Max Q wrote:

Since my first flying lesson in 1979 and working as a professional pilot from 1982 I’ve never said ‘niner’ or heard another pilot say it anywhere in the world at any time


And ‘W’ is Whiskey all over the world


Don’t know where this BS gets started.

I have only ever used it, for whatever reason, in the context of an altimeter setting. I rarely hear it used outside of that context, and cant think of a time I have used it as a callsign.

FLALEFTY wrote:

Here's a question that I have always wondered: Do controllers have their own microphone/headsets, or do they use communal ones?

We all have our own, issued by the FAA.

Phen wrote:

Heathrow Director frequency at LHR is a marvel to behold. Probably the busiest frequency in European airspace. During a busy period there are ZERO gaps on frequency - constant to and fro with the controller who is issuing instructions to different aircraft one after the other, some in the hold and the rest on approach. And all of this leads to the very tight separation you see on finals at LHR. As a pilot you really have to be on your toes to make sure you don't miss a call and that you respond immediately.

It always strikes me as being very formal compared to other airports, especially in the USA but I suppose it has to be, because there are such high volumes of traffic from every corner of the world. I remember once I heard a Delta airlines pilot broadcast his pre-landing passenger PA on Heathrow Director frequency by accident - about 45 seconds which felt like the longest ever - thats one frequency you do not want to block with a PA. The controller just carried on like nothing had happened, probably didn't have the time to chastise him about it!

(Edit: I believe due to an archaic law its not legal to listen to UK ATC which is a shame because this frequency would be highly entertaining to listen to)

I wonder how they could ever enforce this law, any one with a scanner can listen from almost any were as lone there in range.

XRadar98 wrote:

FLALEFTY wrote:

Here's a question that I have always wondered: Do controllers have their own microphone/headsets, or do they use communal ones?

We all have our own, issued by the FAA.

Curious to know what brand. Do you get to choose the set? Bose? David Clark?

VS11 wrote:

XRadar98 wrote:

FLALEFTY wrote:

Here's a question that I have always wondered: Do controllers have their own microphone/headsets, or do they use communal ones?

We all have our own, issued by the FAA.

Curious to know what brand. Do you get to choose the set? Bose? David Clark?

No choice, and every facility I’ve been it’s Plantronics. I suppose you could get your own, however the jack to plug into seems pretty unique.

XRadar98 wrote:

VS11 wrote:

XRadar98 wrote:

We all have our own, issued by the FAA.

Curious to know what brand. Do you get to choose the set? Bose? David Clark?

No choice, and every facility I’ve been it’s Plantronics. I suppose you could get your own, however the jack to plug into seems pretty unique.

Very interesting. Thank you!

twaconnie wrote:

Phen wrote:

Heathrow Director frequency at LHR is a marvel to behold. Probably the busiest frequency in European airspace. During a busy period there are ZERO gaps on frequency - constant to and fro with the controller who is issuing instructions to different aircraft one after the other, some in the hold and the rest on approach. And all of this leads to the very tight separation you see on finals at LHR. As a pilot you really have to be on your toes to make sure you don't miss a call and that you respond immediately.

It always strikes me as being very formal compared to other airports, especially in the USA but I suppose it has to be, because there are such high volumes of traffic from every corner of the world. I remember once I heard a Delta airlines pilot broadcast his pre-landing passenger PA on Heathrow Director frequency by accident - about 45 seconds which felt like the longest ever - thats one frequency you do not want to block with a PA. The controller just carried on like nothing had happened, probably didn't have the time to chastise him about it!

(Edit: I believe due to an archaic law its not legal to listen to UK ATC which is a shame because this frequency would be highly entertaining to listen to)

I wonder how they could ever enforce this law, any one with a scanner can listen from almost any were as lone there in range.

