Spitfire beat-up at Perth yesterday...
 

No idea who it was but thanks to the Spitfire who did a quick beat up of Perth yesterday around 5pm, looked and sounded fantastic! :ok:

Pity I'd just landed as I'd have loved to sit on its wing for a few mins.....

Your Welcome!

He requested 1500ft transit. It was declined but 50ft was approved.
D.O.

Lucky he didnt come through 30mins earlier with the carnage going on in the circuit....

You stayed well clear.:ok:

I'm not daft! I sat in the overhead at 4000' until I spotted a gap...!

That thing doesn't mix well with circuit traffic....

The joys of the Perth circuit on a weekend in summer.

One of the typical RT conversations of Sunday went as follows:-

Solo Student "Going Around"
Perth Tower "G-XX You've just Cut in front of a solo student"
G-XX "Well I didnt see him"
Perth Tower "G-XX He joined overhead and made calls all the way around the circuit, you joined direct to base and cut in front"
G-XX "Humph, I still didnt see him"

Guess that makes it fine then.....! :rolleyes:

Had the same thing happen to me in the Tri Pacer a few weeks ago when it was busy. Joined overhead, slotted into the traffic and flew the whole circuit making position reports, called finals and heard another aircraft moaning that I'd cut in front, turned out he was joining base, I'd not heard a single call out of him and nor had anyone else.

He moaned to one of the ground staff when paying his landing fees until he was reminded that the Standard join for Perth is Overhead and that traffic in the circuit has priority over joining traffic.

Besides, the Tri Pacer is so slow around the circuirt I'd have a job cutting anyone up !! :}

This failure of traffic to follow the requirements of the airfield is a constant problem. If an overhead join is required then EVERYBODY should join overhead and make the appropriate calls. More often than not home based aircraft seem to think that this doesn't apply to them at their own airfield and they just join crosswind, downwind or straight to base. I have been involved in perilous situations at Nottingham and Welshpool by local traffic just joining downwind despite our making the join properly and putting out the correct radio calls.

Its a wonder that something more serious hasn't happen there.

Although how do you change things apart from actually getting a controller working.

Maybe when these staff examinors become standards inspectors they can spend a couple of days there dishing out words of advice.

To be fair Perth is a lot better than it used to be and the new chap in the tower has made a big difference, there are of course the odd few busy days where it gets a bit hairy.

I would suggest that the locally based pilots are actually mostly pretty good, its tends to be the visitors that dont follow the standard join that causes the problems.

IMHO pushing on into an active circuit without having the traffic visual is asking for trouble, the example from Sunday is a prime example of an accident waiting to happen.

Is there ATC at Perth again then?

Nope but I presume there is someone on the radio that doesn't take any ****e as we say up north.

:E:D:E Well Said

Why does a thread about a Spitfire fly through:ok: have to descend into yet another one about circuit joins:{

If you come to Perth on a busy summer day you'll find out why ! ;)

Many, many moons ago, I was a controller there.

Happy daze!:)

how many movemnets per day did Perth have when it did have a controller?

In its heyday (a bit before my time) I seem to recall reading that in terms of movements it was 3rd busiest airfield in the UK, after LHR & (I think) MAN.

When I was there the AST fleet was 15 C150s, 14 PA28s & 8 C310s. There was also the Scottish Aero Club & quite a few privately-owned a/c. Tayside & Edinburgh Air Centre also came for training & exams. I remember having a good half-dozen in the circuit and a similar number arriving/departing, as well as the hold full up. Movement numbers must have been well into the hundreds/day at times.

Does Perth have a controller or an air ground operator? If the later then he cannot give or decline a clearance, and if the Spitfire was not taking off or landing what happened to rule 5?

Anyone who flies through an active circuit like that should expect a call from the CAA