Low altitude
Low-altitude flight is the continuous flight of an aircraft between 10 m and 600 m altitude.
Military low flight
The military low-level flight with combat aircraft serves to fly under the airspace control radar and to avoid enemy fire . Flying below is based on the fact that natural obstacles between the control radar and the aircraft make radar contact with the aircraft impossible.
During the Second World War , low-flying was used to increase the accuracy of the hit by shortening the distance to the target. The penetration power was increased when shooting at armored targets . In addition, because of the shorter flight time of his projectiles , a shooter sees earlier whether he is hitting the desired target or whether he has to correct the direction of the shot.
A low-flying aircraft has a higher surprise effect. He is longer in the cover of visual obstacles on the approach. Often a low-flying aircraft is already out of sight of a rifleman or an anti-aircraft gun before they can get ready to fire.
Situation in Germany
Until 1990
In the Federal Republic of Germany , the natural gaps in the radar coverage were covered by small radar units from the TMLD . However, they could not have responded quickly enough in the limited time available for route guidance. This meant that defensive fire and interceptor missiles could largely have been avoided in low-level military flight.
At the time of the Cold War , low-level flights were in the entire federal territory with the exception of areas near military facilities, civil airports, industrial plants and a 50 km wide strip along the border with the GDR and the ČSSR at altitudes of 500 to 1500 feet (approx. 152 to 457 Meters). In addition, there were seven so-called low - flying zones for low -level flight exercises by NATO air forces (including in the Borken, Cloppenburg, Nördlingen, Holzminden, Schneverdingen and Itzehoe area) with an altitude of 250 to 500 feet (approx. 76 to 152 meters) above the ground, with approximately the speed of sound were carried out.
The minimum altitude of 800 feet (approx. 244 meters) applied to the F-104 G Starfighter fighter aircraft from 1967 to April 1980. By April 1980, this altitude was adopted for the F-4F and RF-4E Phantom II combat aircraft .
In 1986 around 87,000 low-level flights were recorded by the Federal Ministry of Defense, including around 32,000 by the Bundeswehr.
Due to the continuing noise pollution for the population, Defense Minister Gerhard Stoltenberg presented a new low-level flight concept for the Luftwaffe to the Defense Committee of the German Bundestag on September 28, 1989 . He refused a complete cessation of the low-level flights, which the opposition from the SPD and the Greens are demanding, because, according to his words, this would call into question the ability of the Federal Republic of Germany to form alliances. The low-level flight concept provided for a reduction in aircraft noise . This should be achieved by reducing the airspeed from 820 km / h to 778 km / h, which, according to the Ministry of Defense, leads to a reduction in aircraft noise by up to 25%. A third of all interception exercises in low flight are to be raised from 150 meters to 450 meters. A reallocation of the low-altitude areas was subject to the approval of the federal states.
After 1990
Due to the changed threat situation after 1990, these were initially reduced. The success of the exercise is already low today, since the autopilot of the machines used includes automatic terrain tracking. The minimum altitude has been increased from 500 to 1000 feet (approx. 150 m to 300 m). The low flight areas, where aircraft were allowed to fly up to 250 feet (75 m) above the ground, were abolished.
The German-Soviet stationing and withdrawal agreement of September 1990 stipulated for the new federal states that Soviet pilots could practice low-level flights of up to 600 meters from Monday to Thursday until 8 p.m. and on Friday until 3 p.m. Low-level flights were prohibited on weekends and public holidays. In addition, the Soviet Air Force was only allowed to fly low below 300 meters over sparsely populated areas.
Exceptions for flights below 1000 feet (300 m) also existed due to alliance obligations for the squadrons of the Allied Command Europe Mobile Forces (AMF) and from 1995 to 2010 for the crisis reaction forces of the Air Force (limited to 700 flight hours annually) as well as for the preparation and Implementation of the NATO “Tactical Leadership Program (TLP)” course (limited to 800 flight hours per year). Around 100 flight hours were also allowed to maintain the technical operational capability and flights of the military technical departments of the Bundeswehr. As a result of the Second Gulf War, there was also a special permit for the British and US air forces from September 1, 1990 to January 4, 1991.
In 1993 and 1994 the quota of low flight hours for the “Tactical Leadership Program (TLP)” was reduced and 124 and 161 flight hours respectively were available for the NATO maneuvers “Central Enterprise” and “ Cold Fire ”.
From 1992 to 1994, the number of flight hours the Bundeswehr took at low altitude between 1,500 feet (450 m) and 1,000 feet (300 m) decreased from 7,152 hours to 6,057 hours. Allied forces reduced their low-level flights between 1500 feet (450 m) and 1000 feet (300 m) from 12,744 to 6,100 flight hours. The Bundeswehr's low-level flights at altitudes between 500 and 1000 feet increased from 375 to 806 flight hours. The lowest flights in the range of 250 to 500 feet decreased from 619 to 28 flight hours over the same period.
Current regulations based on the Aviation Act are published in the Military Aviation Handbook Germany .
