Ed Haywood
En-Route
If a NOTAM falls in the forest and nobody is around to hear it, was it really busted?
Ed Haywood
En-Route
BTW, having been the aerobatic activity myself on numerous occasions, that does NOT shut an airfield down. Typically a practice or contest box will be set up using one side of the runway as a boundary. The dimensions of the box are 1km x 1km x 1km, so approx 3000 feet in length, width and height, with a floor that varies from 1500' to surface depending on the level of competition. The FAA approves the box if it is low level, eg below pattern altitude, and issues a notam to warn pilots of the activity.
The group responsible for the box must have a spotter on the ground watching for traffic, with a hand held radio on CTAF. He will usually be standing next to a judge with a hand held radio on box frequency, clearing acro pilots into the box. When you announce your approach, they will remind you of the activity. Usually ATIS will advise on any changes to the recommended traffic pattern to deconflict with the box, such as a temporary right pattern for one of the runways. If not, you can always ask the spotter what he recommends. He is not a controller and has no authority. He is literally just a dude with a radio on lookout.
Worst case (like your situation), arrive and enter the pattern normally, with plenty of self announcing. The spotter will tell the judge, who will tell the pilot in the box, who will break off his sequence and watch for you. That will annoy them, but it is not an unusual event and has no consequence to you. The box is not any kind of special airspace and has no regulatory authority on non-participating pilots.
If a single runway, a straight in arrival is almost always non-disruptive, since the box will be to the side of the runway. Likewise for a straight in approach to a runway an an angle to to the box runway, if coming from the direction opposite the side of the field where the box is.
The group responsible for the box must have a spotter on the ground watching for traffic, with a hand held radio on CTAF. He will usually be standing next to a judge with a hand held radio on box frequency, clearing acro pilots into the box. When you announce your approach, they will remind you of the activity. Usually ATIS will advise on any changes to the recommended traffic pattern to deconflict with the box, such as a temporary right pattern for one of the runways. If not, you can always ask the spotter what he recommends. He is not a controller and has no authority. He is literally just a dude with a radio on lookout.
Worst case (like your situation), arrive and enter the pattern normally, with plenty of self announcing. The spotter will tell the judge, who will tell the pilot in the box, who will break off his sequence and watch for you. That will annoy them, but it is not an unusual event and has no consequence to you. The box is not any kind of special airspace and has no regulatory authority on non-participating pilots.
If a single runway, a straight in arrival is almost always non-disruptive, since the box will be to the side of the runway. Likewise for a straight in approach to a runway an an angle to to the box runway, if coming from the direction opposite the side of the field where the box is.
N
Notam buster
Guest
Good info for the future. I'm sure that's what happened in my case but the hand-held was so garbled we caught the first part about an aerobatic box per notam, but couldn't make out the rest. Decided to make a 180 before asking for clarification as the radio was broken up so bad and didn't want to cause a bigger issue.
N
Notam buster
Guest
2 closed airports and a third with aerobatic activity. Had 1 of the 3 notams. It was unclear the airport with an aerobatic box was actually open as the guy squawking on the handheld was very broken up. Seeing one go vertical off the end of the runway and getting squawked at for not catching the notam with a badly broken transmission, thought it was best at the time to do a 180 and get out of everyone's way.
Rico Burgos
Pre-Flight
File a NASA