In Germany, some airport do publish the TWR telephone number in the AIP (example: Lübeck) while others don’t (Hamburg) Call the ops number and have them put you through to the tower. Forget email, speak to the people shortly before the flight when you already know rather exactly when you want to fly and what exactly you want to do.
I hope MedEwok won’t mind me hijacking his thread but I have a similar question that in my opinion doesn’t require a new thread.
I have a few friends staying with me this week and I have booked the clubs aircraft for a few hours on Friday evening for some sightseeing over Hamburg. I have flown through the Hamburg CTR a few times but never specifically orbiting over the city. I am happy in requesting orbits over the city for sightseeing but as I only have a two seater aircraft I will be doing 2-3 separate flights. I am conscious of annoying EDDH tower with constant requests to enter their airspace and I plan on sending them an email letting them know what I plan on doing. My question is where to find the number and/or email address for the tower (I have Googled and had a look on SkyDemon but can’t find anything obvious). Apart from letting them know I will be entering the CTR several times, is there anything else anyone recommends I mention/do?
Thanks!
Dimme wrote:
boscomantico wrote:
One doesn’t usually ask for start up on VFR flights. Just ask during you call for taxi.
Once I started my C152 engine in Roskilde (EKRK) without asking for startup clearance. The TWR got furious. Learned to never do that in Denmark again.
Clearly some sort of misunderstanding here. Never was any requirement for start-up clearence at EKRK or any other Danish airport used by GA (i.e. outside Copenhagen Kastrup).
What IS required is some sort of flight plan, either a full ATS ICAO or an abbreviated flight plan via internet or other means. If tower has none when you call (after start-up), you will usually be told to contact airport office.
Not a problem for the Munich CTR. If you ask the Tower and they have the impression you know what you are doing they will let you do sightseeing inside the CTR. They let me circle between the runways when I was doing pictures of the airport for my book “Above Munich”.
Crossing the airport is one of my standard sightseeing routes when I take friends, and sometimes the tower even offers a low approach if there’s not too much traffic.
I said at the beginning that my reply applied only to Germany, which is what the OP was asking about. There are loads of other places outside Germany where they go ballistic over a missing start up request for VFR flights.
boscomantico wrote:
One doesn’t usually ask for start up on VFR flights. Just ask during you call for taxi.
Once I started my C152 engine in Roskilde (EKRK) without asking for startup clearance. The TWR got furious. Learned to never do that in Denmark again.
Thanks for your answers everyone. I don’t regard the “glide clear rule” as very relevant. You can subsume it under “don’t take unnecessary risks that endanger third parties” which applies in all of life. Flying at 1500ft AGL above a city does certainly not create undue risks for anyone.
Rwy20 wrote:
ICAO treaties, as international (read: between states) law, aren’t automatically or directly binding for a pilot unless a country has made a law that would say so.
That’s correct. I believe usually the state adopts the general rule and issues local changes in the AIP. I haven’t checked the German AIP though.
I would call the tower on the phone…
boscomantico wrote:
Reply applies toGermany only
All that bosco wrote applies quite accurately for Denmark too; whether it is busy Copenhagen Airport’s CTR or any other.
