i would like to say.... absolutely a no go zone.... Manchester
NEVER have been cleared through Manchester
I wonder why my experiences are so different? I've always found Manchester very quick to say No if they are too busy, but very helpful when they are not.
Two examples (and I think I've described both of these on these forums before):
The first was a trial lesson student who wanted to fly over his house, very close to the edge of the Manchester zone. I called up Manchester to tell them I'd be operating close to, but outside, their zone, and they immediately gave me a squawk and cleared me into the zone if I needed it, even though I hadn't asked for it.
The second was another trial lesson student. This one pointed on the map to where his house was, and it was inside Manchester's zone. I explained to him that I'd try to let him fly over his house, but because it's so close to Manchester airport, ATC might not allow it. He was happy with that, so off we went.
Approaching the zone, I called them up on what sounded like a quiet frequency, and requested to "general handle inside your zone for two minutese, overhead [can't remember the name of the town]". There was a long pause before the controller replied "Why exactly do you need to general handle in my zone?"
Some quick thinking and smooth talking was required. "My passenger would like to photograph his house if you have no traffic to affect, but if it's not convenient it's no problem, we can remain clear". The controller then gave me a squawk, and told me to "remain clear of controlled airspace initially, but report approaching your site, you can expect to be cleared into controlled airspace to circle your passengers house once and only once"!
And that should have been the end of the story - except that en-route to where I thought my passenger's house was he actually spotted his house, nowhere near where he'd pointed to on the chart, and well outside controlled airspace. So I then had to call the controller again, thank him very much, apologise for the inconvenience, and tell him that I'd be remaining clear after all....!
So yes, it definitely can be done.
FFF
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