It annoys that when conducting a night nav exercise in a single engine piston and the donk quits (Obviously this isn’t the Rotax more reliable aircraft cause that’s not approved for night flight). I’m smack overhead an active aerodrome but I have to ditch in the blackness cause it doesn't have PCL – madness.

You might want to redact that. :)

OK, that seems to cover licensed aerodromes but what about the (increasing) majority of airfields that are not subject to CAP168? The CAA has no control over the use of radio at unlicensed airfields - that's a matter for Ofcom, however it might be re-named in the future.

Why?............

There appear to be no particular restrictions at unlicensed fields ... which is why Bose-X can post with no worries on this particular subject.

The more annoying part is that even when when airports permit 'unlicensed' after hours operations they are still licensed aerodromes from the perspective of not allowing PCL. My local field has PCL, but only for the copper chopper.

Not true, I'm afraid. Take a look at ANO Article 205/206 and the radio station licensing procedures applied by the Directorate of Airspace Policy.

And CAP 168 is a document published by the CAA setting out rules and so on in order to implement its obligations and policies. To that end, CAP 168 Chapter 6 para 11.1.3 (and many other references) are there because the CAA wants them to be there.

Sadly it is a top secret frequency (not the info frequency) and in the interest of safety .... Special Branch will have to kill you if I let you know what it is ;)

Ok, poorly worded, perhaps. Radio licensing is the responsibility of Ofcom, including the terms and conditions under which the licence is issued. Some parts of this responsibility may be delegated to other agencies, such as responsibility for the FRTOL being delegated to the CAA, but the responsibility remains with Ofcom as detailed in the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 and the Communications Act 2003.

The problem I see with PCL is that, to avoid pranksters, one should use a different frequency, but which one? One cannot just pick one at random...

An SMS controller is far better. Texts work fine below about 2000-3000ft.

What would be the market? I have a product which accepts SMS to control things, but does not currently have a relay contact. This could be added though.

They have it at my favorite strip Badminton! Mind you for the couple of times the Earl uses it, £2060 for Spectrum Pricing will make it an expensive landing. If an aircraft calls to announce its arrival, how could connecting the receiver of that signal to a lighting system be illegal? The alternative would be the Armstrong method, where his lordship's butler pulls a handle in the palace connected by a suitable system of gears and linkages to the lighting switch at the airfield when he hears the aircraft transmit.

CAP168 has no legal status and contains the following statement:

I know it's some time away to us impatient, devil may care, flying types but a satisfactory resolution to this problem approaches............


....and I never thought I'd say this, but it's.........





EASA :eek:


See they have a different idea about regulation and litter their regs with AMCs. Alternate Means of Compliance. Seems to me that coming up with some Euro-babble to satisfy Cologne shouldn't be beyond our collective wit.

BTW Rogerp, You win - well done. I've sent you a sumptuous ice lolly!

Sir George Cayley

Sir George,

You know that old saying, 'be careful what you wish for.......'

Who needs lights at a grass strip at night. I always managed with a mate at the
side of the threshold with his headlights on.

If you can't see the strip at 50ft then time to go elsewhere.

Some of you guys should try outback flying in Australia sometime.

Sorry to resurrect, but with the long nights and short days of January, this is of more practical concern than back in June. I just gently enquired whether there is any chance in the future for PCL at Kemble (sorry, Cotswold), and was told rather emphatically that this is TOTALLY ILLEGAL in the UK, even for unlicensed airfields. According to the AIP entry for Kemble, "Aerodrome lighting does not conform to CAP168 and is not available for licensed operations", yet lighting can be used unlicensed by coughing up £150+ for someone in the tower to switch it on.


So there we have it: the lighting does not conform to CAP168, but can be used, whereas PCL also does not conform to CAP168, and is therefore illegal.... :ugh:

Can anyone come up with some legal obstacle other than CAP168? Of course, there are other obvious commercial reasons why airfields might not want PCL (for which I have some sympathy), but it would be good to know the truth why something almost universally available in the US is (almost?) unavailable in the UK.

I enjoyed landing 15 minutes again in the dark after 5 presses of the button.....:p:p:p

Here in Sweden PCL is very common and typically on the TWR freq (or the traffic frequency if the field has no TWR). A 15 minute timer is common. When I was working on my NQ flying circuits at an airfield with PCL (ESSU, if anybody cares) I got a nice surprise when the lights went out on short final. Nothing to do but go around, ofc.

The CAA's concern about the integrity of the lighting system - including getting them switched on - is easily dealt with by mandating an alternate if PCL is planned to used or, alternatively, holding fuel + a responsible person able to switch the lights on manually. That's what Oz does.

Typical CAA bull!!!!.

Very much so.

If I had my own strip I would do it quietly, and possibly use SMS instead. SMS works OK below about 2000ft.

Pressing the PTT button is rather easier than fumbling around with a mobile phone trying to send an SMS. And of course, as we all know, the latter would interfere with the aircraft's navigation systems and you'd end up in the wrong place! ;)

In South Eastern France, it is CAA policy to ensure that as many airfields as possible have pilot controlled lighting. They deal with the integrity issue by checking the bulbs work once in a while, and installing a backup generator. They then mess it up by reserving night operations to locally based aircaft in too many places, but at least you can arrive back home without problems.

IO540, as you no doubt know using your mobile whilst airborne is also illegal, but for much better reasons than PCL being so, which may well seem no more than pointless Blinkered British Bureaucratic Bollix. (and its got nothing to do with messing with your nav kit either)

Hotel Mama and others, the "truth" is very simple. The VHF a/g frequencies are allocated (by whoever allocates the electromagnetic spectrum, ie not the CAA) for voice comms only. PCL is signalling which (surprise!) is a different classification to voice, ergo; illegal. Anywhere else such distinctions might be ignored, but you ain't anywhere else, so it sticks. Elsewhere people tend to be sufficiently responsible to use such things correctly, here we seem to have a way of taking the p!ss out of such concessions. It wouldn't be long before some berk started using PCL for starting his central heating or sending burst transmissions to a fax machine, so the bureaucratic mind just says, "No!".