Short Final

I think it was one of my sons on his solo cross-country from Whiteman, CA (WHP). Bakersfield was one of his stops. He had tuned into Bakersfield BFL ground control. Before he called, he heard another pilot call ground control: Cessna 1234:“Bakersfield ground, Cessna 1234 ready for taxi to Los Angeles.” Ground Control:“Cessna 1234, that […]

Here’s one I heard just a week or so ago from the non-fed tower at my home base, Johnson County Executive Airport (KOJC) in Olathe, Kansas (a suburb of Kansas City): Tower:“Cessna 1234, you are clear to land runway 18.” Cessna:“Clear to land 18 – and thanks for the help today.” Tower:“You bet. We do […]

Cape Approach:“Skyhawk 12345, you have traffic at 2:00, five miles headed southeast.” Skyhawk 12345:“Looking for traffic.” Skyhawk 12345:“Is that 2:00 Eastern Time or Zulu?” Cape Approach:[silence] Dan Stoppevia e-mail

We were holding short at Newark Liberty airport when the previous 737 called the tower shortly after it lifted off from Newark’s notoriously bumpy runway. Continental Airliner:“Tower, this is Continental XXXX. Do you have time for a runway report?” Newark Tower:“Yeah. Go ahead.” Continental:“Tell the Port Authority on this take-off, about 2,500 feet down the […]

I was inbound to Homestead AFB a long time ago in a Navy P-3 . As we were vectored over the Bahamas and into the Miami area, I proceeded to give my best “PA,” pointing out the sights to the crew. As I wound down, we heard this from Miami approach: Miami Approach:“That’s very interesting, […]

I was a controller at Albany Georgia tower back in the ’70s, and a Cherokee was on downwind, with the instructor introducing his student to radio procedures. Fortunately for me, their intercom locked on for a bit and I got all the dialog between the student and the instructor. It went like this: instructor:“Say ‘Albany […]

There used to be a controller at my home base of Shoreham, SE UK who had the kind of plummy voice that you might expect of a Victorian actor. One day there were two non-radio Cubs in the busy circuit. After giving my take-off clearance, he asked, “Now, where are my pride of cubs?” Bob […]

Heard over Oakland Center frequency in northern California: Oakland:“Bonanza 123G: Report Chico in sight for the visual approach.” Bonanza 123G:“Roger. Looking … .” [Several minutes pass.] Bonanza 123G:“Bonanza 123G has Chico in sight.” [pause] Bonanza 123G:“Still looking for the airport, though.” Zack Brownvia e-mail

I overheard the following tower transmission after a King Air made a particularly short landing at Metro Airport near Denver. The King Air landed in less than a thousand feet and cleared the runway much earlier than the tower anticipated. Controller (obviously stunned – and in good humor) :“King Air, would you mind telling the […]

ATIS was being implemented in the late 1960s, and many pilots were not yet aware of it. While making practice instrument approaches at San Jose International Airport in California, I overheard the following exchange: Cessna 1234:“San Jose Tower, Cessna 1234. Ten south, landing San Jose.” SJC Tower:“Cessna 1234, do you have information Hotel?” [silence] SJC […]