It's one of those laws that would very rarely need to be enforced. Even though the law exists, I don't think anyone is particularly bothered about private enthusiasts listening in. Go to any of the big airports in the UK on a weekend and you'll find spotters with arband radios and I don't think anyone ever gets challenged. In the past there's been hobby shops at the airports selling scanners, again without problem.

Might cause more of an issue if you started streaming onto LiveATC or similar though, you might find someone enforce the law at that point.

The headsets used by the majority of ATC’s in the US (FAA) only go in to one ear and they don’t actually cover your ear like many pilot headsets.

We generally need to be able to hear the environment/ people around us just as clearly as we do the pilots. Lots of important ATC coordination occurs simply by talking to one another “off line”

VS11 wrote:

XRadar98 wrote:

FLALEFTY wrote:

Here's a question that I have always wondered: Do controllers have their own microphone/headsets, or do they use communal ones?

We all have our own, issued by the FAA.

Curious to know what brand. Do you get to choose the set? Bose? David Clark?

Sennheiser or Clement Clarke where I've worked.

Alias1024 wrote:

bradyj23 wrote:

atcsundevil wrote:

Some of these remind me of the Key & Peele substitute teacher skit where the teacher is mispronouncing the students names and getting angry when they correct him.

Haha I had an FO bring this skit up and call DLAKE as De-La-kay going to IAH.

I owe another guy a dollar for saying Meat Rocket instead of Motor City for MTRCT.

tb727 wrote:

Alias1024 wrote:

bradyj23 wrote:

Haha I had an FO bring this skit up and call DLAKE as De-La-kay going to IAH.

I owe another guy a dollar for saying Meat Rocket instead of Motor City for MTRCT.

I absolutely murdered the PLMTO first time I left CHS... PLFMD wasn’t much better.

It’s Fairway into PBI and not Freeway I learned too.

SRQfoxtrot wrote:

In the phonetic alphabet, “Whiskey” is not used in some Islamic areas where its connotations to alcohol is offensive. .

I think someone played a joke telling you this

VS11 wrote:

XRadar98 wrote:

FLALEFTY wrote:

Here's a question that I have always wondered: Do controllers have their own microphone/headsets, or do they use communal ones?

We all have our own, issued by the FAA.

Curious to know what brand. Do you get to choose the set? Bose? David Clark?

As mentioned, we all use Plantronics in the US. I don't know about every facility, but we currently have a choice of three styles at mine. One option is an over-the-ear on both sides, but I've only ever seen one guy use that style. There used to be an older style with a flexible boom, and another with a different style of ear piece, but I haven't seen either in a while. At least 99.999% of controllers use a single in-ear bippy with a fixed boom that sits on top of the ear. There's also a way to attach it to glasses, but it's not really necessary. I suppose we could technically get our own if we wanted, but there's no reason. It's pretty good quality and components wear out or require repair, so I don't think anybody would spend their own money on that. The only customizations I've seen are molded ear pieces.

Also mentioned, we pretty much all use single ear piece headsets because it increases situational awareness. We need to be able to hear our frequency and the controllers around us at the same time. I know a lot of other countries use large over-the-ear headsets, and obviously it works for them, but it would drive me crazy. No one should need both ears to hear the frequency. Some controllers will even change which side they wear their headset based on the position, but most don't.

tb727 wrote:

I owe another guy a dollar for saying Meat Rocket instead of Motor City for MTRCT.

Some things can’t be unseen. I’ll never look at that departure the same again!

I was getting my PPL when "position and hold" was changed to "line up and wait." The reasoning I'm told was the old phrase could be misinterpreted as, "position and go" leading to an accident. Unlike commercial pilots, weekend warriors in pistons are not always up to date on the latest AIM revisions. Even months later, I would hear an occasional, "Huh? Please repeat" when a pilot was asked to "line up and wait."

Speaking of fun controllers to listen to, Boston John used to always bring a smile to my face.

atcsundevil wrote:

VS11 wrote:

XRadar98 wrote:

We all have our own, issued by the FAA.

