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Old 25th Sep 2009, 10:36
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NudgingSteel
 
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Scotland
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A friend of mine who flies was recently involved in a protracted R/T discussion whilst attempting to divert to a big(gish) airport, lots of to-and-fro regarding PPR, contacting the handling agents etc. Now call me old fashioned but I have a real bug up my a55 about this, pardon the language. There aren't many airports where there isn't any room at all to leave a light a/c for a few hours, even if it's on a remote cargo apron. The safe place for a discussion about handling fees and arrangements is whilst safely on the ground, either before or after the flight, and not whilst simultaneously flying the a/c, looking out for other traffic, monitoring fuel and weather etc. Especially when there's a single pilot who then has to leave the ATC frequency to speak to handlers whilst holding near a potentially busy airport. Even when it's busy, there's usually enough time for an ATCO or ATSA to make a quick call to a handling company to advise them of an inbound; at least they can pass a message on if there's absolutely no way of getting in.
I try to remind my students that the big difference between VFR G/A and the airlines, is that the pilot of one is paying over £100/hour out of his own pocket, and the other is being paid to be there!
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