Three articles in your December issue pushed my buttons and prompted me to write. “…none of your business…” is a great commentary. Although I have never been outright verbally abused by a controller, I have many times received short, unhelpful responses from controllers when I asked why I was being climbed and descended all over the airspace. This most often happens around New York, where the controllers especially dislike GA aircraft on IFR flight plans at any altitude between 7000 and 14,000 feet within 50 miles of JFK. Even deviations to avoid thunderstorms are met with resistance or refusal. While I live in fear of busting an assigned altitude or airspace, ATC near Bravo airspace treats me as an unwanted outsider. For that level of service, user fees are out of the question. Intervention (“Developing Judgment”) is something more pilots should do. We are told to judge other pilots and have the proximity to witness their bad judgment and outlaw behavior. However, there is a feeling among pilots that its wrong to judge the actions of another or to comment on them, especially to make a public comment. As a Cirrus pilot, several times I vocalized on the COPA forum about serious instances of substandard piloting. The response was overwhelming condemnation from my fellow pilots; not because the observations were inaccurate, but because it was “wrong to comment.” Having learned my lesson, if I see a pilot committing a violation, I wont bother 288
Behaving Badly
Three articles in your December issue pushed my buttons and prompted me to write. "...none of your business…" is a great commentary. Although I have never been outright verbally abused by a controller, I have many times received short, unhelpful responses from controllers when I asked why I was being climbed and descended all over the airspace.
Key Takeaways:
- Pilot culture often stifles open criticism of peer judgment, leading some to bypass discussion and report violations directly to the FAA, while ATC interactions can be unhelpful, especially for General Aviation aircraft.
- Utilizing three-dimensional flying techniques, such as the "wingover," can provide a safer and more effective method for executing tight turns by trading altitude for airspeed, thus avoiding stall/spin risks inherent in traditional flat turns.
- Pilots must maintain vigilant situational awareness to avoid dangerous visual illusions, as even experienced aviators can mistake distant brightly lit objects (like fishing fleets) for city lights at night, potentially leading to unsafe descent decisions.
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