He was inbound, not departing.
The most basic rules of air traffic control dictate that a controller MUST NOT allow another aircraft to enter another controller's airspace without proper coordination.
Do you have a reference for that, for a Class G non radar ATCU?
Handoff from who to who?
Peter, you have missed my point. Of course I know the airspace is uncontrolled. That said it doesn't mean ATC should be disorganised when serving flights at the edge of their area or "sector".
In this case it was clear the pilot wanted a service or else he would have left the frequency.
It is therefore also Shoreham's role to be proactive and not be lazy! Either monitor or ask the pilot to report at some departure VRP at their airspace boundary.
When reached you either initate handoff with adjacent sector or if clear he doesn't want any more service, allow him to leave the radio and get on with his merry way.
The most basic rules of air traffic control dictate that a controller MUST NOT allow their aircraft to enter another controller's airspace without proper coordination.
Because the "standard" of UK private pilot training is judged to be nowhere near good enough to allow the pilots to mix with airliners in the same airspace.
Then clearly UK private pilots are somewhat inferior. Bad teaching/syllabus?
At many places across the globe including at least one country with a very well developed GA population, everyone mixes quite well.
the "standard" of UK private pilot training is judged to be nowhere near good enough to allow the pilots to mix with airliners in the same airspace. Every other country needs the full IR for that.
Are there no European countries that use Class B, versus low altitude Class A, around terminal areas for CAT operations? In the US that statement does not apply for any pilot other than one flying on a student pilot certificate, minus extra training for Class B airspace. I think this is historically linked to the country having rejected the idea of a State owned airline when that was in vogue. All aircraft operations therefore have equal priority in the eyes of the State.
Regardless, people tend to measure up or down to expectations, as the case may be. High expectations produce higher performance, regardless of the certificate held. It's ironic that within political borders where an IR is most needed for airspace access, it's harder to get, maintain and use. The message is obviously "keep out" and it's good there are people stubborn and motivated enough to play that game in their light aircraft.
Handoff from who to who?
The airspace to the east of Shoreham is Class G. Free flying airspace, non-radio, do what you like, VFR or IFR (changeover purely in your head).
Long may it stay that way!
If this guy had been getting a service in there (and Farnborough East is the only radar option, though I guess a masochist could call up London Info) and was aware of his position etc then one could argue there should be a facility for asking Gatwick for a transit. And there is! You can call up Gatwick Director yourself on 126.825, if you have the CAA map with you in which case you can read the numbers straight off that. So actually it is very easy. And Gatwick will give you a transit if
But you will never get a VFR transit of Class A. Changing that is a separate argument.
Let's look at that...
The IMC Rating allows IFR in Class D,E,F,G.
If what is now Class A was say Class D, the IMCR would have never been established.
Why?
Because the "standard" of UK private pilot training is judged to be nowhere near good enough to allow the pilots to mix with airliners in the same airspace.
Every other country needs the full IR for that.
The IMCR works in the UK precisely because the people who use it for IFR are excluded from most of the airspace where they might badly screw up. It is basically a facility for drilling holes in clouds at low level, but one can't use it to climb up high on a Eurocontrol flight plan and fly 300nm at FL150 from Shoreham to Aberdeen.
An IMCR which allowed PPLs to fly through say the LTMA would have been politically squashed before being born.
Certainly a pilot should watch his airspace and request clearances where needed.
But equally Shoreham didn't handoff/co-ordinate with Gatwick, and Gatwick didn't grant a clearance for whatever reason.
Over-classification of airspace?
This and the fact there's so many frequencies to call and overlapping areas of responsibility in the same airspace looks like they're there to catch you out rather than become an enabler of safe and efficient flight.
All this debate is fine but if the guy was busting class A twice then there is very little you can say. He either didn't know or didn't care. Either way, it is a problem. To suggest he should be given a pop up clearance as he wasn't doing much harm is.....a surprising point of view.
When an aircraft does that and is not in touch with a known unit, they assume he could do anything and have to vector aircraft accordingly.
In Europe, you need an explicit clearance for any CAS entry
One of the global differences I notice in Europe is the emphasis on "Controlled Air Space" as a concept. US practice focuses more on the letter of the airspace and there is a tighter correlation between letter and use: for instance all ATC controlled airports are Class D or above and all airports in Class G are totally uncontrolled.
US Class E airspace is "Controlled" only in the sense that ATC services are available, not that ATC contact is mandatory. So the concept of CAS loses its meaning and it becomes better to put aside the CAS concept and focus solely on the airspace class by letter.
Just an observation - its interesting to look at practices and limiting cases to understand how a system works in principle.
Most of the prosecutions are over public transport without an AOC... with a few funny ones like the 20k fine for the "pilot" whose Vari-Ez "vanished" in the SE UK, and later was found teleported in Switzerland, non radar, non radio, non flight plan, non clearance, etc. If he was a UK trained PPL he should have got an award for his navigation skills
A guy I know did something like that in the mid-80s flying an aircraft from the UK to a Spanish off airport movie set. His radio quit shortly after takeoff, and (as he told it to me) he then decided he'd had a long enough delay. He flew low level, stopped once for fuel in France, and then direct. After landing among a lot of other aircraft on site, he headed home on the ground. Nobody ever caught up with him.
Only class B requires a clearance in the US. One must establish radio contact with ATC prior to entering Class C
Thanks for that correction on Class C - I've failed another memory test!
That is a great system but - in the European context - one needs to be aware that it is well sub-ICAO.
Also I don't think the USA has filed a difference to ICAO 
- as with many other differences.
In Europe, you need an explicit clearance for any CAS entry.
France, however, works it informally and they rarely use a formal clearance phrase. But then France has a joined-up radar control system so they know who is doing what, which enables them to be relaxed about it.
For US Classes B & C you need a clearance, for Class D you need only 2-way communication. You can fly coast to coast NORDO given that most US airports (numerically speaking) are uncontrolled with Class E airspace in between. And if all you've got is a handheld, for instance when flying an antique to Oshkosh, you'd probably turn it off en route between ATC controlled airports to save the batteries.
Only class B requires a clearance in the US. One must establish radio contact with ATC prior to entering Class C. Class C requires a transponder with mode C or mode S. Class D only requires establishing radio contact and there is not a transponder requirement.
