Stuck Mike

"Peter R." wrote in message
...
Jay Beckman ) wrote:

The Bendix/King KX 155As in the C172SPs I trained in and am now renting
will
(according to the Cessna Pilot Course textbook...) cut off the TX if the
mic
has been keyed for longer than 33 seconds. Then the active frequency
will
start blinking confirming you've been cut off. I've not had to test this
under fire yet...hope I don't have to.

Provide a PIREP or file a flight plan in the air and you will
inadvertently test the cut-off feature of this audio panel.

During a PIREP or flight plan, I purposely pause to recycle the push-
to-talk switch. This prevents the panel from activating that safety
feature and cutting me off mid-sentence.

--
Peter

Good point...Good Suggestion

Jay B

During my tour in my first fighter squadron in the early 1980s (F-111D, Cannon
AFB, New Mexico) I heard a poor soul on stuck mic. Unfortunately, he was doing
a pretty good job of disparaging his flight leader. I was a First Lieutenant
and a wingman in a flight of two Varks that had flown to Red Flag at Nellis AFB
(out and back). We flew the mission, delivered our weapons, egressed and
humiliated some Eagles (even with their inflight reload capability) and then
RTBed to Cannon. There were a few other off-station aircraft in our strike
package, including an F-4G two-ship from George AFB. A few minutes before
Nellis Control handed us off to Center, we heard his transmission. What
follows is only a sampling of his verbal assault on his flight leader.

"Jesus, what the ****'s he doing. ****, he must have his head up his ass
again."

"Now what the **** is he doing. Lead's head must be up and locked more than
usual."

"How did we ever get stuck on his wing? What a loser."

It got worse. A lot worse. Finally, right before Nellis Control handed us off
to Center, it all came to an abrupt halt. We discussed it during our debrief
and we surmised that Lead must have rocked his wingman in to fingertip position
and gave his wingman a visual hand signal. We got a lot of mileage out of this
for a few weeks. Unfortunately, none of us carried a cassette tape recorder
that day. I really wish that we had one.



Kurt Todoroff


Markets, not mandates and mob rule.
Consent, not compulsion.

"Robert Briggs" wrote in message
...

Let's see, you know that the guy is transmitting on one frequency,
but what about his second box?

If he's using it to monitor another frequency then, with a spot of
educated trial-and-error, you may be able to get through to him.


Does the side-tone of the transmitter not take over his intercom?

I thought that it does and that all he gets in his headphones is his own
mic, no matter what else is "on"??

Jim Weir wrote:
You wanna know why? I'll give you two good reasons why.

1. The BIG RED LIGHT on the center of the panel should be reserved for things
that make the airplane stop flying, like low fuel, low oil, high temp, all that
critical stuff. A radio (much to my corporate dismay) is NOT required to keep
the aircraft in the air.

Amen. The Mantra my CFI beat into my head: #1 - Aviate. #2 - Navigate.
#3 - Communicate. Getting things out of order can really mess up your
day.

--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL, IA Student

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth
with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there
you will always long to return"
- Leonardo Da Vinci

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 02:24:15 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

Coming back from Pella (near Des Moines) today we over-flew a poor sap who

Oh, you're enjoying this already.

was apparently sitting on his microphone. Worse, he had the incredible
misfortune of being the last person in a flight of three to land, and while
they landed ahead of him he gave a long, critical, and quite profane running
review of his "friend's" landings to his co-pilot -- and also, unknowingly,

This sounds as not believable to me. Are you making something up?
I'll have to say the note of the post doesn't quite make sense. Most
would get at least a little angry, while you're obviously enjoying it.
Oh, you're angry, but not telling us what it actually is. You know
about this guy don't you?

live on the air, to every pilot in the Midwest.

No, just to the local airport; if your story is as it says.


After he landed, we could hear the guy shut down, and someone yelling at
him. Then the mike went dead. It was quite hilarious.

No, it ain't. A pilot couldn't write this without at least a little
bit of concern for himself, and a request that the others would take
it easy on him if and when he walked out the bathroom door with his
own zipper down. But yours is absolute ridicule, for all involved;
including those who answered by reflex. That's not like you, Jay.
Can you fill us in on the rest?


Aside from the obvious lessons to be learned from this (like, always be
careful what you say, in case you're transmitting!), we just could NOT
believe the number of pilots who tried to call the guy with the stuck mike!
For some strange reason, half a dozen folks, both on the ground and in the
air, somehow believed that a radio that is transmitting could also receive
at the same time, so they were broadcasting stupid stuff like "AIRCRAFT WITH
THE STUCK MIKE, PLEASE CHECK YOUR MICROPHONE..."

Obviously (or so I thought) anyone with a basic knowledge of how a 2-way
radio works knows that the receiver is necessarily cut off during
transmissions -- but apparently there are a fair number of people who don't
have a firm grasp on this concept.

This isn't the first time I've heard this type of thing. Back in the 70s,
during the CB radio craze, it was pretty common, and I've heard this happen
once or twice while flying -- but it never fails to amaze me.