Curious to know what brand. Do you get to choose the set? Bose? David Clark?

As mentioned, we all use Plantronics in the US. I don't know about every facility, but we currently have a choice of three styles at mine. One option is an over-the-ear on both sides, but I've only ever seen one guy use that style. There used to be an older style with a flexible boom, and another with a different style of ear piece, but I haven't seen either in a while. At least 99.999% of controllers use a single in-ear bippy with a fixed boom that sits on top of the ear. There's also a way to attach it to glasses, but it's not really necessary. I suppose we could technically get our own if we wanted, but there's no reason. It's pretty good quality and components wear out or require repair, so I don't think anybody would spend their own money on that. The only customizations I've seen are molded ear pieces.

Also mentioned, we pretty much all use single ear piece headsets because it increases situational awareness. We need to be able to hear our frequency and the controllers around us at the same time. I know a lot of other countries use large over-the-ear headsets, and obviously it works for them, but it would drive me crazy. No one should need both ears to hear the frequency. Some controllers will even change which side they wear their headset based on the position, but most don't.

Thank you! I think student pilots/pilots ponder a lot which brand to buy but I guess at an ATC facility noise cancellation is not really needed.

We have our own headsets.

VS11 wrote:

but I guess at an ATC facility noise cancellation is not really needed.

I mean........depends on who you're working with.

I'm a GA pilot for 30 years and have always used "niner". It seems I hear both nine and niner each about 50% of the time on the frequencies.

bluejuice wrote:

I was getting my PPL when "position and hold" was changed to "line up and wait." The reasoning I'm told was the old phrase could be misinterpreted as, "position and go" leading to an accident.

The reason it was changed is that the ICAO standard is line up and wait. If you flew to any other country, that's what you'd hear. The FAA changed it to avoid confusion when pilots flew between the US and other countries.

Also, there was always the potential for confusion between "position and hold" and "traffic holding in position", which sound like they describe the same thing but are actually totally different. One of those two phrases needed to be changed at some point.

There was a notable accident in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where the controller issued an instruction “Descend Two Four Hundred”. (2,400 feet)
Unfortunately the pilots heard “Descend to four hundred” (400 feet). So they descended to 400ft and impacted the terrain destroying the aircraft.

Niner, fife and tree used in the military as well. Makes a big difference when you’re reading out target location grid squares and could potentially send ordnance downrange to the wrong location if the numbers were misunderstood.

There is also a reason why you “SAY AGAIN” instead of “REPEAT” in aviation. Again because it came from military radiotelephone procedures. REPEAT is a fire control order to fire the last fire control solution again (Send more ordnance downrange to the same target location) . Much different response than if you just wanted the other guy to repeat what he said over the radio.

There was a fix POOBR that got mispronounced a lot leaving DFW. I think they eventually discountinued it and renamed it. But since it was associated with KANGA, TYGGR, PIGLT, EEORE, ROOOO as a set of waypoints on the west side departures, I think it was meant to be pronounced as “Pooh Bear” after Winnie the Pooh.

Here is a good example of why standard phraseology needs to be adhered to.

I was a controller at Albuquerque ARTCC in the 80s, and early 90s. We had a controller who was known to be very lax with his phraseology. He thought it was cool to make up his own funny way of saying/naming things, and was written up often for poor phraseology during evaluations, but not often enough evidently.

One day he was working the high altitude sector north of PHX. There was a pretty steady line of departures climbing out headed for California, the Pacific Northwest, and the Rocky Mountain states. He had an America West jet climbing out of about FL240 that he had cleared to FL350 when he recognized a little late that he had a westbound aircraft at FL280 that was in direct conflict with his climber.

The correct clearance to resolve the conflicting should have been-"America West (number) amend altitude, climb and maintain flight level two seven zero." Followed immediately by "Traffic, two o'clock and two zero miles, westbound (type) at flight level two eight zero"

Instead, here was his clearance: America West (number) hold it up at twenty seven for three, and higher later."

