What type of service do you require? (UK)
 

Those of us who regularly provide ATSOCAS will have heard many different responses to the question in the title above from pilots who are not aware of the different services available in Class G airspace in the UK. The most common are:

• A radar service please.
• Ummm the best one.
• ummm, I don't understand the question.

Other than the above regular responses, what amusing answers have you heard?

I asked a French pilot recently what type of service he required and after a brief pause he confidently stated,

'Aiee weel bee sty-eeeng forrr waahn week'. :)

There's an airfield near me where radar asks the question of departing aircraft just as they are airborne, no doubt leading to distraction on the flight deck. Why doesn't the tower pose the question prior to take-off?

> It's in for its Annual check at **** . . . Do you have any idea of the bus times to **** please.

I kid you not :ugh:

:cool: . . 99

A fairly long pause followed by "A Traffic Confliction Service please"

Brilliant! :)

a guy i work with got the all time classic reply......"we can park on the grass if you want us too"

"Basic traffic information service".

"Fuel, and a Taxi to Bath please, Sir."

From a KLM crew, "What have you got?"


Last week from a BA crew, "Radar Advisory Service please." Oh how we laughed! :)

Daft question. The type of service required will inevitably not be the type you're going to give.

"Can I have the gold plated, bells and whistles service please?"

"Over my dead body mate. Basic and that's it. If fact, count yourself lucky you're getting that."

:):):):):):):):):):):)

Heard a crew once ask for the 'Full Service' once. Think that was KLM or Brussels Airlines but it sounded even better with the accent!

However on a more serious note, we have a laugh and a giggle at these interesting replies that we hear but are you surprised? The vast majority of foreign crews have no idea what different ATSOCAS are available in the UK. Such information is neither close to hand or easy to read when under time pressure during the pre flight stage or whilst en-route.

If a pilot from a commercial flight does not know what your asking him then I would suggest it gets noted with the operator being contacted. Holders of UK ATCO and Pilot licences all got a free DVD with a presentation of the changes. Was the same sent to the foreign operators who frequently fly in the open FIR?

No, I'm not at all surprised. The confused and amusing responses are inevitable really given that the UK is so divorced from ICAO when it comes to ATS outside controlled airspace. I'm a firm believer in keeping things straightforward and personally I'd like to see much more controlled airspace introduced. The downside of course would be being denied the opportunity to chortle heartily at pilot's responses when the type of service question is posed. :)

<<personally I'd like to see much more controlled airspace introduced.>>

Alelujah... someone after my own heart. Trouble is, the glider freaks and the clockwork mouse drivers would go out of their tiny little minds!!

Controversial . . HD . . I could not agree more :hmm:

(If I have told you a million times times before . . . don't exaggerate)

. . 99 :cool:

I think the military powers that be would have some objections as well.:hmm:

Aahhh - jobs for the boys, eh HD ?

Trouble is, there aren't enough ATCOs to go round at the moment anyway, let alone to cover any further (unnecessary) expansion of CAS ...

The latest half-baked plan is, of course, at Norwich (qv) ...


JD
:)

Aerodrome to inbound flight - "What type of service do you require?"

Flight - "A toilet service and some fuel"

The answer is a perfectly reasonable response to the question posed.

If on the other hand, ATC ask what type of flight information service is required then it is clear what the controller is seeking an answer to. It also gives a very big hint to the pilot that there are different services provided under the Flight Information Service heading in the UK.

Regards,

DFC

I bet pilots r laughing reading this thread:ok:

The problem is that it is a bit too late to discover this once your in the air and on your way!

It is the same as the UK R/T differences that exist. Many crews don't know what they are since no one can find them easily. Many pilots are still brought up with ICAO Doc 9432 being their one and only reference source for R/T training. It is ridiculous for the UK to have so many changes when these are hidden away and not easily accessible for foreign crews which is just like the ATSOCAS issue. However R/T is a different point and one that I won't drift onto.

No one will object to anyone doing something differently if there is a good safety reason behind it. However at least make the information easy to access. The CAA are to blame since they obviously think that foreign crews can report hours and hours before a flight and trawl through the AIP, all the AICs and study the Jeppesen supplements for the UK. Sadly in the real world this does not happen.

For airfields that are not in controlled airspace, then why doesn't the CAA publish the different ATSOCAS procedures in the AIP entries for these airfields? This will in turn get the third party chart suppliers to stick in a blurb in about ATSOCAS for the airfields concerned.

HD... Tarring all GA pilots with that brush is most unfair. There are some PPLs in the UK whose standard of training and attention to detail with their planning would make some of the foreign crews that fly large commercial transport aircraft in UK airspace, look like PPL students.

There should be more controlled airspace and I think many G/A pilots would approve of this once the pros and cons have been examined.

I really don't think that many would ... I certainly wouldn't ...

JD
:)