Originally Posted by
hargreaves99
That's the most lethal bit of rope I've ever seen the CAA lay out for someone to hang themselves upon. Rule 11 does not talk about ATSU being "active". It's the ATZ being active upon which the law is based. 99% of the time Skyway is 100% right but....
Here's 2 examples:
Boscombe Down ATZ - hours of operation H24, has ATC (which isn't there all the time but it doesnt matter for Rule 11). Rule 11 states it applies during the hours of the ATZ (which is H24) and further states: "...(3) If the aerodrome has an air traffic control unit the commander must obtain the permission of that unit to enable the flight to be conducted safely within the aerodrome traffic zone.". So no matter whether ATC is actually in the tower you have to obtain permission. Which is impossible by radio since no one is there. You fly through it out of hours, you could be prosecuted. No matter what Skyway says.
Second example - Ternhill ATZ. Active by NoTAM. Has Shawbury ATC Freq next to it on the chart. On a weekend, pilot sees NoTAM calls up on Shawbury, hears nothing, flies through and bang - £4000 fine (and you'll never be an examiner of Form 4 holder). It turns out there's two possible frequencies for the same ATZ due to gliding taking place at weekends. (See CAA prosecutions here -
CAA 2019)
It pays to not make assumptions with ATZ and take a little detour unless you've planned in detail. Unless you have £4000 to burn of course.
And Skyway needs a tweak - that section is just plain wrong. Email to the CAA in progress. If you look on the website you'll note there is already a correction to Skyway v3 because they got some rules wrong (transition altitudes). Skyway is good, but it's not perfect