Also almost nobody in the UK who flies for real talks to FIS.
I think that quite a few of us do in Northern Britain, to the extent of being on first name terms with some of the FISOs. They’re patient, cheerful and helpful, even with a Ryanair pilot asking for the results of the Grand National. If I let them know I’m on my way home from England, they’ll go and get the Corsock AWS METAR for me, often without being asked. If I’m going to Prestwick, they pass my details and any request for an IFR clearance. If I need a quick clearance through a live danger area, they ask the squaddies to down tools for me. In return, I try to let them know roughly what I’m up to, even if it’s just a ten minute hop to visit a local customer.
Airborne_Again wrote:
And you can’t do that from 3800 ft…?
That’s one relevant question. Another is that there are plenty of satellite pictures available here and there, so I do not get it either. I don’t understand what kind of details they would like to conceal.
Restricted areas around reactors are strictly “something must be done”. They serve no useful purpose, neither preventing critical accidents, nor deliberate attacks, nor espionage.
Here is an article that provides some statistics on the number of nuclear plant overflights and the risk to the pilots.
Offenders are at risk of being reminded of the law (in the obvious case of navigational error) or fined or even imprisoned if their intention was deliberate. A Greenpeace activist (still a German) was sentenced to a six-month suspended prison sentence for overflying the Bugey nuclear power plant with a motorized paraglider in May 2012.
Cobalt wrote:
Restricted areas around reactors are strictly “something must be done”. They serve no useful purpose, neither preventing critical accidents, nor deliberate attacks, nor espionage.
If you look at the aeronautical chart of the border between France and Germany, you will notice that the P-area around the nuclear powerplants stop at the border… On the German side you may infringe the 5 km radius, but not on the French side. 
Aviathor wrote:
On the German side you may infringe the 5 km radius, but not on the French side.
That makes as much sense as so many other rules in aviation 
Fines need to be backed up by law – at least in the UK.
Cobalt wrote:
Restricted areas around reactors are strictly “something must be done”. They serve no useful purpose, neither preventing critical accidents, nor deliberate attacks, nor espionage.
We used to do without them in Sweden, but after some activist action at one of them (on the ground!), R-areas were put in place. Greenpeace and other organisations have done such actions with some regularity over the years but only recently did that motivate an R-area. A sign of these sorry times, I guess, more than anything else.
Sweden recently established R-areas around some prisons. I don’t see the point of that either. If you want to arrange a prison escape with helicopter or drop something to an inmate, how would an R-area stop you?
If you use SkyDemon, especially with airspace altitude filtered, and you talk to FIS, flying VFR across France is exceptionally easy.
If it is the weekend, you switch on weekend mode.
You don’t go in P areas and you either look up R areas in the AIP or ask FIS if you can go through.
If there is Class D (which is unusual at cruising altitudes) you get clearance through, sometimes from FIS, but sometimes the FIS puts you over to the local controller. It couldn’t be easier.
And that includes Nice/Marseilles,
The only bit I dogleg round is Paris. Otherwise I always fly in straight lines.
Eight pages of scaremongering is bound to put people off unnecessarily. Though I suppose it has the benefit of keeping the airspace quieter for the rest of us.
Timothy wrote:
Eight pages of scaremongering is bound to put people off unnecessarily. Though I suppose it has the benefit of keeping the airspace quieter for the rest of us.
That’s exactly what I’m saying: FUD – worse than any NAA.
