SAFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 27 November | December 2019 are probably most useful for microlight pilots, but if you want all the info, including maps, flight planning documents, weather reports, NOTAMs, and even links to airport weather cams, these apps have it all in place. Unfortunately, this convenience comes at a price. The not so quick, not so easy, but mostly free way of getting this info is as follows: The Airservices Australia publications section has the latest maps, handbooks and documents relating to airspace on their website. Agreeing to the disclaimer on this page [airservicesaustralia. com/aip/aip.asp] will link you to the Airservices Australia Aeronautical Information Package page. The page provides the current and up-coming versions of the document. The most useful out of these for airspace are: Under ‘AIP charts’, the VTC charts which shows airspace and details around the major cities, and the VNC charts which show similar information, but on a wider scale. As an example, let’s look at the airspace for Bright, Victoria: Bright is just off the bottom of the map for the Albury VTC, and too far north-east to appear on the Melbourne, VTC, but it does appear on the Melbourne VNC. Looking at the Melbourne VNC, we can see those concentric circles around Melbourne indicating those ‘upside down layer cake’ layers centred around Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport – and a similar arrangement around East Sale RAAF airbase. Zooming into the map to look at Bright we see this: Bright is in Class G airspace, all the way up to 8500ft. This airspace is denoted by the brown ‘E LL 8500’ and the brown coloured boundary lines. ‘E’ for Class E airspace, ‘LL’ for lower level and ‘8500’ denotes 8500ft AMSL. This Class E airspace goes up to 12500 where there is a layer of Class C airspace- before Class A airspace starts at 18000ft. What this means is that if I’mflying a hang glider or paraglider, I can fly up to 8500ft before I need a VHF radio to contact Melbourne flight information service. (However, powered pilots have to use radio over 5000ft.) The wedge of airspace to the west and north- west of Bright shows the section over Myrtleford is Class G up to a height of 8500ft (the label is off the image area shown above). The next section closer to Albury has a lower limit of 5500ft, then 4500ft as denoted by the blue boundaries and blue labels. But what about the CTAFs at Porapunkah and Mt Beauty? And the airstrip at Mitta Mitta? If these were certified or licensed aerodromes, then pilots would have to have a VHF radio and make radio calls within 10 nautical miles of these aerodromes. So, first we need to look up the status of these aerodromes. For this we use the ERSA on the Airser- vices website. In the ‘Aerodromes’ section of the ERSA, Porepunkah is listed as: Note that this airfield is uncertified (in red), which means that CAR 166 operations at non- towered aerodromes does not apply, but it would be good airmanship to avoid a CTAF if not carrying and using a VHF radio. Why are airspace and VHF radios complimentary? Most aircraft we share the same airspace with are using radios to provide ‘assisted see and avoid’. Research has found that when a pilot is assisted by radio broadcasts to look out for traffic his/her ability to identify and avoid other aircraft is greatly enhanced. Because of this, most other aircraft fly with an expectation that other airspace users will follow the same procedure. Due to the exemptions given to gliders, we do not have to fly with a radio in Class G airspace, but it is safer to do so. Airspace charts provide information about CTAF VHF frequencies and flight information service area frequencies (marked on VNC maps). Using the Airservices documentation will allow you to use the right HF frequency for the airspace you are flying in. Notams Notams are the method used by Airservices Australia to inform airspace users of any changes to airspace usage, activation of any PRD areas or significant aviation activity that may happen in an area – eg: low level flights of military aircraft. It’s always worth checking Notams before flying, even if it’s at your local flying site. We have reports of PG and HG pilots flying at the coast and looking down at military aircraft blasting through the flying site at 200kt – checking Notams is a good thing to avoid such encounters! Summary It is worth spending some time looking over the airspace maps of your favourite sites and the sites you intend flying at. The VTC and VNC charts are free to download. If you’re having trouble visualising what the air- space markings on these maps are trying to convey to you, you might want to try this: ➲ ➲ Download and install Google Earth. ➲ ➲ Download the Australia Airspace file from [3dairspace.org.uk/airspace.html] . ➲ ➲ Open the KML file in Google Earth. ➲ ➲ INavigate to your favourite site and take a look around, you’ll now see those ‘boundaries’ in the air. There are many tools available to help pilots deal with airspace, some varios have an airspace proximity alert and tablets can also provide info while flying. References: [www.airservicesaustralia.com/services/how-air- traffic-control-works/how-airspace-is-managed/ ] [www.nats.aero/static/history-shows-why- modernising-uk-airspace-is-so-vital/ ] [www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/11/a-brief-history- of-airspace-design/ ] [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspace_class ] [www.airservicesaustralia.com/aip/aip.asp ] Adelaide Control Zone boundary at Hallet Cove, SA, in Google Earth