Keep your cool, @172 – nobody mentioned the state, insurers were mentioned.
Colin wrote:
seems sensible.
You call this sensible? Seriously? How much nanny state handholding do you poor guys need???
Colin wrote:
One small airfield operator recently told me that the Insurers are insisting upon PPR.
Sounds sensible indeed – but perhaps it varies from one country to another? Where (i.e. about what country) was this said?
One small airfield operator recently told me that the Insurers are insisting upon PPR. Presumably so that the pilot is properly briefed about the status of the airfield – seems sensible.
LeSving wrote:
It’s defined in Norwegian like this:
Swedish regs are phrased differently, but their effect is essentially the same. (Except that Sweden is more lenient about take-off visibility. The viz can be as low as 500 m during day or 400 m during day or night if the runway is lighted.)
I have once made a take-off from an unmanned airport with 600 m visibility in fog.
Probably yes.
Does the latest material here belong into the thread on untowered approaches etc?
It’s defined in Norwegian 
like this:
5.5 Annen luftfart enn den som er nevnt i pkt. 5.2, 5.3 og 5.4 ovenfor skal, når luftfartøyet befinner seg i IFR-forhold (IMC), kun bruke flyplass når det ytes flygekontrolltjeneste eller AFIS eller annen tjeneste godkjent av luftfartsmyndigheten. Et luftfartøy som befinner seg i IFR-forhold, anses å bruke flyplassen fra det tidspunkt luftfartøyet påbegynner en instrumentinnflyging til flyplassen.
Dersom det ikke ytes flygekontrolltjeneste, AFIS eller annen tjeneste godkjent av luftfartsmyndigheten, kan imidlertid start foretas i dagslys under forutsetning av at sikten på bakken er minst 600 m og starten kan utføres på en sikker måte når man tar hensyn til eventuell annen trafikk i luften eller på bakken og til hindringer i utflygingsretningen.
It’s really hard translating regulations like this because of the wordings, but I can give it a try:
5.5 Other air operations [MTOW less than 5700 kg and less than 11 passengers, non scheduled flight] than mentioned in point 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4 shall, when the aircraft is in IMC, only use the airport when there is ATC or AFIS or another service approved by LT (CAA). An aircraft that is in IMC, is determined to be “using the the airport” from the time the aircraft starts the instrument approach to the airport.
If there is no ATC, AFIS or other service approved by LT, the aircraft can however start in daylight with the condition that the visibility is at least 600m, and that the take off can be done in a safe manner when including eventual other traffic in the air or the ground and any obstacles in the take off direction.
What it means is that you cannot do an instrument approach in IMC without ATC or AFIS or some other approved service. Consequently you can do an instrument approach when not in IMC (but what’s the point?). I have no idea what this “other approved service” actually might be, but the pilot has to, in some way or the other, be told that the runway is free (from other aircraft, cars, cows, reindeer or whatever).
but cannot land in IMC, landing has to be done in VFR condition
Surely, every landing is under VFR
Well, VMC.
How is this limitation defined?
mh wrote:
I have learned, that in Sweden there would be no such thing as a closed airport. I assumed it was a Scandinavian thing. Is Norway different in that hindsight? I assumed the Germans were the only ones who new the idiotic concept of a “closed” airfield, other than for technical reasons (Runway inoperative).
None of the smaller private/local airports are “closed” in Norway either. They are open 24/7 unless there are some noise restrictions tied to their license, which some of them have. They could be “closed” from 2300-0700 for instance, but closed and open are only used for “public” airports, non-public airports have restrictions on operations.
According to norskeflyplasser.no there are 119 airports for general use in Norway. About 50 (46 to be exact) of those are owned and run by Avinor, which is owned by the state. Some of those are also run in cooperation with the Air Force. In the late 60s-70s Avinor built a whole bunch of smaller fields along the coast, which are perfect for GA, 800-1000m paved runways. They are financed on a commercial basis, but like a non profit organisation. The ones who makes lots of money (Gardermoen, Bergen, Værnes, Sola and probably one or two more) literally finance all the smaller ones which have maybe 3-4 scheduled flights per day. In addition there are a 2 or three non-Avinor airports that are run on a commercial basis. In any case, Avinor runs a network of airports connecting all major cities along the coast. Avinor also runs the ATC and ATS for Norway.
Avinor have run a practice that airports can only be used during opening hours, or only when manned to be more precise. a person must be in the tower. Last year, after several years of lobbying from NLF, all the airports are free to use also when unmanned, but only for VFR and only with a PPL or higher, and only between 0700 and 2300, and you need to apply for a special card (did just now for 2016, good to be reminded ). Outside opening hours they are free of charge also. NOTAM, AIP and the card is “the PPR”
Regarding PPR etc, I read through the regulations, and it wasn’t quite as straight forward as I remembered. There are two types of airports, public and non-public. All public airports must be in the AIP and must issue NOTAM. PPR is required for public airports outside opening hours. PPR is required for all non-public airports. PPR can be “issued” per flight or on a more permanent basis (an example is the card for Avinor airports outside opening hours). All Avinor airports are public airports, but the others can be either (if it’s in the AIP it is public). I find PPR for non-public airports very stupid, since most of them are in essence “public”, or at least everyone would be better off if they were made public.
IFR for MTOW 5700 and less, 10 passengers or less can use the airport also when there is no CTR/AFIS (none in the tower), but cannot land in IMC, landing has to be done in VFR condition. Take off can be done in IMC, but only when the visibility is 600 meters or more (no requirements for ceiling). VFR night only requires runway lights, and of course VFR conditions.
