Dear Media, self-appointed aviation experts, pattern police and buffoons…please refrain from saying the following:
Overheard: “They/We were stuck on the ‘TARMAC’ for 11.68 days with no food or water or mobile service!” What I think you meant to say: We were stuck [at the gate/on the apron/on the ramp/on the taxiway]… TARMAC is a paving material…not a location and nothing at any airport in the United States, comes close to sharing its chemical makeup. Wanna sound like a novice, use
‘TARMAC.’ Wanna sound like someone who has a modicum of sense…use the examples above…and oh yeah…try not to overblow the amount of time you were ‘stuck’ either.
Overheard: “People who do overhead approches in GA acft (piston or otherwise) are wannabe fighter jocks!” What I think you meant to say: While overhead approaches at un-controlled fields can certainly be dangerous, using the procedure at controlled fields offers pilots, and controllers alike, a chance to use their skills in a different and interesting manner. Furthermore, the maneuver is not the exclusive domain of fighter pilots and happens to be used by other folk too, such as Ag pilots, AMC pilots, bomber pilots, test pilots, pilots of high-perf experimental acft, IFEs with sketchy engines and CFIs who may want to teach ‘enhanced techniques’ or even the finer points of pitch and power settings to a highly proficient student.
Overheard: * “10-4!” * [on SoCal App freq] What I think you meant to say: SoCal…please disregard my last…I understand CB Talk has no place in a professional exchange with ATC and I will land as soon as practicable so that I may be flogged by a random “airport bum” who has spent more time on a flight deck than I spent in the womb and will continue to be flogged, by said bum, until I learn how not to be such a flaming buffoon…
Happy New Year all and Thank You to the Flight Aware Team for providing such an awesome resource and wonderful community!
I can see people saying tarmac in reference to the apron or gate or tamp. It would be liking saying “go park your car on the asphalt” instead of “go park in the parking lot.”
Another play on words with more of an airline background is “oversold” vs “overbooked”. The aircraft is “overbooked” until more poeple have checked in than there are seats. Then it becomes “oversold”.
Overheard:“Drones” What I think you meant to say: UCAV or RPV. I blame Hollywood for the proliferation of the term, “Drone.”
Overheard:“…with the flash…” What I think you meant to say: …nothing. Nothing at all. A request, from ATC, to ident should be followed by silence and a pilot pushing the ident button on the transponder.
Overheard:“…turbo props/prop planes are not as advanced as jets…” What I think you meant to say: "I do not know what I am talking about because if I did, I would know that the T-6 Texan II is more advanced than any other trainer on the ramp at any [JS]UPT Base and that the avionics architecture in the Cirrus makes the avgerage CRJ look sorta, “old school.”
Overheard:“…with the flash…” What I think you meant to say: …nothing. Nothing at all. A request, from ATC, to ident should be followed by silence and a pilot pushing the ident button on the transponder.
EXACTLY…I don’t know how many pilots I’ve flown with will say “but you have to acknowledge the controller”. They don’t usually have much to say when I tell them the ident IS the response.
But seriously…most people I know in the “drone” world hate the word…especially since (most of) the aircraft are flown by human operators and are not autonomous…like…well…a drone. Personally, I prefer RPV, UCAV or the rarely used, (and kinda defunct) UCAS…
Over here in paradise short final is apparently considered to be 5 miles. OK, about 99% of the flights are in jets but it cracks me up when we are approaching a runway intending to cross it and the tower says hold short traffic on short final. Half the time you can’t even see them.
As a ball park figure I would say short final is any distance within 1 minute of touchdown so speed matters.
AI think it’s funny when it’s pluralized though. I notice it most in the photo galleries of airliners.net or like places. It says" Boeing 757 on short finals" or something to the effect.
Yeah, but, it’s true. Either that or they learned it from someone who wanted to be a fighter jock.
Kind of like the guys who do “aerodynamic braking” in business jets or small GA aircraft.
This will save at least one handful of hair from each controller head each day.
ATC: Traffic 12 o’clock, 10 miles…[blah blah blah]
Pilot: *Radar contact/TCAS contact/We got him on the fish finder, etc.
* What you mean to say:Searching
ATC: Report the field in sight 11 o’clock 10 miles
Pilot: We should get it in sight in 5 seconds just as soon as we breakout of the clouds, there’s a broken layer at 8k and we had the beef for dinner and I really like the color red and the field is in sight now
What you mean to say:Wilco/Searching/We’d like vectors for the ILS
