I can almost hear the gasps of horror...Whirly, you don't know, and you an instructor; what is the GA world coming to?
OK, so you look in the VFR Flight Guide, and almost every airfield says PPR. So, Prior Permission Required. Simply, isn't it?
Well, no, it's not. Some say PPR by telephone. Some say PPR by telephone or radio. Well now, I'm not likely to land without calling up on the radio, am I? And I've never flown in anywhere non-radio, but if I did, I think I'd call up first. Wouldn't anyone...pilots who fly aircraft without radios, please tell me.
So, I phone up. It's good practice anyway - you find out if for some reason they're closed, or if there's some unforecast fog around, for instance. Sometimes you're told it's OK, and asked for your callsign, other times told to just call on the radio, other times they seem absolutely amazed that you've called at all!
Then comes the day you call up, and get no reply. So you fly in anyway, figuring you'll call up on the radio. Well, one flying school owner I know protests vehemently about people doing this: "It says we're PPR; why don't they phone first?". Another time I actually landed, having got no reply on the radio, and got yelled at. Other airfields even say in flight guides that they fine you if you arrive non-PPR. Still others don't give a damn.
And if you change your mind, or divert...some phone your departure airfield to find out what happened if you don't call them, while others wonder why you even bothered to phone to say you weren't coming after all.
So everyone, and particularly any airfield operators, flying school owners, flight guide publishers, or similar....
WHAT DOES PPR REALLY MEAN?