Here was the read back: Okay, America West (number) Albuquerque on twenty seven point three and we'll see you later."

The two airplanes ended up at their closest point less than a mile apart at the same altitude as the America West plane climbed right through the protected airspace of the westbound jet.

There wouldn't have been time for another controller to help anyway, but we didn't even have a sector that used 127.3 so the pilot went over to 127.3, and called a couple times before giving up and coming back a few minutes later to say, "Hey Albuquerque, nobody home on one twenty seven point three."

This took place in the days before TCAS.

Aspen71 wrote:

Here is a good example of why standard phraseology needs to be adhered to.

I was a controller at Albuquerque ARTCC in the 80s, and early 90s. We had a controller who was known to be very lax with his phraseology. He thought it was cool to make up his own funny way of saying/naming things, and was written up often for poor phraseology during evaluations, but not often enough evidently.

One day he was working the high altitude sector north of PHX. There was a pretty steady line of departures climbing out headed for California, the Pacific Northwest, and the Rocky Mountain states. He had an America West jet climbing out of about FL240 that he had cleared to FL350 when he recognized a little late that he had a westbound aircraft at FL280 that was in direct conflict with his climber.

The correct clearance to resolve the conflicting should have been-"America West (number) amend altitude, climb and maintain flight level two seven zero." Followed immediately by "Traffic, two o'clock and two zero miles, westbound (type) at flight level two eight zero"

Instead, here was his clearance: America West (number) hold it up at twenty seven for three, and higher later."

Here was the read back: Okay, America West (number) Albuquerque on twenty seven point three and we'll see you later."

The two airplanes ended up at their closest point less than a mile apart at the same altitude as the America West plane climbed right through the protected airspace of the westbound jet.

There wouldn't have been time for another controller to help anyway, but we didn't even have a sector that used 127.3 so the pilot went over to 127.3, and called a couple times before giving up and coming back a few minutes later to say, "Hey Albuquerque, nobody home on one twenty seven point three."

This took place in the days before TCAS.

This makes my head hurt

There are times when the phraseology gods will forgive you of your transgressions, but bad phraseology to ensure separation definitely ain't one of 'em!

Aspen71 wrote:

Here is a good example of why standard phraseology needs to be adhered to.

I was a controller at Albuquerque ARTCC in the 80s, and early 90s. ......

I was a ZAB East guy early to mid 80s. Which NW Specialty dude did this?

Woodreau wrote:

There was a notable accident in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where the controller issued an instruction “Descend Two Four Hundred”. (2,400 feet)
Unfortunately the pilots heard “Descend to four hundred” (400 feet). So they descended to 400ft and impacted the terrain destroying the aircraft.

Niner, fife and tree used in the military as well. Makes a big difference when you’re reading out target location grid squares and could potentially send ordnance downrange to the wrong location if the numbers were misunderstood.

There is also a reason why you “SAY AGAIN” instead of “REPEAT” in aviation. Again because it came from military radiotelephone procedures. REPEAT is a fire control order to fire the last fire control solution again (Send more ordnance downrange to the same target location) . Much different response than if you just wanted the other guy to repeat what he said over the radio.

There was a fix POOBR that got mispronounced a lot leaving DFW. I think they eventually discountinued it and renamed it. But since it was associated with KANGA, TYGGR, PIGLT, EEORE, ROOOO as a set of waypoints on the west side departures, I think it was meant to be pronounced as “Pooh Bear” after Winnie the Pooh.

FT 66, VHHH-WMSA (Subang)

SPREE34 wrote:

Aspen71 wrote:

Here is a good example of why standard phraseology needs to be adhered to.

I was a controller at Albuquerque ARTCC in the 80s, and early 90s. ......

I was a ZAB East guy early to mid 80s. Which NW Specialty dude did this?

