"Dear sir,
This is a request for confirmation that you were the pilot of aircraft 'CI-RCUS' a Piper PA28-140 flying in the vicinity of the Circus Airport on May 5th at 15:00 GMT.
At that time and in that place, the said aircraft was observed being operated in violation of the Aeronautical Act, Minimum Altitude Order by flying below 500 feet above ground off the end of Circus Airport Runway 24.
Confirm that you were the pilot of the said aircraft at the said time and place and show cause as to why action should not be taken against you.
Sincerely,
Regional Superintendent of Air Regulation
Department of Transport"
I had received the above as a double-registered letter. It came two weeks after I’d had an on-air run-in with an air traffic controller.
I was new to the Circus Airport. Apparently certain prearranged codes between flying schools and control towers that were used to indicate practice emergency procedures in the circuit were not the same at all airports. This led to some confusion during a flying lesson that put me at cross purposes with a particularly uptight tower operator. He didn't handle it well. Neither did I.
I showed the letter to Henry, my partner in our new flying school at the Circus Airport. I had already explained the screw-up with the codes to him.
"The pinch for 'low flying' is shaky," he said handing the letter back. "Low flying is allowed during training."
"That's what I thought but who wants to go to bat against the Department of Transport?"
"You do. You don’t want to pay a fine or have your licence suspended.”
“I know, but I can’t fight this. We can’t afford a lawyer even if we knew one familiar with air regulations.”
“We don’t need a lawyer,” he answered patiently. “You fly with your next student. I'll draft a reply."
When I returned, Henry showed me what he had written.
"Dear Sir;
In reference to your letter of May 25.
I was the pilot of the said aircraft on the said date and time and at the said place.
At the time I was low-flying off the end of the Circus Airport Runway 24 while executing a declared engine-failure training exercise with a student pilot.
Engine-failure training exercises are required by the Private Pilot training curriculum, which is set by your department and is allowed under the Aeronautics Act. If this has changed, please notify me immediately. I train students every day and plan to continue to low-fly during the exercises where it is required.
At The Flying Circus, we announced the engine-failure training exercises conducted near the airport through a code learned at another airport. I am appalled to discover that these codes differ from one airport in your region to another. I recently moved to the Circus Airport, and the inconsistency of the codes placed me in a potentially dangerous situation where the Circus air traffic controller had no idea what I was doing.
Please notify me when this oversight by your department has been rectified.
As chief flying instructor of The Flying Circus, I have suspended the use of training codes by my staff at all airports until we receive notice of their standardization.
cc: The Supervisor, Circus Airport ATC
Air Traffic Controller Union
Minister of Transport"
"This is fantastic! Where did you learn to do stuff like this?"
Henry just smiled and shrugged.
“You don’t think it’s a bit over the top?”
“The best defence is offence.”
"I'm going to enjoy working with you."
I sent the letter and never heard a thing. I did not receive a follow-up to the low-flying investigation and there was no change to the system of codes circulated. I complained about this to Henry.
"Call them up, if you want, and ask what happened to your violation," he said with a laugh.
"I think I deserve a reply but I don't want to stir them up."
"I'd suggest they're counting on it," he said. "Better to let sleeping dogs lie."
