Alright better pilots than me... What was he saying?

SixPapaCharlie

SixPapaCharlie

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I flew to Hot Springs today to eat at the local Arby's and that is 100% true.
On the way home, They lost radar contact because I was low.

Controller comes on and I think he says "Whats your DME north of your destination?"
Might have been "Set your DME north of your destination".

I had him repeat it and finally said "I don't understand the request" Then he just kept saying that.

I just said I am 15 miles east of the Bonham VOR @2500.

Then he vectored me around some skydivers.


What might have he been getting at?
I don't have a DME per se and I am not sure what north of my destination (DTO) he might have been referring to.

Just something I hadn't heard before.


By the way, approach into KHOT on 05 is really pretty.

BUT I think it is mean having a tower at a non towered field. We landed and both looked at it and looked at each other thinking "Oh ****! Either we are at the wrong field or we are about to get our wrist slapped."

Thanks.
 
"DME" (distance measuring equipment) is just old-ATC-speak for "distance from".
So "What's your DME north of ABC?", means how far are you from ABC?
 
Ok, I will put that in my mental rolodex. He sounded too young to know what a DME is.
I am only aware of it being a thing and not an expression.

Learn something new every day.
 
Oh, I thought it was "durable medical equipment." He was asking if you needed a walker when you landed.
 
RotorDude said:
"DME" (distance measuring equipment) is just old-ATC-speak for "distance from".
So "What's your DME north of ABC?", means how far are you from ABC?
Click to expand...


But what if you are south? Give a negative number?
 
So he told you "radar contact lost" and then gave you a radar vector? That's shady if it's true.
 
Harold Rutila said:
So he told you "radar contact lost" and then gave you a radar vector? That's shady if it's true.
Click to expand...

He said he lost me.
Then asked the DME thing.
Then he asked me to turn 15 degrees to the right to avoid skydiving activity at the tri-county airport.
 
RotorDude said:
"DME" (distance measuring equipment) is just old-ATC-speak for "distance from".
So "What's your DME north of ABC?", means how far are you from ABC?
Click to expand...

What's your vector victor?

Yeah, he just wanted to know how far away from said point you were, noting too old school or odd about that request.
 
James331 said:
What's your vector victor?

Yeah, he just wanted to know how far away from said point you were, noting too old school or odd about that request.
Click to expand...

Once I tossed my old DME (and ADF) and replaced it by GTN, "What's your DME?" became OLD. :)
 
"N6PC radar contact lost, radar services terminated, sky diving over Tri Country airport surface to 13,000, sqk VFR frequency change approved."
 
RotorDude said:
Once I tossed my old DME (and ADF) and replaced it by GTN, "What's your DME?" became OLD. :)
Click to expand...

"Where are you on the magenta line?"

I'm rocking dual GNS boxes on my plane, still even though DME is slant range I'll give my right knob a twist and tell them how far I am from said point if I had said question asked of me.
 
James331 said:
"Where are you on the magenta line?"

I'm rocking dual GNS boxes on my plane, still even though DME is slant range I'll give my right knob a twist and tell them how far I am from said point if I had said question asked of me.
Click to expand...

In the future I will. I just didn't know what he was asking.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Ok, I will put that in my mental rolodex. He sounded too young to know what a DME is.
Click to expand...
It's in the Pilot/Controller Glossary so pilots and controller's should know what it means.

What he probably said was, "Say DME north of destination".
 
Plainview TX is another one with an inactive tower.

Scared the crap out of me.
 
St. Augustine used to have a tower that was only activated when the Grumman guys were flying stuff. Then the city opened up a full time tower. People were still confused years later!
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I flew to Hot Springs today to eat at the local Arby's and that is 100% true.

By the way, approach into KHOT on 05 is really pretty.

BUT I think it is mean having a tower at a non towered field. We landed and both looked at it and looked at each other thinking "Oh ****! Either we are at the wrong field or we are about to get our wrist slapped."
Click to expand...

