Nothing out of the ordinary; we couldn't touch and go, but they let us do a 50ft zoom down Runway 22!

Schiphol ATC were excellent; top marks to them!

ZO...Yes that was me this morning, usually lose contact around Lochgilphead around 2000ft......I am still fuming though as I had organised a fly-in to Prestwick and then a visit to the unit from Leading Edge at Cumbernauld......I checked with my management team yesterday that it would still be OK and they said yes.......this morning I was told that last night the decision was made to say no.......the only problem is no bugger bothered their arse to tell me....meaning I had to do some last minute grovelling with the club to cancel..........does not show NATS in a good light in my opinion if they cannot even communicate with their staff!!! :ugh::ugh::ugh:

Fis...

"...I had organised a fly-in to Prestwick and then a visit to the unit from Leading Edge at Cumbernauld"

Not as good! How many of them made it down to Prestwick before you cancelled? I was originally planning to stop at Cumbernauld to pick up friends on the way to Oban, but the weather was pretty miserable there when I last called them at 1000z. The in-land Glasgow area still looked really murky as we past on the way up the coast.

In the end, we went direct to Oban and the Cumbernauld contingent stayed at home!

cessnapete,

Heathrow control zone is Class A airspace so no VFR flight is permitted, only IFR and SVFR, neither of which are permitted. Gatwick control zone is Class D therefore you can fly VFR. Try getting a Gatwick zone crossing at night and you'll get the same answer as you would asking to cross Heathrow.

Cessnapete wrote:
Where did you get that reason from?
Besides, to be pedantic under a Traffic service they won't issue a turn to avoid traffic (they issue a turn for identification). That would be under a Deconfliction Service and as with all ATSOCAS the pilot is responsible for his/her own seperation. The pilot is also responsible for ensuring they fly within the conditions of their own flight rules.
:}

Katamarino

Nice pics, congrats on the fly-by!

Only thing is - you can do that at LAX any given day of the week, ash or no ash (bit higher, though). Goes to show how far behind we are in Europe :{

Yes, I've done it a couple of times at LAX myself! :ok:

Gatwick photos
 

Here are some pictures from Gatwick this afternoon, taken during a pass along 08

http://www.arthurandarthur.co.uk/fly...k/IMG_4630.JPG

http://www.arthurandarthur.co.uk/fly...k/IMG_4633.JPG

http://www.arthurandarthur.co.uk/fly...k/IMG_4636.JPG

http://www.arthurandarthur.co.uk/fly...k/IMG_4637.JPG

http://www.arthurandarthur.co.uk/fly...k/IMG_4641.JPG

£25 to land at Bristol!!!
I fail to see the attraction
sounds like a lot of money to me.
You can land all year at Old Warden for thatand visit the museum.

Private VFR authorised in France under pilot's own responsability.
All commercial IFR/VFR flights prohibited UFN.

EGLL - are you listening ...
 

AFP
A ban on commercial jets flying in Europe's ash cloud turned Switzerland's airport hub of Zurich into a a free playground for small plane fanatics.

."The airport gave us a present yesterday -- they allowed us to use the airport without any landing charges," Thomas Morf, who heads Zurich's Motor Flight Group, told AFP.

"We could also land anywhere on the runway. You could take off from here, land there, and then take off again. It was like a playground."

Some 120 Cessnas, Mooneys and Pipers took advantage of the crisis and the beautiful spring weather on Saturday to fly in and out of Zurich airport. "They came from Basel, Bern, all over Switzerland," said Morf.

Airspace limits turn Zurich airport into small plane paradise - Yahoo! News UK

2012 before they get their act together
 

Trust the Swiss to get it together.

I am afraid the Brits would have to consult Brussels first.

Landed LHR in a PA24 many moons ago, and a C172, to pick up fuel.

glf

and i thought just flying over it for some pics was too much to ask...

well done to the swiss

That's amazing. Normally, when I fly in France, it is the French President who is personally responsible for my safety, especially for my obstacle clearance ;) Typically French, to wash their hands of responsibility in this way ;)

Barnaby the Bear
 

From ATC Farnborough

Bristol have gone out of their way to discourage GA with their charges, so I have no intention of helping them out now.

Cars; just taken the air filter out of the old SAAB. Not a pretty sight after a few hundred miles. Hate to see the inside of a carb without a filter or a bore for that matter. The dust scratches paint and plastic.

Instructors at Fairoaks have decided not to instruct till the end of hostilities. Can't decide whether this is sensible prudent behavior or a job opportunity for someone.

VFR in France
 

I'm a Paris-based PPL (and owner) who happens to be a journalist. We're trying to get a picture of GA VFR traffic around France from across the Channel over the past couple of days. I'd be grateful if anyone has any anecdotes or info on pilots coming to pick up stranded friends (clients?) and so on. Things were as busy as usual when I flew into le Touquet yesterday. Controllers at Lille info were over-worked, the Paris area was quite calm.

I believe the Fairoaks fleet has been grounded by Synergy management both for instruction and self fly hire until VA has been ruled out as a factor in the crash at Andover on Saturday (which did not involve a Fairoaks a/c).