27 September 2003
The political conference season has arrived, and as expected ‘For reasons in the public interest, the Secretary of State for Transport has deemed it necessary to introduce the following Restriction of Flying Regulations…’ so says <a href=”http://www.ais.org.uk/aes/pubs/aip/pdf/aic/4M098.PDF” target=”_blank”>AIC Mauve 88</a>
The AIC refers to a circle with a diameter of 3nm, largely within the Bouremouth CTR/Solent CTA. Essentially, unless you have clearance from ATC you really don’t want to be flying below 3,500′ here between 0300 on the 27th of September and 1700 on the 2nd of October while the Labour Party hold their annual conference.
Although we suspect that it is for security reasons, we prefer to believe that the area has been established to avoid aircraft becoming damaged as a result of excessive gas venting.
Another AIC has also been published for the Conservative Party Conference being held in Blackpool between the 4th and 9th of October <a href=”http://www.ais.org.uk/aes/pubs/aip/pdf/aic/4M099.PDF” target=”_blank”>See here for Mauve 99</a>
