Originally Posted by
alex90
Generally - I have never really understood PPR. I understand the requirement of familiarity with the airfield, and reading up / checking charts / check weather & runway in use etc... But I don't understand why specifically in England (where let's be honest plans change VERY frequently due to weather) so many airfields want PPR. I think I cancelled (in flight) at least 4/5 trips to the Isle of Wight in the last 12 months when reaching the coast (when I don't see the IoW from Hayling, I don't go, even if when I left they told me they had bright sunshine). So the PPR was effectively useless for Sandown, wasting their time and my time. Do they seriously ever have enough people coming in that they require to know in advance? (i love the people who work there so please don't take it the wrong way, its a lovely place, love the cafe, it is just an example out of 99% of airfields I have been to in the UK).
The law says you must have the permission of the owner of the land to use a particular airfield so prior permission (which can take many forms) is required by law at those airfields which either operate on an 'Ordinary' licence or are unlicenced.
Different airfields treat this in different ways, for instance some private strips operate an 'open to all' system by saying in Pooleys and similar guides the airfield is available without PPR, what they're actually doing is giving you permission to land on paper; other airfields grant you PPR by giving joining 'instructions' when you call on the RTF, others insist on a phone call or even e-mail or on-line applications.
Simply filing a flight plan does not constitute a request for PPR; if you don't believe me, try filing a flight plan into Farnborough without PPR!