I recently posted a video involving a MATZ penetration, and before I go on let's all be honest, we all love a good penetration. Don't we? I But like so much of what I put out, it managed to cause a controversy. A controversy, over a MATZ crossing? Oh yes.
Here's what happened. In the video I call up and request a MATZ penetration. Cue a comment from that ever-present voice of the internet, the airfield armchair pilot (1000+ hours on FlightSim don't you know) who's got it all worked out. There's no need to ask for that, he says. It's military, you can go where you want.
And for a change he's not wrong. Technically. In the MATZ itself, he's got a point. mostly. But I'm not about to argue with the military, for two reasons. One, they fly fast jets, they go a great deal faster than me, and if we ever met in the same bit of sky they'd make a fairly thorough mess of my Cessna. Two, they're the ones with the guns. I make it a firm rule never to argue with anyone who could shoot me. I don't actually think they'd shoot me. But you take my point.
So yes, Mr Commentator, I'm well aware I don't have to ask for a MATZ penetration. I ask because I think it's good airmanship. Let me explain why, and where the armchair brigade is half right and half missing the point.
What is a MATZ?
A MATZ, is a Military Aerodrome Traffic Zone, and it isn't controlled airspace for us civvies. On paper I can fly clean through it without a word to anyone and break no rule at all. That's the bit the commenter has right. The zone exists to protect military aircraft in the circuit and on approach, the fast, busy, head-down phases of flight, and a civil aeroplane barging through unannounced and unknown to anyone is exactly the situation everybody would rather avoid. Which is why the good old CAA strongly recommends you call up for a penetration service. Note that is it recommends. Not requires. Not Demands.
Hidden secrets of the MATZ
Now the bit that tends to get glossed over, unless you are a pilot. Tucked inside most MATZ is an ATZ, an Aerodrome Traffic Zone, a smaller cylinder sat right over the airfield itself. And that one you do need permission for. The rules are plain: an aircraft must not fly within an ATZ unless the pilot has the permission of the air traffic control unit at the aerodrome. A military field has ATC. So while the MATZ around the outside is optional, the ATZ in the middle of it is not. Ask for a MATZ penetration and you've covered both in a single call. That, Mr Commentator, is why "you can go where you want" isn't quite the whole story.
And even if you set the ATZ aside completely, why on earth would I not ask? A penetration service means someone knows I'm there. I stop being an anonymous speck and become a blip somebody's keeping an eye on. If there's an expensive F35 about to roll onto the same approach I'm crossing, I'd quite like us both to be known to the same person. That's worth ten seconds on the radio to me, every single time.
Not all military airfields are equal
The fun bit of all this, and a learning experience is one of my captions also cause a bit of a tizz as I mentioned Benson and Brize in the same sentence. Brize is class D so requires permission to enter. Benson has a MATZ. It was also pointed out that I could have just asked for a 'Basic Service' as an element of good airmanship, and I agree, but at the time we were planning to cross the MATZ.
This, honestly, is the bit I enjoy about putting these videos out. Someone pipes up, and we get to the the education bit. I have to check I'm right and either I learn something or I get to set out why I do what I do. In this case a bit of both. The day we stop learning is the day I should hang the headset up. We should never stop learning. Even from the armchair.
Want to check it yourself?
- UK AIP ENR 2.2, Military Aerodrome Traffic Zones (the MATZ, its dimensions and the penetration service)
- Rules of the Air Regulations 2015, rule 11, the ATZ (older guides still call it rule 45)
- CAP 413, the Radiotelephony Manual, para 3.32, the actual call: establish two-way comms 15nm or 5 minutes out, whichever's sooner
- The Skyway Code (CAP 1535), the CAA's close to plain-English GA guide, if you'd rather not wade through the AIP
