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Air Traffic Control....Really Nice Folks

Peter Hughes

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Despite being 12 miles away I informed ATC at Liverpool John Lennon Airport that I was flying today and thought I’d mention just how friendly and helpful they were.

There were no difficult questions to answer, they just noted my location, proposed max altitude, a contact telephone number and a request to call back when I finish flying.

My logic was, given the fact that there are frequent Police helicopter flights and the local hospital has a landing pad I thought it would be a good idea if everyone was aware of each other. Obviously I would bring the Mavic down if I heard an aircraft approach but making the pilot aware of my presence would further reduce risk.

I’ve no doubt that there will be some “Nay sayers “ who disagree but personally I think it’s a good idea and is a proactive step in showing the hobby a positive light.
 
I think you will find that any time you go out of your way to be a responsible flyer, people appreciate it and if anything are extra lenient.

For example I always contact the FAA equivalent of every country before I travel there, and replies are always prompt and appreciative, full of useful information.

I have also contacted local police and bylaw officers, who were equally appreciative and surprisingly lenient with regards to where I could fly. I very much got the impression I was the first person to ever call them about that sort of thing.

The average person is not responsible or courteous, so it really stands out when you put in the effort, at least in my experience.
 
I think you will find that any time you go out of your way to be a responsible flyer, people appreciate it and if anything are extra lenient.

For example I always contact the FAA equivalent of every country before I travel there, and replies are always prompt and appreciative, full of useful information.

I have also contacted local police and bylaw officers, who were equally appreciative and surprisingly lenient with regards to where I could fly. I very much got the impression I was the first person to ever call them about that sort of thing.

The average person is not responsible or courteous, so it really stands out when you put in the effort, at least in my experience.

I agree. I’m going to Vancouver and contacted their (your?) CAA regarding where to fly in the area and license regs. I found they couldn’t do enough to be helpful. I’m just hoping that more folks will “give it a go “ and start to prove there ARE responsible people in our hobby. Thanks for your feedback, take care. Peter
 
I had an interesting conversation with the control tower yesterday in preparation for a recreational flight. (I know we're supposed to talk to the airport manager as well, but our airport manager either sends calls to voicemail or tells you to call the tower. They don't ask for and won't take any info.) My first call to the tower ("press 2 for drone operations") went unanswered. I called back and was connected to a harried sounding controller. I told her where I'd be flying and that I wouldn't exceed 50 ft high, and she said "That's fine" and started to get off the call. I said "Don't you want my name and phone number (based on previous contacts) and she said "I'm so busy with airplanes now I don't have time. If you're not going above 50 feet I not concerned." End of conversation. As a private pilot, I've spent a lot of time on the radio with busy controllers, so I get it. But it left me feeling a little uneasy in case something went wrong. At least I have a record of the call in my cell phone.
 
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I had an interesting conversation with the control tower yesterday in preparation for a recreational flight. (I know we're supposed to talk to the airport manager as well, but our airport manager either sends calls to voicemail or tells you to call the tower. They don't ask for and won't take any info.) My first call to the tower ("press 2 for drone operations") went unanswered. I called back and was connected to a harried sounding controller. I told her where I'd be flying and that I wouldn't exceed 50 ft high, and she said "That's fine" and started to get off the call. I said "Don't you want my name and phone number (based on previous contacts) and she said "I'm so busy with airplanes now I don't have time. If you're not going above 50 feet I not concerned." End of conversation. As a private pilot, I've spent a lot of time on the radio with busy controllers, so I get it. But it left me feeling a little uneasy in case something went wrong. At least I have a record of the call in my cell phone.

Sorry you had a somewhat negative experience. Over here in the U.K. we don’t need to inform anyone (yet ! )that we’re flying .
We will be subject to license conditions later in the year and one proposed action was to make a prior notification of the flight. This was “shelved “ for further investigation. There was talk of commercial companies being created to act as a go between us and ATC and charging us a fee for the privilege. There was also discussion on period of notice required.
As I said, this has been put to one side for now, but the thing that occurs to me is that it’s preferable to make a quick 30 second phone call just before taking off to report the flight directly to ATC. An added bonus is that the call is local and probably free under most mobile call plans.
All this is preferable to having to give x minutes/hours notice which removes any spontaneity and paying.
Perhaps, if we take the initiative and show how responsible we are the powers that be will adopt the idea and go back to concentrating on things like Brexit :).
 
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Sorry you had a somewhat negative experience. Over here in the U.K. we don’t need to inform anyone (yet ! )that we’re flying .
We will be subject to license conditions later in the year and one proposed action was to make a prior notification of the flight. This was “shelved “ for further investigation. There was talk of commercial companies being created to act as a go between us and ATC and charging us a fee for the privilege. There was also discussion on period of notice required.
As I said, this has been put to one side for now, but the thing that occurs to me is that it’s preferable to make a quick 30 second phone call just before taking off to report the flight directly to ATC. An added bonus is that the call is local and probably free under most mobile call plans.
All this is preferable to having to give x minutes/hours notice which removes any spontaneity and paying.
Perhaps, if we take the initiative and show how responsible we are the powers that be will adopt the idea and go back to concentrating on things like Brexit :).

It wasn’t a negative experience, but the response was more casual than I expected.
 
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I called a tower yesterday and got the same casual treatment, which I was happy with. The fella said "No problem, go ahead, and my name is Dan." So I'd try to get at least a first name.
 
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