On the Air

Back in the day, I had an opportunity to fly in the right seat of a U.S. Navy P-3. Not unique but unusual in that I was the crew navigator. We were on a cross country training flight at FL220 with a stopover in my home town. Life was good and we were getting closer to our intermediate destination.Unbeknownst to me, my next door neighbor was the ATC approach controller that evening.Approach: Navy Lima Zulu…

While flying through South Carolina, I overheard the following conversation.Roanoke Approach: Piper 123 you have traffic 12 oclock 3 miles, opposite direction, 500 feet above you.Piper 123: (student pilot after a brief pause) Ah…roger Roanoke approach…this is Piper 123 and…understand that there is (longer pause)…traffic at 12 oclock…500 feet above me…and…and…opposite direction. Right now we cant see traffic but were looking.Roanoke Approach: Piper 123, traffic no longer a factor. They were fast. …

Its not uncommon for an airline pilot to mistakenly make a PA announcement on the radio. When that happens, other pilots waste no time mocking the error. After an airliners lengthy passenger announcement over guard:Well done!Hey, wait, whats for dinner!?Honey Badger dont care! Rune DukeFort Rucker, Alabama…

I was coming out of Long Island, New York on a Saturday afternoon recently, when I heard this:NY Approach: DL 123, say your airspeed.DL 123: Were indicating 270, slowing to 250, DL 123.NY Approach: DL 123, you have two choices: slow to 250 or lose your place in line. Which will it be?DL 123: Ah, DL 123, were slowing to 250.NY Approach: Good choice. …

A few years ago while flying toward Boise, Idaho on V113, I heard the following: Centurion XYZ: Boise Approach, Centurion XYZ, 70 DME south of Boise on the 170 radial at 15,000, landing Boise. Boise Approach: Centurion XYZ, you are in the middle of the Owyhee MOA. The Idaho Air National Guard is having gunnery practice today. Say intentions. Centurion XYZ: Boise Approach, Centurion XYZ, can you give me a vector for the quickest way…

It was the Christmas season. I was departing Palo Alto airport in the San Francisco Bay Area, with Class Bravo airspace above me. I contacted Departure while in a climb and was asked what my cruising altitude would be. I told him and he responded, Cleared through Class Bravo at…, then stopped short and admonished me since I was already in Bravo airspace. I apologized and he responded, Okay, this time! …

A friend and I were flying into Boeing Field. It was Sunday and more-or-less VMC with layers of clouds at various altitudes. It was the usual distracting approach into Boeing Field, with a 737 and a Dash-8 overhead going into Seattle International Airport, someone towing a banner over the stadium immediately off to the left, somebody in the pattern that I couldnt see, and so on. With the rather limited bandwidth I had left I was…

After retiring from a long career of trucking between New York and Florida, my thoughts of hitting the road on a new motorcycle instantly vanished when my wife said, I would sooner see you buy another airplane. After a 30-year absence from flying, we bought a nicely equipped Cherokee 180. It wasnt long before I wanted to fly to Florida, and we were on our way. South of Savannah, Ga., flight following told us that two…

Perhaps the most famous of consecutive fixes is at Portsmouth, New Hampshire and may well be the approach that drew national attention to the occasional TERPS frivolity. The RNAV approach to Runway 16 has fixes of: ITAWT ITAWA PUDYE TTATT-with the missed approach hold at IDEED. Jim HansonAlbert Lea, Minnesota…

Were expanding OTA a bit to include funny fix names. While most of us get a good chuckle from the work of a clever TERPSter, few of these cute names find their way beyond the local airport crowd. With your help, were going to change that to recognize pure genius when we find it. Please send us your favorites. Extra credit given for sequences of fixes. -EditorOn the RNAV (GPS) RWY 33 approach to Kingston-Ulster airport in New York, the intermediate approach fix is ITTLE and the final approach fix is BFINE.Bill ColeEllenville, New York