Flying 5-6 times a year in the US and flying in the UK all the time i can tell you its a different ball game, i think the shock for an american will be great just by the fact to minimise accidents we have strict rules!
Radio work is regulated and is standard across the board. There is a good coverage for FIS(flight information Service) Radar Information Service (VFR/IFR) and Radar Advisory service.
No Unicom!

You mentioned airspace this is slightly different not to different but enough. Most major air ports are situated in a Class D set of airspace, minor airfields vary around class E and none.
Heathrow is Class A to the deck (something you dont have anywhere over there) There isnt a huge amount of Class B and i cant think of any Class C, i may be wrong but i dont think there is any class C

Overhead joins are a must no joining the downwind at a 45 as this is dangerous!

Suffice to say, it is different over hear flying isnt a trivial affair – it is still fun, i have flown all around Florida and surrounding areas, Nevada and flown up to Wassington from Florida.

Anything more specific you want to know ill try to help.

RE: Air Marshalls on U.K Flights

There are alot of view but one thing is for sure, they ar here, this is a good thing.
A person trained in anti-terrorist activities will be good overall and will be briefed on how to do it, he/she will be a pro. with the tools required to do the job. Better that than nothing or a greater risk.
Im a pilot and want it. The airlines that dont are mainly concerned with the costs.
A knife is a personal weapon, whilst one person is being stabbed the knife is no longer a threat to anyone else.
If shots have to be fired as a LAST resort an officer will understand the ramifications of that, if there are hostages he can just protect the cockpit until he has a shot or the plane is landed by the pilots, who will be able to radio the ground and fly the aircraft un hindered (which is there 1st responsibility!)

RE: Air Marshalls on U.K Flights

I am a pilot, i think it is a good idea.
There may be problems, but air marshalls on flights are already in service with improved safety.
After all air marshalls are 90% active deterrents and will not look for a fight as they will be professionals, capable of responding accordingly.
Hopefully this will remove the terror the terrorists are trying to instill, and are begining to. Maybe they will focus on other methods – then this option will have worked.
We wont see huge numbers of ‘riots’ in planes, better them being in the aircraft than the aircraft crashing.
This will be almost our last line of defence.
For the most of us we will not notice any difference in anything other than in an emergency when they will help to maintain the correct balance of control.
We wouldnt need anything if these people (broadly used) were nothing but twisted and law breakers.
We need to be pro-active not retro-active. Lets stop them before they stop us.

RE: My thoughts on security

a curtain!
There wouldnt be anything stopping them installing a secondary door that is locked before you come out to use a facility a re-opened for passengers when you are back in the front!

RE: My thoughts on security

The point about the pilots is perfectly valid, it will always prove to be a tricky one.

Sky marshals however, do not need to be armed with the conventional ‘weapons’ It isn’t infeasible to give them stun guns, plastic bullets in real guns etc.
If we remove the opportunity for guns to be brought on board, then they could just have batons. Needing only to be able to defend/protect and arrest, using that favourite term ‘reasonable force’ or ‘force proportional to the risk.’ (and hope it is never tested to the limits!) – better that ‘professionals’, trained, carry out the necessary actions against cabin crew/passengers or even the pilot (then he wouldn’t have to exit the cockpit)

RE: My thoughts on security

There are several valid points made, in the main body and the reply(S)
1. Sky Marshals may be a good idea, why not put one in the cockpit and one in the main cabin, with the cockpit having a CCTV feed from the cabin
2. As a pilot myself, I would never open the door to any hijacker etc, no matter what was going on and who it is. Better to try and save the rest of the people as quickly as possible than to assure everyones death.
3. Im sure that there can be bomb ‘proof’ fabrics/metals manufactured to be light weight and lined the hold as opposed to a single bin, etc; eg kevlar, could help.
There isnt an easy answer and i doubt that we will have 100% security. The old addage ‘were theres a will, theres a way’ sums up the problem.
Lets not forgett, we need to keep the customers happy, safe and encourage them to continue to fly, without impeding their ‘life’ and civil liberties. Without them, there is not point.
At the minute terrorism is winning, because some of us still seem to be living in a constant state of terror.
Looking at removing the main sources, whilst being an awsome task, is, in part, the sollution coupled with improving/maintaining security.