PlasticPilot.net

“Affirm”
This shortened version of “affirmative” simply means “yes”. Yes was too short to be always cleary understood over radio, and “Affirmative” was too similar with “Negative”, so “Affirm” was created.

There are many reasons for which ATC can not always answer positively to pilot requests. Traffic, airspace restrictions, weather, worload, … but controllers do their best to anser with “Affirm” as often as possible. As pilot, I also do my best to answer ATC requests with “Affirm” as far as practical, to also help them, and to keep the system as smooth as possible.

“At your discretion”
This is kind of an extended version of “Affirm”. I can’t remember hearing it while flying VFR. I can imagine it for a pilot declaring an emergency, and being clear to land on “any runway at his discretion”.

“At your own discretion” is the perfect answer when and IFR pilot requests to deviate from his route to avoid adverse weather. We often request to deviate by XXX degrees to the left or to the right, to give the controller an idea. When controller answer such requests with “Turn is approved at your discretion”, it means that the pilot gets the freedom to turn as much as needed to circumnavigate the problem.

It is frequently accompanied by “Report when able to…”. Controllers know well that aircraft, and especially light ones, can not cope with any weather, or any problem on board. In case of emergency, controllers can also allocate a vertical slice of airspace to be used “at pilot discretion”.

“Direct to”
This one is definetly IFR oriented, but easy to understand for anybody. IFR routes are not always straight lines from A to B. There could be military zones, approach areas, or other restricted areas between A and B, but these zones are not always active.

By clearing a pilot to fly “Direct to XXX”, the controller shortens the route, saves fuel, and makes the pilot’s life easier, and this can also solve conflict problems over crowded intersectons. With modern navigation devices like GPS, but also inertial systems, it is possible to fly a direct to nearly every point on the globe.

A controller told me the story of a British Airways Boeing 747, shortly after inertial systems were introduced, who requested direct navigation to Cape Town… from Biggin-Hill VOR, in the London area. There was not a log of traffic, so he got it !

If you liked this post, have a look at the three things I don’t like to hear from ATC.

“Negative”
That one is rather clear: the controller can not accept my request. It is usually followed by cause, which can range from traffic to reserved airspace, via many others. It’s never pleasant, but pilots know, understand, and accept that. Depending what is denied, the plans have to be slightly or drastically changed, or even cancelled.

“Radar Service Terminated”
There are many ways to keep IFR traffic separated from each other. The most obvious and frequent is use of radar by controllers. They know the position of each aircraft, and provide guidance. It’s convenient and efficient. It’s somehow reassuring to know that I’m a “blip” with a position, a label, and an altitude on the controller’s screen, even if it does not take any of my pilot’s responsibilities away.

But radar coverage is not present everywhere, particularly in lower airspace and regional airports. Aircraft are then kept separated from the other and from the obstacles using procedures. Typically, all aircraft are kept in holding at different altitudes, and fly the approach one after the other. It’s perfectly safe, as long as pilots flow procedures as published. In case of deviation however, there won’t be any friendly voice in the radio to issue a warning.

When leaving radar coverage, or before transfer to a non-radar equipped ATC service, comes that famous “radar service terminated” message. It always sounded like a “don’t mess it up now, you’re on your own, kiddo”.

“Say intentions”
From all the standardized vocabulary used between controllers and pilots, this is probably the worst sentence of all. Controllers use it when they have no idea what a pilot will do, either because something got denied (see “Negative”) and there are no obvious options, or because the pilot just declared an emergency.

Typically, if a pilot has doubts regarding the landing gear extension, he will require a low pass in front of tower for visual inspection. The controllers will look using binoculars, and then report to the pilot. This could be something like “Sorry, no landing gear visible. Say intentions”.

For a pilot, not having a plan is not a glorious situation. In the best case, “say intentions” means that I’m with no plan, and in the worst case, it means that I’m in an emergency. There is only one positive thing in “say intentions”: ATC will help to solve the problem, whatever it is.

If there are other things you don’t like to hear, or if you want to take part in the preparation of the “Three things ATC don’t like to hear from pilots” post, leave a comment.

Headset
My personal headset is a Bose X, with active noise reduction (ANR). Some pilots dislike ANR because they have the impression to loose contact with the engine. Personally I feel it as an important comfort factor, particularly for long flight. I also carry a David Clark (passive) headset for my first passenger, and my very first FlightCom for the second passenger.

Handheld Radio
My homebase if a controlled airport, and as an IFR pilot I would not loose contact with ATC in case of complete electrical failure, so I never fly without my handheld VHF. To make it usable in flight in a noisy cockpit, I also cary a headset adapter.

Portable GPS
My Garmin 96C has two roles: backup in case of electrical failure when flying IFR and main GPS when flying non-equipped planes VFR outisde my comfort zone. As it is not my main source for navigation, I update the database only when major changes occur in my area.

Flashlight
I don’t fly a lot by night, but a flashlight is part of mandatory equipment for IFR, even by day. Depending the type of plane, it is just needed to have a flashlight for pre-flight inspection. For actual night flying, I carry two flashlights.

Maps and charts
I switched to electronical charting services three years ago (except for Switzerland), and have no regret. No more time spent in updating my european coverage, but still a lot of paper thrown away because I print a lot, in case of unexpected diversion.

Fuel tester
My bag contains two fuel testers: one with a pin, one with no pin. I gave up on plastic / removeable pins as they are two fragile. I invested in a fuel tester with a metallic pin, which last much longer.

Kneeboard
My collection of kneeboards ranges from mini-A5 to folding A4. Anything bigger than the mini-A5 would not fit in a DA40 cockpit, and folding A4 is just perfect for IFR in a Saratoga.

Logbook
The paper version of my logbook is always in my bag, as I’m an “airport stamps” collector. I started it in basic training, and never stopped it.

Show me your bag… I’ll tell you who you are
I shall have put that in first place, but I have three flight bags of different sizes, for VFR solo, VFR with passengers and camera, and IFR.

Do you have other items in your flight bag(s) ?