Dave Gittins: you're right on several counts... it's not a big deal (just a bit of work-avoidance by PPRuNing really
!), and so something to chat about as much as anything!
I think you're also right in that from her point-of-view it's a pragmatic point to choose on the map in that it's a "yellow bit".
The only slight problem for me was (apparently) mis-hearing what the nice lady said (my wife says I do this all the time when women are speaking...
), and wasting my time hunting for a VRP on the map when I should have been looking for for a town.
When flying in Australia I recall being told sometimes to "report at (whatever)
township", which gives the clue to look for a twon rather than a VRP on the map. So maybe if she had said "report at <garbled-name> town/village/etc, 11NM NE" I would have understood.
But hey, in the scheme of things, it's a small problem! It's just that it reminded me of a handful of other times when I've been looking for the bl**dy VRP that ATC have told me to report at, with out finding it on my map.
I kind-of like how they do it in France, with their multitudes of "N", "NE", NE-A", "NE-B" etc. style reporting points sometimes found: the names are unambiguous, can be prounounced phonetically thereby accomodating foreigners better(!), and are more easily found on the map by those not familiar with the local area as they are highlighted as VRP's, and there is a clue as to their bearing from the field embedded within the name itself..!
Of course, things like "piers" etc are great and unambiguous (at least for mother-tongue English - or even 'Strine - speakers).
Anyway, I've enjoyed the chat! And if it was a real ATC gripe I'd have posted on the ATC forum
Cheers all!
Andy
