Forgive me now Roffa but I may have held my tongue once too many times already. I think that as experienced and as unassailably knowledgable as you are, you are perhaps inadvertently straying into pedantry by continually pointing the finger at me as if we all need to learn something from the finger-pointing. Can I not gently get you to agree that perhaps that might be risking deflecting the main issue in this thread?
Those of us that are focussed on the main issue have been in
www.levelbust.com long since.
You have also several times asked us to believe that this piece of airspace is no more risky than any other which relies on 1000 foot separations.
As you know I haven't accepted that view which I think is too general. You got me thinking ok perhaps he means fast executive jet traffic so what about Fairoaks to the south, and Biggin Hill, and Northolt of course, and Stansted traffic at the upper levels ? But none of those is quite like the 'in your face' peak flows from London City is it?
To me Roffa, your latter posts sound much the same as saying "close the thread - there is nothing new to learn".
As you know, I reckon this East London bit of airspace is unique. You seem to be saying it's no big deal. I have easily accepted your statements of fact but I am less comfortable with the subjective stuff.
I mean for goodness sakes, I don't mean to spoil it for the hoards of Biggin Hill and Elstree clubbers who've been crossing it for years, but not only has this bit of sky got all the ingredients discussed, but on some balmy sunny days it has occasional Cherokee drivers teetering across it at "not above 2400". Sometimes I wonder if they are under any control at all judging from the fact that one or two have sometimes been west of Canary Wharf when they do it
And then I check myself - nearly two decades ago I WAS on a clearance from 132.7 so I wasn't completely without hope, but I was too far west to be able to land clear on the few green bits remaining! So I got a fine view of the western face of the single CW tower that existed on that Sunday teatime just before dusk and the controller kindly double-checked my type, then bit his lip while the ramifications of the query sunk in to my wetware - hell it might even have been you !
Getting as far as Canary Wharf on a transit in a PA28 and then having to scuttle back out of the way is not how it was planned by either Thames or the pilot I think. Being stopped a mile or two further south and told to orbit when it is realised that departing IFR traffic is being held on the 28 at LCY is of course more easily acceptable.
Share more of your views with us please if you can. I guess after 20 years you have to balance all sorts of interests when away from the screen and the accommodation of low-level single engine traffic in this zone is is just one you'll have regularly offered a view on, no doubt. but do please continue to enlighten us on the hotspots.