Not sure how cool it is to mention somebody by name on a forum. Maybe you can figure it out from a couple hints. His real life initials were JD ( I don’t remember what his operating initials were, but they might have been JD also) He used to take every break at the smokers corner by the bend in the hallway between the control room and the cafeteria, he tragically passed away in his mid/late forties while still an employee of a heart attack not long after this incident. He was going to go fishing on an RDO and he died in his garage hooking his boat trailer up to his truck. If those clues don’t get it for you, send me a personal message on here.

I was in the East also from 83-88. My user name is Aspen because if you recall that was the SR71 call sign on those training flights we would see a couple times a month during that era. Maybe drop me a personal note anyway even if you figure out who is was.

I’m an airline pilot and I’m married to an air traffic controller... you should hear some of our exchanges.

;-p

CaptCoolHand wrote:

I’m an airline pilot and I’m married to an air traffic controller... you should hear some of our exchanges.

;-p

Do tell!! You probably have to read back all instructions...in the kitchen...and elsewhere...

tb727 wrote:

Alias1024 wrote:

bradyj23 wrote:

Haha I had an FO bring this skit up and call DLAKE as De-La-kay going to IAH.

I owe another guy a dollar for saying Meat Rocket instead of Motor City for MTRCT.

Glad I wasn't consuming anything when I read this, or I surely would have choked.

The FAA gives us our own headsets (refurbished ones of course). Most of us use the Plantronics H31CD with the pink bippee and the push to talk that sometimes gets referred to as the "pickle".

With that being said at my previous facility when it was slow we would all use a handset that looks like a telephone and put the comms going through a loud speaker to hear the pilots. Those things were rarely cleaned and gross but it was nice because you could walk around the tower or radar room and not be plugged in. I moved to a new facility right before covid happened so I'm not sure what guidance was put out regarding "communal items". Also keyboards were not for the faint of heart either if someone was snacking on some Cheetos or Buffalo Wild Wings before you took the position. Wipe everything down!!!

gunsontheroof wrote:

This has been one of the better threads around here in awhile, thanks to all the ATC/pilots for chiming in!

Agreed, it has been a really interesting read.

I think everyone is on the same page re: comms. I know the nine/niner thing is a tad different in some situations but nobody can claim it’s some gross oversight of non compliance by US pilots. I still say ATC calling out “One Thousand Niner Zero Zero” is odd when the next comm is “One Thousand Eight Hundred”. It’s just picking nits to think nine/niner has some far reaching impact on standardized comms or safety.

If you want to start talking about what we’ve found in the cockpit then I have a pile of interesting stories, some I might not be able to post here. Similarly, the cabin crew has some horror stores to share as well. Much like the buffalo chicken or cheetos being eaten over a keyboard. Ugh, gross.

A few years ago at LAS some pilots had interesting "repartee" with a seemingly intoxicated controller. What ever happened with that?

AAtakeMeAway wrote:

A few years ago at LAS some pilots had interesting "repartee" with a seemingly intoxicated controller. What ever happened with that?

She quit

atcsundevil wrote:

75driver wrote:

I’ve heard you! I’m always happy to play along. I know it’s not kosher but introducing a little levity in a chaotic environment seems appropriate from time to time. The whole Star Wars thing is funny, Jedi, Skywalker, Sith. You weren’t the one who blurted out “SHART” were you? We heard some traffic a few years back and was like W H A T? They even read it back and we damn near “sharted” ourselves. Turned out the FO tuned the wrong frequency but funny nonetheless.

Not me, but now that I've heard it, anything is possible. I agree that well-placed levity is a good thing. Too many pilots and controllers have an "us vs. them" mentality, which I've never understood. Reminders that we're all human helps bridge that gap. Back in the spring, I was giving a lot of "...turn 15 degrees right, vectors for social distancing." Sometimes it helps to smile a bit when times are weird.

