Air Space
I pose the question-- Should pilots observe airsapce restrictions or treat all air as free and available?
My thoughts are that if pilots treat all air as free (although an excellant idea) then they should immediately resign from the club and thereby cancel their licence.
One could write screes on why this is so but it is basically self evident that if a pilot flys like that then they are not a fit and proper person. You can gather from this that I feel strongly about the issue and I am wondering if others have similar thoughts.
Apart from endangering lives of others thay also endanger draconian restrictions on all our flying should CAA catch them at it. I have come across similar thinking in other sports yet these same types very happily drive on the left side of the road and stop at compulsary stops. I keep forgetting to ask them why they do that not use all the road. As in other sports thay eventually mature and either see sense or find it, through peer pressure, not a fun sport to be involved with any more.
During organised competitions this type of flying is penalised but in the honour system applying to XC competitions we assume that pilots fly within the limits applying to their pilots license. Can we be assured of this without the need to change those rules and require all submitted flights to be accompanied by a 3d track log, plus other supporting evidence -e.g. a witness etc. Surely it is self evident given the training one goes thru to get a license that to deliberatly break those rules accorded to the privaledge of holding that license then that person is no longer a fit and proper person and therefore they should cease flying until they can prove otherwise.
Enough rantings from me. So lets see if others feel the same way.
Authorised Sites
I don't disagree with the airspace comment.
What worries me more is that strictly speaking, we can only fly from authorised sites. i.e. even if we have the permission of the owner, and airspace is not infringed, we still can't legally fly.
I find this degree of bureaucratisation depressing. I don't know of any other country which requires it.
Authorized sites
I thought it depended on your pilot rating. You must only fly authorized sites rated for their licence unless accompaned by higher rated pilot etc. PG3 rating and above can fly anywhere. (CAA rules observed of course) It is a while since I read all that stuff and may be wrong.
Speed Limit
Do you ever drive over the speed limit? and have you handed in your drivers license yet? :)
My own feeling is that we have a duty to at least reasonably abide by the restrictions set down by CAA, but that does not make those restrictions sensible or just. They are rarely designed with our sports in mind and often contain arbitrary decisions that, were they considered by a reasonable person, would not be applied.
We should always be pushing for less restrictions to airspace simply to counteract the natural progression of government towards more restriction.
wrong side of road
Occasionaly as one gets older but I dont drive on the otherside of the road. That is the point as it is bad for ones health and other drivers expect me to be on my side.
Yes I agree we must be vigilant on continuing restrictions and oneway to have more is to exceed the airspace criteria we all agreed to obey when we got our licences and became a member of NZHGPGA..
Rules, rules and more rules
There is no question that increasing the bureaucracy will do nothing for safety and compliance. Similarly, do you really need a rule to tell you not to do something dangerous? and is it only the fear of prosecution which keeps you safe? There is little that CAA has done over the last 10 or more years which has made PG or HG safer, in my view.
However, that is not the point which Derek raises. I know of no country where busting airspace is considered safe or acceptable. We will never gain any credibility till we take responsibility for the critical issues in our sport and we respond accordingly.
I'm interested in any one posing a plausible argument for why airspace restrictions can and should be simply ignored, but I doubt if it can be done. Certainly, I don't want to fly with people of this attitude - they're endangering my sport.
So why is it that we accept flights in our XC competition which apparently bust airspace? Some observe that we can protest flights, but really that gets us nowhere - you may know the flight was illegal, but how do you prove it? In any challenge, the offending pilot will simply say "I had no track log, and the rules don't require one". If they have no shame, they will also say "yes, I stayed below 5,500' in the GFA, then dropped to 4,500' till I got to the 6,500' airspace and I flew round the two MBZs". So, how do you challenge a flight like this?
People who do this deserve nothing more than contempt.
Cheers
John
Airspace? What airspace?
Leaving aside the argument of whether this or that airspace restriction should be there, or, just how much can I REALLY get away with, the simple fact is this:
Airspace restrictions exist. We have been taught (and passed a test, demonstrating) to be able to read airspace maps so that WE ARE AWARE what these restrictions are BEFORE we go flying.
When we fly, we must use our judgement continuously to ensure that we have a good flight and ultimately (if not a bit melodramaticaly) survive.
We alone are responsible for our actions based on this judgement and therefore have to accept the consequences.
These consequences may range from being shunned by your flying buddies for cheating, to spending the rest of your days in a wheelchair or worse if you push things too far..... Fly on.