Overseas airspace – how did I ever live?
When I was ready to leave Fort Worth in August 1982 on my solo around the world helicopter flight, I went to the Meacham Field briefing office to submit my full position VFR flight plan. They wouldn’t accept it.
“How dangerous!” I thought.
They told me they used an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) recommendation where VFR flew at a 500’ different level, and they used a system called ‘see and avoid’ for VFR flying when enroute.
“How dangerous!” I thought.
I somehow managed to get right across the USA, and amazingly, I lived! I kept asking what frequency I was supposed to be on, and all the pilots and controllers looked at me quite mystified. There was no frequency for VFR aircraft when flying enroute. They said, “Enjoy yourself. Look at the scenery.”
However I preferred the Aussie system where you were looking down at your flight plan most of the time, working out position reports and communicating with ATS every 30 minutes. You hardly had time to look out. But you were just like a proper professional pilot.
Amazingly enough, as I continued with the flight, I found out that the other countries were just as incompetent! First of all, Canada, then Greenland, Iceland, the UK, France, Italy – I won’t go on. Not one of these countries would accept a full position VFR fight plan, and not one of them could give me a frequency so I could have ATS communications going all the time in my ear.
Fortunately I somehow lived until I got to Darwin. Oh, it was great to be in Australia. Not only could I put in a full position flight plan, but because I was going over 50 miles (heading from Darwin to Sydney) it was compulsory.
It was also a far safer system as it did not use the dangerous ICAO 500' VFR cruising levels. IFR and VFR flew at the same levels! On departure from Darwin, I got held by the military air traffic control for about 20 minutes, orbiting on the way out. Some time later I was held at Nobbys, also by a military controller, on the way towards Japan on the last part of the flight. Yes, it was so obvious to me why we were so much safer in Australia as these were the only times I was held in the whole world flight.
As I flew across Australia I was communicating all the time – a little bit on VHF but mainly on HF, giving position reports and monitoring all the aircraft.
I was dreading leaving Australia, but when I did I suddenly found I was into this international ICAO ‘dangerous’ system, where they would not accept full position VFR flight plans, and there was no mandatory frequency for VFR to monitor.
Somehow I lived and I got back to the USA. I couldn’t believe it.
I suppose in a way it is good to see that we are reversing back to the system of the 1980s. I congratulate CASA for enforcing the sensible rule that all aircraft at non-marked airports should be on the ATS area frequency. It will be just like it was 35 years ago.
Now all we have to do is to bring back the quadrantal rule so IFR and VFR fly at the same levels, and bring back full position flight planning for VFR aircraft that fly higher than 5,000 feet or more than 50 miles.
Only then will it be safe!
Last edited by Dick Smith; 8th Mar 2017 at 04:14.