question about Rule 5 ("500 foot rule")

[212man]

I find the continued references to penalties, and being caught, bizarre. The issue is you may have a collision!

[gipsymagpie]

Originally Posted by 212man

I find the continued references to penalties, and being caught, bizarre. The issue is you may have a collision!

Totally agree that's the ultimate aim of regulated airspace and no one wants to hit something. The unfortunate truth is that commercial and other pressures drive pilots to make efficiencies with their routes. They think theyve established a bit of airspace is empty (blind calls) but my message is that is not enough. And the Skyway advice is not helpful!

[ShyTorque]

Originally Posted by gipsymagpie

Shytorque - some great examples there. One tiny tweak to your statement above though. The military ATZ are not all active H24. If you look in the civilian AIP at ENR 2-2 it list the operating hours of each military ATZ. Some are quite complex (try Cranwell for example) but the principle you express is right - avoid them unless you're positive you have planned in detail/spoken to ATC / have blacked out your registration.

I looked at your link - thanks for the reminder to update myself. But I find that rather puzzling and slightly worrying. Presumably, Cranwell either no longer carry out night flying training (I think they probably do) or they issue a NOTAM to publicise the fact that the airspace is active outside published times for night flying. I don’t recall ever seeing said NOTAM - but having come from an RAF background I tend to call or avoid all military ATZs in any case. Easy to get caught out if you rely on the published hours!