With Single European Rules of the Air rapidly approaching, I've seen a
CAA consultation document doing the rounds which asks some pointed questions about the future of ATSOCAS. For me as a military aviator the answer is blindingly obvious - align with France, Germany and the US (to name but 3) by changing all UK Class G airspace above, say, 3000' to Class E (with higher base altitudes around mountainous areas so that the base of Class E is always above MSA and is in radar / RT coverage).
However, for some reason, there appears to be institutional resistance to this airspace class in the UK - as witnessed in the CAA's own
link. How is this airspace safely managed all over Europe and the US, but is not suitable in the UK? I imagine that the capacity of our privately-run civil ATC is one reason?
The power of the GA community is bound to be another reason - but Class E does little or nothing to stop them pootling around in VMC with no radio. It does force a requirement for instrument ratings in IMC (which I think is currently true anyway since the end of the IMCR?) and it forces pilots to get an ATC clearance to fly into cloud, which I think is entirely sensible and safe. However the language in this CAA
link is so strongly in favour of retention of widespread Class G that I don't think they've left themselves any room for a U-turn!
The thoughts of the UK ATC fraternity on Class E as the majority UK airspace would be welcomed - I guess it would lead to the LARS covering more rigidly-defined areas and opening 24/7, and this would obviously be expensive. However I don't see how we can continue to justify allowing people to fly legally in cloud with no clearance or R/T at altitudes of up to FL195!
(Also, while I'm at it, I'd turn all ATZs with towers into non-radar Class D - the ANO definition of an ATZ practically mirrors the ICAO Class D definition anyway, doesn't it? All MATZs into Class E with a Class D inner core. Class B introduced for CTZs where really tight control of VFR traffic is desired, and more flexibility offered to VFR crossers at the remanining Class D CTZs. None of this would have any practical impact on the freedom of UK pilots to get around in VMC, provided they understood their air law - too many pilots automatically think of CAS as an absolute no-go zone and a re-education programme would be needed. All this would put our current bespoke system closer to a globally-understood legal and regulatory footing. How about it?!)