Originally Posted by
Dick Smith
The bear was poked by CASA requiring pilots at unmarked aerodromes to give their circuit calls on an ATC frequency.
But there are no mandatory calls at these places, Dick.
If I’m taxiing to take off from my strip in G and do a scan from horizon to horizon, what’s the risk in me taking off without broadcasting? I’m allowed to do it in a no-radio aircraft, and there could be no-radio aircraft in the area anyway. If it’s acceptably ‘safe’ for me and others to operate no-radio in the vicinity using our Mark I eyeballs alone, it must be acceptably ‘safe’ for me to decide that there is no substantial risk in deciding there is no point in broadcasting a taxi call.
And when I’m flying home, who the f*ck cares that I’m the only aircraft inbound to my own property?
The
only realistic scenario that could cause inordinate amounts of noise on Area and unusual risk is the ‘fly in’ event at a strip that’s not marked on the charts. In that scenario Airervices and CASA should be able to arrange the publication of a NOTAM, in a timely fashion, that promulgates a discrete frequency for CTAF procedures as well as letting everyone else know what’s on and where. I’m sure there’ll be a perfectly nonsensical bureaucratic reason for this being too difficult.