Got Time For A Comment?
I was going to include this as part of my entry about my third IFR country flight, but it’s not really related to my IFR training per so I think it deserves it’s own post.
I filed the plan for today’s IFR flight from Springbank to Red Deer to Calgary and back to Springbank. It was the first flight plan I’d filed and I was very precise when explaining the route and the hold/approach requests to the FSS so as to ensure I was able to get as much out of the flight as possible. After being passed from Calgary Terminal over to Edmonton Centre, the Edmonton Centre controller gave us our hold clearance for over the Red Deer beacon. I copied the clearance down as fast as the controller spoke it and managed to read back the clearance word for word (which was a first).
Then a garbled transmission came over the air that started with ”X-ray Hotel Oscar”. Normally I am able to catch most, if not all of, any garbled transmissions based on the context of the flight. But I looked at instructor Jason only to find that his faced showed that he hadn’t recognized the transmission either.
”Say again for X-ray Hotel Oscar.”
”X-ray Hotel Oscar, do you have time for a comment?”
For whatever reason (no it wasn’t anyone clobbering the first), the second time the transmission came through just fine.
”Go ahead for X-ray Hotel Oscar.”
”X-ray Hotel Oscar, Edmonton Centre. I just wanted to say that as you know in this area [Red Deer] we get a lot of training type requests and that’s our specialty. And I just wanted to let you know that your flight plan is very clear as to what you want to do and that’s much appreciated.”
Of course my instructor Jason took the reply and said that it was no problem, which I heckled him about since it was I who had filed the plan. I really wanted to let the controller know that it was me, the student, who had filed that plan, but I let it go. I know, as does anyone who’s now read this entry, that it was me. And for that, I gloated the remainder of the flight. That said, thanks must be extended to the flight service specialist who obviously copied my request verbatim into the NavCanada system.
I’m not sure who the Edmonton Centre controller was, and I’m not sure I’d recognize his voice again, but if he reads this entry, he’ll know I’m talking about him. And if you do read this Mr. Edmonton Centre Controller, your comment about my flight plan was as much appreciated as my actual flight plan was to you.
Fri, 21 Jul 2006 18:24 Posted in Flying
