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Old 12th Jan 2007, 17:44
  #17 (permalink)  
Whirlybird

The Original Whirly
 
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Belper, Derbyshire, UK
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The longer I fly, the more I seem to ask questions. I phone airfields and ask if they have special procedures for helicopters, or if the circuit is as I think it is. I arrive, and ask where to go, and where to park. And then what to do, and how I should book in, and out.

In the early days, I thought I was supposed to know all this stuff, so I didn't like to ask. Now I know that no-one knows, and it's different everywhere, and anyway, no-one minds telling you.

One of the most useful things for me was a jumpseat ride, way back when you could, from Sharm el Sheikh to Gatwick. We were taxying at Sharm, and the Captain said to the FO, "Have you ever been here before". "No", said the FO. "Neither have I", said the Captain. And neither of them could understand the ATCO's horrible English, and they didn't know where to go, or what to do. So they bumbled along, and asked lots of times, and worked it out. And I watched, and realised that even airline pilots were only human, and didn't know it all either.

So don't worry; just ask. The same way you would if you weren't a pilot, and were just...going in or out of a car park, or something.
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