It’s a shame live atc doesn’t have better feeds for ZTL and A80. I’ve tried to get them to but so far nothing.

bradyj23 wrote:

atcsundevil wrote:

75driver wrote:

I’ve heard you! I’m always happy to play along. I know it’s not kosher but introducing a little levity in a chaotic environment seems appropriate from time to time. The whole Star Wars thing is funny, Jedi, Skywalker, Sith. You weren’t the one who blurted out “SHART” were you? We heard some traffic a few years back and was like W H A T? They even read it back and we damn near “sharted” ourselves. Turned out the FO tuned the wrong frequency but funny nonetheless.

Not me, but now that I've heard it, anything is possible. I agree that well-placed levity is a good thing. Too many pilots and controllers have an "us vs. them" mentality, which I've never understood. Reminders that we're all human helps bridge that gap. Back in the spring, I was giving a lot of "...turn 15 degrees right, vectors for social distancing." Sometimes it helps to smile a bit when times are weird.

ATL PLMMR2 departure. I'm still trying to figure out if it's the Palmer or the Plumber departure.....

It’s Palmer, they’re named after golfers because they go east toward Augusta, Arnold Palmer Jack Nicklaus Phil Mickelson Gary Player.

ATCSuggester wrote:

The FAA gives us our own headsets (refurbished ones of course). Most of us use the Plantronics H31CD with the pink bippee and the push to talk that sometimes gets referred to as the "pickle".

With that being said at my previous facility when it was slow we would all use a handset that looks like a telephone and put the comms going through a loud speaker to hear the pilots. Those things were rarely cleaned and gross but it was nice because you could walk around the tower or radar room and not be plugged in. I moved to a new facility right before covid happened so I'm not sure what guidance was put out regarding "communal items". Also keyboards were not for the faint of heart either if someone was snacking on some Cheetos or Buffalo Wild Wings before you took the position. Wipe everything down!!!

We still use the handsets, especially these days with decreased traffic counts. Everything is kept pretty clean now, which is a nice change. It always grossed me out to see someone lick every finger, then reach out for the trackball may as well just lick the damn keyboard while you're at it. At least people are trying to be cleaner these days, but who knows if it'll stick.

AAtakeMeAway wrote:

A few years ago at LAS some pilots had interesting "repartee" with a seemingly intoxicated controller. What ever happened with that?

That was actually less than two years ago, but given that 2020 has lasted for several years already, "a few years" is an accurate description. The controller resigned about a week after the incident. I heard some rumors about what occurred, but it's not something I'm going to share. I'm sure you could make some educated guesses and you'd likely be on the right track.

bravoindia wrote:

It’s a shame live atc doesn’t have better feeds for ZTL and A80. I’ve tried to get them to but so far nothing.

I'm not really sure how LiveATC works or how they decide what frequencies are hosted. I just know that none of my sectors are on there anymore. I can't imagine the center frequencies are all that popular.

atcsundevil wrote:

AAtakeMeAway wrote:

A few years ago at LAS some pilots had interesting "repartee" with a seemingly intoxicated controller. What ever happened with that?

That was actually less than two years ago, but given that 2020 has lasted for several years already, "a few years" is an accurate description. The controller resigned about a week after the incident. I heard some rumors about what occurred, but it's not something I'm going to share. I'm sure you could make some educated guesses and you'd likely be on the right track.

Funny about the timing... I have no idea anymore lol
Thanks for the update.

FLALEFTY wrote:

Here's a question that I have always wondered: Do controllers have their own microphone/headsets, or do they use communal ones?

As a former Air Traffic Controller at 3 different terminal facilities including LAX Tracon (Terminal Radar approach control), I can assure you that we were issued our own headsets. We had little cubby holes with our names on them, and we stored them there between shifts It was a no no to use someone else's headset.

