From ATC's point of view
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Join Date: Dec 2003
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From ATC's point of view
What irritates you the most when dealing with PPL holders?
What of CPL holders?
What of FI holders?
What of Examiners?
Students?
1/60
What of CPL holders?
What of FI holders?
What of Examiners?
Students?
1/60
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Brisbane
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probably pilots who think that I am looking after them only.
Nowadays with the combination of Radar, ADS-B and CPDLC I can have a lot of aircraft that I am looking after without actually doing much talking. (remember, instructions can be sent via CPDLC to prevent/solve conflicts and ADS-B can be used to monitor a lot of procedural standards that we used to have to get verbal reports for)
Nowadays with the combination of Radar, ADS-B and CPDLC I can have a lot of aircraft that I am looking after without actually doing much talking. (remember, instructions can be sent via CPDLC to prevent/solve conflicts and ADS-B can be used to monitor a lot of procedural standards that we used to have to get verbal reports for)
What irritates you the most when dealing with PPL holders?
What of CPL holders?
What of FI holders?
What of Examiners?
Students?
What of CPL holders?
What of FI holders?
What of Examiners?
Students?
Maybe the occasional tendency to make long winded transmissions, especially on first contact.
Anyone can do this, sometimes.
Regarding students/low time pilots, we all had to learn sometime.
What's the point in getting irritated? 'S all part of the job.
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A need to standardise the standards.
I've been a qualified ATCO for getting on for 7 years, working mainly in Class G airpspace so I've a little experience on this one:
PPL's and FI's - I lump these together as it amazes me at the difference in standards between one training provider and another, and the subsequent loading this has on my frequencies. Good training, especially R/T for the FRTOL is ESSENTIAL. Too many times have I had a student PPL or a low hours PPL say the wrong thing or do something silly because of indadequate or blatantly poor training. I do not wish to tar all schools/colleges with the same brush here, but I do wish standards as a whole would be raised.
I would counsel this - if they can't do the R/T to a good standard
- don't let them go on their qualifier (cross-country), PLEASE. I know practise makes perfect, but the place to practise R/T is not IN THE SKY but in the classroom.
As one colleague once said to me - Air Traffic Control must be one of the few jobs where you can lose your career because of someone enjoying their hobby....
As for Commercial Pilots - they can get annoying too (I know ATCO's can, before the comment gets turned around!) but especially when operating into a non-radar procedural unit in Class G airspace -
Guys do you not know why there is a difference between the callsigns APPROACH and RADAR? Do you not realise that (usually, Guernsey being a notable exception) an air traffic unit with the callsign APPROACH is working PROCEDURALLY - i.e. no radar? That means we cannot give you radar vectors to the ILS no matter how many times you
ask!!!
Also - we're not daft...although we might not be able to 'see' you all the time at a procedural unit, it doesn't mean we don't know what you are doing, especially when a procedure that should take 15 mins to fly takes 8...
Let's all be professional and give a professional service to each other, even if you are only a student/low hours PPL used to flying out of a strip with an air/ground radio service...it makes it a whole lot easier on everyone.
PPL's and FI's - I lump these together as it amazes me at the difference in standards between one training provider and another, and the subsequent loading this has on my frequencies. Good training, especially R/T for the FRTOL is ESSENTIAL. Too many times have I had a student PPL or a low hours PPL say the wrong thing or do something silly because of indadequate or blatantly poor training. I do not wish to tar all schools/colleges with the same brush here, but I do wish standards as a whole would be raised.
I would counsel this - if they can't do the R/T to a good standard
- don't let them go on their qualifier (cross-country), PLEASE. I know practise makes perfect, but the place to practise R/T is not IN THE SKY but in the classroom.As one colleague once said to me - Air Traffic Control must be one of the few jobs where you can lose your career because of someone enjoying their hobby....
As for Commercial Pilots - they can get annoying too (I know ATCO's can, before the comment gets turned around!) but especially when operating into a non-radar procedural unit in Class G airspace -
Guys do you not know why there is a difference between the callsigns APPROACH and RADAR? Do you not realise that (usually, Guernsey being a notable exception) an air traffic unit with the callsign APPROACH is working PROCEDURALLY - i.e. no radar? That means we cannot give you radar vectors to the ILS no matter how many times you
ask!!!Also - we're not daft...although we might not be able to 'see' you all the time at a procedural unit, it doesn't mean we don't know what you are doing, especially when a procedure that should take 15 mins to fly takes 8...
Let's all be professional and give a professional service to each other, even if you are only a student/low hours PPL used to flying out of a strip with an air/ground radio service...it makes it a whole lot easier on everyone.
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Probably I'm more tolerant since relatively recently gaining my PPL, but long-winded stories about stuff I don't need to know gripe me, particularly if the orator just launches into it instead of giving me some warning.
I think I growled at somebody yesterday for doing that when I was quite busy.
I think I growled at somebody yesterday for doing that when I was quite busy.
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ATC View
Well for what its worth since you posed the question!
PPLs/GA Flights- Calling our controlled airspace a MATZ, When I am working other freqs I say standby they still babble on or even worse raise their tone to get a reply again and calling 2 miles from CAS boundary expecting a clearance(early call works 99% of the time).
Professional- Sometimes I wonder if they think they are the only plane in the sky wanting priority.
I am a PPL holder so am tolerant of most things though! honest!
PPLs/GA Flights- Calling our controlled airspace a MATZ, When I am working other freqs I say standby they still babble on or even worse raise their tone to get a reply again and calling 2 miles from CAS boundary expecting a clearance(early call works 99% of the time).
Professional- Sometimes I wonder if they think they are the only plane in the sky wanting priority.
I am a PPL holder so am tolerant of most things though! honest!
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Guys do you not know why there is a difference between the callsigns APPROACH and RADAR? Do you not realise that (usually, Guernsey being a notable exception) an air traffic unit with the callsign APPROACH is working PROCEDURALLY - i.e. no radar? That means we cannot give you radar vectors to the ILS no matter how many times you 
ask!!!
ask!!!
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Not reading NOTAM's, this is a common one with pilots of any skill level. Often the destination NOTAM's get read but the FIR NOTAM's covering everything in between must be ignored because 95% of it's not relevant. Don't worry about the 5% that is, I'll brief you airborne on that.
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You know....I always think it must be so daunting speaking to us ATC people...I've been working in class G for 11 yrs now....and speaking to the ppl's makes my day worthwhile....the more that call me the better. Just don't say "over" at the end of each sentance as it makes me go into an uncontrollable fit of goggles!!!
Cheers....keep talking to ATC.....OVER!!!!
Cheers....keep talking to ATC.....OVER!!!!
