Manchester Low Level Corridor - a question

[danieloakworth]

Someone showed me some aerial photos of a corridor transit the other day and I was staggered at the amount of development (particularly around Warrington). For those that frequent this 'interesting' piece of airspace, is it possible to transit at the upper height (1250) and still adhere to the 'land clear' rule? At the rate western Manchester is devloping don't see how they can keep that corridor open for more than a few years.

thoughts?

[markp123]

I fly out of Blackpool and have used the corridor several times. Like you said it is really only Warrington that could cause any issue but it is only about 3-4nm north to south where it lies bellow the low level. so even at 1000ft any a/c with a pretty poor Lift/Drag ratio shouldn't stuggle gliding clear....but even if it couldn't you wouldn't be lost for useful fields.

[Squadgy]

Should be able to glide clear if at 1250ft above Warrington. You could always go slightly East from the Thewall VRP in to the Class G surrounding Barton (up to 2000ft), just avoid the Barton ATZ unless talking to us.

LLC should increasing to 1300ft in the medium term BTW.

[eltonioni]

Surely the class of airspace is of no legal consequence when preserving life?

[NorthSouth]

Squadgy:LLC should increasing to 1300ft in the medium term BTWWhy? Can DAP's software no longer cope with multiples of 50ft?
MS

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

The LLR does, always has, and I think will continue to be a very useful facility for GA. I use it regularly (was in there today trying to get to Woodford until the WX chased me back into Scouseport!) and have played in there for 30 years (Barton based for most of that, now Liverpool).

As Squadgy says, east of Warrington works best, but west is do-able, too (at least in our Chipmunk). Less un-built-up there, but enough green bits to be OK. Keeping east, it's no problem at all. Just keep a good look-out and don't rely just on FIS (Manch won't see most stuff if it's primary-only) - it get busy in there at times!

SSD

[Mariner9]

Manch won't see most stuff if it's primary-only

Got a traffic warning from Manch when in LLC on Sunday stating traffic indicating 1100' so they must have SSR. (Come to think of it, there's also a radar replay on the On-Track website showing SSR in the LLC)

Edit: On reflection - perhaps you were refering to non-transponding a/c?

M9 (another frequent LLC user)

[FlyingOfficerKite]

The ground elevation varies up and down the Low Level Route, so 1250 feet QNH may, at some points, result in a height above ground level of less than 1000 feet.

If you are flying at less than 1250 feet QNH then obviously your height is less; compromising the gliding distance in the event of an engine failure.

Having said that the opportunities for a forced landing are good, but the question was - can you comply with Rule 5? Depends on your height, track and aircraft type (a C172 will glide further than a PA28-140 for example). So the answer is not quite so straightforward.

The problem, in my opinion is further to the West when flying out of Liverpool up or down the Mersey. Irrespective of Rule 5 and aircraft type, the options in this piece of airspace are strictly limited!

FOK :)

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Agree with Kite about Scouseport 27 westerly departures. Seaforth dock departure in particular.....:confused: And Chester departures have you turning left just after take off out over the Mersey estuary at climb power with an engine that's not been running for long (after take-off climbs on a relatively cold engine are favorite times for engines to fail :eek:).

But the only part of the LLR where built-up ares intrude significantly is Warrington, so you can go as low as 500' AGL for a lot of it if you wish. Just steer around the towny bits!

SSD