Transiting Solent CTA
Evening,
The majority of yesterday was spent on a training flight from Shoreham to Bournemouth and then onto Blackbushe before back to Shoreham. Having done a bit of research about transiting Solent CTA I was a little apprehensive. I'd heard that they were unhelpful and would almost certainly refuse my request at transiting their airspace. But this wasn't the case at all! I called them 15nm east of their zone, overhead Hayling Island at 2,500ft and to my surprise we were given transit clearance not above 2,500ft. Both of the controllers were happy & helpful, we received a radar service upon entering Solent CTA (which was fantastic as this was the first time I'd ever had this) before being passed through to Bournemouth.
This post is mainly just to say that if you're in the area then why not give the guys & girls at Solent CTA a call. They were nothing like what a few people have said about them on a couple of forum posts I've read. Happy, helpful, and professional.
Stuart