Got an email last week asking if I wanted to submit something for consulation re the proposed changes to airspace classification.
It was set up in such a way that the participant virtually had to agree there was congestion at the Mangalore, and to say why.
The statement said among other things
"The study will review within a 25 nautical mile area of Mangalore, including nearby aerodromes Puckapunyal, Graytown, Euroa and Locksley Field,"
Unfortunately, there was no mention of Wahring, which is probably the closet of all the airfields.
There is a mix of RAA, fixed wing aircraft, both of the certified and sports variety plus gyros and a phalanx of gliders.
About 30 aircraft all up.
But somehow, CASA did not think the inhabitants of Wahring were required to be "consulted".
Not sure if the folk at CASA bothered to look at a map.
There are numerous private airfields scattered within this 25 NM sphere of influence, none of which were asked to contribute anything.
As is so often the case, it seems that someone has decided this was a good idea and thus conduct a bit of sham consultation to say that they consulted the relevant parties.
Its ridiculous that IFR pilots are required to practice instrument approaches using VOR, when there are so few available, much less being used.
The majority of students at mangalore are Chinese.
I doubt China will be putting in atoo many VOR's
Its the same with YSHT and its NDB.
There are regular testy discussions between pilots because the VFR guys have no idea what the IFR guys are talking about when they give their calls about interecptiing the outbound radial, or conducting the missed approach route.
When you are on a see and avoid lookout, it helps if you have an idea as to where you should be looking for IFR aircraft.
In this day and age of RNAV, GNSS, etc, why are we still mucking around with NDB and VOR?
Mick