Alderney

[Thumpango]

Sunday was so good for flying. Made a trip to Alderney from Southampton via Ortac. If you have not been to Alderney I would certainly recommend you give it a try. Routing from EGHI was via Needles, Thread, Ortac. On leaving the zone at Calshot, passed to Bournemouth LARS, London Information, Jersey Zone, Guernsey approach, Alderney Tower. All services were very helpful and efficient. Landed in Alderney on 26 and parked up on the grass apron. Barbeque lunch, walk round the Island and back home! One thing to remember: EGJA is in class A airspace (SPVFR)
so you need start up clearance from the Tower. I omitted to do this and got told off!.
Landing fees are £6 if you take on fuel or approx £18 if you don't, there is no minimum quantity.
Apologies if this is 'old hat' to you but it was my first fly away.

Have fun!

[No. 2]

Thumpango,

Hi there. I'm interested in doing the same trip later in the summer. Could you just outline all the pre flight arrangements that you had to do i.e. contacting customs etc. as i've been researching this a little and am a bit confused who I need to contact before hand(been through the AIP etc). Some clarification from someone that's done it would be nice.

Thanks a lot,

James:)

[QDMQDMQDM]

EGJA is in class A airspace (SPVFR)

Why exactly is this? Anyone know? Seems a bit jumped up and self-important to me. It means no aircraft without a Mode C transponder can go in, apart from anything else.

QDM

[GRP]

How was the weather there on sunday? I was to the east having taken off from Deauville at about 11:30 local. From Caen onwards there was a low layer of cloud from about 3000 down to below 1000 feet which from where I was looked no fun at all, so I turned round and went to Dieppe instead. I never did find out how far that cloud extended!!

[Fujiflyer]

I sometimes fly there - its a nice trip, cheap 100LL & duty drawback make it a cheap day out ;)

3xQDM: There was a thread a few months ago on the CTR - the link is:

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15563&highlight=channel+islands+class+A

For information the Prevention of Terrorism notice period was fairly recently reduced to 12 hrs from 24hrs - useful if you decide to go there the evening prior.

As nobody else mentioned it do be aware of the restricted (notamed) area around Cherbourg.

Fujiflyer :)

[Thumpango]

GRP- the vis was hazy at 3,000 and overcast on arrival in Alderney. There was a distinct line to cloudless sky just to the west which then moved slowly east. I guess you didn't have such good conditions further east.

No 2 - just filed the flight plan within an hour of leaving and submitted the 'General Aviation Declaration' (customs and excise, prevention of terrorism, immigration acts)- you will need passport numbers to complete the declaration even though they are not required for the Channel Islands, just as well to take them with you though in case you have to land in France.

Wore lifejackets and took my rather heavy sailing liferaft-53lbs. Luckily all within the weight and balance limits for the PA28.

Navigation was VOR from Soton and later to Guernsey, intercept with Berry Head gave us the position for ORTAC. Alderney ADF confirmed it was looking right. Took a handheld GPS as well but for some reason it just kept saying poor GPS coverage!

If you need any other info please email me at pprune.

[englishal]

EGJA is NOT class A airspace....Class D from SFC - 2000' (Alderney CTR).

Channel Islands CTR is Class A, and you do need a specific clearance to enter. However once at Alderney, the Class D up to 2000' encompasses Alderney and Gurnsey.

I have been to Alderney several times, and must admit never requested 'start up clearance'...and have never been b@llocked for it :confused:

Nice place though, good curry house, and pubs. Jersey is also a good day out. Very easy to get to, routing from EGHH....EGHH NEDUL then THREAD ORTAC, on the SAM 208°R. Bournemouth radar, then (possibly) London Info, Jersey zone 10nm N of ORTAC, Gurnsey Approach, Alderney tower.

Cheers

EA;)

[The man formerly known as]

I didn't know they had fuel back at Alderney after their little accident.

How much is fuel down there now?

[Southern Cross]

Howdy all

Quite apart from the restricted areas and Special Branch notice periods etc, can anyone tell me whether Jersey is transponder mandatory when going there from the UK? Apologies if this has been canvassed elsewhere already.

Thanks

[QNH 1013]

S.C. Yes Jersey is transponder mandatory but I have been told that you can sometimes get permission from Jersey ATC to fly there without a transponder. I have never tried this myself however, so it is second-hand info albeit from a reliable (Jersey based) source.
I would guess some of the factors are... Do you sound competent on the phone when you ask and are they going to be busy when you fly there.

[Thumpango]

Fuel was 52p ltr.
What little incident was that then?

[Keef]

The only catch with the ORTAC route is that you are under Class A airspace all the way, so can't go above 3400 feet unless you have an IR and filed an IFR flight plan.

I hear that the ZIT over Cap de la Hague has just been withdrawn, and the "old" route via MP and CdlH is now available. But CHECK THE NOTAMS first - don't take my word for it.

[The man formerly known as]

The incident I was refering to was they allegedly lost the entire contents of the fuel truck (several thousand gallons) over the apron and through the terminal (you may remember it slopes down).

After that Health and safety insisted they build a new fuel farm. Were you refueled from a truck or a fixed pump?

I learned a big lesson that day. When I went there i didn't bother ringing to see if they had fuel (i always had in the past). Fortunately I had enough to get back but if I didn't it would have been interesting. I have since resurected the rule to always ring an airport before you fly to it.

[Thumpango]

Thank you for the details 'Formally' ooohhh nasty!
We were refuelled from a truck and yes there is quite a slope from the apron to the terminal.
That must have taken some clearing up! not to mention closing the aiport for a substantial time I guess.
Good point about ringing ahead to see if fuel is available- I will add that to my list of things to check. As you say you could be caught out. We hadn't intended to refuel in Alderney but the landing fee structure encouraged it so we did, which was just as well because on return to EGHI I had to Orbit for ages as the runway was closed due to an incident.

Have fun!

[foghorn]

Under IFR you will obviously need mode C, but I'm lead to believe that mode A is acceptable under SVFR.

Anyone know the full story?

Added later: From the UK AIP you only need an xpdr with mode A for SVFR in the Channel Islands Control Zone