What makes the Arby's in Hot Springs special? :D

Yes, it's a very pretty approach. During my college years I was landing at that airport up to several times a day.

The tower was really only used during race season. Last 15/20 years they stopped using it because the traffic count wasn't high enough. The local guard unit wants to renovate the tower and use it as a training tower. However, it keeps going back and forth on approval. That airport needs one badly. It wasn't outside the norm to almost hit someone a few times a month.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Controller comes on and I think he says "Whats your DME north of your destination?"
Click to expand...

As a bit of trivia, in Mexico it is commonplace for ATC to request your DME or give you a reporting point as one, e.g. "report 10 DME from Querétaro"
 
RotorDude said:
"DME" (distance measuring equipment) is just old-ATC-speak for "distance from".
So "What's your DME north of ABC?", means how far are you from ABC?
Click to expand...

REALLY?!?!

Wow, put that one in the "learn something new every day" category. I thought it meant Dick Mistreating Equivalent. i.e. I would assume the controller knew 6PC was in a Cirrus and also knew he was knobdicking.

I mean, after all, he was wanting him to look out the window for skydivers!
 
timwinters said:
I thought it meant Dick Measurimg Equivalent. i.e. I would assume the controller knew 6PC was in a Cirrus and also knew he was knobdicking.

I mean, after all, he was wanting him to look out the window for skydivers!
Click to expand...

Fixed for you.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
BUT I think it is mean having a tower at a non towered field. We landed and both looked at it and looked at each other thinking "Oh ****! Either we are at the wrong field or we are about to get our wrist slapped."
Click to expand...

It happens. Sometimes towered fields turn into nontowered fields.

South Lake Tahoe is a prime example. That tower hasn't been used in years.
 
I didn't really know much about my DME equipment prior to IFR training. Wanted to learn it quick when I was using GPS only and they kept telling me 1.5 mile base for inbound traffic. The problem was that the runway is 2 miles long and GPS point is in the center so I was always a mile off. Now that I am using DME, I'm spot on


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You flew into to my hood and DIDNT call me?


*******.....I woulda taken you to Smokin' in Style
 
Unit74 said:
You flew into to my hood and DIDNT call me?


*******.....I woulda taken you to Smokin' in Style
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I thought about you. That counts.


This was just a test flight after cylinder replacement and annual.
We flew the only direction w/o weather and landed. Once on the ground we saw weather building back home so we had to eat quick.
We were on the ground maybe 30 minutes.
 
rwellner98 said:
As a bit of trivia, in Mexico it is commonplace for ATC to request your DME or give you a reporting point as one, e.g. "report 10 DME from Querétaro"
Click to expand...

Generally that happens in the non-radar environment down there. I absolutely do not miss dealing with going in and out Mexico.
 
KSCessnaDriver said:
Generally that happens in the non-radar environment down there. I absolutely do not miss dealing with going in and out Mexico.
Click to expand...

Yup. We are in the mountains in the interior, so basically everything is non-radar at normally aspirated flight levels. Coming and going from the country isn't my favorite either, but since I've complained about US CBP here in the past it's only fair to point out that my last two trips (both through McAllen) have been professional and efficient.
 
rwellner98 said:
Yup. We are in the mountains in the interior, so basically everything is non-radar at normally aspirated flight levels. Coming and going from the country isn't my favorite either, but since I've complained about US CBP here in the past it's only fair to point out that my last two trips (both through McAllen) have been professional and efficient.
Click to expand...
It seems like I was treated worse by US customs both on the southern and northern borders than I ever was by Mexican or Canadian customs.
 
So what about the Arby's? Roast beef sandwiches? Do they use Deli Meat Enrichment?
 
Sometimes they ask random position reports to see if you are paying attention, or they are giving a tour and showing how it works to talk to a pilot. But, I've gotten that exact question off the Bonham vor to avoid tri county sky divers too. Also to know when to switch you to regional approach. We get "say distance to Addison" a lot....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
When controllers and planes are all ADS-B equipped, will we no longer hear "radar contact list" and requests for our position?
 
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