Can't believe I'm asking this
 

Hello,
Can't believe I'm having to ask this question, but I'm trying to describe what the airspace restriction is for on a chart. Take for example the airspace to the North West of Hawarden airfield. It has a restriction between 2000 ft and 3500 ft. During my training, I was only told to avoid this, and never thought to ask why (stupidly). What is the reason for it?
Thanks
JOMQ

I can't believe you're asking it either. "during my training". What training? It's on the chart, read it.

Erm, do you by chance mean the Liverpool CTA?
It's controlled airspace (class D) used for flights into/out of Liverpool.

If this isn't what's know in the RAF as a 'waaaa' then I'm rather hoping the 'training' hasn't yet got to the end?

Judging by your previous posts my friend, you should really sit down with an instructor and get totally straight with navigation as you're not too far away from some complex airspace, it's only this week that a pilot has been prosecuted for seriously busting Class D in the manchester area, don't be that guy!
PPRUNE is a great resource, but it seems some crucial understanding has been missed in your training that should've been picked up.

Easy, the guy may be just starting out on his PPL and hasn't got to the airspace part.

First of May he was planning a route from Cambridge to North Coates across the Wash. Don't sound like just starting out!
I would suggest he has a long serious talk with an instructor.

I've been looking at airspace charts online. The benefit of doing that is you can click on them, see what the restriction is, what the code is and then use Google for further information.

This drone site is actually very useful as you can use named filters and click on the restriction.
No Fly Drones

The area to the NW of Hawarden is Flint Castle. It's a "restricted" area by way of Private Land, By-Laws and Requested Zones.

Further quick seraches show similar areas around Wales which fall under CADW (Welsh Historical Preservation areas) who, it appears, have requested no flying areas around their Welsh monuments/historical areas.

The bit that is missing here is that nobody has described how access may be granted (or denied) to certain classes of airspace. The basic deal is airspace Class B to E is accessible to VFR aicraft but you must have a clearance before entering and comply with clearances given inside. This means you have to have plan with and without transit because you have no right of entry. Traffic loads often mean controllers are unable to grant transit clearance. Classes F & G are uncontrolled and you don't need a clearance. In each piece of airspace different rules regarding distance from clouds and flight visibility apply so again you may be denied access for thus reason.

PM

VFR traffic does not need a clearance to enter Class E airspace (but it would be a good idea to call the controlling authority on the notified frequency)
In Class F airspace, an Air Traffic Service is available to IFR traffic and VFR traffic does not need to call.

That is not shown on aviation charts, and doesn't have the vertical dimensions the OP described. He;s talking about something else, and as others have already said he shows a worrying lack of very basic airspace understanding.

I am not 100% sure that anyone actually attempted to respond to the question "why". I believe the OP understands that s/he cannot enter the airspace, but doesn't understand why that is.

Just north of Hawarden, is Liverpool which is a busy airport with commercial airliners flying in/out. The zone you mention (2000-3500') is the Liverpool CTA which is class D airspace. The airspace is class D, so as to ensure the safe and expedient routing of commercial traffic in and out of Liverpool airport. (big planes don't like us little planes getting in their way). The reason why it is between 2000 and 3500 (and not from the surface) is due to the fact that the airways that the big planes use (usually much higher than we fly) need a way to descend safely to the airport level, without having to risk it with us little planes getting in the way without their knowledge. This is why there is classified airspace along those routes. Airports that serve commercial traffic generally have STARs (Standard Terminal Arrival Routes) and SIDs (Standard Instrument Departure) [generally] with classified airspace along its entire routing. You can look at the standard routes by going to: NATS | AIS - Home and looking at the STARs and SIDs. This may help illustrate why the airspace has its particular shape. If you would like a graphical representation, look at Flight Radar, and see how the commercial planes fly in/out of the airport: https://www.flightradar24.com/53.38,-2.82/10

As mentioned above however, you do not necessarily need to go around that airspace, and you can request to transit the airspace. This is done by calling on the appropriate frequency [119.850], and requesting the transit - however also as explained above, you may very well be turned away, and always should plan a way around the airspace.

I hope this helps!

Thank you for the correction Chevvron. Not only should I have known, I should have checked before posting.

