Airmanship - a consideration
Good afternoon aviators!
I wonder if I might use your forum to highlight what seems to be an ongoing issue with airmanship?
This afternoon, while working an Airshow at Elvington in Yorkshire, and having issued the following NOTAM:
Q) EGTT/QWALW/IV/M/W/000/050/5355N00058W003
B) FROM: 10/07/31 11:30C) TO: 10/08/01 14:00
E) AIR DISPLAY/AEROBATICS ACTIVITY WI 3NM 5355N 00058W
(ELVINGTON AD, YORKSHIRE)
10-07-0747/AS 2
LOWER: SFC
UPPER: 5000FT AMSL
SCHEDULE: 1130-1400
We still had a joker appear in the overhead during the Harvard display and proceed to fly up and down the display line, at a height well below 5000ft and conduct his own aerobatics! Now I know this is class G airspace, but whatever happened to airmanship?!
Do others find that, especially in areas of high traffic density such as the area around York, it is exasperating the amount of GA aviators that either don't read NOTAMs, or blatantly arrive over an event to add their own "act"?
Being a GA pilot myself, as well as holding a DA and being involved in displays on the ground, I am staggered that such attitude to airmanship still exists and that no-one at clubs, or those conducting bi-annual checks are picking up pilots for such blatant poor airmanship. When I learnt to fly, airmanship was an assessed part of the syllabus I seem to remember! I know the Red Arrows have also been blighted with this over the years, and yet pilots still barrel into their RA(T)s!
As a parting shot, if anyone is flying in the Elvington, Breighton, Church Fenton area tomorrow please give us a call on York Radio 119.625 and we can pass traffic information to you. We have a discrete display frequency for the display a/c, so you won't be bothering anyone by calling but we would ask that you respect the 3nm and 5000ft mentioned in the NOTAM and remain clear by at least that. Display a/c may also be holding overhead Acaster Malbis and VFR to the south of Elvington.
Happy and safe flying!
Max
PS The observant amongst you may note that a similar thread has been posted on another forum outside PPRuNe, however I feel this deserves discussion with as wide an audience as possible as the problem doesn't seem to be getting any better!