Many contributors to this thread have tried to explain away the perceived lack of co-operation from the military in the area of faciliting transit of the WMX areas by VFR aircraft because they claim that WLM is essentially a military aerodrome. By this premise the claim is made that the military have no obligation whatsoever to facilitate anything to civil users.
I beg to differ. The symbol on all navigation charts clearly designates WLM as joint military/civil. Terminal charts for the aerodrome also make it clear that WLM allows civil operations provided civil users obtain prior permission from the military. I’ll admit that in that respect alone, it is different to aerodromes like Canberra where no military permission for use of the aerodrome is required. However, the fact that the military do facilitate civil operations and that they do make provision for VFR traffic to transit the WMX areas via certain lanes, does not mean that no-one can question their methods of doing this. I believe that all Dick Smith is attempting to do is to suggest that there may be a better and safer way for VFR aircraft to be facilitated in the WMX areas. By his own account, the military have indeed admitted as much and have promised to do something about it……apparently over a long period of time, but nothing has eventuated. You really shouldn’t be surprised that Dick has become a little frustrated. The man is simply asking that the military review the way they facilitate VFR operations and has suggested a safer way that they might consider doing things. Why is this such a seemingly onerous task for the military to accomplish, particularly when they have already said they will do it?