Conversely I was on a bloody long final, courtesy of the
aforementioned ATC sending me halfway to Hamilton**, getting closer and closer
to the runway. Silence. More silence. Not even any other traffic on the
frequency. I got on short final and then politely requested permission to hit
the deck.
Maybe he was just having a bad day. He seemed to be even more
behind the plane than I usually am. He was describing my position to other traffic
incorrectly. ID ing me as the Cessna in the downwind when I`d already turned
base etc.
That flight in general gave me a good workout up there. Reasonable
high traffic, slowly lowering cloud base, simulated engine failures, dicey ATC
and extremely variable winds.
I loved every minute of it!
*Bob obviously has picked up on my subtle hints and now requests
JES for me as standard.
** We reckon I flew a 5 mile final leg!
Since I live in Hamilton... New Zealand... that's quite a leg you flew! :)
ReplyDeleteI learned a sneaky trick to deal with verbose ATC. It's called, "Say again for JES?" Most ATC baulk at having to repeat themselves so will normally cut out the irrelevant stuff and give you a concise instruction the second time around, which is what you wanted in the first place. Get Bobs opinion on this before you try it though!
Neat trick but probably not going to help in this case. I can cope with the wordy crap coming my way. I can filter out what I need. The problem is two fold. One, he takes so long telling everyone that the frequency is permanently congested meaning your calls come in late etc and two, because you have to filter out most of what he's saying it really screws with my situational awareness, which used to be pretty darned good!
ReplyDeleteMeh, I live it's just I cringe when I hear his voice!