Phil Perry

We have been Illegally using 123.45 for three decades, for inter aircraft chat with no callsigns used, as this freq was actually a'Buffe'Channel' in the band and not issued to anyone in particular. . . The Oil Rig Helicopter operators in the North Sea used it for a short time but then gave it up due to the QRM from pilots discussing curries and home improvements . .. So it is nice that the Civil Serpents have decided to allow a free channel for use between flying machines, as this will be Good,. . .as long as pilots don't use it to discuss what type of curry they had last night,. . .

Thank you BA. . .

Been looking on search engines for a while,. . I can't find any ref to Scott's videos, keep getting musicians n the USA ! Thanks,. . .Phil.

I was most impressed watching Scott Henderson and his Lovely Wife / Navigator doing his 'Flying Around' videos, and the way that they used the station called, at the Beginning and the end of the transmissions leaving no doubt who they were calling, although most of the places they visited in the NT don't seem to have a radio base it certainly helps the RFDS, RPT and all other traffic if they know where you are and your intentions.. . .I don't know why we don't adopt that in the UK, especially when using 129.830 UK wide Unicom for small airfields. But for the first time in history, The authorities have allowed us a 'CHAT' channel. . 129.835,. . .where we can LEGALLY speak aircraft to aircraft. This has always been a NONO in the UK,. . because it would have been useful, and that Isn't what Gubmint wants,. . they like to make things as difficult as possible, but that,. . .is another story ! Now, formatons can communicate between aircraft, which improves safety, and doesn't tie up Air Ground frequencies the way it has done for ages. . .

When I wore a younger man's flying suit,. . .I often fantasised using the callsign 'Kittyhawk ONE' Though in what circumstance I couldn't realistically imagine. . . When I was in the Air Cadets, our squadron did an Honour Guard for the Royals, where Prince Philip spoke to the guy standing right next to me, and Her Maj. strolled past so close that I could whiff her perfume. . . Ahhh I remember it well. . .RAF Stafford, 1963,. . ( Stafford was an RAF Base without a runway, so they had to land n the parade ground, and blew a the bins over along with some of our hats with the Westland Whirlwind's rotor downwash. . ) ).Prince Phil had flown the helicopter in himself, and blew some of our berets off in the process. . .BUT I had only just got my 'A' certificate at Gliding, and I'm sure that HMQ would Not have wished to sit in the back of a Glider with me back then. . ( sobs )

Nice idea to put the radio in the car Jack,. .. but FFS, don't go changing channels while you're driving,. . as we don't need a 'Young Pilot trainee hits Back of truck while changing radio frequencies' report.. . . .! ! ! ! ! In the UK, that would be charged as using a Mobile Phone And you'd get a £200 fine and Six demerit points on your license IF you survived hitting the truck. . .( ! ) BW, I use a 5/8ths wave base loaded whip antenna for airband monitoring, as it gives a much greater range for airband VHF comms. Mag bse lso,. . .I only use UHF to listen to the Yanks, ad their radio procedure is Pants, . . ie, heard near Lakenheath USAF base in UK. . . "Err,. . BUGEYE NINER TWO,. .. THIS IS BUGEYE FOUR THREE . .I GOT YOUR SIX BUDDY". . . .hmmmm Most professional. . . .

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When I was 'Pulled' for speeding in my Renault 16TS in Brisbane ( Xmas 1982 ) the young cop said to me "Goin' a bit 'Ard there weren'tcha Driver ?" I was bang out of order so I didn't argue. I was a 'few' kph over on a lovely stretch of highway near to Beenleigh. . . the cop gave me a bollocking but Didn't write a ticket. Maybe because I'd got Wifey holding our new infant in the rear seat ?. . I dunno. . . . coulda been my natural charm I guess. . .

We have two aircraft on our site which use military callsigns, one is is an Aeronca L6 which flew on D-Day, and the only one of the type flying. The other is the Manager's SE5A 7/8ths replica which uses CS3011. This is allowed in certain circumstances.

