Good thread. I think most private pilots, myself include, are very wary of asking for SVFR - I know very few pilots who have done it, and none who do so regularly.
A few more questions, though, most (but not all) specifically regarding White Waltham, where I fly from:
First of all, is there anything published anywhere about what routes we can expect? Is there, for example, any way of knowing that ASC-BUR is likely to be ok whereas OCK-BUR isn't, apart from local knowledge and/or speaking to people who have done it before? I had a quick look through the AIP a while ago and couldn't find anything, and I'm sure there's nothing in Pooleys.
Now, as for White Waltham, if I wanted to fly EGLM-ASC (en route to Redhill, for example), what should I do? Should I call you guys before I depart? Can I expect a squawk and QNH before I depart? Would I then be able to change to 122.6 for departure, and back to 119.9 after take-off? How about a clearance, should I not expect that until I'm airbourne and I've been identified? In which case, would it be acceptible to fly direct to Burnham (giving about 90 seconds from take-off to entering your airspace if EGLM are on one of their easterly runways), or would you rather I fly south first, and only turn east once I've been identified and cleared? Any other hints?
And how about the return journey? Once I've been given SVFR clearance, I assume it would be something like direct to Burnham, then direct to EGLM? In that case, I'd like to switch to 122.6 at Burnham, would this be ok? And I'd normally be squawking either 7000 or standby once I'm about 5 miles from the airfield, I presume this wouldn't be acceptible if I'm in your airspace?
I guess similar issues would probably arise flying to or from other airfields such as Denham or Fairoaks, so hopefully your answers will help a whole load of people shorten their journey times through west London!
Thanks!
FFF
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