Originally Posted by
IO540
No special branch "clearance" is needed - just a notification.
Send them a fax, keep the acknowledgement of it having been sent, and be prepared for some Plod to phone you in the early hours of the morning with a 3-digit "permission number". The Brits just love their job creation schemes.
The flight itself is a non-event. You have to be VFR, and yes being into Class A it is strictly speaking "Special VFR" and this is the clearance you get from Jersey or whatever. But the actual flight is just like any old VFR flight.
Well, I tend to consider it a 'clearance' as the 'suited plods' have been known in the past to refuse the request (not me btw).
When I did my VP & retract checkout in our Arrow several years ago (1998 I think), we flew down to Jersey for lunch. I stupidly left the SB clearance to my instructor - he didn't and I had a message from ATC on our return to contact the local constabulary. They were quite quite nasty about it
!
@Jon, the aero club are extremely friendly - they do all the handling now (used to be Aviation Beauport
) which means that you park on the grass at the areo club end of the field and its just a short walk down the slope (or steps) to the clubhouse. No fannying about waiting for the minibus. The just pop upstairs for a comfort break and a beer in the 'Millibar'. Say hello to Marcel
May see you there in 2007!
Cheers.