It’s not legal to fly aerobatics in plain G-class in Poland. It needs to be done:
- in controlled airspace with ATC permission
- in a TSA/TRA
- in an ATZ with airfield manager’s permission
- within 15km of ATZ boundary with airfield manager’s permission
Another restriction is that to fly aerobatics overhead an airfield, there needs to be a supervisor on the ground equipped with a radio.
It is also forbidden to fly aerobatics below 300m without obtaining special permission from Polish CAA. Advanced aerobatics lower box limit is 200m, so competitors need to apply.
Source: 2013 regulation of Ministry of Transport
What it means for me personally is that I can’t just go for a spin somewhere remote. I always need to ask people at the airfield for permission and typically practice overhead airfield with someone on the ground watching what I’m doing.
Does it make things safer? Hard to say. People can just switch off their transponder…
I always fly with the transponder on. In France we fly mostly overhead the airport. there are also some dedicated aerobatic area’s which you find on the map, but I don’t really like them because most other VFR traffic doesn’t seem to care about those. In Belgium you can fly aerobatics everywhere in class G, the best thing you can do is contact Brussels Information and hope other pilots in the area hear your call or Brussels Info warns them about you.
Overal I think the safest thing to do is fly overhead the airport. It’s easier for other people to watch out for you from the ground, mostly the airports have NOTAM’s telling visitors to expect aerobatics overhead and in case of technical problems, like an engine failure, you can just land at the airport.
