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Aviation History
1964
1964 - 2004.PDF
RIGHT International, 2 luly 1964 29 Letters Letters for these columns are welcomed, though "Flight Inter- national" does not necessarily endorse the views expressed. Name and address should be given, not necessarily for publication in full. Brief letters will have a better chance of early publication. Private Pilots and Instrument Ratings SIR,—I wonder how many more times and how much longer we have to see and hear this cry from the heart from PPL holders operating well-equipped private modern aeroplanes. This letter is not a criticism of Mr A. C. Fer's letter, nor that written by Mr Richard Sargent; I am completely in agree- ment with their principles, but why in the name of Good- ness does such a situation have to exist ? I wrote to your journal some months ago on the same subject matter; I wrote to the Royal Aero Club and received no reply; I wrote to the MoA and I did receive a reply, but where did it get us? There is adequate air space over Great Britain for private aircraft to operate safely and without really infringing or upsetting any of the schedules. I have been given to understand that even the MoA have been approached officially to consider the problem, I wonder how businesses would function if they took so long to effect decisions ? The RAeC does not appear to have made any progress in this matter and the Business Aircraft Users' Association does not seem to be in the slightest way interested, which is prob- ably only too natural as the majority of its members are the larger organizations employing professional pilots with instrument ratings. Who is there to look after the private operator flying his own aeroplane? Surely it is time, with the number of well-equipped light aeroplanes now in the skies, for some co-operative movement to start and try to bring pressure to bear on the chairbound Ministerial types who make policies, but probably have never had their feet off the ground other than in a lift in a departmental store. I have been arguing for quite some considerable time that if an aeroplane, privately operated, is equipped to carry out an instrument climb or descent and capable of reporting at all required reporting points, it ought to be reasonable for such aircraft to be permitted to fly at the lower levels of air- ways. Both in the interests of safety and also so that the various controllers are au fait with craft in their areas, it would be far safer to let a light aircraft so equipped fly at flight levels up to but not including the minimum flight levels shown on airways than being compelled to fly below the air- ways and having in many instances no real safety margins for terrain clearance, to say nothing of the only too frequent miserable visibility that appertains to these lower altitudes. A copy of the Ministry letter is attached hereto. A point that interests me particularly is that the matter in question was put forward for consideration in 1962. This is only 1964, and possibly by the time we have long white whiskers there may be a decision made that relates to this subject matter. The point also raised about squeezing light aircraft out of the sky by warrant of the various areas where aircraft are prohibited is a very good point. For example, if one wishes to fly from any point south to the north-east of the UK, just consider how much safety area has been removed by pro- hibiting aircraft through the Vale of York. Many light air- craft depend upon the railway line from York to Newcastle, with the associated factor of low ground, but now only flight over the high ground left and right of this restricted area is available, to say nothing of the extra mileage and fuel con- sumption involved. I cannot help wondering whether there is some unwritten law or some unknown committee who has unofficially decided that if more and more restrictions are imposed there will be less and less light aircraft, and by eventually pushing light aircraft out of the skies anyone wishing to fly will then be compelled to use State-owned airlines. When I consider freedom of movement on the Continent for private aviators and compare the state in this country, it makes me wonder where our sense of progress has hidden itself, particularly now that the modern light aeroplane is the modern method of commercial travelling. It would be nice if the MoA would climb out of the "hansom cab" era and recognize the exis- tence of small aeroplanes and try to be of some assistance instead of always putting their heads together to create some fresh frustration for the small aircraft operator. I would like to see the formation of a real live association with some good old common or garden guts to get a job done and represent the PPL holder and lightplane operator. Birmingham 9 E. F. AIXCHIN [We sympathize with these views and feel that they are to a great extent justified, with the following reservations: the "chairbound Ministerial types" DO include a considerable proportion of former and practising pilots, however little this may appear to be the case; the airspace available between the airway floors and lowest cleared flight levels is very small and the MoA is, as far as possible, raising airway floors to make room for lower traffic; there is no sinister unwritten law against light aircraft—only a lack of sufficient pressure from the light-aircraft lobby.—Ed] SIR,—I was interested to read the interview with Lord Water- park in your issue of June 4, and would particularly like to congratulate his organization on their spares set-up. However, I think Lord Waterpark does not realize how little effort is required to fly on airways—particularly at night —with an aircraft equipped with autopilot with height lock and Decca as well as VOR and ADF. The amount of effort required is a whole order of magnitude less than that neces- sary to fly across country in good visibility, where continual unremitting vigilance is necessary to keep a look-out, fly the aircraft and cross-check between the terrain below and the map. Likewise, approaching a major terminal area is in practice merely a question of feeding into the autopilot the instructions issued by the radar controllers and finally pressing the "engage" buttons on the approach coupler if the autopilot is so fitted. I regularly fly myself home from places like Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Brussels and Paris immediately after the end of prolonged meetings at which I have been chairman and find the change of activities to be refreshing rather than the reverse. On the other hand I fear that I would find the super- vision of a "chauffeur" pilot to be a great mental strain! London EC3 JOHN M. HOULDER ATCOs and Pilots From Gp Capt John A. McDonald, CBE. AFC, RAF(Ret) SIR,—It is a sure sign of oncoming old age when one finds fault with present-day values and methods. But the dispute between ATC staff and the Ministry of Aviation and the pilots' threat to strike [now, happily, withdrawn—Ed] invite comment. Take the ATC dispute: in my humble opinion this lies at the door of the Ministry itself. The higher civil servant, through no fault of his own, is not trained in technical matters yet he exercises overall control over policy in regard to safety, operations, etc. No operations or ATC officer with a hard-earned licence in his pocket can feel loyalty to (still less be subject to discipline by) a Civil Service machine. Had the Ministry at the outset set up an Operations Branch, in which all officers concerned with air operations would serve with loyalty to the head of their service and in which their careers and terms of service would be shaped, things would never have come to this stage. Perhaps it is not too late yet. Dispute or no dispute, the idea of any ATC officer work- ing to rule or in any way changing his attitude to his daily task, is anathema. The Controllers' Manual opens by saying that "the aim of ATC is the safe and expedient flow of air traffic." No ATCO I have ever met would think otherwise. Fifteen years ago I remember controllers literally staggering out of their war-time talk-down-radar vehicles after hours of duty in most appalling conditions but I never remember
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