Oldfart
#1886476
It will never beat this!!
A year or few ago, after a checkout in a Cessna P210 Silver Eagle, I hitched a lift with the Instructor, from an uncontrolled airfield South of Philadelphia, to JFK. ( No PPR, just a call to local FBO))
Filed VFR DCT. On taxi out, initial routing from Air Traffic unit controlling airspace above by telephone. "Maintain VFR at/below 3000 ft call XXX on XXXX when airborne After takeoff, initial contact transponder and routing and up to 8000ft. with full Flight Following. Called JFK 30 odd miles out and fitted in after a couple of 360s holding downwind. If I remember total JFK bill less than $100.
Last edited by Oldfart on Fri Dec 03, 2021 6:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
By AlanM
#1886492
Oldfart wrote:It will never beat this!!
A year or few ago, a lift in a Cessna P210 Silver Eagle, from an uncontrolled airfield South of Philadelphia, to JFK. ( No PPR, just a call to local FBO))
Filed VFR DCT. On taxi out, initial routing from Air Traffic unit controlling airspace above by telephone. "Maintain VFR at/below 3000 ft call XXX on XXXX when airborne After takeoff, initial contact transponder and routing and up to 8000ft. with full Flight Following. Called JFK 30 odd miles out and fitted in after a couple of 360s holding downwind. If I remember total JFK bill less than $100.


Life was very much simpler in the 1930s….

:D
kanga liked this