TMZ created over the Whitelee windfarm south of Glasgow
The CAA has announced that a temporary Transponder Mandatory Zone (TMZ) will be established from 15 September until 6 December 2009 over the Whitelee Windfarm, south of Glasgow, to mitigate its effect on the NATS Lowther Hill radar. Windfarms can generate unwanted returns on primary radar and degrade the performance of Secondary Surveillance Radar. The temporary TMZ has therefore been put in place to ensure the wind turbines have no adverse effect on the safety of air traffic in the area. The TMZ will be withdrawn once NATS’ new air traffic control centre at Prestwick comes online in December 2009 with a feed from the new radar station at Kincardine in Fife. This will provide improved coverage of the airspace around the area. The TMZ will extend from surface level to 6,000 feet. Most of the TMZ will be in established Class D airspace with two small areas in uncontrolled airspace. Phil Roberts, Assistant Director of Airspace Policy at the CAA, said: “As the majority of the TMZ covers controlled airspace most aircraft that will be affected are already transponder equipped. The local flying club at Strathaven has been consulted and due to the temporary nature of the restriction are content that there will be no major impact on their operations.” Details of the changes will be published by NOTAM, while the AIP will be amended at AIRAC 12/2009 (19 Nov 2009). A map showing the revised airspace can be found here: www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?categoryid=14&pagetype=90&pageid=10893
