Fixa24 you state:
Yet daily i see aircraft skirting my airspace at low levels, bumping around the weeds and mountains, but for a simple clearance request they could have been cruising in smooth air.
I’m sure you realise the significance of what you have said. That is, those pilots perceive that there will be a problem if they try to get a clearance through your Class D airspace (or presumably Class C if they are flying a bit higher).
Why do pilots have that perception? I can assure you it is because of practical experience. While I am delighted that you have never refused a clearance to VFR aircraft, I can assure you that VFR aircraft are often extensively delayed or diverted because of our procedural separation standards – which probably come from the 1930s.
Anyway, why don’t you get Airservices to communicate to pilots (the ones that are skirting around the airspace) that if they call up they will get a friendly direct clearance? That would be a move in the right direction.
SM4 Pirate, you state:
increased the risk in the circuit because the ATC were more distracted by the Class E above when compared to Class C
I can understand what you are saying, however if you talk to an American controller (or no doubt to
Voices of Reason who posted this
here) it is obvious that this “distraction” is pretty well a unique Australian problem. US controllers love Class E airspace. US airline pilots love Class E airspace. So what is the difference? I reckon it is a complete lack of education and training.
Could I suggest that Aussie controllers talk to the controllers in the contract towers that Airservices are running in the United States? I’m sure they will tell you that they love the airspace configuration because they can concentrate in the area where aircraft are most likely to collide. You will find that the controllers in the Class D towers (both contract and non-contract) in America are not “distracted” by VFR aircraft in the Class E airspace above.
Lodown, please keep to the facts. I have not at any time been sacked from any aviation position.