Pulse 1
My thoughts too when I saw it.
DA20
Maybe they'll issue a special NOTAM to warn you when I go up in the Luscombe as well
IO540
There is much in what you say. Before the website you got two sets of bulletins, one for en-route and one for aerodromes, pinned up on the wall if you were lucky. They covered the whole country and it was up to you to work out which were relevant.
The upside was that you didn't get everything. You got edited highlights and it was up to the guy at AIS which ones he included and which he did not.
It was also as you say quieter then. I've been in to Stansted in a PA28 for fuel and I've also been cleared to transit Gatwick not above 1000 ft at right angles to the centreline and crossing the runway at its midpoint. Not something I make a habit of asking for now!
I gather AIS used to be the arbiters of what would or would not qualify for promulgation but the CAA took away their right to make that decision. It's difficult to find someone with operational responsibility for the day to day decision making on that.
Mike