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Top tips for flying in the UK

I fly Cirrus SR-22s out of Denham Aerodrome in Northwest London. Vincent has asked me to write an article for Plastic Pilot about the eccentricities of flying in the UK.

I wrote an article for COPA’s Cirrus Pilot about flying in Europe a while ago and I opened with the good news: the laws of aerodynamics are the same on this side of the channel. However, many other things are different. This article is only an overview. I recommend plenty of ground school and a flight with an instructor.

Pre-flight

Weather information. The Met Office has a free basic weather briefing service for GA but you have to register for it.
Airfield information and NOTAMs. You can download free approach plates, airfield information and NOTAMs from the NATS website. Again registration is required. Most pilots use an airfield guide like Pooley’s. You can also use my site, GolfHotelWhiskey.com, to look up airport reviews and find interesting places to visit.
Charts. The CAA publishes very good GA charts in 1:250,000 and 1:500,000 format. They are available from aviation shops and most airports and FBOs. Many foreign pilots prefer to use Jeppesen charts which are consistent wherever they fly and these are valid too.
Busy areas. The area around London – especially Luton, Stanstead, London City, Heathrow, Farnborough and Gatwick airports – and also around Manchester are very busy with narrowly defined VFR corridors and class A airspace at low level (sometimes down to 1,500 feet). These areas need careful study before you fly into them to ensure you don’t bust controlled airspace. See Fly On Track’s tips for avoiding infringements and their excellent guides to busy areas.
Restrictions. Call 0500-354802 (+44 208 899 2401 from abroad) to get a daily briefing on temporary restrictions (e.g. royal flights, Red Arrows displays etc.)
Flight plans. My preference is to file flight plans online via Homebriefing but many pilots will file them at their departure airport. You need to give at least an hour’s notice. Flight plans are optional for most flights within the UK.

Radio

Radio. ATC in the UK is usually efficient and professional, especially when dealing with larger airports and military radar services. You can download a free copy of the official guide to R/T from the CAA (PDF). Appendix one contains a list of differences from ICAO standards. I have often heard foreign pilots (including American airline pilots) struggle with routings to unfamiliar places so it pays to study the map before you leave and familiarise yourself with the main navigation waypoints and their names.
IMC outside controlled airspace. The UK issues IMC ratings which allow PPLs to fly in IMC outside Class A airspace and fly instrument approaches. It’s a bit like a simplified instrument rating. This leads to a peculiarity whereby pilots will fly in IMC without filing an IFR flight plan. I don’t know how this affects foreign pilots with instrument ratings but I guess they could do the same.
ATC services outside controlled airspace. The rules and services changed very recently. The Flight Safety Initiative has a video that explains the new rules.
LARS. The Lower Airspace Radar Service covers most of the UK. It is provided by a mix of civilian and military ATC units. It can provide a Deconfliction or Traffic service which is especially useful for flying in IMC. The controllers can choose whether or not to provide the service depending on how busy they are and some sectors become congested, especially on weekends. However, it is a very useful service and popular with UK-based pilots.
London Information / Scottish Information. On your UK map you’ll find frequencies for London or Scottish Information. These services provide a basic service but they can be very useful. For example, UK-based pilots will often use them to join airways outside controlled airspace (they’re in the same room as en-route controllers) or for VFR cross-channel flights. I have always found the service to be immensely helpful and professional. Of course, the emergency frequency 121.5 is also available and provides a wonderful service for people with problems or people who get lost.

Procedures

Overhead joins. This form of VFR arrival can cause confusion, even to British-trained pilots. Full details are in the AIP but the principle is that, if instructed to fly an overhead join, you (a) Overfly the aerodrome at 2000 ft aal; (b) descend on the ‘dead side’ to circuit height; (c) join the circuit by crossing the upwind end of the runway at circuit height; (d) position downwind. I always find drawing a diagram helps to work out where the deadside of the airport is and how I’m going to fly the approach. You can usually ask for something simpler like a straight-in or base leg join if that is going to be safer. In general, however, aircraft in the UK do not practice the mid-downwind join favoured by US pilots and so asking for a downwind join is much less common.
Joining Airways. Many small airfields in the UK have special arrangements for flights departing into the airways system. It’s worth talking to air traffic to find out what the recommended procedure is. If there is no procedure, the best way to get an airways join is usually to call London Information or a LARS service while remaining clear of controlled airspace. They can open your flight plan and get you into the airways system. In many parts of the UK, class A airspace descends down to 2,500 or even 1,500 feet and it’s important not to fly into controlled airspace until you have an explicit clearance to do so.

In my experience, pilots everywhere in the UK are delighted to welcome visitors from overseas and happy to offer advice and make allowances for language difficulties. So, come on over. I’ll buy you a drink!

Understanding the autopilot

In a entry entitled Your friend George, John Ewing of Aviation Mentor has posted a detailed article examining some of the common mistakes pilots make when using the autopilot, how to avoid these mistakes and when to best make use of the autopilot.

