eoincarey
29th Mar 2006, 18:31
Okay, please can you ATC knowledgable chappies hear me out on this one.
Had to drop someone off at a small unnamed airfield in N. England today (for the sake of argument, we'll call it Sheffield City).
Having been the good little pilot, I ascertained it to be an A/G station before I left, and coming from an A/G place myself (Sherburn), felt pretty confident I could handle myself on the radio.
Now I'm not sure if I've misread the rules, or if this guy was just a bit big for his boots, but right from the get go he was acting like he should have been at Heathrow. On the way in, he 'cleared' us to enter via a VRP, then cleared us to land, and then on the way out he got a bit annoyed that we hadnt requested Departure clearance from his holiness. This was because, in my understanding, at an A/G field, all movements are at the PIC's discretion, so i just called him to say I was departing. I was not going to take any clearances from him (firstly because he wasnt qualified to, and because they may have been unsafe).
Can someone please spot check my knowledge on this? Standard A/G service as I remember it (I know because I used to man one) is just airfield information, radio check, and the occassional wind check. Thats it, surely?
Cheers for any advice,
ETC
Had to drop someone off at a small unnamed airfield in N. England today (for the sake of argument, we'll call it Sheffield City).
Having been the good little pilot, I ascertained it to be an A/G station before I left, and coming from an A/G place myself (Sherburn), felt pretty confident I could handle myself on the radio.
Now I'm not sure if I've misread the rules, or if this guy was just a bit big for his boots, but right from the get go he was acting like he should have been at Heathrow. On the way in, he 'cleared' us to enter via a VRP, then cleared us to land, and then on the way out he got a bit annoyed that we hadnt requested Departure clearance from his holiness. This was because, in my understanding, at an A/G field, all movements are at the PIC's discretion, so i just called him to say I was departing. I was not going to take any clearances from him (firstly because he wasnt qualified to, and because they may have been unsafe).
Can someone please spot check my knowledge on this? Standard A/G service as I remember it (I know because I used to man one) is just airfield information, radio check, and the occassional wind check. Thats it, surely?
Cheers for any advice,
ETC