I listen to Military comms on UHF, but their procedures appear very different to ours Jerry,. . . Maybe they have to speak in 'Tongues' for security purposes. . .The Yanks operating from Lakenheath / Mildenhall are a real Giggle though . . . 'POPEYE WUN FOUR . . . WUN THREE - I GOT YOUR SIX ' Mind you, some of the RAF callsigns which come up on Flightradar 24 are equally amusing. . . I heard some hilarious Banter on Heathrow tower recently . . . with phrases like 'Midkand 174 'COME ON DOWN' ( What happened to 'Clear To Land' is anyone's guess. . .I don't suppose it's ilegal and it lightens the mood a little when a long string of aircraft are queueing in FA for the same runway. . . A Lovely sounding German Lady pilot said, "LH 414 Cargo, ( Lufthansa Airbus 340 ) , 'Can I come on down too please ? Priceless. I admit to committing 'BANTER' occasionally, if appropriate to the situation.

It's tempting, but I try not to take the pi$$ out of them, as it makes us Both look bad ! I DID point out to one visitor whose abbreviated callsign ended in 'Charlie Tango', that we already had Another visiting Charlie Tango here. . . and to Please not confuse an old fella on the wireless. . .

Callsign abbreviation is a Top Gripe, . . . The current convention is that it's OK to shorten your callsign to just 'Golf' plus the two last letters BUT ONLY IF ATC DOES IT FIRST. ATC never do this at an airfield within controlled airspace, but some Flight Information Service operated provincial fields regularly Do.

After reading the thread wrt to Roger, and Ayfirm, I am minded to comment on the terrible state of radio operation in the UK. Being a volunteer Air / Ground radio operator, I hear some very poor procedures from visiting pilots to our small provincial private airfield site. Microlight flying has traditionally been Low cost aviation for the working man / woman,. . but I can't understand why the training of pilots doesn't appears to have extended to Good practice on VHF radio. This appears to extend also to operators of General aviation aircraft, who, it seems tend to use their own 'Pet' operating procedures either from poor training in the first instance, OR what they do at their own base. The whole ethos of Air to ground communications needs to be common to the whole country, and not 'Pick 'N' Mix' phraseology which is confusing and sometimes downright dangerous. The CA produced a Radiotelephony Manual CAP 413 FOR A VERY LONG TIME, since then it has remained '413' but is now administered by a Govt. Qango called 'OFCOM' and NOT the CAA. . .But it is basically the same manual, wth a few niggling updates, BUT it applies to everyone flying within the UK F.I.R. All Pilot radio courses are based upon this publication. So Why, I ask myself are there so many rubbish operators up there ? ALSO THOSE WHO HAVE ABSOLUTELY No idea what they are doing. The first indication I have of a poor operator is when they call our airfield for information but only announce Half of their callsign. The UK uses Four letter callsigns which are the registration of the rcraft, preceded by the letter 'G' So that, when a pilot communicates wth us, he should use 1) the station he is calling, 2) his FULL callsign, and estimated arrival and 3) WHAT HE WANTS OF US., IE, AIRFIELD INFORMATION. This rarely happens. I usually get "Erm ah, this is Golf Charlie delta, what runway are you on ? ? ? I dunno if he's calling us or not ! ! ! as we use a Unicom frequency. . .No idea what direction he s approaching from,. . .no idea of aircraft type. . . no Idea of whether he wants to land, or overfly. . . .No ide of he's actually calling US. . . I think I am becoming a miserable git with a sense of humour failure. 'Charlie Delta', by the way, . . .was an aircraft worth around seventy five grand . . .and the trainee pilot was on his second solo cross country navex + outlanding. . . .Feck knows who his instructor was. . . the aircraft was fitted with Sky Demon moving map Nav, had a Mode S txpdr and added ADSB. . .all the bells and whistles but a pilot who was not trained in reasonable comms practice. . .

Clarity of Comms should be foremost in Any radio exchange. In the UK, Affirm is always spoken as AYFIRM With emphasis on the AY bit. . .

That is why I don't use VOX operated headsets, which clip the first part of a transmission. . .it's also embarrassing when / If you want to emit a quiet expletive tp yourself, with regard to what someone has just done. . . "When was the last time someone asked you if you would like a drink and you answered, "Affirm"?" Only at an airfield with a Club Bar ? ? ?

