UK Class C airspace
 

All airspace above FL195 in the UK is Class C.....

Can one fly VFR in this Class C at say 20,000' ?

The CAA safety Sense leaflet says:

Why is that if you have the right kit onboard your aeroplane?

Class C above F195 is one of those bizarre Eurocrat bits of logic. Most everyone able to get up there is going quite fast so visual separation is going to be problematic. Logically, one should have a positive control zone (i.e. everyone controlled - as in A or B). Most people would opt for everyone being IFR as it is simpler (so logically Class A). However, The military and gliders operate in random direction with wide altitude bands (and don't want to remain widely separated) so they can't be IFR.

Rather than picking Class A with restricted areas in which aircraft are not following the normal rules, It was decided to use Class C (but not allowing VFR - so Class A in all but name), with TRAs, where enroute traffic can't go.

So same result in having a 'special rules' area, but using clearly the wrong aispace class and fixing the problem by adding the no VFR rule

The UK record stands at about 37,000ft at the moment :cool::cool::cool:

Amazing! ;)

Well the safety sense leaflet needs updating, because there is class C airspace from FL145 up between Melton Mowbray and Lyveden, and between FL115 and FL155 from Lyveden to west of St Neots.

;)

It's because the implemtentation of Class C above FL195 is step one in the SES initiative to introduce two classes of airspace in Europe. (C and G)
Now....it looks like it will be more than two classes after all, but that was the intention.

Quite a few now have Class C from FL100 ish and up.

The current record is 50,671'.

For more information see Project Perlan.

OC619