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Old 26th August 2009 | 22:58
  #136 (permalink)  
ProfChrisReed
 
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 212
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From: Suffolk
I have read the document carefully, particularly as regards transits.

My conclusion is that gliders will almost never be permitted to fly in the airspace if Class D is granted. I conclude this from the fact that the document assumes that only gliders from Tibenham will ever want to do so. ChrisN flies from elsewhere, as do I, and both of us have regularly flown in that airspace. In June a glider from Gloucestershire turned Norwich, within the airspace, as the culmination of the first leg of an 800 km+ flight. Competition grids of 50+ gliders regularly fly there. I do not see how Norwich ATC would cope with transits given the lack of understanding of the likely level of glider traffic, let alone any other traffic.

off watch demands that objectors provide more concrete examples (mine is another one), but that is precisely what is wrong with the document. It is supposed to present the case, including how ATC would cope with the demand for airspace use by non-CAT. However, there has been no attempt to discover how much use is currently made. Just to take gliding as an example, the authors could have asked Norfolk Gliding Club (and other local clubs) for an estimate of how many flights in that airspace occur each year. A similar request could have been made to Old Buckenham and other local airfields to produce an estimate of non-gliding flights.

Clearly, nothing of the sort has been attempted. If there is no idea how much demand for usage exists, how can I (or anyone else) believe that the resources and training will be made available to meet that demand?
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