Also the term niner was widely used especially when issuing headings ( Delta 210, turn left heading two niner zero) , altitudes (climb and maintain flight level three niner zero) , altimeter settings , clearances, call sighs - in other words - whenever the word nine was needed.
Memorizing the phonetic alphabet was one of the first assignments in ATC training.

atcsundevil wrote:

GalaxyFlyer wrote:

In 47 years of flying including 5 at EAL, never D as Dixie except perhaps as a joke. DL”s call sign is Deltaxxxx, xxxx being the flight number.

The OP is referring to ATL ground using "Taxiway Dixie" instead of "Taxiway Delta" to avoid confusion.

Of course after years and years of it being referred to as "Dixie" two days ago the taxiway has officially been NOTAM'd as "Taxiway D".

https://www.universalweather.com/reguse ... ?icao=KATL

atcsundevil wrote:

atcsundevil wrote:

GalaxyFlyer wrote:

In 47 years of flying including 5 at EAL, never D as Dixie except perhaps as a joke. DL”s call sign is Deltaxxxx, xxxx being the flight number.

The OP is referring to ATL ground using "Taxiway Dixie" instead of "Taxiway Delta" to avoid confusion.

Of course after years and years of it being referred to as "Dixie" two days ago the taxiway has officially been NOTAM'd as "Taxiway D".

https://www.universalweather.com/reguse ... ?icao=KATL

So not even Delta? Just D?

D is pronounced “Delta” lol

A few people with questions about live ATC here. The site was founded and is maintained by an enthusiast and flight instructor out of the Boston area. Almost all ATC feeds are hosted by a volunteer near the airport or transmitter site, a few are even hosted by friendly airport operations departments. At one point he was sending out giant radio racks with recycled obsolete aviation radios. Now I believe most setups are converted to small raspberry pi computers and a large receiver antenna mounted as high as possible in the vicinity of the airport.

I hosted the channel briefly when I was near DFW, with the antenna up on a flagpole I put up in my backyard. Still was pretty tough getting decent reception from planes on the ground but you could hear everything else pretty well. It’s pretty cool he does all that incurring a good bit of cost, but he started it as a training tool for his students and it’s pretty awesome how well it’s taken off.

TheFlyingDisk wrote:

atcsundevil wrote:

atcsundevil wrote:

The OP is referring to ATL ground using "Taxiway Dixie" instead of "Taxiway Delta" to avoid confusion.

Of course after years and years of it being referred to as "Dixie" two days ago the taxiway has officially been NOTAM'd as "Taxiway D".

https://www.universalweather.com/reguse ... ?icao=KATL

So not even Delta? Just D?

Using "Delta" in a place like ATL tends to have different meanings.

I thought maybe they'd use "David" or something, but apparently "D" was the chosen replacement for "Dixie" given its connotations.

Years ago, while listening to the tower at LGW during some stormy weather, ATC told the next departure to "line up and wait on 26L, after the a/c on (very) short final"

The pilot responded with "Line up and wait 26L after the reversing Shed"

It was a struggling Shorts 330 on final which landed and taxied off the runway after about 100' roll.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_330

Bonkers, but that’s the world we live in.

uta999 wrote:

Years ago, while listening to the tower at LGW during some stormy weather, ATC told the next departure to "line up and wait on 26L, after the a/c on (very) short final"

The pilot responded with "Line up and wait 26L after the reversing Shed"

It was a struggling Shorts 330 on final which landed and taxied off the runway after about 100' roll.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_330

That's awesome! I often get tempted to make smart-alecky comments on the radio, and mostly resist it. Here are a few I've held back:

Controller: Cessna 123, traffic is a dash 8, 1 o clock 5000, report in sight.
Temptation: Got the other bugsmasher

Controller: Airline 123...? [20 seconds] Airline 123...?
Temptation: Bueller...?

Controller: Cessna 123, traffic 11 o clock, same altitude, not talking to them and don't know their intentions.
Temptation: Got the forked-tail doctor killer, that's typical for them to do their own thing