Sequester Consequences -Operating at unfamiliar non-towered airports.

One difficulty of flying into unfamiliar non-towered airports is the local phraseology and reporting points being called out by the locals.

I have a customer who tells an interesting story about arriving into KPVG or Hampton Roads Virginia which is a little to the southwest of Norfolk International. This gentleman was on an IFR flight plan in his pristine, refurbished late model Bonanza. My customer is a competent and safe pilot who flies for pleasure and in pursuit of his business several hundred hours a year. As he was cleared for an approach he was advised to cancel in the air or on the ground and given the familiar ”change to advisory frequency approved”. The ASOS reported calm winds and being unfamiliar with the area he kept his instrument clearance and continued with the approach, all the while believing he owned the airspace down to the runway.

Changing frequencies he advised, “Hampton Roads Traffic Bonanza inbound from SEZJY GPS 10”.  He announced his position numerous times as he flew the ten-mile final approach course, giving his position relative to the various fixes on the approach.  As he hand flew a flawless approach he kept hearing other airplanes on the frequency “in right traffic for two eight HAMRO” but due to their Virginia accents, local landmark callouts, and non-standard phraseology he thought nothing about it.  As he descended to the MDA he looked up, saw the runway, announced he was short final for runway 10 while transitioning for a visual landing. During the round out to the flare he finally understood what HAMRO was when he nearly collided with another airplane doing a touch and go on runway 28 and HAM(pton)RO(ads) 

Going into Dare County once we were confused when ATC kept giving us our position relative to Manteo. Finally I queried the controller what he meant by Manteo? He apologized and told me that’s how the locals refer to the airport. That was useful information and as we spotted the field, cancelled and announced on Unicom a Mooney was entering the downwind for Manteo everyone flying there knew whom and where we were. We have friends who are based at KMRH, or Beaufort North Carolina.  When we went to visit them I asked Pete what they call the airport. The name in the AF/D is Michael J Smith Field, The sectional shows SMITH (MRH) on 122.8 but you cannot call it Smith Field because there is a Smithfield NC airport. Pete explained that the natives call it BOFort which saved us having to figure that out on the fly.

14CFR91.103 requires that each pilot in command shall before beginning a flight become familiar with all of the information concerning that flight. Most of us now have Internet connected smartphones, tablets or laptops we carry and use as part of our preflight planning. Picking up the phone and speaking to someone at the field to ask if there is any particular name or reporting points the local’s use can save you some confusion while keeping everyone safer.

Sequester Consequences- Non Towered Airports/Uncontrolled Fields

I fly in and around uncontrolled fields all the time. I frequently use Montgomery Orange County (KMGJ) with Instrument candidates and IPC customers. It’s a great local airport.  The congeniality of the approach controllers working in that sector is unparalleled for the metro NYC area. The folks at 132.75 will usually provide VFR advisories and sequencing for a working flight instructor who knows how to ask for it professionally and politely.  And when those same controllers are overworked Orange County is still a great airport to provide vectors to a pilot over the intercom and perhaps get in three different approaches in during a two-hour session. The inopportune part is when you change to the Unicom frequency and try to fit a long final straight in approach into a pattern full of trainers in close traffic. It’s helpful to report position relative to the end of the runway you are flying the approach to because most non-instrument pilots won’t understand a call relative to a fix on the approach.

Rather than saying  “Orange County Traffic Mooney is over DIYAD for the ILS 3 Approach Orange County” saying “Orange County Traffic Mooney is four mile final runway three” will let everyone know your position regardless of whether they are novices or seasoned space shuttle captains. 

I don’t imagine the FAA will change the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency when our Delta’s become Echo’s so working in and around an airport with a discrete frequency will be more orderly than working at a Unicom airport where many airports are sharing the same.

It is key to remember that when communicating in the blind at a non-towered airport that shares a frequency with other non-towered airports that you must start and end your transmission with the name of the airport you are operating at. 

An example would be “Orange County Traffic Mooney is ten miles south east inbound for left downwind runway 21 orange county”. Note the lack of a call sign in my sample transmission. When we’re not dealing with air traffic controllers who identify and separate us by our call sign it is not necessary to clog up a busy frequency identifying the specific registration number of your plane. 

A pet peeve of mine is when pilots do is call out with “any traffic please advise” as in “Orange County Traffic Cherokee 12345 is 17 northwest inbound for the left downwind runway 3 any traffic in the area please advise”.  Asking for an airport advisory is usually not necessary on an airport that has an ASOS machine. Listening up on the frequency, paying attention to others and keeping your head on a swivel is the best way to prevent any close encounters with other pilots.

My mother used to say “its not the child’s fault” whenever we saw a kid misbehaving or being rude and I try to remember that idea when I hear pilots exhibiting the aforementioned bad habits and I blame one of the pilot’s instructors for some of these bad habits.

Sequester and the Human Impact

Sequestration Consequences-  Loss of contract tower controllers.

If you are a pilot flying in and around Connecticut you had better brush up on your class E airport operations. With the budget sequestration currently taking hold across our nation every towered airport in the state except for Bradley international will be shuttered.

Bridgeport, Danbury, Groton, Hartford, New Haven and Oxford airports will become class echo full time.  I wasn’t flying when Danbury got our tower, but I do remember when Waterbury Oxford was non-towered and frankly it was a free for all with pilots jockeying into and out of the traffic pattern with all of the politeness of drivers vying for empty parking spots at the mall during the holidays.

Instructing seven days a week for the past three years, I can tell you that most weekdays, nine months of the year, closing every contract tower in CT will have very little impact on VFR operations except for on weekends and at key periods during the day. Sitting at my desk on a nice Friday morning with my handheld tuned into Danbury tower the last two transmissions I have heard were clearing ground vehicles and advising that the ATIS had changed. IFR operations are a different story and I am sure that picking up a clearance, and a release with a void time on the phone or a RCO will be a major inconvenience to anyone trying to leave town when the weather is less than VFR.  

I like the controllers at Oxford and Danbury, which are the airports I work out of regularly. I know their voices, and they know mine. Most are friendly, a few are short tempered, and one in particular is completely burned out, his mood swings matched only by the wide spectrum of aircraft performance and pilot skill levels they have to deal with on a day to day basis.  

Having lost numerous positions to budget cuts in my earlier life I understand how they will feel should they get furloughed. I was a 1099 consultant in the financial services and pharmaceutical industry for the better part of my adult life and know how indiscriminate a budget axe can be. But cutting a consultant never compromised any of these organizations safety a bit. What I find scary is once these facilities close down it isn’t too hard to imagine what type of catastrophic event will be necessary to open them up again.

Call your senators and congressman and let them know how disappointed you are with them for letting this happen. Hell, call everybody you can who will listen and tell them this is a steaming pile of pooh. No one ever got hit by the truck they saw coming, and the knowledge of this has been on the horizon for a long time.

April 1^st is the day these fine people who sequence us in and out of our airports and into the enroute system are due to get laid off. They deserve our support and we need their services.  Call your congressman and senator today. Right now.