The "Direct SAB, direct EDI 24" takes you though a sector that would not work you at all if you flew UMBEL/ROBEM-NATEB-AGPED, so requires a bit of co-ordination.

Also, it's not gliders you need to worry about, it's pointy grey things spewing fire out of the back, Falcon 20's, A330 Tankers and anyone playing games in and around Spadeadam EWTR.

1. At those levels they are unlikely to be orbiting (as in thermalling), more probably in wave where their airspeed almost matches the windspeed so are almost stationary.

2. Even those gliders that are transponder equipped are probably breaking the law if they use them. Class 2 transponders (130 W) are approved for use up to only FL150 - above that Class 1 transponders (250 W) are required. I doubt that many/any UK gliders have Class 1 transponders due to battery limitations.

3. The non-transponding gliders above FL100 are only present in "notified Non-SSR Transponder Glider Areas" day VFR. When areas are not notified then non-transponding gliders will not be there. Notification by NOTAM is typically >18 hours in advance.

4. The emotive wording "the CAA in their wisdom" does not reflect the reality that the previous freedom to fly without transponders in Class G airspace has been progressively removed and that above FL100 is now possible in clearly defined areas and the further restriction of prior notification has been imposed only in the last couple of years.

5. Current CAA policy seems to be that gliders will soon need transponders below FL100 in most circumstances.

Asking for a slot ready message on GMC.
"Good news, slot has came forward, are you ready for push and start?"
"Oh, umm.... we just need to find a tug crew... we'll be about 10 minutes..."

This does not constitute 'ready'!

This is somewhat of a problem as well for flight crews. Most airports do not own enough push back tractors to have one wait at all the aircraft with a bad slot. It is fairly common to have a truck at the nose wheel at STD that will wait a little while only to disappear a few seconds after the crew has called in ready and the message has been sent. There are other slotless flights in need of a push as well after all.

So if the slot then happens to improve, the search for the next available tug begins.

This is not the crews or the controllers fault; it is rather a systemic issue. The only way out of this (besides buying a truckload of pushback trucks) would be to push all the slotted aircraft clear of their nose-in position into a self-maneuvering stand where they can sit until their slot comes up; what such a system would do to airport operations is up to anyone to guess.

Nose out gates :)

Some years ago at Leeds Bradford I overheard an exchange between ATC and the crew of a Spanair A320. The latter had requested a ready message, even though the aircraft still had forward steps attached and baggage was still being loaded. These factors were obvious to ATC and the TWR controller refused to send the ready message, and pointed out to the Spanair crew that declaring readiness when evidently not ready defeated the object of sending such a message !

About as annoying as aircraft requesting push and start when they don't have a tug attached or airbridge removed... Particularly when they are on the stand next door, we also want push and start and they then delay us by 10 minutes. I may have mentioned this to ATC at the time.

1. ignoring speed instructions given many minutes and miles before any TOD, margins are tight these days. Min separation is 5nm and we might have you at 6nm, there is little room for error and a heading is pretty useless when that close.
2. issuing a descend NOW instruction, having it read back and then choosing to descend when you feel like it. The word 'NOW' is none standard RT but has become common practice as otherwise a descent instruction is replied with 'when ready'. I would have said WR if it was appropriate.
3. not listening on the freq when dialling in for the first time before transmitting.
4. not listening in general and when eventually found, denying you've ever been on the freq despite me issuing clearances you've complied with.
5. requesting descent/climb and when denied due traffic, stating you have it on TCAS...…………….erm!!

never a dull day in ATC, its a shame the days of chatter and a bit of banter are dying out due volumes of traffic.

6. PAN PAN PAN - sick passenger but we will carry on for several hundred miiles yet. The PAN raises workload, heart rate and causes a distraction to train of thought.

London, ABC123 we have a medical situation on board that requires priority at our destination and then PAN PAN PAN, would be appreciated.

Save the heart stopping moment for the real PAN/MAYDAY.

[QUOTE=FZRA;10581318]What an interesting thread....and hopefully a chance to ask some honest questions that quite often crop up on the line.

- Re. speed control. How rapidly are you expecting us to decelerate? The aircraft I fly is USELESS at slowing down with any greater than 1500ft/min VS, even with max spoilers. Quite often the only way to decelerate is to "dive down" to the next assigned level then rely on the speed coming back once level. Or kill the VS to <500ft/min to get rid of energy, then increase the VS again. I presume that you see our actual IAS on Mode-S, as opposed to selected IAS?

Yes, at least at my airport unit, our Mode S shows actual IAS as well as groundspeed (which is handy for getting a feel for the upper winds)... and it feels like crews have stopped lying about their speed now, as it's displayed to us in real time!!! (The only 'selected' parameter normally displayed is Selected Flight Level (or altitude), which is both useful and reassuring).

Very interesting thread... presumably some pilots could start a similar one about us ATCOs and our annoying habits...? Over the years we've had some superb feedback regarding (often) fairly simple things, of which we were unaware, but which can make a big improvement in flight deck workload or SA.

Can I just clarify regarding descent clearances? Often we are given a descent clearance "descend FLxxx" and it's way before our optimum descent point for a CDA. We'll often read back and add on "is that when ready?" 8 out of 10 times, the answer is yes. So, it would be useful if the "Now" or "When ready" could be appended to a clearance to avoid ambiguity and then cuts down on an additional RT response to our question.

I've found it quite helpful to give London Info a call on Box 2 approaching the UK whilst still with Maastricht/Brest to pass info back to home base if medical assistance is required but it's not a matter of life or death.

Yeah I notice this is a problem when there are only so many tugs to go around. I'm not sure how much the crews know about ready messages but we have the option so submit ready + 1 minute (16 mins till latest airborne) and ready +15 (30 mins till latest)... if you lose your push back crew, tell us and ask us to change it to a plus 15 :)

This just about covers my bugbears, I'll also add...

5. Penny-pinching airlines that STILL haven't equipped their state-of-the-art jets with (or maybe it's just they haven't trained their pilots to use?) CPDLC. In some instances I can do double the controlling in half the time if everybody on frequency has it. Embrace it, Ryanair... it's the future!

LTP

Final Director: "ABC123 callsign only to tower XXX.XXX"

Initial Call to Tower:

"XXXX Tower, ABC123X a Whizzjet Max-9000 series with information Juliet with you established on the LLZ shortly descending on the glide 9.3 miles final runway 26L"

DEF456 goes around

Tower :rolleyes: tersely: "ABC123X continue"

When a busy runway is well utilised there can be just a few seconds windows for some calls to be made - miss your window, miss your opportunity. Callsign only* really can help controllers to hit that window of opportunity when required. If they want more information than you've given they can easily ask at a more appropriate time.

*even smaller units don't appreciate a life-story when they would prefer to be giving the urgent avoiding action or missed approach instructions