Reamed out by Approach

Hi Bob;

You sound good to go to me. Try not to let yourself become intimidated in
heavy traffic. It's easy enough to do when things are coming at you verbally
at mach 3 and the controllers are a bit "overworked" :-)
What I've always done if the controllers are busy and a radio call comes
through during heavy volume traffic that I think is for me but could be
ambitious; is that I just wait for the right moment (a break in mike
activity) and simply ask in plain language if the call was for me. It's
better to make the extra call and clarify than to take a chance on an action
that might have been meant for someone else. After all has been said on it,
the controllers will appreciate you asking rather than waiting because you
were intimidated.
I think a lot of pilots get all wrapped up in constantly using proper
phraseology instead of going for clarification when these ambiguities crop
up from time to time in heavy traffic. Not that proper radio procedure isn't
important, but it's just that sometimes clarification in plain English will
suffice.
Actually, in fifty years of flying, I can't honestly say that I ever
remember having a controller flip out on me for laying a clarification out
there in plain English.
Dudley



"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)