Clockwise orbit of the Isle of Wight
 

Presumably this is a case of contacting Solent Radar, asking for basic service and then doing the orbit?

Pretty wide orbit! :eek:

There will be parts where you will have to remain below 2000' due to solent's class D airspace, but no actual need to talk to anyone as it's all class G :ok:

I've always asked for a transit through the Class D to the Northeast at around 2500ft-3000ft - never been denied.

Class D
 

Are Solent usually happy to give access to their Class D if on a basic service? Or is it a polite F Off to GA?

Clockwise Orbit of the Isle of Wight:

Presumably so that you can meet all the others who are doing an Anti-Clockwise Orbit of the Isle of Wight, thinking, stupidly, that they might be safer by keeping the line feature (the coast) on their left.

I did 3/4 of it earlier this year, turning inland just past the Needles and Solent were brilliant!

Well, the OP was of course well aware of the left hand rule, and was intending to fly the orbit inland, obviously.

Call me an old duffer but I'd rather have the land below me and the coast on my left. Simply my old fashioned ways though!

So presumably you call them up, asked for a Basic service and zone penetration which you got?

If you're doing a scenic tour of the IoW, you will - presumably - be below 2000 feet and therefore underneath all of the Solent airspace.

You don't need to talk to them at all unless you want to. Just wear the 0011 listening squawk and tune to 120.225

I should imagine the same would apply to most controlled airspace, you ask permission to transit and they either accept or deny, so long as it is safe for your intended route and its not busy you'd be given clearance, Saturday I did the Brize Norton transit and was accepted

As has been said - no strict need to talk to anybody.

In reality I've always found Solent Radar friendly and helpful, and airspace crossings are seldom witheld if requested.

G

....and it is not a bad idea to let Sandown (119.275MHz) a call to let them know that you are passing.

You could, of course, drop in for a bacon bap and a cuppa. ;) PPR is not required.

In the 'Good Old Days', when the IoW was infested with aircraft from the College of Air Training at Hamble, a mate and I had fun, one day, flying between the 2nd & 3rd 'islands', and of course below the top of the bits of rock.

We were, of course, immortal (we were twenty years of age), and only concerned with being found out.

Living in the area many years later, the Needles has never looked quite as impressive as on that day, long ago!

Go clockwise so your passenger gets a better view. You are not following a line feature,just flying a series of headings.600ft and 500ft from shore should keep you well clear of all he other coast followers.(Part of the Needles has fallen down so "threading"is'nt such a challenge these days.) Please don't get distracted by talking on the radio! Enjoy.:)

Awesome
 

Great info thanks, I'll try that. Out of interest, where is that information published? I tried looking through the Notams & AIPs but couldn't see it anywhere? Is it like "BR Tracking" i.e. tribal knowledge?

UK IAIP ENR 1.6-6

There's a nice printable PDF too.

Thanks
 

Thanks for the info! Snappy title.

Flew it today, no problems. I think now at 150 hours I feel confident in flying the plane, RT, navigation & procedures etc (I can even park reliably now!). I continue to struggle with knowing where to dig to find the info I need.

I still struggle to know, given a new route, who I should think to talk to along the way :E

If you're in flight and not too sure, I'd just give London or Scottish info a call and ask who they suggest I speak to. If there's noone else too relevant, then they'll just hang onto you with a basic service.

Make sure you fly back round it anti-clockwise again, otherwise you'll need to have your compass swung. :}

I would say you are, the fact that you do it by following a series of headings does not mean you are not following it, I would certainly not want to be the one arguing this in court. Even if agreed you are not - 5-600' from shore may NOT be enough to avoid all the guys who ARE following the coast as a line feature, who of course will be travelling the other way round. Personally I would rather go round anticlockwise or stay over land.

Chill out.Turn the radio off and wander up and down with the altitude.All the other aircraft will be at exactly 2000ft.cos they always are.:)

I very much doubt it - you certainly might hit me for a start as I rarely fly exact heights like 2,000' for just that reason and I know many others do the same, also, most going round the island are lower than that, especially on the South coast where you quite often get someone below cliff level!

Sorry about that.... :E

talkdownman,

The best response I've seen on PPRuNe for a long time :ok:

Of course you will have checked your notams won't you? The atmospheric research aircraft quite often does a low level 'round the coast' run and it could ruin your whole day to find a 146 coming the other way. :eek: I've several times had a heads up from the kit to see the Isle of Wight passing by. They are probably talking to Solent so listening in may be helpful.

If you have internet access for your notams then you could also look at the FAAM website and see the flight plan for the day, and even a real time position plot if its already airborne.

Jim