7000 and mode C don't really mean a huge amount as the alt given is unverified, so treated as potentially suspect.
It can be very aggravating when you are held up by a light a/c, but a small delay isn't anything to worry about really. 4 mins of fuel in something like a 319 in descent at idle is not insignificant, but neither is it going to bankrupt a company.
Personally, I've been more annoyed by people giving their life histories over the R/T when we're just screaming through the localiser, or getting a bit hot and and high waiting for clearance to descend.
Should there be more CAS? I don't think so. Aviation in this country is overly geared towards the airlines and I think that whilst due to professional courtesy, they will get priority, they actually have no greater rights than any other type of aeroplane.
How many a/c are on the British register? What % are public transport and what % are light a/c? I think it's around 10% and 90% from an article I read. So the vast majority are being discriminated against for the financial benefit of the few.
Niknak, in all fairness I imagine the pilot who delayed the ambulance flight would be mortified if they realised what had happened and whilst airmanship dictates that he should have called. How many times has a similar flight been "dumped".
The actions of many controllers at "regional" field's, does sometimes leave a lot to be desired. I for one am tired of being told to "maintain a good lookout" when there are more than 2 /c within 50 miles of my present position. I don't need to be told what to do if all I'm doing is alerting them to my intentions whilst OCA.
Couple this to the fact that as soon as the freq. get's busy with more than a couple of commercial inbounds, giving a FIS seems to be a hindrance and we are immediately dumped to information instead of radar. I have no problem with this and actually prefer it due to the lesser amount of radio traffic, but it does mean that next time I'm less likely to use the radar facility as I assume they don't actually want to talk to me...... (I know full well the reality of this, but I'm playing a bit of devil's advocate here.)
I used to be based in Coventry and so often had to run the gauntlet of mixing it with training flights. If it was a nice day and we were wide awake (a rare occurance!) then we would often downgrade to a FIS and just fly back visually, both to try and ease the controllers workload and to just enjoy the flight more ourselves. We used to have far more problems with the proximity to BHX and their commercial traffic than with light aircraft. In fact I can't ever remember having any issues with GA traffic at all. (Apart from an airprox with a glider inside the LTMA, but that's a different story!)
There are a few controllers who seem to want the whole of UK airspace to be controlled and all of us to be on pre-approved flight plans, but hopefully this will never occur. At the end of the day all controllers are there to assist every pilot who needs their help to complete a safe flight. It shouldn't matter if they are a PPL on a bimble, or a 747 with 3 engines out. Whilst airmanship dictates that you should think about other people, sometimes it is nice just to turn the radio down or off and just cruise with the sound of the engine and the wind in the wires, that's the beauty of flying and it isn't illegal quite yet.......
NN, out of interest, if the a/c concerned had been a microlight, with no transponder and limited radio facilities, would you have even noticed them? Would the delay have occured?
Last edited by Say again s l o w l y; 5th June 2006 at 22:44.