I was reminded the other day about Another Golf Course landing, but this time it was deliberate, and planned to avoid any 'Greens' Can't remember the name of the Club, but it was around half way back from FivePee Green to Penkridge, and I was using the auxilliary Belly Tank, having exhausted the rear one. My Mate Steve in the back seat said that the fuel Gauge on the belly tank was reading Zero. . . I decided it would be a good idea to carry out a powered landing and see what was up, we left HG with a full tank, so we must have a serious leak here. We rolled out almost at the front door of the 19th Hole and found that the spring Clip on the belly tank pickup had fractured, and there was evidence of fuel leaking into the belly fabric of the trike. . . I repaired this with a coupe of Strong zip ties and we were able to continue the arduous 15 minute trip back to base. . .NO, . . we Didn't have a drink first, But we DID get a lift to a local garage to refill the tank ! Where would early microlight aircraft have been without Zip Ties, Duck Tape, string and Velcro. . . ? ? Oh and btw,. . it's 'FORE' ( No,. . .me neither. . .I've never understood Golf )

https://www.pilotweb.aero/f... , (BD story in the side bar )

I've flown in India,. .. No problem with comms,. . they speak english better than we do,. . Pakistan the same. .South Africa, different accents but no problems with comms. . . In Europe,. . EVERY controller speaks perfect English ( Except in France on Wednesdays ) I know NO Chinese at all. And have never flown there either,. . You'd need to ask our resident Chinese Aussie resident Mark, . . .who runs an aircraft engine factory in Chengdu about that aspect of flying in China. . .. . . Good luck with your radio practice anyhow mate. . .

Now, a Jumbo, I could believe. . .

Oh Bugger Onetrack. . . you beat me to it that time . . . . :-)

I had an engine failure on take off from Husbands Bosworth, in Leicestershire in the 1980s. . .we had just uploaded some fuel, but Had NOT mixed it with the 2 stroke oil properly ( evidently ). . the engine coughed and died at around 150 feet, leaving me no option but the Golf Course which adjoined the airfield. I landed on a fairway, which was, luckily, straight ahead. . and there was no drama at all. I noticed, as we rolled out, that a golfer had stood and watched us pass by,. . and then calmly played his shot as though nothing untoward had just happened. . . . I found lots of raw oil in the carb, and after a flush out, we were able to continue our voyage. . . The Green keeper told us that if we had run over a Green, and WORSE 'Rutted' It that we would have been assassinated . . . .

I agree entirely Sir,. . using the word 'JET' must be a misnomer, since jets require Hydrocarbon based fuel to work as a 'JET' engine. With the application of Devil's Advocate here,. . what happens if the software has a hiccup, ie, is there a failsafe Ballistic parachute to save the 'Taxi' passengers in that event ?. . . for as we all know,.. . Software never goes wrong. . .. does it. . .

On a slightly Darker note,. . Tern Hill became an Army base during the Irish 'Troubles' and there was an incident which changed Ministry of Defence Policy with regard to Gate Sentries. One early evening a vehicle showed up near the gate and three armed masked men jumped out and started walking towards the Duty sentry. He immediately cocked his automatic rifle and went down on one knee aiming it at them. . He challenged them saying "Drop your weapons or I fire" they decided that discretion was the best part of valour and buggered off sharpish. The sentry had NOT been issued any Ammunition. He was a very lucky man, and obviously a good Poker player. The M.O.D. rapidly changed their policy to Minimum TWO sentries at any base, ALL TOOLED UP WITH BULLETS AS WELL, Plus OPEN rules of engagement.. It has to make the average person seriously wonder what makes these bloody politicians tick.

HA HA. . .my First proper Glider solo was in a Slingsby Sedbergh glider with the Air Cadets. The Sebergh was an advanced training aircraft, whereas the usual first solo machine was the T-111 which had tandem seating with student in the front seat. These were all Winch launches to around 1,100 feet agl. . . I tried the T-111 but my 'Arris was a bit wide and it was painful,. . which is why they switched me over to the larger Sedbergh which had side by side seating. All my training up to Silver 'C' Soaring Certificate was in that aircraft. At RAF Tern Hill, ( Shropshire - Middle England ) which was then a Helicopter base but us cadets had the use of it on weekends. when the RAF didn't do much ( ? ) The helicopters used there were Westland Whirlwind 'Lumps' and the more attractive looking Bristol Sycamore, which had a Heart shaped view screen in the lower p[art of the nose, which looked like a 'Smiley' face. . I stayed with the Air Training Corps til I was sixteen as a staff cadet at the Glider School and got loads of flights when the cadets had finished for the day. . . I learned to drive the old RAF Landrovers too, which we used with a trailer to retrieve landed gliders from all over the Huge airfield. . .Great fun times. . .