Bonus points for Peter: try to find out how a H1 approach would work from the Jepp chart
Why do you think I did the IR? 
Jan_Olieslagers wrote:
And regarding the thread subject: looking on from a distance, in several senses, it seems to me that LSZH has been less unfriendly to small G/A than most other airports of its size/importance, and is now catching up with them.
That’s very true. Which other hub airport (in Europe) let’s you put down your small SEP a) at all and b) for that little money? Considering the general price level in Switzerland, it’s still dirt cheap! Shame if that changed, though.
From what I can see, the only one who has run through the test so far thinks it’s quite useful. So let’s not overstate the relevance of this briefing towards the vendetta of those wanting to rid ZRH of small GA.
tomjnx wrote:
One of the worst near accidents recently was when tower cleared two aircraft for take-off at the same time on intersecting runways. It was only because one of the crews wasn’t asleep that saved the day. The reason for this was reportedly that tower was distracted by a VFR flight. That VFR flight was, drumroll, the navchecker. That example is often used to justify why VFR should be banned in LSZH…
Jesus wept… I did not know that one. (the nav checker part). The one I am aware of is when a FI who is actually an ATCO in main profession got in the way of an airliner while doing rather non standard circuits.
tomjnx wrote:
There was an accident….
I know. Friend of mine is working hard to getting this revoked but if you read the last Aerorevue….
tomjnx wrote:
I witnessed quite a few crews with very poor RT skills, but these were all commercial crews
True. That has not changed much.
Whenever I am at work the radio is on. Sometimes you do get VFR folks calling in who make me cringe with discomfort when I hear their totally incoherent babble. I recall that once the Tower crew simply sent the guy packing after trying 3 times to give him an entry clearance. THIS is the kind of stuff which really hurts us in ZRH and elsewhere and makes me wonder how a guy like that passed his RT exam and his LP4.
Peter wrote:
to not have to find impossible-to-find VRPs
That is a point really, but only if you don’t have a possibility to get them into your GPS. I do transfer all my Easy VFR plans into my 695 and since these are a piece of cake.
Sometimes I even program the lot into the GNS430 as user waypoints and then can sit back and watch the AP flying the whole arrival and departure on GPSS.
The more modern Garmin handhelds all have the official VRPs. I checked this out in a pilot shop here, when doing my VFR Europe presentation in 2012.
Not being able to find VRPs is a huge issue, and a few (fortunately few) ATCOs exploit this, to take the p1ss out of visiting foreign pilots. It is also a good way to hide one’s lack of ELP; still a common issue in ATC in some countries. I would never fly anywhere VFR (or cancel IFR) unless I was 100% sure in this department.
My KMD550 MFD has them too, which was why I didn’t got for the Garmin 430+530 option – a decision I may have regretted a few times since 
This is really quite terrible, both by the aerodrome operator and the standards to which pilots are being trained to / being maintained.
If we’ve passed your PPL and still current, we should be pretty capable of flying into and out of aerodromes of all sizes.
Simplicity and cost effectiveness is what makes GA thrive.
Not hundreds of convoluted procedures to follow in various documents, training programs, mandatory handling and security fees.
Have a look here: we are talking about the 21st busiest airport in the world (based on passengers, based on flights it’s lower but still high). It is made for airliners, not for GA. In spite of all the problems and attempts to shut GA down, we are still extremely welcome in comparison with others (I don’t hear a lot of SEPs landing in Charles de Gaulles, Munich or Heathrow). The prices are also pretty acceptable for Switzerland (landing with a P28A is less than 50 bucks while the same one in St. Gallen would be 75 and Munich will probably be 10 times more). Also things work pretty well if you don’t make stupid things.
It’s actually very nice to have a training course. Only the mandatory test and its repetition is not nice but otherwise I would say Zurich is a very welcoming airport for GA.
JFK is busier and has no such convoluted procedures – I can still fly in easily, drop off passengers or do other things and come back out.
I don’t think it’s fortunate or lucky that we are still allowed to fly into such places like Zurich. Much rather it should be seen as ‘business as usual’ – aerodromes must remain an integral part of the GA transport infrastructure and should not unreasonably drive out certain types of air traffic.
Without GA and its proud history, there wouldn’t have been the airline industry today.
With the exception of Heathrow and Gatwick and a small handful of others, there remains plenty of room to fit various GA onto many runways and aprons today.
James_Chan wrote:
JFK is busier and has no such convoluted procedures
From what I’ve seen and read, the attitude towards GA in the US is generally much different (more positive). I hope to have the chance to fly there one day.
Vladimir wrote:
From what I’ve seen and read, the attitude towards GA in the US is generally much different (more positive). I hope to have the chance to fly there one day.
You may view it as:
One drives a car for 4 people and the other drives a bus for 50 people … And both use the same road and the same parking lot.
The difference is that – unlike a bus – for the big airplanes a huge infrastructure has been created to control their movement. And with that and the sheer amount of passengers come issues that were not there before. If busses were that popular as airliners, with the small car you would equally have similar problems at eg. the greyhound station.
The difference in attitude is that the US has rule that make sure that airports of any size need to be seen and treated as public transportation infrastructure. Doesn’t apply to your own personal landing strip, which is also allowed and does exist even in large metropolitan areas.
