Here's a question for the training captains out there. Do your trainees get any benefit from holding at Brimmond for forty minutes at a time?
I realise that you all have a very heavy training commitment at the moment (as do we in ATC), but on weekdays between around 1700 to 1930 there is a constant stream of scheduled traffic, which makes it very difficult for us to accommodate your requirements in the circuit - especially at night when we can't use multiple line-ups like we did in the good old days!
Data Dad: - "Just call ground and state intentions please!" This works fine for experienced controllers, but I have found that trainees are still hunting for the FPS when the pilot has finished stating his intentions, inevitably leading to "helicopter calling ground, say again".
On the subject of niceties, my pet hate is ATCOs who say "bye", as in "contact tower one, one, eight, one, bye".
This could, and has been misinterperated as 118.15. It doesnt really apply so much to rotaries, but I have witnessed many fixed wings trying to contact Scottish on 124.55 instead of 124.5 because of this.