8 May 2013
North Weald has produced a leaflet to help pilots be aware of the TMZ (Transponder Mandatory Zone) to help prevent infringements.
Anyone who attended the recent Safety Day at Duxford will have seen a NATS presentation about TMZ infringements, including the Stansted radar simulator with pop-up traffic entering the zone. As North Weald operates under the eastern edge of the TMZ, with Class D airspace above, and has a lot of inbound and outbound traffic to the west through the TMZ, the airfield is very conscious of its responsibilities to try and minimise airspace busts.
The airfield has produced a ‘Be TMZ Aware’ leaflet. Trevor Jago, Operations Officer at North Weald, explained, “One problem at North Weald is that pilots tend to fly wide circuits, which can drift into the Stasted CTR, so we took to the air and shot some reference pics of the local landmarks to help improve situational awareness for visitors and based pilots alike. The leaflet is configured so that it will fit neatly on a kneeboard.
As well as hard copies, which have also been distributed to other local airfields, the leaflet and newsletter are also available for download as pdf files from our website at <a href=’http://www.northwealdairfield.info’ target=’_blank’>www.northwealdairfield.info</a>, along with our Pilot’s Self Briefing Notes about Airfield procedures, which are currently being updated to incorporate the aerial pictures and circuit cues map.
