Originally Posted by NigelOnDraft
I agree with your points if we want to "gash/hack it". Not if we want good practice. We whould not be relying on "local knowledge"
As with HD I have been long out of it, and clearly things have changed, no doubt for the better and safer. It seems that gone are the days where we were 'winging it', shouting, pointing and gesticulating animatedly in a 'stock-exchange'-type environment in the old tower using inventive 'on-the-hoof' controlling! (eg. 'keep 'im coming', 'come around the corner and be ready immediate', keep the speed up and vacate at blah blah, ' a short landing and off at 83 would help you', 'cross now and keep 'im', 'Outer Marker, any chance of a switch?. " We'll take a land-after' etc, the list is endless, just don't hear it any more these days...). In those days many ATCOs operated in their own 'individual manner' for which allowances were made by other ATCOs. Maybe it's all cloned now with tight SMS SOPs reducing discretionary options. If, however, you crews are still being co-ersed to achieve unrealistic demands then you gents and ladies really need to communicate this to the ATC authorities rather than sit on it.
In recent years as aircrew I have been told not to 'second-guess' the next freq and any possible ATC needs and that my ATC experience should be ignored. The culture seems to be moving towards operatives becoming binary reactive automatons.
Whatever, it was great fun whilst it lasted, especially when HD was on...
Wishing you all safe ops especially those at the Heathrow Sausage Machine.