These are true: first happened to, and second heard by, me.
I'm having a flying lesson and landing at EGTE one glorious, peaceful, sunny, dead-calm Devon evening in the club C152. I am still very low hours, and enjoying myself greatly. I remember dimly being told that on finals when cleared to land one does not give a read-back of the wind.
ME: November Foxtrot turning finals.
TOWER: November Foxtrot is cleared to land runway 26. The wind is calm.
ME: November Foxtrot is cleared to land. Thanks for the weather.
TOWER: (in a heavy RAF drawl) Don't mention it, old boy. We had nothing to do with it. We rather like it ourselves, actually.....
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A year or two later, I retired from my position at the university and my colleagues gave me a scanner as a good-bye present. I went back to live in my home town, Cape Town, after over thirty years exile. The rugby boycott of South Africa was over. One night I was lying in bed listening to FACT Tower on my scanner. The Springboks had just beaten the Lions something glorious (or horrible, depending on your point of view) earlier that day.
Speedbird xxx had just taken off and was heading north in the climb.
FACT: Speedbird xxx is cleared for Heathrow..... radar service terminates....Change to Oceanic at something decimal something. Good night. Enjoy your flight.
SPEEDBIRD xxx (in a RAF accent you could break a rock on): Change to Oceanic etc etc. Thank you..... see you next week.
UNKNOWN A/C (in a slow South African accent that could also break a rock): Yeah..... and bring a blerry rugby ball, hey?
SPEEDBIRD xxx (sadly, in said accent) Owch...
Last edited by Connetts; 2nd Apr 2014 at 11:59.
Reason: Typing error