Peter wrote:
Do they clear you into CAS, with a US-style clearance void time? I don’t think so. All they give you is what any Class G airport tower should obtain for you – “remain OCAS, climb 5000ft, squawk 1234, London Control 133.175”. If there is no tower, or they refuse to do it (quite a few UK AFIS towers do refuse) then you get the stuff from London Info.
That’s exactly what they give me. I prefer calling them on the ground rather than calling London Info in the air, as if there are any issues with the flight plan (it has happened, as I had filed “too low of a level” and they “couldn’t find the flight plan”), they can be sorted on the ground and there are no surprises when in the air (and one less radio call).
Where I fly from, CAS starts at 1,500 / 2,500 ft (depending on which side I route to), so getting everything ready in advance is actually quite valuable.
OK… that is not an IFR clearance, however. You are still left hanging, OCAS, until you raise somebody on the radio. In the UK, I have flown at 2400ft for up to 30 mins… In Greece, I once flew all the way from a private airfield to Corfu, 2hrs. In France, 20 mins out of St Yan, with a load of CAS controllers asleep on a weekend.
An IFR clearance is “cleared to destination, via flight planned route, climb FL100” etc. I cannot see any controller issuing that on the phone because you could pop up right into a load of jet traffic. And you are entitled to fly the clearance non-radio, in case of a comms failure. At the very least there has to be a “clearance void time” (a limited time slot) which is how they do it in the USA.
At LELL one way for “IFR departures” is to depart on runway 13, the turn right (pattern and VFR departure is left) to return to the field and climb in the holding over SLL. That is the VOR located at the field. You are supposed to be VMC until 4000’ going up or down. You can climb further to FL080 and get “direct KANIG” for going east.
I prefer to go towards GIR (Girona) and most of the time I can climb into CAS and FL180/FL190 as soon as I have left the vicinity of the airport. That is quicker and more convenient than to corkscrew my way up.
On the rare occasion with low ceilings none of that helps though.
Jets seem to get a clearance to join one of the SIDs of El Prat as they continue on heading 13 towards El Prat
Peter wrote:
I don’t believe there is a way to get a CAS clearance on the ground at any OCAS airport anywhere in Europe.
Every single AFIS airport in Sweden will give you this. As they will in Norway.
Every single AFIS airport in Sweden will give you this. As they will in Norway.
A FISO issuing an IFR clearance? That is not ICAO compliant 
Airborne_Again wrote:
Every single AFIS airport in Sweden will give you this. As they will in Norway.
Peter wrote:
A FISO issuing an IFR clearances?
An update on the current situation at Sabadell LELL:
The building next to the entrance is now closed and because of that the procedure for paying the landing fee has changed. The change may actually create a bit of trouble for visitors. The new way is as follows:
With your SEP you park at R2 which is shared with the flying schools and the Aeroclub. From there you walk out to the security gate where you probably catch a taxi to somewhere. When you come back and want to pay your landing fee make sure to use the taxi to enter the airport premises, drive around the runway all the way to the new tower and administrative building on the opposite side. You will pass through a tunnel underneath the runway. Tell the taxi driver to wait for you. There you go up to the first floor, get the invoice and then go downstairs to a machine where you can pay the fees either in cash or with credit card. Then you take the taxi back to the actual entrance to the apron R2 where you can pay your taxi and send the driver away.
The security guard will want to see the national ID (DNI) of the taxi driver and give him a temporary airport pass which he is supposed to return when he leaves.
Stephan_Schwab wrote:
The change may actually create a bit of trouble for visitors.
A taxi ride for paying the landing fee – is there something else the management can do to keep guests away? 
highflyer wrote:
A taxi ride for paying the landing fee – is there something else the management can do to keep guests away?
Actually I told them they might expect comments on forums because of those decisions and suggested to let the security guard help. After all that person used to verify that you have paid and have a flight plan before letting you go to your aircraft.
In my case I didn’t follow along and paid a few landing fees via bank transfer – something that before was not possible due to administrative reasons and suddenly was no problem. The schools used to have their students pay the fee before every single flight and now get charged by the airport.
The issue is that a visitor who speaks no Spanish may definitely struggle and not understand a thing because it’s so unusual.
