Blip
27th Nov 2003, 10:01
Don't you just hate it when the sun's a shining, the birds are singing, and you're eager to get out there and go for a fly in your Piper Warrior or Cessna 182. But because your plane resides at an aerodrome with a control tower, you have to be subjected to the frustrations and incovenience of requesting a taxi clearance!
"That's completely unnecessary" you think to yourself. You've got a pair of eyes. You know where you want to go and you know how to get there. If some other aircraft gets in the way you can either go another way or heck you could even taxi on to the grass and go around the ******. "See and Avoid. Thats all I need!".
So here is my proposal to free up all our controlled aerodromes.
Insead of IFR and VFR, you have Heavy and Light.
Heavy aircraft, either because of their gross weight or tyre pressure are restricted to the sealed taxiways and are subject to taxi clearances.
Those that are light with low tyre pressures may taxi where ever they want when they want.
Because VMC is defined as 5000 m visibility in the air below 10,000 ft and it is expected of airline crew flying at say 250kts to be able to see and avoid in those conditions (it would take 39 seconds to reach a target 5000 m away, less if they are contributing to the rate of closure) it is only fair to define Ground VFR on a linear scale. Say the usual taxi speed is 20 kts in a straight line, that would equate to a visibility of 380 metres.
So when the visibility is greater than 380 metres heavy aircraft when given a taxi clearance, must not only comply with the instructions given to them, they must also keep a lookout and are responsible for the avoidance of other uncontrolled light aircraft as well.
These light aircrft need not make any radio transmissions to broadcast their intentions. Infact we know how congested those SMC frequencies can be so we will actively discourage them from making any calls at all.
If the light aircraft comes across a heavy aircraft that's in the way they can simply choose an alternate taxiway or better still, simply taxy up on the grass and go around it. Or I suppose you can just back off and follow behind. Whatever. You have the freedom because you don't need a clearance. You can look out for yourself.
When it comes to crossing the active runway, the same principle applies. The light aircraft looks in the direction of the oncoming landing and departing traffic and makes his or her own assessment of the traffic situation and manoeuveres accordingly. Again the concept of "See and Avoid" should apply.
I suppose you'd have to call the tower to report "Ready" though. :rolleyes:
You must keep in mind too that the heavy aircraft are going to be restricted to the taxiways which are depicted quite well on the aerodrome chart, so you are encouraged to avoid these published "airways" as much as possible. Runway Holding Points are another area to be avoided untill the very last.
I think we could prove to the world that the Principles of Class E airspace need not be restricted to the skies. And if we can do that, then we would be able to go to the USA and enjoy the same freedom there. Surley if it works here it must be adopted there. I am sure they would cringe if they knew that they were different to us.
This is just the begining. Can anyone else add anything constructive to this proposal? :ok:
"That's completely unnecessary" you think to yourself. You've got a pair of eyes. You know where you want to go and you know how to get there. If some other aircraft gets in the way you can either go another way or heck you could even taxi on to the grass and go around the ******. "See and Avoid. Thats all I need!".
So here is my proposal to free up all our controlled aerodromes.
Insead of IFR and VFR, you have Heavy and Light.
Heavy aircraft, either because of their gross weight or tyre pressure are restricted to the sealed taxiways and are subject to taxi clearances.
Those that are light with low tyre pressures may taxi where ever they want when they want.
Because VMC is defined as 5000 m visibility in the air below 10,000 ft and it is expected of airline crew flying at say 250kts to be able to see and avoid in those conditions (it would take 39 seconds to reach a target 5000 m away, less if they are contributing to the rate of closure) it is only fair to define Ground VFR on a linear scale. Say the usual taxi speed is 20 kts in a straight line, that would equate to a visibility of 380 metres.
So when the visibility is greater than 380 metres heavy aircraft when given a taxi clearance, must not only comply with the instructions given to them, they must also keep a lookout and are responsible for the avoidance of other uncontrolled light aircraft as well.
These light aircrft need not make any radio transmissions to broadcast their intentions. Infact we know how congested those SMC frequencies can be so we will actively discourage them from making any calls at all.
If the light aircraft comes across a heavy aircraft that's in the way they can simply choose an alternate taxiway or better still, simply taxy up on the grass and go around it. Or I suppose you can just back off and follow behind. Whatever. You have the freedom because you don't need a clearance. You can look out for yourself.
When it comes to crossing the active runway, the same principle applies. The light aircraft looks in the direction of the oncoming landing and departing traffic and makes his or her own assessment of the traffic situation and manoeuveres accordingly. Again the concept of "See and Avoid" should apply.
I suppose you'd have to call the tower to report "Ready" though. :rolleyes:
You must keep in mind too that the heavy aircraft are going to be restricted to the taxiways which are depicted quite well on the aerodrome chart, so you are encouraged to avoid these published "airways" as much as possible. Runway Holding Points are another area to be avoided untill the very last.
I think we could prove to the world that the Principles of Class E airspace need not be restricted to the skies. And if we can do that, then we would be able to go to the USA and enjoy the same freedom there. Surley if it works here it must be adopted there. I am sure they would cringe if they knew that they were different to us.
This is just the begining. Can anyone else add anything constructive to this proposal? :ok: