Far better to have a controller in the cockpit methinks.
keeps the skies much safer ... and it's more fun for the ATCO !
I think Air/Ground Service precludes giving ATC instructions such as 'report baseleg', "route to final "and suchlike. Easy mistakes to make, but 'over-controlling' shouldn't really happen. I thought it was very useful to have someone on freq on the ground directing parking slots.
For those who think that full over-control is required in every acre of sky I would suggest you visit Strathallan Fly-in and watch 80 aircraft depart in the space of an hour, with no A/G operator, no AFISO or no controller. And it works.
For those departing Strathallan, I would suggest you all get transponders and switch them on ... then the compliants about radar clutter from the controllers at Scottish might highlight one of the dafter consuquences of the CAAs drive to impose Mode S
Mull was a truly superb weekend and the airfield was in tip-top condition. Thanks to all (and that includes DH, BW, PK and the RT operator from Popham). Take a bow y'all
Thnak you and cya soon