photofly wrote:This is neither discretionary nor difficult. Every PPL gets tested on this stuff, so if you don't know it now, it's because you forgot.
You make a good point. I fully admit to having forgotten this. To some extent, i'll attribute it to the lower mainland airspace, where you're hardly more than 20 miles from another airport at any one time... And for me, calling up 5 minutes before entering the MF area means calling up 20 miles out. Flying from Abbotsford to Chilliwack, I would need to be broadcasting my intentions on the YCW MF before leaving the zone at YXX.
And If you know it and don't do it, you're lazy. Just give the estimated time of landing, at least five minutes before you enter the MF zone, but more if you wish.
I guess a *lot* of pilots need re-training, myself included. I have not, in the 20 years i've been flying, heard anyone estimate a landing time on frequency.
A position report is not a substitute, nor is your estimated remaining enroute time.
And yet, this is what people in my region do. Remember, i'm talking weekend VFR pilots, not commercial pilots going cross-country.
When GPS' with ETE, ETA, etc. weren't invented yet, I understand why a clock would be useful. Fuel checks, ground speed checks, etc. all make perfect sense. But we've got better equipment in our aircraft now that have changed the playing field. We have magnetometers that are a lot more accurate than whiskey compasses, we've got GPS' that give us much better SA than we ever had with maps, and we have transponders and (soon) ADS-B to help avoid other traffic. Aircraft no longer have dial clocks on the panel, many don't have discrete digital ones either... With a GPS they are a few clicks away if needed.
I'll try broadcasting an ETA 5 minutes from the zone/20 miles out from the airport on my next flight to an MF. This is something i'm surprised Nanaimo hasn't picked up on... They're usually the first ones to criticize when you make an error on frequency.
