"Julian Scarfe" wrote in message
...
Not sure why there's such a strong aversion to this.

Well, for one, because nearly all fatal collisions between transport
aircraft occurred on a runway.

[...] Hence it's not unusual at a quiet controlled airport to be given
the
IFR clearance while lined up on the runway, and a take-off clearance
immediately afterwards.

I don't think anyone stipulated the "quiet controlled airport".
"Controlled" is implied, of course. But this "quiet" was never stated. In
the US, "quiet controlled airport" is either an oxymoron by definition, or a
relative term applicable to airports where there's still a fair amount of
traffic.

If the clearance were given at the hold, it could
take minutes to backtrack the runway and get airborne -- it's not unusual
to
get such a clearance a couple of minutes before the end of a flow
management
slot.

Minutes? I've never seen an airport where an airplane would take more than
ten or fifteen seconds to get lined up and take off. Not saying they don't
exist, of course, but surely it makes more sense to think about the typical
case here when talking about general procedures.

Pete