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I agree that there are improvements that could be made to the UK system and can fully understand why airline pilots get irritated by practiced pans and training fixes, but the comments quite clearly opined that this was a misuse of the frequency.
The use of 121.5 in the UK is regulated by the CAA and there is a great difference between it’s unsanctioned use and sanctioned use, the latter which is obviously not a misuse, but more realistically an uncomfortable sharing (from an airline pilot point of view.) I have no problems with anyone suggesting improvements to our system, but please don't say that that we are misusing it, because that's the CAA's decision.
The comments made were:
Pete Zahut
“OK, but what about ''practice pan-practice pan etc....'”?
My opinion is, that´s also a kind of misuse of 121.5”
Wiley
“I know it's been discussed on Pprune before, but I have to agree with pete zahut regarding "Practice Pan".”
Wiley
“And 'A and C', with the greatest respect, I think the current usage of 121.5 for practice pans, legal or not, is a misuse of the frequency.”
Pretty clear methinks. Now I find some of the airport security measures in the US pretty irritating, but when the TSA person asks me to comply, I respect the laws of the land and do so with good grace.
So you are quite entitled to find my tone offensive, but my message to people complaining about the system here is that’s the way it is and if you don’t like it, you can fly elsewhere. Blunt yes, but nothing to do with the passport you hold, since the system works the same way for everyone here.
Now if you do a quick search on the ATC forum, you will find that I defended the US ATC system robustly against some derogatory comments recently, so I can assure you that I am not being jingoistic here – if you wish to fly in someone else’s airspace, you have to accept that there rules apply and adjust your airmanship to the environment. I cannot control the expressed views of other British pilots as you will appreciate.
As to you comments about ‘Piece of Cake’, I live too near to the graves of thousands of brave men from the British and Commonwealth air forces and the USAAF who gave their lives so that I can live mine in the way I do to even express an opinion on that piece of inspired thinking.