Reamed out by Approach

Sounds like the Tampa controllers

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Scott F. Migaldi, K9PO
MI-150972
PP-ASEL-IA

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"I can accept that Bush won the election. What I have a hard time
swallowing is that I live in a country where more than half the
population is willfully ignorant, politically obstinate, religiously
prejudiced, and embarrassingly gullible."

-------------------------------------
"Bob Chilcoat" wrote in message
...
Mea culpa:

I was flying into OSU airport at Columbus, OH on Friday. I contacted
Columbus approach at the appropriate time, was given a squawk, and
continued
on inbound for OSU. The controller tried to call traffic for "Archer 411"
a
couple of times, so I asked if he was calling "Archer 44511". He seemed
exasperated, but gave me traffic, which I immediately spotted and
announced
that "511 has traffic". I'm not the greatest on the radio in controlled
airspace, but was by myself, and handling things pretty well. I next
heard
a call for "Brsst 511". I heard the call, but thought that there must be
someone else in the area with a similar call sign, since it sounded
nothing
like "Archer" or "Cherokee" (which we Archer pilots also get a lot). I
did
start listening even more carefully, but did not ask him if the call was
for
me, probably partly because of his reaction when I questioned him earlier
when he got my call sign wrong. Again he called the same aircraft, which
sounded almost like "Bravo 511". I decided that this could not be for me,
although I did hear no acknowledgement of the call. He made a third call
to
"Bravo 511" telling them to "Squawk 1200, contact OSU tower on 118.8."
Again I hesitated, thinking that while this might be for me, I'd never
having been told to squawk VFR at this point. I was about to ask him if
these calls were for me when he then called "Archer 511, are you still
with
me?", to which I replied "Affirmative, 511." At this point he really
reamed
me out, saying "I know it's spring, and you haven't been flying all
winter,
but you really need to pay attention. I've called you three times, and
it's
really busy down here.", or words to that effect. I replied that I had
been
listening very carefully, but he repeated his tirade again about it being
spring and that I needed to concentrate. He then repeated the last call
about squawking 1200 and contacting the tower. Not wanting to tie up the
frequency any more, and being more than a bit embarrassed, I complied and
completed the flight without further incidents.

I really wished that I could have pointed out that if he'd been a bit more
careful with his pronounciation, I would have acknowledged his first call
immediately, since I heard very clearly his final call about whether or
not
I was still with him. I was smarting about the whole thing for the rest
of
the evening. I realize that it is normal procedure for a controller not
to
abbreviate a call sign if there is more than one plane in his airspace
with
the same final three digits, but had he been even a bit more articulate in
saying "Archer", as he was in his final call, I would not have been
confused.

I guess I learned that you need to ask immediately if you think a call
might
be for you, even though the call is a bit garbled. Is the aircraft type
an
official part of the call? Any other actions I should have taken?

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

"Bob Chilcoat" wrote in message
...
I really wished that I could have pointed out that if he'd been a bit more
careful with his pronounciation, I would have acknowledged his first call
immediately, since I heard very clearly his final call about whether or
not
I was still with him.


OK, here's my 2 cents:

A lot could be going on here, most of it probably not your fault. He could
be having a bad day, he could have a bad microphone that garbled his words,
he could be overloaded. What you want to do is give the facility the
information that might help fix the problem, while protecting yourself.

So, before going over to the tower, I would ask approach for his initials.
Every controller has working initials that identify him at that facility and
he is required to give them to you if you request them.

After you land, write down the time and frequency that it occurred so you
don't forget it, along with a few reminders of what happened so your memory
remains fresh. The next business day, call the facility and ask to speak to
the facility chief (NOT the controller). Explain the situation, making sure
that you remain constructive rather than trying to trash the controller. You
should sound calm, professional, understanding, and concerned about aviation
safety. You will almost certainly find that the chief is interested in the
same things. By giving him the scenario, he can look into the problem and
maybe fix it or at least alleviate it some. If it's a problem of not enough
controllers and his budget is maxed out he may not be able to do much but at
least he can talk to the controller and you may give him some ammunition to
put behind a budget increase request.

If you give the chief the time and the frequency and the controller's
initials he can listen to the tapes, which may help him analyze the problem.
You should also give the chief your phone number and be willing to accept a
call from him with some constructive criticism of you. As long as there is
no enforcement action (and unless a separation error resulted from something
you did, that's extremely unlikely), everybody learns and everybody wins.

Jon

Bob Chilcoat wrote:
Mea culpa:

snip
I next heard
a call for "Brsst 511". I heard the call, but thought that there
must be
someone else in the area with a similar call sign, since it sounded
nothing
like "Archer" or "Cherokee" (which we Archer pilots also get a lot
snip

If you hear a call for "Brsst 511" or "Bravo 511" and your tail
number ends in "511" you can safely assume it's for you. If there are
two aircraft operating with the same or similar abreviated callsigns,
the controller is supposed to advise both aircraft and use the full
callsign for each aircraft.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

Call the number. Ask to talk to the SUPERVISOR. Tell him/her what you
told us.

Helen

In article .com, wrote:
Them: DMB, Freg. change approved, and we tried to contact you for 20
minutes.
Me: DMB, Freq. change approved, well, I'm DMB, I only heard calls to
OMB.
What happend here?
They have a flight plan for a D-EDMB, the first call went right.
I do not get it.

On the crappy 9-pin dotmatrix teleprinters that ATC still use (printers
I saw British Rail using 15 years ago), the letter D and O look very
similar.

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

If you hear a call for "Brsst 511" or "Bravo 511" and your tail
number ends in "511" you can safely assume it's for you.

that's a good assumption but don't assume, you should ask. On Norcal
appch over Hayward Airport, I was cleared to 4000. I read it back
and heard nothing. We then heard a HP 737 inbound to OAK cleared
to 4000. I said to my CFII if he could see the jet as I was under
the hood. He then asked and we were not cleared but a very similarly
sounded call sign was. No separation issues but if it were IMC,
it could have created a very dangerous area as we were flying
in the area of 3 cless C, a class B and 4 class D airports. Always
ask and don't assume.


If there are
two aircraft operating with the same or similar abreviated callsigns,
the controller is supposed to advise both aircraft and use the full
callsign for each aircraft.

'supposed to' but not required.

Gerald

G. Sylvester wrote:
If there are
two aircraft operating with the same or similar abreviated
callsigns,
the controller is supposed to advise both aircraft and use the full
callsign for each aircraft.

'supposed to' but not required.

Yes it is required. From the ATC handbook, Order 7110.65P :

2-4-9. ABBREVIATED TRANSMISSIONS

Transmissions may be abbreviated as follows:

a. Use the identification prefix and the last 3 digits or letters of
the aircraft identification after communications have been established.
Do not abbreviate similar sounding aircraft identifications or the
identification of an air carrier or other civil aircraft having an FAA
authorized call sign.


AND...

2-4-15. EMPHASIS FOR CLARITY

Emphasize appropriate digits, letters, or similar sounding words to aid
in distinguishing between similar sounding aircraft identifications.
Additionally:

a. Notify each pilot concerned when communicating with aircraft having
similar sounding identifications.

EXAMPLE-
"United Thirty-one United, Miami Center, U.S. Air Thirty-one is also on
this frequency, acknowledge."

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)