Originally Posted by
Wide Mouth Frog
Oh dear. Another big hole in the cheese there.
Does anyone have a reference to the UK version of the
manual that Easy Street referenced ? I know from memory that the London controllers will not allow visual separation unless BOTH aircraft involved accept it. In London this is only applicable in the case of helicopter traffic crossing in opposite directions on a route, and is negotiated between the crossing helicopters by ATC on a specific case by case basis as a precondition of entry to the routes.
This makes sense. Why should you be put in a situation where another aircraft is responsible for your safety ?
As regards London - I think you might be thinking back to the days when it was Class A Airspace. I do recall being asked "can you accept visual separation on the routes?"
It's been class D for some years now and VFR traffic is not separated from VFR traffic - It's only given traffic information. You are no longer asked if you will accept visual separation on the routes - you are told what and where the traffic is and it's your job ( and the other aircraft's ) not to bump into each other. The controllers don't separate you (although they are pretty good at keeping an eye on you and will often give updated traffic information or confirm visual contact if they are uncertain that you can see each other).