pumuckl:
Oh yes, it will change after 12 March. Have you read the last few pages of this thread? We are not allowed to give you the kind of information you are now getting from some units on a FIS when it changes to BS
I do understand how you reach that view but I think in practice we will end up with a situation not significantly different from what we have now. Here's what MATS Part 1 says about traffic info on a FIS:
controllers will, subject to workload, provide pilots with information concerning collision hazards to aircraft operating in Class C, D, E, F or G airspace when self-evident information from any source indicates that a risk of collision may exist. It is accepted that this information may be incomplete and the controller cannot assume responsibility for its issuance at all times or for its accuracy
I take from this that traffic info under a FIS is only given when there is a risk of collision. CAP 774 says:
if a controller/FISO considers that a definite risk of collision exists, a warning may be issued to the pilot.
The only difference between that and MATS Part 1 is the word "definite" - and how does a controller assess that? In my experience specific radar-derived traffic info is only given to a/c on a FIS when the separation distance is small - a mile or so - and the aircraft are converging and/or one or both are manoeuvring, and/or one or both aircraft has no Mode C. It seems to me that this shows that controllers are very good at assessing what traffic info is relevant to a light aircraft and when there's a risk of collision - you're not told about things 3-5 miles away but you are told about things a mile away
if the controller has the capacity to do that. I have never had a problem with understanding that one is never to
expect or
rely on traffic info when on a FIS, but I also value it when I get it.
Unfortunately I suspect the new rules will be interpreted differently by different units and by different controllers in the same unit, so we will be no further on than we are now. But I think the current system works pretty well because controllers are pragmatic people who will always try to provide the best service possible within the constraints of rules and workload. And that's what will keep the new system sensible too.
NS