As an example of a low-CAT-used Class D, this was posted on a glider pilot forum about Doncaster. I have changed some references and corrected some spelling for clarity, but the original can be seen at
Glider Pilot Network > uk.rec.aviation.soaring > Doncaster Class D .
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27 Apr 2009
This week-end I was part of a group at Pocklington, with PH and
SK. On Sunday 26th a 500km. task was set Pocklington – Barnard Castle- Newark- Catterick- Pocklington.
A fantastic looking sky and an easy run round Barnard Castle, approaching
Pontefact I called Doncaster, eventually I was answered and gave my
details, including I was an open class glider and I had a transponder. I
was given a squawk code and then told I could not enter their airspace. I
descended down to the height that was allowed in the "Upton Corridor". I
informed the controller I was going down the corridor but was directed to
the west and ended up over the M1/M18 junction, more than 45 degrees off
track. On leaving their class D airspace asked to change to 130.40 and was
asked to stay on frequency around Newark. I returned to the east of the
Doncaster class D and eventually got permission to change after crossing the
M62.
I was not the only pilot to be refused entry into their airspace, the
controller was very busy and could not cope with the volume of traffic.
If you are planning a task through Doncaster airspace for a badge or a
record, be aware of this problem.
Good luck.
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This was not my flight – I have copied what another pilot wrote – but it shows how difficult an ATCO at a little-used airport can make life for pilots whose flying needs he either does not understand or will not accommodate for some other reason.
I note that the glider pilot said that the controller was very busy. The implication is that his/her workload was not with the small numbers of CAT he had to deal with but rather with all the transiting traffic that he was trying to cope with. The larger the CTA, the more transits it is in the way of, and the busier the radio gets.
That is what I and others fear from Norwich, and I am not reassured by what ATCOs on this thread have written, nor by the apparent abandon of any attempt by the applicant (NIA?) to collate data to show that they understand and will not repeat this sort of exclusion and/or interference with gliders trying to transit the area.
And, by the way, most gliders do not have a transponder, and can’t. I don’t, and can’t because EASA prevents me having one fitted at present.
Chris N.