I’m planning a trip to Shoreham (EGKA) on Saturday, and the NOTAM states the RNP is not available at that time. Windy forecasts the cloud base at 1200’, so I will probably need to break through the cloud layer. Since it’s uncontrolled airspace the logical thing would be to just fly the RNP anyway and break out for a visual, but the AIP specifically warns of possible enforcement action if you do this. In this case I guess I should just fly direct, break out, and enter the circuit? I have done this in other countries to uncontrolled fields many times, but never the UK. Anyone have experience with this?
You ask for a 5 mile final, fly the IAP but do not make any reference to any of its waypoints on the radio, and report on a 5 mile final.
The CAA does not like it but in Class G and outside the ATZ cannot do anything, especially as DIY IAPs are entirely legal in the UK.
You cannot enter the ATZ without ATC clearance but if there is no ATC then clearly you can…
No need to enter the circuit – this is not France.
This is a delicate topic and I thought hard before posting. Basically there are two factions in the CAA: one is happy and the other isn’t.
I looked in the AIP and saw this
which is as expected. But Class G is Class G and – outside an ATZ – that is absolute.
Another option is to to call Farnborough radar for a traffic service, and position over the water for a cloud break. Once clear of cloud resume VFR below.
The 20 arrival does have significant terrain around it (up to about 850ft).
You don’t need a radar service to position over the sea 
But be careful because of the wind turbines.
I would just fly the IAP trajectory…
But be careful because of the wind turbines.
Powered wind turbines could be another danger… ADSB + Flarm could help, or not.
Peter wrote:
You ask for a 5 mile final, fly the IAP but do not make any reference to any of its waypoints on the radio, and report on a 5 mile final.
I was kind of thinking this as well, but wasn’t sure.
This is a delicate topic and I thought hard before posting. Basically there are two factions in the CAA: one is happy and the other isn’t.
Also curious who these two factions are…
I ended up taking @Peter’s advice, which worked perfectly. And furthermore no one cared at all. I was greeted with a warm welcome from the tower and the usual painless border control.
Also on Peter’s recommendation we had an excellent lunch at Tosca in Shoreham, then took the coastal bus to Brighton. I had been there before for an offsite work meeting, but spent the whole time in the conference center. This time we got to explore the city, and it really is a very nice place to visit and an easy trip on the bus from Shoreham.
Things took an interesting turn when we tried to depart. In my PPR request, GAR, and flight plan I noted my planned departure time at 1900. This included confirmation that they would turn the lights on for me. I repeated this to the border officers and to the staff at the office. However upon arriving at the field we found everything closed and no lights. I called every number I could, but no luck. I even texted Peter, who mentioned a NOTAM I apparently missed with an 1800 closing time. Oops! So we walked back into the town to the charming old Crabtree hotel—the only one in the town, where they literally made room for us. After a well-deserved drink and a good night’s rest, we flew back this morning uneventfully.
I will say the UK IFR culture definitely has some advantages. Having flown 20 years in the US and all over Europe, I find the UK approach more what I would expect from the US actually—lots of uncontrolled airspace where no one really cares much what you do. The downside of course is that moving into and out of CAS is much harder in the UK than it is elsewhere, and you don’t have the benefit of getting to basically ignore airspace. I’ve learned to specifically ask the London controllers to hand me off IFR to Lille rather than assuming it will happen. But coming from two places (US and NL) where everything is really tightly regulated and rules are strictly adhered to, the freedom of the UK approach can be refreshing!
> Use of the RNP IAP without an approach service may result in investigative action being taken by the ANSP
This I find really curious. The airspace is all class G, therefore nothing legally can be done about it, the ANSP is a private company, not law enforcement. I suppose they could write an MOR…but the airspace is all class G, so they can go and write a MOR if it really makes them happy, and given they aren’t even operating, there isn’t anyone there to witness the event to write the MOR! Or I suppose they could complain to Shoreham airport management who could then ban the pilot – but this might open the ANSP up for civil action if the pilot has done nothing illegal.
Peter wrote:
Basically there are two factions in the CAA: one is happy and the other isn’t.
Interestingly, we’ve seen the same with the Swedish CAA. IIRC from my sources, the pro faction is the airports section while the against faction is the airspace section. (You would have though it would be the other way around, but no.)
dutch_flyer wrote:
Since it’s uncontrolled airspace the logical thing would be to just fly the RNP anyway and break out for a visual, but the AIP specifically warns of possible enforcement action if you do this.
Several airports in Sweden have stated in the AIP that the IAPs (not just RNP) are not to be used outside of ATC hours. As the airspace is then class G, I really can’t see how they can enforce such a restriction. Of course an airport can decide what traffic they want to accept, but it seems very odd if a criterion is the flight path used to arrive at the airport.
