Are you saying there are no Class E CTRs anymore?
gallois wrote:
If you fly at FL055 with pressure at 964hp you are flying at altitude 4177ft (country dependent exam question) or 4030ft (mental arithmatic).
So if you are flying above altitude of 4030 ft with 964 set you risk busting a FL 055 CAS without clearance.
It the transition altitude is 4,000 ft that is correct. But if the transition altitude is 4,500 ft it is not a bust.
Below the TA, you always fly using the QNH, and below the TA no useable flight level exists. If a flight level is below the TA, it cannot be flown as a FL. In addiion, IFR traffic in that CAS will not be cleared to a FL below the transition level. The transition level in Europe is ALWAYS at least 1,000ft above the TA. All of this is documented in ICAO docs.
However, there is a second issue mentioned by Peter in this thread – if you fly from an area with a high transition level into one with a lower transition level – you now can find yourself at a FL that is unexpectedly high, so in this example if the TA goes down from 5,000ft to 3,000 ft (several places in the UK) and the CAS floor “raises” from 4,500ft QNH to FL055, gallois would instantly bust as soon as they cross that boundary.
The practical way to prevent this is to change the altimeter couple of minutes before you enter that area with the different TL, so you see the FL/altitude you will fly shortly, and adjust the altitude accordingly.
Should we not change the title of this thread? Even over here I sometimes hear warnings not to fly into “controlled airspace” without a clearance. This ignores that airspace E is controlled but no clearance required for VFR. What would be the correct term? “VFR clearance required airspace” ?
Maybe, but you get “edge cases” like being able to fly IFR in Class G, yet you get no entitlement to anything. There are e.g. French prohibited zones which can be entered under IFR but the concession requires “under ATC direction”.
gallois wrote:
Are you saying there are no Class E CTRs anymore?
I’m not saying that, but I’m saying there are not supposed to be any. 
(And actually I don’t know of any – In Europe, that is.)
SERA.6001(a)(5): ……Class E shall not be used for control zones.
This one was uploaded today, surprised it’s not on EuroGA already (or did I just miss it?)
I have to say I am a bit tired of the “politically correct” editorial line of these videos:
- If you bust airspace it’s 100% your fault, ALWAYS.
- You deserve to be “shame-walked” naked all the way down the High Streat while angry peasants spit on you.
- Be thankful you got to keep your licence!
The compulsion to prostrate themselves to authority is surely a bit of a turn off.
It’s never occurred to me to use GPS altitude for anything in a plane, except maybe for reference in some kind of emergency. I don’t display it on the screen.
Alpha_Floor wrote:
This one was uploaded today, surprised it’s not on EuroGA already (or did I just miss it?)
You missed it… Link
I can’t imagine how anybody would rationalize making airport tower controlled airspace Class E – it would mean by the definition of Class E that airport ATC would be optional for VFR traffic!
I discovered the ‘Nrst Baro’ quasi-instrument feature on Foreflight today while thinking about this thread. In flight and where available it utilizes ADS-B IN data to provide altimeter settings from the nearest airport so you can keep your real altimeter set correctly without much effort. In the US that ground based inflight weather data is available just about everywhere where you’d be concerned about Class D or up airspace. Very handy and a whole lot better than ineffectually trying to use GPS geometric altitude to the same effect, or grappling with TA below 18K feet as a regulatory work around for altimeter data being unavailable. Also better than manually getting the ATIS data.
@Cobalt IIUC the questipn from the OP was that you.are flying along in say Class G, your QNH is 964 your altitude is 4500ft. There is CAS above you starting at FL055.
Are.you comitting an infraction.
Some say that is an impossible situation, I agreed with that if the UK uses the semi circular rule.
Mathematically speaking if not, it would be possible in such conditions to inadvertantly enter CAS without a clearance and commit an accidental infringement.
TA and TL has nothing to do with this as you would not be entering CAS by climbing which is normally where you would change your altitude setting.to FL. I tend to change settings on clearance from ATC to a FL and the inverse in.descent. However, it is not what I understood the question to be.
You guys have totally lost me.
A bust is if you are within CAS shown on the VFR chart. Simple! Nothing to do with TA or TL or semi rules.
