UK CAA Allow Portable ADS-B Operation
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has cleared portable Electronic Conspicuity (EC) devices to transmit ADS-B data on 1090MHz, when carried in an aircraft also operating a 1090MHz transponder, including Modes A, C, and S. The clearance was notified in an Air Information Circular (AIC 141/2019) released on 19 December 2019. Aircraft transponders operate on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standard frequency of...
BGA Warn on Overflight of Winching Sites
The British Gliding Association (BGA) have launched an awareness campaign to dissuade pilots from getting to close to glider sites where winch launching may be taking place and is currently working with other organisations to try to highlight the significant hazards associated with overflying winch launch gliding sites. As gliding clubs have reported a gradual increase in occurrences, since March 2019 the BGA have been collecting...
Right-Hand Seat Flying with no Training
Report Text: Towards the start of February, a newly qualified friend and I decided to take our C150 to a shortish grass strip. My friend who had only received his licence a few weeks prior was Captain/PIC and wanted to practise some short field landings and we chose the best location for it -a 700m well-kept strip with hedges at either end of the runway. The flight to the airfield was uneventful, the weather was perfect VFR and...
8.33kHz Radio Concerns
Report Text: This is not an incident report but a general observation in response to a number of reports of 8.33 radios being operated incorrectly. My club has three aircraft and as a result of EU rulemaking we now have five different radios in the fleet and two different transponders. The new radios are significantly more difficult to operate than their predecessors. Some have a system where the rotary knob changes all three...
Anatomy of an Infringement
On the 5th March, the pilot of a light aircraft pleaded guilty in Bedfordshire Magistrates’ Court to flying in Luton Airport’s controlled airspace without clearance from air traffic control. The pilot infringed Luton’s airspace several times in the same day during two different flights. The pilot’s actions led to four passenger aircraft and a business jet having to be given avoiding instructions by air traffic control....
Sometimes Two Heads are Not Better Than One
Soon after I got my PPL(A), back in the dark ages, flying friends suggested that I pair up with another recently qualified pilot. That way, they said, we could share the cost, and also benefit from each other’s experience. One could fly, while the other did the navigation and radio; then we would swap for the next flight. Half the cost, half the work, twice the fun, they told me. A well tried and tested way of gaining...