Waddington gliders....
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: SW UK
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Waddington gliders....
Firstly, I am not having a go at glider pilots (well, not all of them anyway). They have just as much right to bumble about in open FIR as I do, it's just that I like to do it with an engine!
Anyway, I was flying yesterday SW from Cambridge through the stub of (inactive) Waddington MATZ and had an 'unusual' RT interaction...
A few miles out from the MATZ I made a call on the ATC freq and, as expected, got nothing back, and then did it again, just to be sure. No answer. Fine. Then I made a blind position report just in case anyone was listening, particularly as I knew that there's weekend gliding from Waddington and I had no desire to meet them too close up. I reported at Sudbury and get a response from a glider pilot telling me that he too is at 3000' over Sudbury. No problem, matey, I thinks, "descending 2500" I says, with head swivelling like there's no tomorrow, thinking I'm exhibiting good airmanship. At this point I see him at 10 o'clock, no chance of paths crossing but keep descending anyway to stay clear and in case he's got any mates around. Then i get a response back of "bit bloody late". I may be being a touch sensitive on this, but that's just poor airmanship and a bad attitude.
Now, I'm well aware he has right of way (it was a he) but short of getting radar fitted to the PA28, we're always going to meet gliders at some point, hopefully from quite a distance! And it's not always easy telling where they're going next as they tend to do lots of circling.
Is this normal in this neck of the woods? Am I just being too sensitive? Should I have just told him to **** off? (just joking on the last one!)
Anyway, I was flying yesterday SW from Cambridge through the stub of (inactive) Waddington MATZ and had an 'unusual' RT interaction...
A few miles out from the MATZ I made a call on the ATC freq and, as expected, got nothing back, and then did it again, just to be sure. No answer. Fine. Then I made a blind position report just in case anyone was listening, particularly as I knew that there's weekend gliding from Waddington and I had no desire to meet them too close up. I reported at Sudbury and get a response from a glider pilot telling me that he too is at 3000' over Sudbury. No problem, matey, I thinks, "descending 2500" I says, with head swivelling like there's no tomorrow, thinking I'm exhibiting good airmanship. At this point I see him at 10 o'clock, no chance of paths crossing but keep descending anyway to stay clear and in case he's got any mates around. Then i get a response back of "bit bloody late". I may be being a touch sensitive on this, but that's just poor airmanship and a bad attitude.
Now, I'm well aware he has right of way (it was a he) but short of getting radar fitted to the PA28, we're always going to meet gliders at some point, hopefully from quite a distance! And it's not always easy telling where they're going next as they tend to do lots of circling.
Is this normal in this neck of the woods? Am I just being too sensitive? Should I have just told him to **** off? (just joking on the last one!)
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NAU
You figured you should take avoiding action - and did. Let's face it - it's not unknown to pass close to other traffic in uncontrolled airspace. Sounds like he/she was having the gliding equivalent of a bad hair day !
-S
You figured you should take avoiding action - and did. Let's face it - it's not unknown to pass close to other traffic in uncontrolled airspace. Sounds like he/she was having the gliding equivalent of a bad hair day !
-S
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NAU
You saw it - you missed him. No great shakes and no real problem as you are both VFR. You did what was required but happened to meet a whinger in the process. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.
Top tip though - maybe the aviation geography needs brushing up on
(I take it you meant Wattisham, not Waddington).
CM
Top tip though - maybe the aviation geography needs brushing up on
(I take it you meant Wattisham, not Waddington).CM
