"Report the heading to London on xxx.xx"

[rich_g85]

Heard this many times when Bristol Radar (and others) hand off a departure.

Just curious why London only need the heading with the callsign and not more details?

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Because they already have all the relevant details. Every controller which will work the aircraft will have advance information from the aircraft flight plan. A radar heading is something which can change by the minute and it is quicker for the pilot to report that he is on "radar heading xxx" to the next controller than for the first controller to make a phone call..

HTH

[Dit]

This is one call I don't like, becaause it means remembering 3 sets of 3 digit numbers, whilst dialling in 2 of them and monitoring the input of the third!

I'd much rather have

"A/c X, set heading YYY"
"heading YYY, A/c X"
"And repot it to SOMEONE on ABC.DEF"......

Maybe its just me that struggles with this, but I think at times it is asking for confusion...

[Avman]

Yep, but too much valuable r/t time wasted when you're busy. Your readback should alert ATC to any error with your digits.

[rich_g85]

Thanks for the information - very interesting as always.

I've also noticed some pilots miss off the first '1' when reading back frequencies.

Controller : "AC123 contact Cardiff now on 125.85, goodbye"
Aircraft : "25 85 AC123 bye"

Guess it's just a time-saver?

[Dit]

Avman, I know what you're saying, but it saves only if the the pilot gets it right first time. An incorrect readback would be longer than my suggested way. I'm also not saying thats the way it should be done, just the way I would prefer it. However, the ATC guys will have a better idea of how many guys get these readbacks wrong than I ever will...

rich_g85, yeah, as that one is at the start of every frequency and that digit can't be altered in our com box, it is pretty pointless.

[Bushfiva]

the first controller to make a phone call

So slap me silly for being a noobie in the ATC sphere, but do you actually mean a person to person phone call is made, or is this a euphemism for some kind of inter-system communication? I know FA about ATC, but I do know A about data stewardship, integrity and hand-off in systems that are (or suddenly appear to be) at least as complex as ATC.

I hasten to add, I don't mean ATC isn't a skilled body of people in a high-stress job, I simply mean I figured ATC computer systems routinely do magical stuff.

[Avman]

A great deal of inter sector co-ordination is done automatically. However, radar handovers and last minute changes can still be made by phone. It's quicker! I hasten to add that it's just a single button push (or touch input) directly to the sector required. Time wasting handovers can be avoided simply by instructing the affected a/c to report their heading to the next sector.

[HeathrowAirport]

Because they already have all the relevant details.

I was going to say this, but I thought Its best I let the proffesionals say it.

[Guest 112233]

As an aside

Slight thread drift, but I know this issue from a professional context in terms of the way people in interact with computer systems. Do the changes in effect when reading back frequncies in the form xxx.xxx in a environment where 8.33 Khz spacing is used, as opposed to the contact ABC on xxx.xx (with radar heading xxx), make life more difficult.

I do not have access to CAP 413? or other operations manuals
It may have been covered before but it's of a broader interest.

CAT III

[Dufo]

I have heard similar instruction when changing to Oslo approach.

'Air123 contact Oslo approach 120,45 (if I remember correctly), callsign only'