I spend most of my time flying in Class E and enjoy the freedom to tune the radio to air-to-air frequency, or turn it off, and not have to think much about people on the ground. Assuming it’s not a two-ship flight where a little plane to plane chatter might be enjoyable, I turn it back on again nearing the destination to pick up ATIS or ASOS. Obviously this is completely different than Class D or up, and Class E with an RMZ seems pointless to me.
Probably half of my flight time in Class E is within areas requiring Mode C and now ADS-B Out. It doesn’t make much difference to me as I rarely squawk anything but VFR, so don’t touch that equipment except to ident occasionally when entering Class D for landing. Given that some classes of aircraft are exempted from the ‘TMZ’ requirements, enforcement is in any case essentially impossible unless you are talking to ATC while noncompliant.
Peter wrote:
The UK isn’t like e.g. France where you can head for an apparently impenetrable mess of CAS and just tell ATC your route is X-Y-Z and they say “radar contact” and are as cool as a cucumber.Not only in France, this happened to me also in Norway, Denmark, Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and – yes – even in Italy when calling Approach/Radar instead of their silly FIS.
Not as easy, but still very chill is Switzerland too with their ‘Standard’-Phrase: “cleared to cross, report when completed”. Only Geneva CTR/TMA does not have a warm welcome for VFR-traffic… I don’t know why, Zurich is quite accommodating, at least for their CTR-crossings.A foreign pilot is more likely to bust something, but also a foreign pilot is probably going to find that nothing happens afterwards (if the infringment was short).Foreigner bonus… sounds good to me!
(just joking)
Funny reading this from a US perspective. For all practical purposes the entire US is Class E (or more). There is NO Class G above 1200 AGL in the lower 48 any more. In busy areas (like the San Francisco area where I mostly fly) there is none above 700 AGL, and you can’t be below 1000 (except for takeoff and landing) in a “congested area”.
And this poses absolutely no problems whatsoever. You don’t have to talk to anyone in Class E. If you do, you will practically always get “flight following” which amounts to IFR-like separation (not strictly, but that’s generally what you get).
The rules for transponders are complicated ( https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/91.215 ). Round here you need one (and ADS-B too). Gliders don’t need one in Class E though (nor Class D, which is the norm for smaller towered airports).
My understanding of US Class E is that it exists primarily to render illegal anybody flying in IMC without an IFR flight plan and IFR clearance, with a specific objective of protecting instrument approaches that exist in Class E (and Class D where they extend out to Class E).
It’s a great idea which elegantly solves the problem of VFR traffic zooming through IAPs as happens regularly in the busier parts of Europe.
But it works well only because the US has an accessible IR. Europe’s attempts have basically all miserably failed due to elitism, politics, lots of people having fingers in the training pie, elitism, and politics
In the UK, extensive Class E isn’t going to happen because
AFAICT Class E was used around Farnborough for the same reason as in the UK: to make IMC traffic illegal, unless they have a clearance, and on busy days they won’t get it, so problem solved 
I think you’re right. The whole idea of random non-IFR traffic whizzing through clouds and mixing it with legitimate IFR traffic ios seriously hair-raising. Most people in the US flat out don’t believe the way it works in the UK. I had an argument with one of my instructors about it, he just didn’t believe it was possible. And he has flown extensively in the UK (as a U2 pilot in the USAF)!
It is legal in the US to fly IMC in Class G without a flight plan or talking to anyone, but since there isn’t any, it’s not really relevant.
Peter wrote:
It’s a great idea which elegantly solves the problem of VFR traffic zooming through IAPs as happens regularly in the busier parts of Europe.
How so? There is no clearance required for VFR traffic to fly through class E airspace. From a IFR/VFR deconfliction perspective, the effect use of class E is to increase visibility and cloud distance requirements.
Try flying the LOC 27 approach into EDFM on a really nice summer day – it’s a really long approach going all through class E and passes through a busy and popular N-S corridor.
as a U2 pilot in the USAF
Mostly VMC then
It is legal in the US to fly IMC in Class G without a flight plan or talking to anyone, but since there isn’t any, it’s not really relevant.
Recalling some previous posts from long ago, there have been US pilot busts for illegal IFR in Class G (basically, taking off straight into IMC, below the Class E base) but the pilot got busted not for IFR without a clearance (because there is no possible clearance in Class G) but for flying IFR without an IFR flight plan. This search finds some, notably this.
How so? There is no clearance required for VFR traffic to fly through class E airspace
The problem is unknown traffic flying in IMC.
Peter wrote:
The problem is unknown traffic flying in IMC.
Yes… See and Avoid applies for both IFR and VFR (relative to each other) outside of IMC in Class E airspace, and VFR does not fly in IMC. On the other hand if you’re flying an instrument approach in VMC on an instrument flight plan in the US you need to be looking for VFR non-communicating traffic when in Class E.
Peter wrote:
The problem is unknown traffic flying in IMC.
As actual risk? or rare terrible scenario for which you can do nothing?
If you say the latter, you should get chute for TB20 or fly twins
I had a lengthy discussion with a US CFI, he thinks it is plain foolish to fly 10min in IMC under LTMA with no TS/DS, but he does 2h over LA congested area on SEP with 5nm final at 300ft to land (on my turn I asked for overhead join )
I also get stressed heading to same VOR as someone else but statistically, I am more at risk when the sun shines around London with everybody avoiding CAS…
