Flight Training - November/December 2021 - 8

UNUSUAL ATTITUDE BY DAVE HIRSCHMAN
I recently got dressed down by a
Few things in life give Editor at Large
DAVE HIRSCHMAN more joy than winning
an aviation argument (because it
happens so rarely). But there's one place
the normally chatty Hirschman keeps
his opinions to himself, and that's the
aircraft radio.
dave.hirschman@aopa.org
tower controller for making an " unauthorized "
turn on the runway. I had landed
and come to a stop slightly beyond my
intended runway exit, and my sin was
turning more than 90 degrees to get onto
the taxiway. I thought I was being a good
guy-but the controller disagreed and
pointedly told me so. I was convinced
that I was right and very much wanted
to answer in kind. But I resisted and held
my reply to a terse " roger. "
I wish I could say I always practice
proper radio etiquette, but that's simply
not the case. Once, while approaching a
nontowered airport, I watched a Piper
Cherokee ahead of me fly over the airfield
and depart the area. I entered the traffic
pattern and turned downwind and then
base. That's when the Cherokee pilot
announced that he was turning final and
complained that I had cut him off.
I reflexively keyed the mic and told
SHAKE IT OFF
A former newspaper editor had an editorial policy that pilots
would be wise to adopt. His policy was simply to give readers
the " last word " on any topic.
Reporters like me got to write countless news articles-but we were barred from
responding at all to " letters to the editor. " The readers made our enterprise possible,
and the editor decided that they deserved the final word in any argument. I'm
reminded of the wisdom of that policy whenever I hear fellow pilots arguing with air
traffic controllers, or each other, on the aircraft radio.
A ground controller at my home airport recently provided the ATIS information
over the radio to a pilot who had called seeking a taxi clearance. The pilot had said
he had ATIS information " alpha " in his initial transmission, but the controller wasn't
sure or didn't hear it, so he provided it verbally, just in case.
" I already told you I had information alpha, " the peeved pilot replied.
The controller's repetition of the ATIS information clearly bothered the pilot
because, in the pilot's mind, it implied he had made an error of omission. And if you're
looking for a way to get under a pilot's skin, suggesting he may have made a mistake
is a great way to do it. I'm all for accurate radio communication and clarity. If there's
any question about a heading, an altitude, or a clearance, insist on timely clarification.
But in the case of something as harmless as repeating the wind direction and barometric
pressure, let it go.
It might surprise my AOPA colleagues, who are excruciatingly aware of my argumentative
nature, that I counsel peace and quiet on the radio-but it's true.
8
FLIGHT TRAINING NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
him he was flying an absurd, unrecognizable
pattern, and that my airplane would
be washed and put away before his even
touched down. " I'd say you were flying
a B-52 pattern-but that would be an
insult to B-52s because they fly tighter
than you. " But as soon as the sarcastic
words left my mouth, I regretted them.
The right thing to do would have been
to go around, bite my tongue, and land
behind him with another 0.1 hours in my
logbook.
We pilots certainly don't have a
monopoly on radio truculence. There are
plenty of ATC offenders in this category,
too. The reason I'm harder on pilots,
however, is because we're the lucky
ones. Whether we're flying for work or
pleasure, we're doing what we love to do.
We're fortunate beyond measure, and we
ought not to forget that.
If someone else suggests we might
have erred, or misheard something,
or misspoke, so what? Give them the
benefit of the doubt and assume they've
got good intentions for pointing it out.
Nothing anyone says changes the basic
fact that we as pilots get to fly airplanes.
So the next time a fellow pilot,
controller, or anyone else questions
something I do or say in an airplane, I'll
try to follow the wise words of Taylor
Swift ( " players gonna play, haters gonna
hate " ) and simply " shake it off. "
Or as my former editor used to do,
give them the last word. FT

Flight Training - November/December 2021

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