One of the things that you have to do before you go flying is check the NOTAMs and weather. Just to make sure that the weather is good to go and that there haven’t been any rule changes since your last flight.
Typical NOTAMs would read
ACFT LDG RWY 16 OR DEP RWY 34 SHOULD EXERCISE CTN DUE TO POSSIBLE MOBILE OBST, DUE ROAD CONSTRUCTION WORK TO THE NORTH OF AD, UNDER APPROACH PATH. RWY MAY BE CLOSED BY NOTAM.
Which translates to: if landing on runway 16 or departing from 34 should be aware that about 50 yards from the end of the runway there’s a building site: plz to pay attention to it.
All the usual good stuff, yes?
How about this one then, that was found when I checked this morning:
COMBAT WEAPON SYSTEMS TRIAL. A DA20 ACFT OVER THE SEA WI AN AREA xxxxxxxx (D509, MULL OF KINTYRE, AILSA CRAIG LIGHT).
TRIALS ACFT MAY BE UNABLE TO COMPLY WITH RULES OF THE AIR. TFC INFO MAY BE OBTAINED ON xxx.xxx MHZ (PRI) OR xxx.xx (SEC). CONTACT OPS OFFICER HMS DARING VIA WHITHALL OPERATOR
Ah. So I’ll be avoiding flying below 10 thousand feet around the Mull of Kintyre, then. Not that keen on finding myself in the middle of a live fire exercise….
Once again, this is a post that will be of no interest to anyone at all bar myself. But it’s another of those moments when I feel all tingly – it’s the first actual interesting NOTAM I’ve come across, rather than ones that are just informative.
I find these posts interesting. But only because they enable me to say stuff to Bert like, “Guess what Ed’s been doing today?” and then when I tell him watch him with evil pleasure as he looks sour and says, “Lucky bastard.”
Ah, the basis of all good marriages: taunting and gloating.
You never cease to amaze me. Such wisdom. Such insight. And you so young.
I know, I really am something special amn’t I?
I would have thought that notice would have attracted you to the area like wasps to honey. I mean, they even tell you who to call to ask for an invite!
Clearly the words of a man who isn’t fully aware of the structural integrity of a Robinson R-22 helicopter…