So the UK has filed a difference with ICAO. Very nice. However, it is the responsibility of the UK to ensure that their local difference does not in any way affect aircraft operating in airspace outside the UK. Since radio waves don't simply stop at the FIR boundary, many aircraft who are not at any time in UK airspace have to suffer the practice pan waffle.
So practice pan calls are to provide the student with essential practice and many agree that the calls are rambling with the inexperienced student unsure of what to say.
That in itself is much of the problem;
The student is so worried that they may not use the correct R/T words in the correct sequence that they eh and am and pause to think making the whole thing a shambles. This perception that some ATC person whill require exact wording in an emergency call to say that they are lost would indeed discourage inexperienced pilots for making a real call.
"Centre GABCD is unsure of position request assistance" / "Centre GABCD, I am lost request assistance" are two calls that should have no problem being understod in 99% of the world. No special words, phrases or secret codes to remember there eh?
So that is the R/T waffle out of the way. How about the practice. The instructor can act as D+D (unless they are lost as well) and make the appropriate responses to the students calls. They can even extend or adjust the simulated situation to a far better degree than they could with D+D.
Again I say that a visit to D+D can help.
Some of the comments on here only reinforce my opinion that most of the instructors who use the training on 121.50 do not know what they are doing...eg "I always ask on the FIR frequency first to see if it is OK" perhaps a visit to D+D at LTCC followed by a drive to LACC to visit the FIR would enable that person to see why that is a overall waste of time.
Oh, and did I say that many pilots who call for a training fix are actuall in a real state of being lost.......and straight away we get an example!
What is even more crazy about this whole thing is that instructors will take students off a LARS frequency onto 121.50 to do the practice pan! Why not simply tell the LARS or Approach or Tower or the FIR or whoever one is in contact with that one is lost. The FIR FISOs have a procedure that they folow to find lost aircraft and render assistance.
Regards,
DFC