Incidentally, some of the UK idiosyncrasies made it to the overseas colonies as well - both Singapore & Malaysia practice overhead joins in VFR;
I see you have changed your "based at" info to Seletar....that's where I learned to fly over 20 years ago! Don't remember overhead joins there...but certainly in Malaysia....yes, both Malaysia and Singapore used (still use?) the UK ANO pretty much word for word....they even had the IMC rating back then
On the contrary, even though I've been in the air on gorgeous summer days and it's clear that Langen's controllers are heavily loaded, I have never been refused traffic information when flying in Germany.....
They don't refuse the service, but they simply won't give you any information when they are too busy. You get your 3701 or 2 squawk and this may be all you ever hear from them again. When you look outside, you can see aeroplanes zooming by from the left and right side and above and below... Honestly I prefer to be refused the service, because then I really know that I better start looking outside.
We read about them here on EuroGA all the time.
Norwich "security" once confiscated my toothpaste, after I landed. The two jobsworths loved it and had a great laugh.
These jobsworths are everywhere - I landed in Bratislava on a southern european tour, stayed overnight to explore the city and headed back the next day. On entry to the GA terminal, my bag was found to contain a swiss army knife - I keep one in it in case He-Man, master of the universe, previously flew the plane I'm chartering and has tightened up the oil filler cap to levels usually unknown to man nor beast. By using the tin opener part as a lever, I can then unscrew the filler cap.....
However this jobsworth at security said that he couldn't allow me to take the knife because it "posed a threat". I pointed out I was the pilot, alone in the plane and asked him whether he seriously thought I would stab myself? Surely if I wanted to kill myself, all I'd need to do was point my little plane at an area of ground and close my eyes.... He couldn't argue with that but still insisted "rules are rules".
However going back to the idiosyncrasies of flying in the UK, I flew to the UK earlier this year with a couple of fellow pilots who had never made the trip before and what threw them most was the radio transmission:
"pass your message"
The number of times I heard one of my fellow pilots contact a station and be told "pass your message", only for them to look quizzically at me was too many to count.
Also, the number of times we requested a traffic service only to be told "basic service only due to workload" was a bit poor - seems this was a catch-all phrase to ensure ATC didn't have to offer a service. On the contrary, even though I've been in the air on gorgeous summer days and it's clear that Langen's controllers are heavily loaded, I have never been refused traffic information when flying in Germany.....
It is the same for the UK. There is no difference with ICAO. The problem is people can't fly exactly at 1500ft and end up climbing into 1600, 1700 etc.
That said if you were CLEARED to fly at 2000ft inside CAS you have +/- 300ft to work with before you bust altitude.
So if you were outside, you would fly at 1300ft for the same reason. Not many people know this.
Yes, Peter, the boundary is 1500 feet, but the altitude 1500 feet by itself does then not belong the CAS but to the G airspace below. That is an ICAO rule. Also here in Holland, when I fly below the Schiphol TMA which is A airspace that starts close to Lelystad at 1500 feet, the altitude 1500 feet itself is still outside A airspace.
If you fly on the correct QNH and on the autopilot, you won't bust the airspace.
I don't know if the UK has filed a difference to ICAO on this, but here the boundary of CAS would actually be 1500ft.
... During my PPL training, each instructor used to get very nervous ...
That is because you trained with the wrong FTO - we don't employ nervous instructors ;-) (just kidding of course!) When I started flying at Stuttgart, that altitude used to be 3000ft. It was raised to 3500 for noise abatement reasons. One more reason to fly as high as one is allowed. And regarding good airmanship: there are two "airmanships" to be considered and weighted against each other. One is the possible level bust (but with a 300ft cushion until it gets official!) and the other is flying a single over a noise sensitive and densely poulated area, especially when approaching Stuttgart from the north, where every foot counts. As I said, I value the second one higher.
Personally, especially in a single, I have always flown and will always fly and have always instructed and will always instruct to fly at the highest possible altitude. If 1500ft are allowed, I fly at 1500ft. Nobody ever complained.
Given you are at EDDS, the number 3500ft will mean something to you. During my PPL training, each instructor used to get very nervous when I was getting close to 3400ft, lecturing me about good airmanship etc. I guess that habit sticks until today...
... and they told me I was busting their airspace.
When I was in the UK two weeks ago for my simulator recurrent training, our instructor looked up the regulations regarding level busts for us: In the UK an altitude deviation of 300ft or more is considered to be a level bust. So whatever you were doing was not a level bust.
Personally, especially in a single, I have always flown and will always fly and have always instructed and will always instruct to fly at the highest possible altitude. If 1500ft are allowed, I fly at 1500ft. Nobody ever complained.
Well, actually the situation was different as I was handed over from one controller to the next. The earlier controller told me I could climb to 1500 feet but not above, so I did, then after handover I was told by the second controller that I was busting their airspace. The 1500 feet kept me just clear of some scattered clouds just below me, which is why.
