Wednesday, October 14, 2009

What defines a plonker???

The map shows the tracks of two gliders getting established over the Papamoa hills before heading off to the SE. The airspace in question is the small slice that runs up from Te Puke at 2500ft. When Area Alpha is open you have the illogical situation of the airspace dropping from 4500ft to 2500ft and then back to 3500ft. Both gliders received clearances into the Rotora Class D above 3500ft. The width of the slice where the gliders crossed Class 251 is 900 meters for one track and 3200 meters for the other. One could be fairly certain no IFR traffic would be vectored into that space while gliders were about and none would want to desend to 2500ft over the Papamoa Hills with rise to 2000plus ft in that area. Further the gliders were still under control from Tauranga. Interestingly, when one of the gliders recieved a clearance it was for 4500ft to 6000ft which required a climb of 1000ft to get into that band. Maybe we should send Airways a picture of a glider so that they can appriecate the lack of an engine... So whats the problem Airways...

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