Gentlemen
I have had a keen interest in this thread, since the Abingdon - Didcot area is a bit of airspace which I pass through (in a civilian glider) quite often.
As WZ 662 correctly observed on the previous page "This little corner of England is a congested bit of airspace"
On the day of the accident in question, the sky was booming thermally and a very large number of gliders (and GA power) would have been passing through that same squeeze point between Benson and the Brize zone. The gliders would mainly have been at 3000 - 4500 feet on that day. GA tends to be lower.
Now if we look at the new AIC - quote
2.2 The typical pattern of an AEF flight is a short duration flight of 20 -25 minutes usually conducted between 2000' and 5000' AGL remaining in close proximity (up to 15 NM) to their parent station. Aerobatic manoevres may be conducted. A minority of sorties will also include stalling, or spinning, operating at heights of up to 10 000' AGL.
2.3 Whilst the captain of the aircraft will be an experienced pilot, the passenger could be on his/her first flight; accordingly their ability to assimilate all that is happening around them could be limited. end of quote.
I interpret 2.3 to mean that one can't necessarily rely on the passenger to maintain a good lookout. And I know fine well that in a side-by side glider (or aircraft) that means that the pilot is blind to a lot of what is happening outside the aircraft on the passenger's side.
So given all the above, why on earth were AEF flights being carried out in the middle of the light aviation equivalent of the M25? OK, it was legal.
But sensible?
Last edited by astir 8; 14th Jul 2009 at 12:35.