Vale Captain T.X. Phraseology
 

It is with a heavy heart, I advise Captain T.X. Phraseology, passed away quietly in his sleep last night, after a long illness. His devoted partner, A.I.P. Phraselology, was at his bedside, however his children Maintaining, Runway, and Heading, were not able to be found in time.

New aviators would have known little about Tex, unlike older folk, but his aviation career was a long, and fulfilling one. Learning to fly at Point Cook in the beginning of last century, he was a spirited young chap, who entered many of the theaters of the Second World War, and finally reached the heady heights of the airline cockpit.

How I enjoyed hearing his professional manner over the radio during his long flights overseas, and who could forget hearing his excellent impression of South African cricketer Tony Greg at 2.00 am over Alice Springs. Those were the days.

Age did not treat Tex well, and we began to hear him less, and less, over the airwaves. In his later years, he could sometimes be heard proudly in the circuit, at some country airstrip, and even less occasionally at flight levels,

CASA supported Tex in his early years, but later this support fell away. To their credit ATC have always been kind to Tex, and were still with him in his last days.

His youngest son, Currently, was unplanned, came later in life, and is still regarded by those who know, as the illegitimate child of A.I.P.

Tex did not approve of Currently, but tolerated him in his sunset years.

So, to the end of an era, Captain T.X. Phraseology, professional aviator, always succinct, smart, to the point, without surprises, has gone from the skies.

The family advise there will be no funeral service, and kindly request any flowers be sent to your local flying school, as a reminder of his passing.

Very clever, (at this time....) pending verification by All Stations.

Tex will be remembered by everybody as they turn finals.

Sorry to hear of the Good Captain's sad passing.

Many a 'doggo' - that's the back o' the clock' to most G/A pilots - was spent listening to his dulcet tones in amongst the 'snap/crackle/pop' of the HF long range network, trying to get his call in between the resounding crashes of the various Ts / lightning noises of the time, and the numerous SELCAL tones being transmitted, and being interrupted by some 'dick' on a 'private' joy flight of some sort who just wanted to do his 'own thing' 'his' way......

Mr 'All Stations' and the Good Captain both became rather despondent when, on 12/12/91, the first 'cut' was given to that Ole FS Network, and suddenly, there were less of them to provide the necessary 'Listening Watch' that Mr All Stations and the Good Captain was accustomed to. This was before the age of CPCLD Mk 1, or whatever it was called at the time, and was the ONLY way to communicate in times of trouble......

The local VHF net suffered for a while as well, until it was re-allocated to the hard working ATCers of the time, who had to answer all and sundry - 'when workload permits' - and they tried to answer the Captain's every call, but then even that became 'overpowering'.

The 'short / sharp / standard' phrases of the time had become lengthy epistles you see, and nobody had the time nor the inclination to listen to them.
All that was required was the 'bits' of data to be written on the FPS - That's Flight Progress Strips - of the time.

So the captain and his colleagues were forced to call 'in the blind' on some 'universal' frequency that others were supposed to be listening to, but alas...…..

So, the last I heard was that the Good Captain had become more than a little despondent in his 'elder years' and simply 'went fishin' - to protect his sanity - I heard...…

R I P Captain.

tio540,
Ha Ha!!
But I, for one, have always been quite happy to stick with ICAO standard phraseology, it works just fine.
After all, amongst the reasons why ICAO standard phraseology was adopted almost 20 years ago (or was it longer), was a couple of really serious near misses due to non-standard Australian usage confusing crews from the rest of the world, who were not familiar with the strange mutations of the Aviation Galapagos that is Australia.
That standards of radio communications usage have most certainly slipped is not the fault of ICAO standard phraseology, but just another manifestation of how flying standards, including ab nitio training, have slipped in Australia.
Tootle pip!!

Should it not be 'Final' as in the singular?

"Tis the 'Final' leg of the circuit...…Can't be more than one (1) of 'em…....?......N'est-ce-pas.....?

Cheeerrrsss,,,,,,,

Griffo, as many finals as there are taxis!! :}

PS: When are the IFR taxis going to be supplanted by IFR Ubers, I wunda...

Leddie, enlighten us again, I've forgotten.

No, it's because the (in most cases mandated) electronic Jepp airway manual is an abomination of a document...

Bloggsie,
Not in date order, the ones that come to mind:
1) TAA B727 taking off hit a CP DC-8 in Sydney.
2) Gulfstream almost t-boned a Continental DC-10 off the NSW coast and:
3) anal Australian approach to phraseology played a major role in the fatal KingAir crash on the RW34 threshold at YSSY.
4) Lufthansa DC-10 versus QF B-747 north west of Alice.
There was a record of less serious incidents.

(2) above was even mentioned in the PR handouts at the time.
Qantas, Ansett, ATAA, AIPA and AOPA all supported the change, indeed their separate submissions on the consultation could have been a joint submission, such was the level of agreement. As I recall, AFAP opposed.

Tootle pip!!

FFS it's "FINAL" !!!

:ugh:

Is 'that' final...????

Cheers....

A few people here would die of fright if they ever flew in the USA:rolleyes:

If everyone could stop saying ‘this time’ that would be great.

Departing this time

Taxiing this time

Inbound this time

Ain’t nobody thinking you’re talking about any time other than the present.

Also ‘that position’. Just give an estimate roger ramjet.

Atlas Shrugged, or Jesus Wept, and even Griffo, were you unable to hear the pilot's tongue in his cheek? The comment "turning finals" is relevant to the non-standard calls, and entirely within the spirit of this thread. All stations in the PeaProon area, this is Cessna one-fifty Golf Oscar Delta, we are turning finals this time, waiting for your apologies, 6,2 and even, over and out.*





*anybody remember Dick Tracy?

Ascend Charlie; Come in please!:D