Hi guys, here is my current penneth worth - from afar:
Regarding Class E Airspace
I see everyone is still pretty upset at the prospect of the introduction of Class E airspace in which IFR may be separated from IFR, but VFR must "see and avoid" both IFR and other VFR traffic, and that VFR traffic may well not be on the same frequency as the IFR traffic.
As upsetting and "unsafe" is this must seem to you guys, the fact still remains that this system is in widespread use in the US and elsewhere, and there appears to be no evidence that it is less safe than the current Australian system (in fact I believe the opposite has been suggested earlier in the first thread on this subject).
So isn't the problem that you will have to find some empirical evidence that shows the current system is "more safe" if you want to object to the proposed changes (end-state) on safety grounds? Otherwise you will continue to have people who fly in the US, France and other places that make extensive use of Class E, arguing that it doesn't seem to be the cause of too many problems.
For a discussion of what happens in French class E near Lille, where VFR are not even answered, and IFR are provided service on a frequency on which VFR are not even welcome, see the thread in the ATC forum
Has Lille given up completely, especially the bit at the end... So even in this environment, with apparently poor / confused co-ordination across some FIR boundaries, under-staffed ATC services and with greater traffic densities that generally experienced in Australia, its still not seen to be the cause of a higher risk outcome statistically
AFAIK. I'm not arguing that this illustrates that Class E is a better system (that's a separate argument covered elsewhere), but if you are defending the "no change" position, I think you need to somehow deal with the point I have raised.
Regarding Transition and Education
The thing I can't understand from this distance is the apparent haste with which the changes appear to be being brought in. Do I understand correctly that the first phase of the changes take place at the end of this month, yet you are only now receiving educational materials? This strikes me as inherently unsafe and I think introduces "transition risk" independent of the merits (or otherwise!?) of the proposed end-state! What's the rush? What is the case against a slower transition?
Best to all,
Andy
