Yes actually I am :)

It would be great to have airport opening hours permanently notamed.

For some strange reason I never had problems reading notams.

Well some might think PPR is useless, but today it proved very useful to me.

Last night I planned a flight from Dublin to Glenforsa. I'd need to get some fuel for the return trip, and the only place to get that in that area on a Saturday afternoon is Oban.

So I submitted my GAR to customs and special branch giving the required 12 hours notice showing an arrival into the UK in Oban and a departure from the UK at Glenforsa.

This morning I rang for PPR. No problem with Oban, but Glenforsa is closed because of the accident there a few weeks ago.

As Glenforsa is not an AIP airport, it's not in the NOTAM system, so the only way to find out about it being closed is to call for PPR.

If I hadn't done PPR, I would have arrived in Oban, but would have been unable to get into Glenforsa (either because I couldn't contact them, or perhaps the damaged aircraft is still overturned on the runway there).

Now here is the clencher. If I can't get into Glenforsa, I need to return to Ireland from another airport. But in order to do so I need to give 12 hours notice to the police! So basically I'd have to wait around until Sunday, and hope the weather was still flyable (doesn't look too good) or use a more expensive designated airport such as Glasgow or Prestwick so I could leave without notice.

You might think that UK authorities would be accomodating to a return from Oban given that the the arrival there was notified and that it's the same police force as Glenforsa, but you'd be incorrect. At least they were unwilling to allow such a change when asking in advance.

I'm certainly glad that I PPR'd. Otherwise I'd be in Oban praying that he weather was ok for a return flight tomorrow.

dp

Yes; I too usually contact airports beforehand, and in general (Europe as a whole) it is highly desirable to do so.

One discovers all kinds of interesting things :)

It is the unfortunate formalisation of "a really smart thing for the pilot to do" into a "prior permission required by the airport and if you don't obtain it they might refuse a landing clearance, even if there is no reason for it" that gets up peoples' noses.

Aviation already has plenty of empire building and job creation schemes :)

I'm a bit baffled as to why the runway should still be blocked at Glenforsa. Wasn't it just C150 or something that flipped over? A couple of people could drag that away in no time at all.

I looked on the webcam. It doesn't seem to be still on the runway. Perhaps the council decided to close the airport until the investigators finish their work. Or perhaps the overturn caused dangerous ruts in the ground that need to be prepared.

Whatever the reason, it's still closed unfortunately. :{

I flew over today. The aircraft is well clear of the runway. In fact it seems the accident was south of the runway.

Why the airfield is still closed makes no sense. It would seem that A&BC don't put any value on their asset or they just don't know what to do.

D.O.