On the Air

We had just received our handoff from SoCal Departure to LA Center after departing Palm Springs International in our Praetor 500. We hadn’t even had a chance to check in when we heard this exchange: N1AB: “… requesting direct destination.” LA Center: “Who… who was that?” N1AB: “N1AB requesting direct to our final destination.” LA […]

One day when flying from Iqaluit, Canada (CYFB) to Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan (KANJ) at Flight Level 360 we heard the following exchange on Guard, 121.5: “Bonjour Montreal, C1243, Flight Level 290.” Someone came back and said, “You’re on guard.” Quickly, the other pilot said, “Well, you are on Guard.” And the other pilot […]

I was talking to New York Approach when I heard the following: GrayRider 5 (NY State Police): “Albany Approach, GrayRider 5. Change of mission. That plane in the water, well it’s confirmed as a float plane, so it’s now direct to Deer Park for GrayRider 5.” Apparently they were under the mistaken impression that an […]

We were flying a new Gulfstream G280 and made a stop at KRBD (Dallas Executive). Taxiing out for departure, the tower commented, “That’s the best looking airplane we’ve had in here this week.” The other pilot, clever devil that he is, replied, “You should see the pilots!” A good laugh was had by all. John […]

Recently on a long cross country, when I was given a frequency change and I switched to the new frequency, I overheard the tail end of what sounded like an instrument training flight asking for some practice approaches: ATC: “Trainer 999, say approach request.” Trainer 999: “Oh, we’re gonna let you have the fun. You […]

As a CFI, I recently had the opportunity to attend a Mooney Pilot Proficiency Program at KSMX, Santa Maria airport, up the coast from Los Angeles. We were told that we could do approaches—but no landings or touch and goes—at nearby Vandenberg Space Force Base (KVBG). We thought this would be a great opportunity. Once […]

I was picking up my IFR clearance early one morning at Gillespie field in San Diego. While copying down my clearance when the tower had just opened, I thought I heard, “Cirrus N1234, Cleared KIWA via MBZ2 departure as filed … 4000, expect 11,000 two minutes after departure … “ After I read that back, […]

I have flown Lears for many years for a company whose callsign is Coyote. One day when we had been vectored towards the airport and then handed off to Tower: Tower: “Coyote 123, cleared for the visual Runway xx.” Me: “Cleared visual Runway xx. Coyote 123.” Second aircraft: “Tower, N12345 has runway in sight.” Tower: […]

I was flying an airliner a very short distance in the Los Angeles basin. I was under the Class B and the controller asked, “Give me max forward speed. What’ll that be?” I replied, “Well, since we’re under the Class Bravo, it’ll be 200 knots.” ATC: “I don’t see the administrator around here anywhere. Now, […]

Star Wars Episode 2 In March 2021, we delved into Star Wars Episode 1 in the JJEDI TWO ARRIVAL (RNAV) into Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International airport. In the tradition of the Star Wars series of movies, there is more to this arrival in Star Wars Episode 2: LLNDO (Lando Calrissian) was a smuggler and gambler who […]