insink wrote:I can't see how that fits in with gliding in any way...
If I take off and decide it's good enough for a short xc I'm stuffed, if I declare a long xc, it's highly unlikely I'll go by any direct route, and for instructing, I might do 15-20 flights in a day of varying length and distance from the airfield...
Do I have to flight plan all of them?
The explanation is unclear and while it may remove some current airspace, the stultifying hand of reporting everything is a huge negative if not actually impossible
Filing a flight plan by skydemon is lovely... But why do we have to have a plan.
And who is going to read them all....
The concept does not require all flights to file a flight plan but rather offer a range of enhanced facilities on the basis that the planned intention of flight has been shared, voluntarily.
The submission of a flight plan for a flight intending to transit controlled airspace would ensure the the controlling agency of the airspace is prenoted (warned) about the planned flight and would have the basic details and intention of that flight available prior to it contacting the agency concerned. The submitted data would also be available to the FIS provider, should a service be required outside of CAS during the flight.
I agree the applicability of this concept to localised glider operations may be limited however the submission of the intent to conduct a local bimble is equally valuable when shared with other airspace users (military, BVLOS drones, emergency services etc) and, as you describe, is a very simple click of a button if you have already planned and briefed your flight using an app such as SkyDemon.
While there may be specific areas that require flight plan data as a requirement for entry in the future, this will be the exception rather than the norm and the submission of a VFR flight plan will remain a voluntary action for the majority of VFR flights.
Other features of the AMS consultation directly applicable to GA and gliding are the tactical switching of some airspace volumes; the use of electronic marker beacons to reaffirm and warn tactically about activities such as winch launching, large model ops and hang-gliding areas etc., and also the opportunity to include digitised met products as part of a digitised FIS-B broadcast, might be of interest?
A key enabler to many of the concepts mentioned in the consultation will be the EC Task Force work which will hopefully provide a definitive recommendation to the protocols and frequencies to achieve many of the electronic functions and interoperability described. This work is underway and should report by the summer.
In the meantime, please do take the time to respond to the consultation with your thoughts.