JonDyer
Very good post and I agree with everything you say. (I seem to remember agreeing with you a lot when we were flying CJs together)
Airbus38
Another well written post. Brings back many memories; some good, some not so good.
It seems as if the responses to this thread fall into two camps:
1. Pilots who try to do the right thing but who are somewhat frustrated by the limitations of the cockpit environment in which they find themselves and who find the ATC service in the UK a little 'different' from other parts of the world; and
2. ATC professionals who have maybe forgotten the realities of single-pilot IFR flying (maybe they never knew) and who expect all flight crew, whatever their origin, to have an intimate knowledge of the UK AIP.
Now don't get me wrong: I have the highest respect for UK Air Traffic Controllers and I would be the first to admit that I know next to b*gger all about the pressures and problems of their jobs, BUT - Let's not forget that ATC is there to provide a SERVICE to pilots, not the other way around! To avoid exaggeration of the issues raised in this thread, I should add that I generally receive an excellent service in the UK. It's the responses on this thread from some of our ATC colleagues that leaves me unimpressed.
I would have thought that it shouldn't be too difficult to provide the three-letter ident and/or freqeuncy of any radio aid within the sector being controlled. Or if the pilot is clearly having problems navigating towards a desired point, why not simply provide vectors while they sort themselves out?
Airbus38 provides an excellent explanation of the problems from the pilot's perspective. Where is the explanation from an ATC professional of the poor service that ATC gave to wwelvaert that day? All we have heard so far is: "This guy shouldn't be allowed in UK airspace", and "He obviously failed to prepare thoroughly enough".
I would be genuinly interested to learn so that I can plan accordingly before my next SP HPCA flight in UK airspace.
Now I have to pack my bags for yet another light jet trans-Atlantic flight. As always, I will look forward to the calm professional voice of the UK controller as I pass RATSU, southbound. Let's not fall out over this, but let's keep in mind who is serving whom.