In Germany there are eight low-altitude areas between 1500 feet (450 m) and 1000 feet (300 m):
- Area 1: German-Dutch border-Wardenburg-Bassum-Twistringen-Barnstorf-Vechta-Lohne-Haselünne (except: Cloppenburg, Dinklage, Friesoythe, Großenkneten, Haren (Ems), Löningen, Papenburg, Quakenbrück, Wildeshausen)
- Area 2: Ochtrup-Burgsteinfurt-Schermbeck-Wesel-Rees-Isselburg-Bocholt-Rhede-German-Dutch border (except: Ahaus, Borken, Coesfeld, Gescher, Hamminkeln, Nottuln, Reken, Stadtlohn, Velen, Vreden)
- Area 3: Finnentrop-Meschede-Bestwig-Olsberg-Willingen-Bad Driburg-Bad Hermannsborn-Steinheim (Westphalia) - Lügde-Bodenwerder-Uslar-Beverungen-Biedenkopf-Laasphe-Hilchenbach-Kreuztal-Olpe-Attendorn (except: Bad Arolsen, Bad Berleburg, Brakel, Dassel, Höxter, Holzminden, Kirchhundem, Korbach, Lennestadt, Marsberg, Schmallenberg, Stadtoldendorf, Warburg, Winterberg)
- Area 4: Rügen, Wolgast, Templin, Nauen, Osterburg, Rostock, Damgarten (ED-R 401 - since Oct. 17, 2013)
- Area 5: Rotenburg (Wümme) -Scheessel-Zeven-Soltau-Visselhövede (except: Schneverdingen, Tostedt)
- Area 6: Meldorf-North Sea Coast-Nortorf-Fuhlendorf-Elmshorn-Glückstadt (except: Heide, Itzehoe, Kellinghusen)
- Area 7: Crailsheim-Ellwangen-Donauwörth-Eichstätt-Roth-Ansbach (except: Bopfingen, Dinkelsbühl, Feuchtwangen, Gunzenhausen, Nördlingen, Treuchtlingen, Weißenburg)
- Area 8: Nörvenich-Mechernich-Schleiden
Compliance with the regulations on low-level flights was monitored by the German Armed Forces until 2006 using the Skyguard radar system , which can be deployed quickly . Since 2007, the monitoring has been carried out by the central flight control ZFA in Cologne-Wahn.
Two F-15s flying low
Lockheed C-130 over Gabon
Low civilian flight
The minimum flight altitude for civil aircraft is generally regulated by European law. The Standardized European Rules of the Air (SERA) specifies the minimum flight altitude for the European Union in SERA.5005 letter f . It is 300 m (1000 ft) over cities and built-up areas, and 150 m (500 ft) over other stretches of land and water for flights under visual flight rules . These heights may only be undercut for take-off and landing . The deviation from the minimum flight altitude can be approved by the responsible aviation authority in accordance with Section 37 of the Aviation Ordinance (LuftVO) . For gliders , hang-gliders and paragliders , for which it is necessary due to the design, the minimum flight height may not be exceeded. The same applies to agricultural flights and fire extinguishing operations , where flights are regularly flown at an altitude of 10 m. A special form is the downwash flight with helicopters, in disaster control and agricultural flight.
With hang-gliders and paragliders , low-level flight is often the norm, as thermal and dynamic updrafts can be optimally used, especially on slopes .
Extreme low-altitude flight is practiced as part of aerial acrobatics , with altitudes as low as one meter. The same applies to the operation of ground-effect vehicles .
Low-altitude flight as part of a flight demonstration
Agricultural aircraft PZL-106 flying low
Fire-fighting aircraft at low altitude
F-86 Saber at an air show
Harassment
Low-flying aircraft create a nuisance that is not accepted by large parts of the population. In Switzerland , for example, a popular initiative was submitted with the aim of completely banning low-level military flights in the tourist regions . The initiative was rejected.
In Mecklenburg, the citizens' initiative Freier Himmel eV successfully fought against the planned low flight corridors north and south of the Müritz region from 2002 to 2009. The Federal Ministry of Defense was defeated by the plaintiffs from Mecklenburg and Brandenburg in more than 20 legal proceedings. In 2009 Freie Himmel eV and BI Freie Heide received the Regine Hildebrand Prize from the Solidarity Foundation.
There are numerous associations that stand up against the pollution caused by aircraft noise .
hazards
Due to the proximity to the ground, the reaction time in the event of a technical defect is short. The likelihood of accidents is higher than in other flight operations.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://dipbt.bundestag.de/doc/btd/11/065/1106578.pdf
- ↑ ENR 1.15 Low Level Flights (PDF; 137 kB), Office for Air Traffic Control of the Bundeswehr, published on December 13, 2012. Archived from the original on July 29, 2007 ; accessed on February 16, 2015 .
- ↑ Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 923/2012 - Establishing common air traffic rules and operating rules for air traffic control services and procedures (SERA)
- ↑ Voting result at the Swiss Federal Chancellery