Who was right?
I had an interesting experiance today flying down to Denham. routing southbound took me and a 2nd aircraft in formation overhead DTY and then out bound from DTY one the 155 radial to Chalfont St Giles which is the Denham 06 VRP. Altitude on 1019 was 2900ft.
Called Luton for a FIS who were far t"o busy" on a quiet frequency to respond for several minutes. We continued onwards clear of controlled airspace until several minutes later given a FIS and told to remain clear. Overhead Chivory we were told by Luton that we had infringed their airpspace laterally and were given a transponder code. I asked them to clarfiy the infringement and was told that we had entered the 2500-3500ft zone and to call them on the ground.
On landing I viewed the trails from the GPS carried in the 2 aircraft and both sets of GPS show us overhead Chivory which we visually confirmed then overhead Gore then overhead Chalfont St Giles. We were VFR nav with flight planned on the map using the DTY VOR and 2 sets of GPS as backup one of once was an IFR fit GNS 430 and the other a 296 (both aircraft have an identical fit). All 4 sources of navigation agreed.
I spoke to the controller who wanted me to back down and apologise and basically tried to black mail me by saying that the only way to prove who was right was by requesting the radar trace and the only way he could do that was by filing a complaint. I spoke to his supervisor in the end who said that perhaps we should agree to disagree and leave it at that. After telling me that as a pilot I should have left several miles of space between us and controlled airspace and that the frequently vector jets to the edge of the control.
So I have a couple of qustions:
Is controlled airspace now in fact several miles bigger than that shown on our maps?
If I should have given several miles clearance then should they be vectoring jets to the limit if the same airspace?
Are we not all equal users of airspace and supposed to have equal access?
Why would the controller be so adamant that we had bust his zone when according to the route planned and flown and proven on the GPS we were clear of controlled airspace.
It is liitle wonder there is so much animosity between pilots and controllers and the need for seminars such as the upcoming event at Teeside.
This has left me with a very bitter taste and has destroyed the goodwill I have always felt towards Luton controllers.
Comments please!