Give it a GO From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2001, 138 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (11 years 7 months 4 weeks 14 hours ago) and read 2515 times:
Short finals may be declared if you are nearer the runway threshold than you would normally be when you announce "Callsign Finals R/W **" (I fly a light aircraft out of a busy international airport)
This may be used when some other pilot has choosen the moment to spill out his aircrafts life history to the ATCO on the tower frequency.
Cdfmxtech From United States of America, joined Jul 2000, 1338 posts, RR: 29 Reply 4, posted (11 years 7 months 4 weeks 13 hours ago) and read 2483 times:
Gmonney From Canada, joined Jan 2001, 2158 posts, RR: 22 Reply 7, posted (11 years 7 months 4 weeks 12 hours ago) and read 2459 times:
Doesn't it mean that your turn onto final approach is shorter than normal, which in turn makes it harder to align and get your altitude. Thats only a guess but thats my best.
Bobsmuggle From Australia, joined Jul 2001, 49 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (11 years 7 months 4 weeks 11 hours ago) and read 2435 times:
Im sure this topic came up about a month ago!
The only time i ever say short finals is when the controller has forgotten to give me clearance to land and im pretty much seconds away from the runway. All i say is "callsign short finals rwy 28L" or whatever runway im on and that usually gives the controller a kick up the pants and they give the clearance straight away. I dont know any other time you would use it.
Sunken_Lunken From United States of America, joined Jul 2001, 87 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (11 years 7 months 4 weeks 9 hours ago) and read 2405 times:
There really is no definition of "short" for short final (at least I am not aware of any). "Short" is a relative term, and like others have said, it is generally used when a plane is aligned with the runway, and close to landing.
I have used it sometimes when giving a position report in the pattern at non-towered airports when there are multiple planes in the pattern. If I am close to landing, and there is another plane behind me on final, I will report that I'm on short final. This makes it easier for someone on the downwind leg to spot the other plane (behind me) on final.
Otherwise, if plane X behind me reports "final rwy 24", plane Y on downwind might see me and think I am the one who just called in on final. Then plane Y might inadvertantly turn base and cutoff or create a collision hazard with plane X on final.
There are of course other times when you might hear the term "short final" as others have described, but there is no specific meaning to "short". To some it means they are over the airport property, to others about to cross the threshold, or "over the fence", etc.
Heavymetal From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 11, posted (11 years 7 months 4 weeks 9 hours ago) and read 2382 times:
In ATC jargon, there are several phrases that substitute for "QUICK!" or "GOOD GOD MAN MOVE YOUR ASS!"....
When you hear ATC say "cleared for immediate takeoff" that really means "don't think. don't wait. see those levers on your center console? PUSH EM FAST, or you'll have a 737 in your lap"
When ATC mentions that an aircraft is on "short final", he's really saying "the guy is so close he can read your tail number." It's basically the aviation equivalent of "INCOMINNNNNG!"
Jabpilot From United States of America, joined Dec 1999, 423 posts, RR: 1 Reply 12, posted (11 years 7 months 4 weeks 7 hours ago) and read 2343 times:
Most often ATC uses this term to advise an approaching aircraft to an airport of where another aircraft is in relation to the same Airport or Runway.
Example: Aircraft-"Burbank Tower, United 11 Visual approach Runway 8".
ATC- "United 11 Burbank Tower, Runway 8 Cleared to Land, following a Cessna on Short Final".
It just one of the many ways to give a pilot the idea of the traffic situation at an airport.
Jabpilot From United States of America, joined Dec 1999, 423 posts, RR: 1 Reply 14, posted (11 years 7 months 4 weeks 4 hours ago) and read 2297 times:
And where do you get your information from? This whole post is full of wrong information, I've tried explaining it correctly.
Erasmus From Italy, joined Jun 2007, 0 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (11 years 7 months 4 weeks 2 hours ago) and read 2266 times:
A pilot says he's on short final, when he's getting within a few seconds of landing.
This will wake up the atc controller, letting him know that he forgot to give a landing clearance yet.
Or it might be telling the guy on the runway to hurry up in vacating it, so that the following A/c doesn't have to make a go-around.
Iainhol From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 16, posted (11 years 7 months 4 weeks 2 hours ago) and read 2257 times:
THIS SUBJECT IS A JOKE!! Short final is not that hard of a concept, it is when an aircraft is close to the runway. What is so hard about that? Close depends on the pilots/controllers involved!
Iain
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