PM

It is curious that the OP refers to "Restricted" 2000--3500ft. It's not the terminology I would use.
Class D from - to, would sound better? Maybe I'm wrong but "Restricted" to me means, restricted zones, danger zones, prohibited zones, bombing ranges and the like.
The only "restricted" area I can see is R 311 up to 2200 ft, a circle 5miles north of Hawarden. Looks like some industrial complex.
So why the use of the word "restricted"?

R311 is Capenhurst. Uranium enrichment plant etc

Ok, for the OP. If you can't work out what the map is showing you and can't get anyone to help you fathom it, this is what you can do.

First draw a line on the map direct from A to B
Now decide your minimum and maximum altitude for the flight (break it up into shorter sections if the flight has a lot of hills, towns, or other obstructions). Choose your preferred altitude.

Now, for each section, draw a profile showing what the airspace is at your preferred altitude, and up to max and down to min altitude.

Here is a hint. Paper maps have a legend (says what the makings mean) in one corner.
Use this.

Anything that is Class E, F, or G is no problem. Anything else you either will have to get a clearance, should get flight information, or will need to treat as a brick wall.

Clearance needed? Plan to go through, after radio contact and clearance, with a backup that takes you round, over, or under in case you can't get clearance. Hint. The better prepared you are (clear radio calls, knowing where you are, where the VRPs are) the more likely you are to get a clearance.


Flight information helpful? Plan on going through with radio contact. Examples of this are MATZ, AIAA. Wouldn't hurt to have another option.

Brick wall? For example Class A airspace, PZ, or whatever your local authority considers sensitive. Over, round, or under.

This is why you do the plan view. So you can choose your altitude to avoid the bits you can't use, or put in turning points as required.

It this all sounds a bit daunting, start with a short route, write down your plog, without bothering to work out wind corrections, then either ask a friend to check or get a trial subscription to sky demon and use that to check your route. Revise what you missed.

Um. Please don't just put the route in SD without doing it first yourself. It's supposed to be a learning exercise.

Some airspace is modified at different times, or by notam. Another good reason for checking notams before flight. BTW, I've tried to make this non country specific. As the licence is often worldwide.

Piper Classique.
Your advice is excellent if directed at a 15 year old that learned to fly by crop dusting with his father in the Mid West.
This guy seems to have a PPL of some kind.
How can someone get through a PPL syllabus without knowing what controlled airspace is for?
He was told by his instructor to "avoid it"!??
This just doesn't smell right to me.

Yeah, ok guess you answered your own question

:oh:Ok, the OP could be a troll. Or then, he could be a new pilot who didn't have the world's best training, was told and failed to understand, was told and forget, and passed the exams by learning the answers by rote, then forgot. Either way, the advice might help him or someone else.
I know a lot of microlight pilots in France who don't know a lot about navigation, as it isn't actually a compulsory part of the training yet. Which is fair enough if flying a powered parachute I suppose.
Never underestimate a human beings capacity for ignorance.
But, yeah, a bit strange.

PC, your patience and warm heartedness do you credit. You spent time crafting a good answer and you are correct - it may help somebody other than the OP.

I'd be more inclined myself to answer questions from non-qualified posters if they were open about that and just admitted they were curious. We could point them to good websites or books.

Unfortunately, I'm going to go with not the world's best training. The school I attended had a very high pass rate, but I think that was probably because the examiner was a little too lenient (not sure what tolerances there are). When I took my test, I messed up on two parts, and was given a hint and another opportunity. Obviously, I was grateful, but can't help but think it wasn't for the best. I know full well that I need a bit more practise with an instructor before I do much flying, and I was aware it was Class D and the reasons for this (Thanks alex90 and PC).

I think I worded my question badly, making me appear slightly thicker than I actually am.

My instructor had a particular way of doing things which I think wasn't great. I didn't do PFLs until my 43rd hour (so after my QXC) and didn't even start on VOR until 2 lessons before my test as he thought I'd already covered it :/

Basically, I understand that obviously, around airports, there need to be routes for the airliners etc to descend etc etc, but what I couldn't quite get my head around is why in some places there is so much Class D airspace, and then when you get into Scotland, there's literally a few airports, but everywhere else is Class G.

I do get it, so thanks for those that made their contributions. To the guys that just rip the sugar out of me, I get that I may ask some stupid sounding questions, and I'm sorry, but hey ho.