Originally Posted by
IRpilot2006
Let's say you have the IMC Rating, which allows you to fly IFR (UK only, not in Class A). It is possible, with some considerable effort, to file a Eurocontrol-accepted IFR flight plan through a bit of the UK without going into Class A. But ATC won't know that you have no Class A privileges. What would happen if you got vectored off your filed route? I know of somebody who actually did this, in perfect ignorance of reality, and LC got extremely confused when told he could not go into Class A.
Why do we have this highly divided system in the UK?
No simple answer but I guess it's just a historical thing. Each State grew up with its own interpretation of the ICAO rules. Things are changing in Europe now and in a few years you might see a homogenous system across the region.
Originally Posted by
IRpilot2006
Currently, if you file an IFR flight plan (through your local airfield facilities, like most PPLs seem to do) it gets addressed like it was VFR i.e. dep, dest and possibly enroute FIS. So there is no implied airways-style enroute clearance. If you turn up at a piece of Class D, the controller knows nothing about you and you have to beg for a transit.
I think - but stand to be corrected - that this is not strictly true. If your route is along ATS routes it will go to the ACC but if you beacon hop outside CAS you are probably right. It's many years since I was doing such stuff - my memory now fails me all too often and the system has changed, but kind souls addressing off-route FPLs did sometimes address them to units that were along the route (but if you were going international the standard addresses were used).
Originally Posted by
IRpilot2006
But if you know what you are doing, say you use homebriefing.com, you can file it through Eurocontrol and if the route was accepted then every ATS unit enroute should know about you and you should have the highly desired enroute clearance. There are also ways to get a FP through Eurocontrol with minimal route checking, by using DCTs or the term "GAT".
An example would be an IFR flight from Lydd to Scilly Isles at FL050. It can be done wholly in G+D. Currently, Solent/Bournemouth can refuse a transit. But if you managed to get the route through CFMU then you should sail through. But LC will probably give you a climb to SAM to FL100, to clear the traffic below, which would take you into Class A which you can't go into.
Comments?
I'm not really qualified to answer in detail but the reason that off-route is difficult is that there is no practical way to be assured that you will be cleared through whatever CAS you have planned along the way. The system just is not designed for this - this is why your departure clearance will be to the boundary of the CTR/CTA/TMA around your departure aerodrome only, after that the system cannot give any assurance that you will get the clearances you want. I would guess that the system is designed around the ICAO system in which there is very little provision for IFR flights outside ATS routes (which, when established, should be protected by CAS).