Today I thought I had made a conscious decision to try my best with the CAP774.
Alas at the end of the day I think it will still all end in tears.
On a day of poor visibility I was struggling to define the types of service to experienced pilots a month and half before it all changes. What hope is there?
Have we missed the point here, was it the services or is it the pilot education that is the problem?
What is my duty of care to the majority of foreign jet pilots who do not understand the services we have now? Is it to offer them the best level of service, even on fair weather delays which could end in extensive delays? Is it to offer them the service what I think is right for the situation or due to the weather that they might fly into. You ask what service they require and the same reply always comes back, "vectors to the ILS".
The civilian method in class G however hazy it might have become of separating IFR aircraft from one another and passing traffic information on known VFR aircraft seemed correct as it resembled something similar to the class D airspace they had to learn to pass the course at their respective colleges. Class D airspace, believe it or not Military dudes is it what every single civil radar controller learns at their various colleges in approach radar with very limited ATSOCA training. The proper class G airspace training begins at the unit with a mix of ideas from experienced civil, ex mil, new controllers, it was bound to get hazy eventually as the MATS 1 has always contradicted it self.
This might be the reason for change but is it a reason to make civilian and military units the same. As stated in previous threads military units have MATZs, correct me if I am wrong but they give more protection than your standard ATZ. They have mainly well trained pilots operating in and out who have in general a good understanding of the services, hence the mil pilots changing their service based on their in flight conditions rather than their flight rules. I would like to know what service a military controller in approach will give a foreign biz jet pilot who does not have a clue about what you are on about?
As with the new ILS phraseology that has changed more than once recently, why can we not do what they do in europe? This is what license we hold.
I am off to controlled airspace where life is simple.