We're always looking to scold someone. We do it in our own heads all
the time, as if that does anyone any good. Then pat ourselves on the
back for being on the 'right.' But it takes a bit more nerve to go
through the act, even if it is a anonomous radio call. Some, however,
put more on the line in public. In some cases it is courage, in
others it is just obnoxious. Then there are those events which are
rather unusual.

--Mike

Jim, are you talking about the RST annunciator panel with the lights for low
vac, low voltage, low fuel, etc.? We have one in the club C-172 that I
manage. I didn't realize we were in such an elite group.

You don't happen to know where I can get some documentation for it.

Brad

"Jim Weir" wrote in message
...
You wanna know why? I'll give you two good reasons why.

1. The BIG RED LIGHT on the center of the panel should be reserved for
things
that make the airplane stop flying, like low fuel, low oil, high temp, all
that
critical stuff. A radio (much to my corporate dismay) is NOT required to
keep
the aircraft in the air.

2. We designed and manufactured such a light...even a BIG RED light to
tell
when ANYTHING on the airplane went out of limits (fuel, temperatures,
pressures,
stuck mic, etc.). It sold for $75. In five years we sold fifteen of
them.
People don't give a damn about things like this until it hits the fan, and
then
it is a bit late.

Jim




"Bill Denton"
shared these priceless pearls of wisdom:

-I wonder why no aircraft manufacturers or mod manufacturers have come up
-with a nice, big, XMIT light mounted dead center on the panel.
-
-It should be very cheap to do on a new aircraft, inexpensive when done
in
-connection with other radio installs, and not worth it as a stand-alone
mod.
-
-And it would also provide a helpful visual cue for the folks who can't
seem
-to manage to hit the PTT until they are halfway through their message!


Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

Oh, you're enjoying this already.

Yeah, it was the best part of a terrific flight. My 14 year-old son (who
was given the rare co-pilot's seat by Mary) and I were laughing our butts
off!

This sounds as not believable to me. Are you making something up?
I'll have to say the note of the post doesn't quite make sense. Most
would get at least a little angry, while you're obviously enjoying it.
Oh, you're angry, but not telling us what it actually is. You know
about this guy don't you?

????

What's to get angry about? I was fat, dumb and happy up at 7500 feet,
cruising home after a $100 hamburger, monitoring 122.8 for no apparent
reason. If this twit wanted to sit on his mike all day long, it didn't
bother me a bit.

I'm not sure what you're implying, Mike -- do you think I'm making this
story up?

Tell you what. Call us Tuesday morning, toll free, at 1-888-9ALEXIS, and
ask for Mary. She'll verify the story, if you'd like.

Some stories are just too bizarre to be fiction.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
Tell you what. Call us Tuesday morning, toll free, at 1-888-9ALEXIS, and
ask for Mary. She'll verify the story, if you'd like.

Mike was obviously the stuck-mike guy you wrote about, Jay. I'd be a little
sensitive about it, too.

--
Jim Fisher

Icebound wrote:
Robert Briggs wrote:

Let's see, you know that the guy is transmitting on one frequency,
but what about his second box?

If he's using it to monitor another frequency then, with a spot of
educated trial-and-error, you may be able to get through to him.

Does the side-tone of the transmitter not take over his intercom?

Possibly; but it's not as fundamental a problem as trying to use one
radio both ways simultaneously.

My klx135 has the "T" for transmit. It stops transmitting after 35
seconds and displays "stuck mic". I think the led on my intercomm also
turns red when tranmitting - I'll have to check that out.

Dave
68 7eca


Bill Denton wrote:

I wonder why no aircraft manufacturers or mod manufacturers have come up
with a nice, big, XMIT light mounted dead center on the panel.

It should be very cheap to do on a new aircraft, inexpensive when done in
connection with other radio installs, and not worth it as a stand-alone mod.

And it would also provide a helpful visual cue for the folks who can't seem
to manage to hit the PTT until they are halfway through their message!




"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:jPFcd.410304$Fg5.66323@attbi_s53...

Coming back from Pella (near Des Moines) today we over-flew a poor sap who
was apparently sitting on his microphone. Worse, he had the incredible
misfortune of being the last person in a flight of three to land, and

while

they landed ahead of him he gave a long, critical, and quite profane

running

review of his "friend's" landings to his co-pilot -- and also,

unknowingly,

live on the air, to every pilot in the Midwest.

After he landed, we could hear the guy shut down, and someone yelling at
him. Then the mike went dead. It was quite hilarious.

Aside from the obvious lessons to be learned from this (like, always be
careful what you say, in case you're transmitting!), we just could NOT
believe the number of pilots who tried to call the guy with the stuck

mike!

For some strange reason, half a dozen folks, both on the ground and in the
air, somehow believed that a radio that is transmitting could also receive
at the same time, so they were broadcasting stupid stuff like "AIRCRAFT

WITH

THE STUCK MIKE, PLEASE CHECK YOUR MICROPHONE..."

Obviously (or so I thought) anyone with a basic knowledge of how a 2-way
radio works knows that the receiver is necessarily cut off during
transmissions -- but apparently there are a fair number of people who

don't

have a firm grasp on this concept.

This isn't the first time I've heard this type of thing. Back in the 70s,
during the CB radio craze, it was pretty common, and I've heard this

happen

once or twice while flying -- but it never fails to amaze me.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"