Controlled Airspace Transits
I wanted to start a thread about transits of controlled airspace, because it's getting tied up with the Coventry incident, but is really a separate issue altogether.
It's interesting the amount of pilots who complain that they aren't given access to controlled airspace, and the amount of controllers in the said units who say that they never refuse transits.
I wonder if there is simply a mis-understanding going on here?
I can see two reasonable mis understandings that might be happening.
1. Where a pilot requests a fairly direct transit across the airspace but is sent 'around the long way' although inside controlled airspace then he may have technically got a transit, but it wasn't much use. If he keeps getting that then he'll just plan outside next time as he's not getting what he considers a transit. The controller considers this a valid transit.
2. I think there are a lot of pilots who assume a transit as been denied, when in fact they haven't even asked for a transit. They call up say where they are going, maybe request a flight info service, maybe make no requests at all, just give their life story. The controller includes the standard "remain outside controlled airspace" simply to remind them that they haven't been cleared in, and the pilot thinks that his transit has been refused. In fact he didn't ask for a transit, and if he had he may have gotten one. Is this a likely possibility?
Could it all just be a big mis understanding, and lack of good R/T?
dp