No more "Left Downwind"?

I agree with your point of view. "Left" adds a lot of information to the
call. My personal peeve is pilots "taking the active" at uncontrolled
airports. Which runway is active? I have heard this on calm days at
backcountry airstrips where the pilot was the first to take off that day..

Mike
MU-2

Hey, Mike -- how's things with the Helio? Spend the summer landing on
postage-stamp gravel bars?

Haven't seen you post here in a long while -- glad you're back!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article . net,
"Mike Rapoport" wrote:

I agree with your point of view. "Left" adds a lot of information to the
call. My personal peeve is pilots "taking the active" at uncontrolled
airports. Which runway is active? I have heard this on calm days at
backcountry airstrips where the pilot was the first to take off that day..

Amen.

Did a GPS-9 straight-in to a T&G at IJD just the other night. The moment I
started my missed approach, I head somebody announcing they were departing
27. All's fair in love, war, and uncontrolled fields.

On Sat, 02 Sep 2006 15:15:34 GMT, "Mike Rapoport"
wrote:
I agree with your point of view. "Left" adds a lot of information to the
call. My personal peeve is pilots "taking the active" at uncontrolled
airports. Which runway is active? I have heard this on calm days at
backcountry airstrips where the pilot was the first to take off that day..

Yeah, that one never really made sense to me... After I've done my
runup on the taxiway area prior to the end of the runway and ensured
that there are no aircraft on final (or at least are far enough out to
not be a factor), right before moving past the hold short line prior
to taking off, I'll say:

"Southwest traffic, Grumman-581, departing 09"

At which point, I let off the brakes, start accelerating during the
turn from the taxiway to the runway and get off the runway as quick as
possible... I hate it when I see these students pull out on the
numbers and just sit there... Don't know what they're doing... Are
they fiddling with maps or have they just forgotten where the throttle
is?

"Jose" wrote in message
om...

One case was tower but no D going to tower with D.
The other case was D but no tower, going to tower with D.

The initial (or middle) condition was that the normally synched tower/D
combination was out of synch. That is a degree of sameness.

True, they were out of synch in the opposite direction, so it was not
"identical". But the degree of sameness is sufficient (IMHO) for the
point of the post.


In other words, not the same thing.



So, what exactly is the charting requirement for a magenta vs a blue
airport symbol? And what is the exact relationship between class D and a
tower?


A blue airport symbol indicates an airport with a control tower, a magenta
airport symbol indicates an airport without a control tower.



And while I'm at it... Special VFR used to be available in a surface area.


It still is.



With the new alphabet, is it available above the ceiling of the class D?


No. What would be the purpose of Special VFR above the ceiling of a surface
area?

"Southwest traffic, Grumman-581, departing 09"

At which point, I let off the brakes, start accelerating during the
turn from the taxiway to the runway and get off the runway as quick as
possible... I hate it when I see these students pull out on the
numbers and just sit there... Don't know what they're doing... Are
they fiddling with maps or have they just forgotten where the throttle
is?

I like to wait a moment before actually grabbing the runway. It gives a
chance for somebody else to say "red Mooney short final 09 Southwest".
Oops, musta missed that guy... there he is.

Jose
--
The monkey turns the crank and thinks he's making the music.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

In other words, not the same thing.

Well, what non-identical thing would qualify (in this context) as "the
same thing"?

A blue airport symbol indicates an airport with a control tower, a magenta
airport symbol indicates an airport without a control tower.

Got that. Does a control tower always mean class D (or better)? Does
class D always mean a control tower?

What would be the purpose of Special VFR above the ceiling of a surface
area?

The same as the purpose of SVFR in a surface area. One reason would be
to find VFR above a broken layer. It would of course require positive
control of the airspace, which is probably not available above the D.

Is the D equivalent to a "surface area"?

Jose
--
The monkey turns the crank and thinks he's making the music.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

210.213.98.18On Sat, 02 Sep 2006 13:19:16 -0400, Roy Smith
wrote:
Did a GPS-9 straight-in to a T&G at IJD just the other night. The moment I
started my missed approach, I head somebody announcing they were departing
27. All's fair in love, war, and uncontrolled fields.

Would you have preferred that he depart 27 *before* you started your
missed approach? I'm assuming that you announced your missed approach
and he at least waited for that before announcing that he was
departing from 27...

Jose wrote:

Does a control tower always mean class D (or better)?

No.

Does class D always mean a control tower?

No.

Is the D equivalent to a "surface area"?

No.


Stefan

On Sat, 02 Sep 2006 17:38:09 GMT, Jose
wrote:
I like to wait a moment before actually grabbing the runway. It gives a
chance for somebody else to say "red Mooney short final 09 Southwest".
Oops, musta missed that guy... there he is.

Well, since I usually have my canopy back so I can check for traffic
on final better, I guess I'm giving him a couple of seconds too since
that's about how long it takes for me to slide the canopy forward and
lock it prior to actually completing the turn to the runway... Of
course, with the canopy back, it's *very* difficult to not see a plane
on short final...

In article ,
Grumman-581 wrote:

210.213.98.18On Sat, 02 Sep 2006 13:19:16 -0400, Roy Smith
wrote:
Did a GPS-9 straight-in to a T&G at IJD just the other night. The moment I
started my missed approach, I head somebody announcing they were departing
27. All's fair in love, war, and uncontrolled fields.

Would you have preferred that he depart 27 *before* you started your
missed approach?

No, of course not. I'm not saying he did anything wrong. I was just using
this as a real-life example of why "the active" is a meaningless term at an
uncontrolled airport.