Kite flying notams - are these NIMBY jokes?

[IO540]

Q) EGTT/QWCLW/IV/M/W/000/015/5123N00016E001
B) FROM: 10/08/06 09:45C) TO: 10/11/06 16:45
E) KITE FLYING 1NM RADIUS 5123N 00016E (NEAR HORTON KIRBY). ON-SITE CTC, TEL [phone]. 10-08-0070/AS 5. LOWER: SFC
UPPER: 1300FT AMSL
SCHEDULE: HJ
H3440/10 Q) EGTT/QWCLW/IV/M/W/000/010/5102N00024W002
B) FROM: 10/10/08 05:45C) TO: 10/10/09 23:00
E) KITE FLYING 2NM RADIUS 5102N 00024W (BARNS GREEN, NEAR HORSHAM). ON-SITE CTC, TEL [phone]. DURING HOURS OF DARKNESS, KITES WILL BE LIT. 10-10-0092/AS 5. LOWER: SFC
UPPER: 650FT AMSL
SCHEDULE: SR MINUS30-2300
H4677/10 Q) EGTT/QWCLW/IV/M/W/000/020/5050N00003E001
B) FROM: 10/08/04 12:45C) TO: 10/11/04 17:00
E) KITE FLYING 1NM RADIUS 5050N 00003E (ITFORD HILL, NEAR LEWES). ON-SITE CTC, TEL [phone]. 10-08-0084/AS 5. LOWER: SFC
UPPER: 1700FT AMSL
SCHEDULE: 1245-SS PLUS30
H3432/10 Q) EGTT/QWCLW/IV/M/W/000/020/5047N00014E001
B) FROM: 10/10/08 11:00C) TO: 11/01/08 16:30
E) KITE FLYING 1NM RADIUS 5047N 00014E (NEAR WILLINGDON). ON-SITE CTC, TEL [phone]. 10-10-0083/AS 5. LOWER: SFC
UPPER: 1900FT AMSL
SCHEDULE: 1100-SS PLUS30

I wonder whether, as suggested somewhere already, these are NIMBYs who are trying to keep planes from flying nearby?

The altitudes are certainly amazing. That is one helluva lot of rope to unwind...

[Sam Rutherford]

Perhaps some 'preferred' VFR corridors linking these points should be created.

[Intercepted]

Let's call some of the listed phone numbers :-)

[Saab Dastard]

It's not by any means totally improbable - there's a group in Holland flying kites up to a kilometre high to generate electricity, with the intention of going even higher - up to 10Km. Article in the Guardian:

Scientists from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands harnessed energy from the wind by flying a 10-sq metre kite tethered to a generator, producing 10 kilowatts of power.

The experiment generated enough electricity to power 10 family homes, and the researchers have plans to test a 50kW version of their invention, called Laddermill, eventually building up to a proposed version with multiple kites that they claim could generate 100 megawatts, enough for 100,000 homes.

Wubbo Ockels, a professor of sustainable engineering and former astronaut who leads the Laddermill project, believes kites are a cheap way to harvest the enormous energy in the wind at a kilometre or more above the ground, where winds carry hundreds of times more energy than on the ground. 'We need to use all the energy supplies that are offered to us by nature, we need diversity and kites are ... intriguing and fascinating,' he said.

I'm not saying that these NOTAMS are this kind of usage, but they could be!!

SD

[Intercepted]

Googled the the locations and found a lot of info about kite flying I newer knew about :-)


www.kitecalendar.co.uk



Some of the clubs have parts of the ANO on their web sites and instructions on how to apply for a NOTAM.

Permissions for flight are normally only granted for three month periods, to ensure that any airspace changes can be incorporated. Normally, a telephone request for renewal will be accepted; please give sufficient notice for renewal, especially during the spring/summer period.
The application form includes a request to specify a grid reference taken from Ordnance Survey (OS) Landranger Maps and a copy of the map with the site CLEARLY marked. The Landranger OS Map referred to in the form may be obtained from any stationery shop or newsagents. Alternatively a photo-copy may be taken from a map held by a library, under the permission from the OS, which allows the CAA to take such copies.
There is no charge for issue of a Permission.

[IO540]

I still think the ones with the amazing altitudes are bogus, and are designed to keep GA traffic away.

They probably don't work since most pilots don't read notams

[Gertrude the Wombat]

They probably don't work since most pilots don't read notams

I do read NOTAMS ...









... but I do rather tend to ignore the kite flying ones.

[Genghis the Engineer]

I used to be involved in amateur rocketry - who also regularly file NOTAMs for their activities. I spent quite a lot of time trying to persuade these chaps that:

(1) A NOTAM does not create an exclusion zone, it simply publishes a notice.

(2) There is still a need for rocket launch controllers to maintain a lookout and cancel launches if an aircraft attempts to overfly the launch site (which happens very often).

I didn't really succeed in getting this understanding across, the rocketeers are often convinced that they have exclusive use of a bit of airspace once they've published a NOTAM.


Most rocketeers are graduate science and engineering professionals; I suspect strongly that kite flyers are not as bright.

So the rest of us need to be very careful.


That said, if anybody lives near one of these it would be a very good idea to look out for the kites. If no kites, we should shop them to the CAA who with any luck will take some appropriate action over wasting their time.

G

[IO540]

I have seen many many kite notams but have never seen a kite (admittedly at my level, which is never below 2000ft enroute).

I did once see what looked like a plane-shaped helium baloon, painted in all kinds of colours. It was quite big (maybe 5m across). Went past me really close; maybe 20m away, so I saw it only very quickly. Farnborough saw zilch on radar... but then I know they can't see full size hot air baloons because I have reported those too.

[POBJOY]

Kites

Oh my dear; whats the chance of getting a "Kite Line Cutter" approved with the CAA !!!!

[dhc83driver]

Just fly a Agcat or Pawnee, they come as standard! snip snip

[POBJOY]

Kite Cutter

Not on the wings old boy, Kite lines tend to be more vertical.

[BRL]

I still think the ones with the amazing altitudes are bogus, and are designed to keep GA traffic away.

No they are not. Some kite flying clubs have one day a month where they can fly kites up to 2000ft. They are serious flyers who genuinely want to put their kites, mostly home made, to the test by flying them high.

[Francis Frogbound]

I'm with BRL on this one. I was warned recently about kite flying in D207 upto 13 000' by London Info. I'd got the NOTAM with me and I'd read it as 1 300'! My brain saw the 13 and some noughts and didn't compute the fact that they could add up to thousands as I just wasn't expecting it.