Craig Batt 904268 Posted December 21, 2009 at 10:46 PM Posted December 21, 2009 at 10:46 PM (edited) I am a bit confused as to the rationale for Gl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] G airports with Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E airspace surrounding it. Why not just cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ify the airport as Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E. For example, look at the Witchita sectional http://skyvector.com/?ll=38.509796,-107.894243&chart=18&zoom=3 [modify - A reader informed me that I linked to the wrong sectional, Tks) KITR (Kit Carson) has Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E airspace encircling it. KGLD (Goodland) has Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E airspace encircling it as well as Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E surface area Both have IAPs (hence the Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E airspace), but why does GLD have a Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E surface area. I must be missing something obvious here. Thanks in advance for any insight. Edited December 22, 2009 at 09:37 PM by Guest Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold Rutila 974112 Posted December 21, 2009 at 11:17 PM Posted December 21, 2009 at 11:17 PM Hey there, Craig, From what I've been taught in my private pilot courses, it's all about the weather minimums. Essentially, in order to protect a potentially high volume of traffic, you don't want VFR pilots flying in the pattern or otherwise around the airport with the minimums of Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] G airspace (1 mile and "clear of clouds" during the daytime) when there is IFR traffic coming in and out of the airport as well. The minimums of Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E (3 SM visibility and 500 feet below, 1,000 feet above. 2,000 feet horizontal separation from clouds) allow this mix of IFR and VFR to happen more safely. The AOPA has a pretty good tutorial about the introduction of the Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E within Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] G here: http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/sa02.pdf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Baxter 920557 Posted December 22, 2009 at 12:55 AM Posted December 22, 2009 at 12:55 AM Not only that what Harold says, but also the surface echo requires a weather observer to be present making them expensive. In my observation Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E to 700 is to designed to protect instrument approaches usually, and E-1200 is used in areas with limited traffic or for airways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Batt 904268 Posted December 22, 2009 at 09:26 PM Author Posted December 22, 2009 at 09:26 PM the surface echo requires a weather observer to be present making them expensive It makes no sense to me to surround an airport with cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E without taking it down to surface. That part of your response, explains why it's not. $$$$. Thanks Jason, that was what I was looking for. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Johns Posted December 23, 2009 at 05:08 PM Posted December 23, 2009 at 05:08 PM I am a bit confused as to the rationale for Gl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] G airports with Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E airspace surrounding it.Why not just cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts]ify the airport as Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E. For example, look at the Witchita sectional http://skyvector.com/?ll=38.509796,-107.894243&chart=18&zoom=3 [modify - A reader informed me that I linked to the wrong sectional, Tks) KITR (Kit Carson) has Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E airspace encircling it. KGLD (Goodland) has Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E airspace encircling it as well as Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E surface area Both have IAPs (hence the Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E airspace), but why does GLD have a Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E surface area. I must be missing something obvious here. Thanks in advance for any insight. The PDF given above does a fine job of describing the segregation aspect of VFR/IFR aircraft in relation to Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E/G airspace. However, there's a lot left over from the olden days when FSS was everywhere. Check out this list from 1964 http://www.atchistory.org/History/FacilityPhotos/FSS_Dir/FSS_List1964.htm For example, if you go to SkyVector.com and search INK (Winkler County, TX), then search LRU (Las Cruces, NM). There's really no practical reason why INK would NEED a Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E surface area in comparison to the busier LRU. INK doesn't even have an ILS, where LRU does. But indeed, INK used to have an FSS on field which has long since disappeared, while LRU never did. Same idea with TCS and many others on that list I'm sure (though I doubt it's a universal rule by any means). Airspace is subject to change, but often it remains static for no particular reason. Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E (formerly Control Zones), as stated above, did require a weather observer, which before ASOS/AWOS basically meant having an FSS on field. The FSS would be responsible for weather and airport information for inbound aircraft. ATC would be required, in fact, to p[Mod - Happy Thoughts] inbound information to airports with active FSS and let pilots switch to the airport advisory freq in time for the FSS to provide airport information. As well, they would have an LOA with the center regarding control of SVFR within the airspace, and they would issue the clearances as necessary for aircraft operating within or transiting the Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E surface area, releasing airspace back to the center when the SVFR operations were complete. Nowadays an ASOS/AWOS counts as an official weather observer, so when they were placed on the field, they were allowed to retain their Cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] E surface area status. For whatever reason, despite automated stations being ubiquitous, airspace cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts]es haven't really changed much. After all, this is the federal government you're dealing with here... bureaucracy doesn't really make sense a lot of the time. ~Nate Nate Johns "All things are difficult before they are easy." - Dr. Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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