I got caught out many years ago flying to the Channel Islands, in fact to meet up with Timothy, and flew low level as was unable to get clearance from Plymouth (ie no one answered), Solent did not know, and the telephone number before the flight did not answer. I popped into the DA at the Southern limit of the DA, and had to explain myself to ATC. My unsuccessful efforts at getting a clearance absolved me.
The DA tests serious kit so best to give it a wide berth without clearance from Plymouth.
Going off at a slight tangent, which may or may not be relevant, when I put the route into Autorouter, it sent me via the DPE SID, creating a 123% GC route.
I saw that there was a NEVIL SID, which must be for something, so I “forced” Autorouter to route via NEVIL, and it obliged with 103%.
I wonder why it would only take the longer route until pressed, and if that is because of the DAs?
Something has definitely changed recently in the way ATC work D040, since I got this on Friday (a weekday)
And quite correctly London Control warned I will be entering Class G and will be downgraded to “Basic Service” and then went back to “Radar Control Service” (these are all slightly odd UK concepts) when leaving the Class G.
Today, coming back, I managed to get this
although initially LC wanted me to route via DRAKE as usual. I asked for a DCT EGKA, adding that AFAIK D040 is inactive, and after some minutes another controller gave me a descent below CAS on that track.
Glad to be of service 
I dont see why anyone is interested the moment you are dropped out of CAS? You are resposnsible for avoiding DA and anyting NOTAM’d and while one might hope that you wouldnt be intentionally dropped out of CAS into an active danger area, if you have ascertained the danger area isnt active (from London Info. or Plymouth Mil.) is it any concern of the controller working CAS, and is it any different from joining or leaving CAS along an agreed course?
I would agree for VFR flight, but ATC-controlled IFR flight is not the same, because
ATC are therefore responsible for checking danger area activity. We all know Eurocontrol validation of a route is often dodgy, because most countries deliberately don’t supply Eurocontrol with a complete rule set, but that merely shifts more responsibility onto ATC.
The ambiguity in this case is that D040 is Class G which by a long standing UK convention London Control do not provide a service in, except at the start or end of a flight and then it’s a Basic Service (FIS in non UK speak).
This is the first case I have ever come across of London Control providing a service (any service) in enroute Class G.
As I said, this is good news, but my last trip is not wholly conclusive of anything much. On the EGKA-LFBH flight, I got the route through D040 and a Basic Service while in it (which suggests LC did somehow check D040 activity) but on the LFBH-EGKA flight I got cleared to leave CAS by descent, squawk 7000, even before entering D040, thus implicitly shifting the onus on me having checked its activity (which I had not but it was a Sunday 
).
Ok but my point is that doesnt their responsibility end when you leave CAS, so that if you leave from above FL55 and descend into a potential danger area say SFC to FL 55 it is your responsibility to establish it is inactive?
Fuji_Abound wrote:
Ok but my point is that doesnt their responsibility end when you leave CAS, so that if you leave from above FL55 and descend into a potential danger area say SFC to FL 55 it is your responsibility to establish it is inactive?Yes.
Peter wrote:
This is the first case I have ever come across of London Control providing a service (any service) in enroute Class G.
Scottish Control do so on N601 and the LANAK 2A into Glasgow during the day, when the MEA is F130.
I’ve just got a validated route EGKA BOGNA ADLOG EGJA as in the first post.
Should I even bother trying to fly it? It is a Tuesday so the area should be active.
It was filed at 4000ft so London Control will throw it out anyway, but perhaps Solent might know… OTOH going EGKA KATHY EGJA is no longer and avoids it (and like the above is all in Class G).