Some of the most common mistakes that John has observed through the years include “pilots who don’t know or respect the altitude limitations for their autopilot” and “pilots who have never been trained in the use of autopilots and lack system-level knowledge.” He points out how critical it is for pilots to understand the autopilot function after the recent events in Florida where a pilot died at the controls of an aircraft in flight and a passenger was forced to take control and had to first wrest control of the plane from the autopilot.

Moreover, John points out that use of the autopilot is not “cheating,” it just “another type of flying.” In fact, he lists a number of high workload phases of flight where a pilot using the autopilot is the equivalent of a good manager who delegates and concludes by saying that being “proficient in autopilot management isn’t cheating, it’s often the smart thing to do.”

For any pilot who flies a plane with an autopilot feature, John Ewing’s post is a must read.

Lessons from a Cirrus chute pull

In a post entitled Chute First, John of Aviation Mentor has written a detailed and thought provoking analysis of the March 15 Cirrus chute pull incident in Maryland that was reported in detail on this and on other aviation blogs. In his post, he points out that the 64 year old pilot involved in the incident:

Was reported to have had 320 hours total time and I’m assuming, given his age, that he came to flying later in life. None of the reports I’ve read give any specific numbers, but given his total time and the fact that his last certificate was issued in June of 2007, it seems reasonable to assume that he didn’t have much experience with solo flying in IMC.

He further points out that “the low-time instrument-rated accident pilot took a pretty big risk when he chose to depart with 2 miles visibility and an overcast ceiling of 400 feet at an unfamiliar airport” and concludes by saying that “’Chute first’ is a potentially dangerous and definitely expensive procedure.”

Clearly John has a point that although Chutes may make the Cirrus aircraft safer, they could also be encouraging pilots (especially inexperienced ones) to take unnecessary and potentially dangerous risks.

His post has already received several well written comments from readers regarding inexperienced pilots flying high performance aircraft and general safety issues with Cirrus aircraft.

Tips for VFR flying in Switzerland

This post was initially released on my home blog www.plasticpilot.net and as it is full of tips for foreign pilots visiting Switzerland I publish this updated version here.

If you want to add a new destination to your logbook in 2009, why not Switzerland ? As a local, I can give you some tips to make your swiss operation seamless and enjoyable.

Customs
Important things first: Switzerland is not member of the European Union, so you’ll have to clear customs. Some airports and airfields offer permanent or on request customs service. This can range from shaking hands with a customs guy to fill-in a form, and it is mandatory. As Switzerland finally ratified the Schenggen treaty, it should be easier, but the transition phase starting early April 2009 is still quite fuzzy. Shenggen applies to persons only, not to goods and this makes things complicated. My best tip is to contact your destination airport before your flight to sort out all details.

Airspace structure
Swiss airspace is split in two, along a south-west to north-east line. North of the line is the “Plateau” area. This has Class-G airspace up-to 2000 ft AGL (except in CTRs), then Class-E up to FL 100, and Class-C from FL 100.

South of the line is the “Alps” area. The Class-E is up to FL 130 in case of military activity and up to FL 150 if military are not active. Above that is Class-D airspace (mandatory clearance) up to FL195, and Class-C above.

All CTR’s are Class-D and TMA’s are Class-C. Flying within Geneva (LSGG) or Zurich (LSZH) TMA is normally not allowed. Crossing Bern (LSZB), Payerne (LSMP) or Emmen (LSME) is just matter of calling on the radio.

The country is split in two FIRs, Geneva and Zuerich, each with its Information frequency. The boundary runs along Bern (LSZB) TMA.

Routes on controlled airports
All controlled airports have mandatory VFR reporting points and routes for both arrivals and departures. You can’t just call “10 miles east for landing”. Most of these airports also have ATIS broadcasts that you’ll have to copy before callint TWR.

Sectors on non-controlled airports
Non-controlled airfields procedures are based on sectors through which you must arrive and depart. The AFIS service is generally very limited, and most of time you’ll have to do blind position reports (sector – overhead – downwind – base – final).

Operation times
Be careful with airfields operation times – many restrictions do exist. Some airports even close from 12:00 to 13:30, and violating such a rule could cost you up to 700 swiss francs (approx. 600 US dollars).

Flight Plan filling
You can get briefing and file flight plans using computer based system called “AMIE” or “self-briefing” which is available at all airports and airfields. You can create an account if you want, so as to be able to close your flight plan on arrival. This system is for free at airports, and if you prefer to use it on the internet you’ll have to pay a yearly fee.

Landing fees
Talking of thees, you’ll have to pay for landing fees in all swiss airports. The price will depend of the MTOW of your aircraft, but can also vary depending of the services you’ll use (parking, customs, …). Landing fees will vary from 10 to 80 Swiss francs.

PPR
Many airfields, but at some times also major airports require a prior permission for VFR flights. For mountainous airfields it is also important to get informed about runway status as snow cleaning is not always granted.

Mountain flying
If you want to fly over the mountains and are not used to, be extremely careful with weather and winds. I personally don’t fly in mountains if wind is over 20kts ! Envisage hiring a local instructor if you want an introduction.

Tailored service
If you want more details, or some help to plan your flight to LSxx, feel free to contact me directly. I’ll be happy to provide you some support, and may be to meet you.