EUROCONTROL EUROPE AIR SPORTS Sporting

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EUROCONTROLEUROPE AIR SPORTSSporting
Recreational Aviation ConferenceGLIDING

• Günter Bertram

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Numbers and types

• Gliders
• 22.000 gliders, 90.000 licensed glider pilots
• Cross country flights up to 1000 km are flown
  (often across borders)
• More than 550.000 km can be flown on a good day
• Modern gliders are equipped with navigation
  systems (GPS), flight recorders, anti-collision
  device (FLARM).
• MTOMlt 850 kg, max 2 POB, some gliders have an
  engine,
• Self Launching (SLG), Self-Sustaining (SSG),
  Touring (TMG)
• _________________________________________

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Regulation

• Gliders
• Regulated at EASA level
• Certified aircraft (CS-22)
• Controlled maintenance
• Pilots hold an ICAO glider pilot license
• Operations strongly organised in gliding clubs
• Community feels over-regulated

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Journey Example

• Glider (860 km flight)

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Thermal airways in Germany
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Glider Characteristics

• Needs a big area to operate and sometimes high
  altitude (wave flying in mountains)
• Equipped with radio, and sometimes transponder
• Manoeuvres better than a balloon, but not as good
  as an airplane, and are unable to maintain an
  altitude

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Glider Characteristics

• Wish to go through controlled airspace on ATC
  clearance or in segregated airspace
• Many gliders may fly together in the same thermal
• The pilots fly to exercise a sport
• Sometimes difficult for the pilot to
  simultaneously communicate with ATC and
  concentrate on staying airborne

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Airspace Problems

• Aerodromes needs
• Easy VFR access to adequate number of
  conveniently located small aerodromes
• Reasonable VFR access to busier aerodromes
• Separate arrival and departure paths and
  procedures for slow and fast aircraft
• Short and/or parallel runways to minimise
  conflict with IFR traffic
• Flexibility in the handling of VFR traffic

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Airspace Problems

• Lower Airspace ( GND - FL95)
• Accommodates most General and Sport aviation and
  aerial work activities
• Middle Airspace (FL 95 - FL195)
• some, but limited activities
• Upper Airspace (195)
• Rarely used, but access required for certain
  activities

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Lower Airspace ( GND - FL95)

• Problems are mainly in the Lower Airspace
• complex patchwork
• restrictive vertical division to controlled
  airspace
• Large, inflexible TMAs
• Sometimes over-controlled by ATC
• Conflicts with high speed military aircraft

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Equipment Issues

• Equipment carriage requirements not harmonised
  across ECAC countries
• Equipment programmes aimed at one specific
  airspace user (commercial IFR) with no
  consideration for other users
• Cost-benefit analysis does not take other user
  groups into account (8.33 kHz radios, Mode S TXPD)

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Equipment Issues

• Wider use of GPS for VFR activities (Galileo ?)
• Lack of forward planing ! (ADS-B)
• Lack of co-ordination between ATM planners
  airspace harmonisation, Modes S, ADS-B, 8.33 kHz

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Technical Limitations

• Limitations on equipment carriage
• Mass
• gliders are weight critical
• Certification
• Equipment certification makes equipment costly
• Maintenance
• Periodical maintenance is expensive
• Electrical Power
• gliders have no generator!
• Need of a low power transponder

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Our concerns for the future

• Lack of sufficient, contiguous, airspace for VFR
  cross country flight (better analyses of VFR
  needs)
• Use of airports not used today (low cost
  carriers)
• Unnecessary complexity of airspace (lack of
  harmonization)
• Cost of equipment (8.33, Mode-S)
• Lack of FUA implementation
• Denial of access (even when equipped and/or
  airspace is unused)
• UAVs