Babble

Arnold

Arnold

Cleared for Takeoff
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Mar 8, 2005
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Philadelphia Area
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Display name:
Arnold
Yesterday was a rare nice day here in the Philly area. Took the old L8 out for some air and pattern work. Monitored unicom the whole time. Unicom frequency was saturated but not due to normal communications. A PA-32 and an AA-5 were sightseeing and discussing their flight nearly non-stop on unicom. [I can see you, can you see me? Let's go to that grass field. I like this lake.] Ultimately they found their way back to their home airport and the babble mercifully ended. Did someone move the air-to-air frequency from 122.75 to 123.00 and not tell me?

Also, why do so many people announce that they are "clear of the runway" when everyone can see that they are clear of the runway. I can understand it if there is a big hill in the middle and you can't see one end from the other, but 4000' of flat asphalt - it just clutters up the frequency.
 
Arnold said:
Also, why do so many people announce that they are "clear of the runway" when everyone can see that they are clear of the runway. I can understand it if there is a big hill in the middle and you can't see one end from the other, but 4000' of flat asphalt - it just clutters up the frequency.
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Section 4-1-9 and Table 4-1-1 of the AIM do list "Leaving the runway" as one of the recommended calls, though, certainly in some cases, pilot judgement might make dropping some of those calls a better choice.
And, yes, air-to-air chatter on busy CTAF channels is never good.
 
Arnold said:
Yesterday was a rare nice day here in the Philly area. Took the old L8 out for some air and pattern work. Monitored unicom the whole time. Unicom frequency was saturated but not due to normal communications. A PA-32 and an AA-5 were sightseeing and discussing their flight nearly non-stop on unicom. [I can see you, can you see me? Let's go to that grass field. I like this lake.] Ultimately they found their way back to their home airport and the babble mercifully ended. Did someone move the air-to-air frequency from 122.75 to 123.00 and not tell me?

Also, why do so many people announce that they are "clear of the runway" when everyone can see that they are clear of the runway. I can understand it if there is a big hill in the middle and you can't see one end from the other, but 4000' of flat asphalt - it just clutters up the frequency.
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Some times you can't see if someone is clear of the runway.
 
My home field (SNC) doesn't have a "big hill", but the center of the runway is just enough higher than the ends that you can't see the other end if you're on the ground.
 
Arnold said:
Also, why do so many people announce that they are "clear of the runway" when everyone can see that they are clear of the runway.
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Because it's helpful...
--to the person waiting for takeoff
--to the person behind you, now on final, who is trying to fly slow and would appreciate one less thing to worry about.
They both might appreciate not having to squint at a tiny thing thousands of feet away.
"Down and clear" takes very little bandwidth.
 
Never assume anyone can see anything.

Announcing off the runway is recommended but also courteous. Same with announcing entering one.
 
I heard a pilot today call for a transition thru the area at 8,500 ft. :confused:
 
Velocity173 said:
I heard a pilot today call for a transition thru the area at 8,500 ft. :confused:
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Someone from PoA coulda been above him turning off their fuel and making an "emergency" spiral down to the runway...
 
I think "clear of runway xx" is useful to inbound aircraft wondering which is the likely "preferred" runway. "Clear of the active" doesn't make sense when there's no such thing as an "active" runway at a non-towered field.

And someone on a downwind can't necessarily see the entire runway, so that can be useful in some situations.
 
kath said:
They both might appreciate not having to squint at a tiny thing thousands of feet away.
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Umm . . . even the third class requires a vision test.

If safety demands the announcement then the announcement should be made. Sometimes safety demands it not be made.

I was at a busy GA airport during my 1,000 mi labor day sojourn this past summer. The frequency was crowded both with local traffic and more distant traffic. Everyone was calling clear, useless clutter. There was a break in the traffic and I launched. No way to make a call without stepping on someone. The howls of outrage over the lack of a radio call were almost comical.
 
I’ll announce it all the time. People can’t even merge 3 inches into the next lane without trying to hit me. I’m not taking that chance.
 
Sometimes all that chatter you hear is from airports 50 miles away, your local call will cover that right up.
 
If you really want to hear babble, fly near (or in) Canada. Holy cow those guys love to talk! "Leamington traffic, ahhhh, Cessna Foxtrot Quebec, ahhhh, is on the left downwind for runway one niner, ahhhh, mid-field, ahhhh, at one thousand six hundred feet, ahhhh, flying at one hundred knots, ahhhh, in a yellow and white Cessna, ahhhh, with my flaps at ten degrees, ahhhh, and my engine at two thousand three hundred rpm. I will be entering a left base over the farm silo, ahhhh, and I plan to start my descent at that point. My descent may be a little steeper than normal due to the winds, ahhhh, and also at that point I will...." Blah blah blah. Even my kids (non-pilots) will look at me and say, "Don't those Canadians ever shut up?"
 
Weekend Warrior said:
If you really want to hear babble, fly near (or in) Canada. Holy cow those guys love to talk! "Leamington traffic, Cessna Foxtrot Quebec is on the left downwind for runway one niner, mid-field, at one thousand six hundred feet, flying at one hundred knots, in a yellow and white Cessna, with my flaps at ten degrees, and my engine at two thousand three hundred rpm. I will be entering a left base over the farm silo, and I plan to start my descent at that point. My descent may be a little steeper than normal due to the winds, and also at that point I will...." Blah blah blah. Even my kids (non-pilots) will look at me and say, "Don't those Canadians ever shut up?"
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Poor training. I was taught brevity is professional. " xxx tower, cirrus xxxx, 10 northwest, tango, land."
 
PaulS said:
Poor training. I was taught brevity is professional. " xxx tower, cirrus xxxx, 10 northwest, tango, land."
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I think it has more to do with the fact that many times, in canada, you are talking to hear yourself talk.
 
For the reasons already posted and another, I make the "...clear of runway XX" call whenever I land. My home drome taxiway hold lines at both ends are NOT perpendicular to the runway.

When you're stopped at the 33 end, you're staring at a chain-link fence and a road about 100' away. The runway is behind you. The runway is 35' wide and the taxiways less, so many pilots do not pull up to the line and cant. If you do cant and crane your neck you can just see the far end 2700' away.

The situation is similar though less severe at the 15 end.
 
Domenick said:
For the reasons already posted and another, I make the "...clear of runway XX" call whenever I land. My home drome taxiway hold lines at both ends are NOT perpendicular to the runway.

When you're stopped at the 33 end, you're staring at a chain-link fence and a road about 100' away. The runway is behind you. The runway is 35' wide and the taxiways less, so many pilots do not pull up to the line and cant. If you do cant and crane your neck you can just see the far end 2700' away.

The situation is similar though less severe at the 15 end.
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That is a good reason to make the call.
 
Weekend Warrior said:
"Don't those Canadians ever shut up?"
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No problem for me on the frequency in Northern Vermont while I'm towing gliders all day. The Canadians on the frequency are all speaking French, and I can't understand them anyway. ;);)
 
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