Scotland Trip: Part 2: EGSC (Cambridge) to EGPE (Inverness)

Also, the time you normally ask for a startup is after you have

• got in and sorted everything out, headsets, oxygen etc
• got the kneeboard all organised
• studied the likely SIDs and the airport diagram and worked out where on the airport you are
• you probably still have the GND/TWR frequency as the last one you used before shutdown, so you can just call it

Peter wrote:

I have had a bollocking for starting up without asking for a startup clearance, a number of times.

It’s also a good reason to get the #1 radio wired directly to the battery (via a CB of course, and with 2 diodes so you don’t get current flowing the wrong way)

Oban required call for startup, for VFR. I have no idea why. (The fueller says he never bothers asking for it). It seemed like delusions of grandeur to me. The fueller reckoned that they had heard Loganair doing it once and thought “what a good idea” without actually thinking what its purpose was (no doubt Loganair do it because they don’t want to sit there idling burning absurd amounts of fuel while waiting for a clearance).

However, why do you need the radio directly wired to the battery? I just turned on the master and radio, booked out and asked for start all in one single call, turned the radio off for starting and cranked up and did my normal thing.

However, why do you need the radio directly wired to the battery?

At bigger airports, you can spend ages (tens of minutes, even) waiting for them to call you back. Or just calling them over and over until they respond – Valencia was one such. This will drain your battery. My plane, with avionics ON, draws about 15A for a few mins and then (as the AHRS warms up) about 10A. The battery is only 15Ah…