455 Bravo Uniform
Final Approach
Student pilot. Did KLAF to KOXI to KMGC to KLAF. Was handed off from Grissom Approach to South Bend Approach; South Bend asked if I was going to be T&G at KOXI or spend time on the ground; I said just a full stop, then the controller told me to keep my squawk code and contact him when I got airborne again...that was unexpected, but awesome as I had considered not picking up FF on the short 22 minute hop from KOXI to KMGC. Worked perfectly. Reconnected with South Bend to KMGC.
At KMGC I stretched my legs for about 30 minutes and hopped back in. Contacted South Bend again. They asked me to squawk 4314 so I did. They asked me again and I realized that I somehow missed my checklist item to go from STDBY to ALT (yeah, I know about the other thread on AIM and ground transponder settings...but that's whats on the rental plane checklist). Ooops, turned to ALT. Controller a minute later repeated the code and I repeated it back...I thought it odd that he told me again, maybe a friendly reminder? Then he got back on and was polite enough, but said that he told me 4314 but that I was squawking 4334, and I needed to be 4314. I apologized but told him I had indeed set it on 4314, and could go VFR if needed. He said no, not a problem, but to get the transponder looked at.
So fast forward to being handed off from South Bend to Chicago Center. I was with them for a while listening to radio traffic, then after a bit realized I was not hearing any more traffic...this happened once on my first dual XC with FF from KTIP back to KLAF, where we heard no more after a few minutes and never got handed off...so I figured Chicago forgot to hand me off to Grissom. A few minutes later I heard Chicago calling my tail number; After my response, the controller was upset and said "you need to listen more carefully, how can I help you with traffic alerts if you don't listen". I apologized and told him all I heard was radio silence. He handed me off to Grissom then.
Got a lot of traffic alerts and it was well worth getting FF. Thank you to the controllers who do what they do, and care and worry on our behalf, mostly "blindly", to help folks get through the air as safely as possible.
At KMGC I stretched my legs for about 30 minutes and hopped back in. Contacted South Bend again. They asked me to squawk 4314 so I did. They asked me again and I realized that I somehow missed my checklist item to go from STDBY to ALT (yeah, I know about the other thread on AIM and ground transponder settings...but that's whats on the rental plane checklist). Ooops, turned to ALT. Controller a minute later repeated the code and I repeated it back...I thought it odd that he told me again, maybe a friendly reminder? Then he got back on and was polite enough, but said that he told me 4314 but that I was squawking 4334, and I needed to be 4314. I apologized but told him I had indeed set it on 4314, and could go VFR if needed. He said no, not a problem, but to get the transponder looked at.
So fast forward to being handed off from South Bend to Chicago Center. I was with them for a while listening to radio traffic, then after a bit realized I was not hearing any more traffic...this happened once on my first dual XC with FF from KTIP back to KLAF, where we heard no more after a few minutes and never got handed off...so I figured Chicago forgot to hand me off to Grissom. A few minutes later I heard Chicago calling my tail number; After my response, the controller was upset and said "you need to listen more carefully, how can I help you with traffic alerts if you don't listen". I apologized and told him all I heard was radio silence. He handed me off to Grissom then.
Got a lot of traffic alerts and it was well worth getting FF. Thank you to the controllers who do what they do, and care and worry on our behalf, mostly "blindly", to help folks get through the air as safely as possible.