Short Final

A bit of nostalgia: Do you know how many stooges of the Three Stooges fame there were? You can find CURLI (Curly Howard) on an intersection on the LOC RWY 35 approach to Norwood Memorial airport near Boston on a NoPT leg from Providence, Rhode Island VOR. Adding to nostalgia, as you proceed further along […]

Recently, we were on a flight from Boston to Teterboro, in our Phenom 300, nearing our approach to Teterboro. The frequency was busy, as New York Approach had combined Newark operations and Teterboro operations on one frequency. We were called by Approach: New York Approach: “Phenom 8EJ, descend and maintain 4000, … (unreadable) UNVIL.” UNVIL […]

While flying from San Jose International airport to Portland International airport we heard the following: Oakland Center: “Delta 123, cleared to descend pilot’s discretion to 240.” Delta 123: “Delta 123 descending to 240, and we’ll do it discreetly.” Daniel Sternbergh San Jose, CA

Some years back at Bradley International Airport, there was a local air taxi company that did a lot of their new pilot training on the mid shift. They would go round and round the same ILS pattern for hours apparently swapping seats as the flight went on. Often, as the controller on duty, I would […]

As a flight instructor we’re always impressing upon our students to read back ATC instructions so there are no misunderstandings. I was flying around the traffic pattern with my student one busy afternoon when an aircraft called the tower seven miles out for landing. The pilot sounded nervous on the radio, but was doing a […]

I just recently ran across the WORXS 2 arrival into Greenville Spartanburg International airport. It includes the fixes: BESTT CNTLR EVRRR WORXS ANGRI TDAAY. I assume there’s a backstory to that arrival, but I have no idea what it is, or what the controller might be angry about… Philip Rash Durham, NC

Returning to San Carlos airport late one day, I clicked the mic five times on tower frequency to see if it would do anything. I don’t fly at night so the last time I tried this would have been more than a decade ago. Controller (slightly irritated): “We have control.” Me (slightly embarrassed): “You have […]

While flying from San Jose International Airport to Portland International Airport we heard the following: Oakland Center: “Pinion, cleared to FL680.” Bonanza 12AB: “Oakland Center, Bonanza 12AB with a question, when able.” Oakland Center: “12AB, go ahead.” Bonanza 12AB: “Did I just hear you clear an aircraft to climb above 60,000 feet?” Oakland Center: “Affirmative, […]

Not long ago during my instrument training, my very accomplished instructor and I were doing a VOR 14 Approach at Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport (KMFD). After completing the missed approach the tower controller came on the radio to say, “That was a very good job on the approach.” Somewhat surprised my instructor said, “Gee they […]

We were returning in our Phenom 300 from New Jersey to our home base in San Jose, California (KSJC). The weather was good but west of the Rockies was pretty rough the whole way. One commercial pilot heading north from the SoCal area called ATC and said, “You said the rides from 300 to 380 […]