Oh and on my way in I did the call wrong - he said "Juliet is current" or something as a way of reminding me that I had not given him the ATIS code in my call up - though I did have the latest ATIS and wrote it down. I think he cleared me to land - don't remember - and I had the balls to say on frequency "which runway?"
If you don't tell them *which* ATIS you have, they're going to tell you which one is current. He doesn't have a choice.
AIM 4-1-13...
"Pilots should notify controllers on
initial contact that they have received the ATIS broadcast by repeating the alphabetic code word appended to the broadcast."
(My emphasis added in bold.)
"Controllers will issue pertinent information to pilots who do not acknowledge receipt of of broadcast, or who acknowledge receipt of a broadcast which is not current."
"While it is a good operating practice for pilots to make use of the ATIS broadcast where it is available, some pilots use the phrase "Have Numbers" in communications with the control tower. Use of this phrase means that the pilot has received wind, runway, and altimeter information ONLY and the tower does not have to repeat this information. It does not indicate receipt of the ATIS broadcast and should never be used for this purpose."
There's a bit more in the AIM, but those are the pertinent items.
If I really haven't gotten the ATIS and I'm behind, I'll actually say "Negative ATIS" on initial call up to a Tower with the rest of the who I am, who I'm calling, where I am, and what I want "stuff".
"Centennial Tower, Skylane 1279M 12 northeast, landing full-stop, negative ATIS."
Or when you remember and get it right...
"Centennial Tower, Skylane 1279M, north-shore Cherry Creek Reservoir, landing full-stop, with Information Victor."
Some controllers will let you get away with telling them "We'll pick up Victor" after their standard "Information Victor is current, altimeter 29.92", but technically they're not supposed to do it per the AIM. They'll always give you the altimeter if you say you don't have the ATIS, and sometimes the winds right then and there.
Our controllers around here tend to be ultra-accomodating. When I was flying out of KVNY many years ago, those poor folks were too busy to accommodate much. Nice folks at the TRACON there in L.A., but very busy. I assume NorCal and the SFO area is similarly busy.
Also in cases where a TRACON is handing you off to a tower, it seems to me that they'll relay that you have the ATIS in most cases if they're going to hang on to you right up until the last second. I'll usually shoot a "Denver Approach, Skylane 79M has Centennial Information Victor" at them about 15 miles out, so they'll have time to note it, and pass it along.
I don't know if they're doing that by tagging a data block, or if they're calling on the landline, but it does seem to work. I've noticed if you do this, most of the time the Tower cab folks don't ask and seem to know you have it from the TRACON, but have never asked any controllers about the practice. They definitely ask IFR flights, since the TRACON clears them for the approach and only hands them off to the Tower fairly late in the process. So there must be a method to that somewhere behind the scenes.
It seems common around here for the TRACON to actually ASK you if you have it during non-busy times if you're VFR on FF, too. So, I think they must cooperate pretty well 'round here.
The landline is a button push away for them, I suppose... a quick point-out with the info that my target is headed their way and has the ATIS, or something.
Don't know. Seems to work well, though. Especially if the Tower is busy on a weekend.
So there you go... Just build up the habit... if you copied it down, tell 'em in the initial call up and you're immediately the controller's "holy crap a Cessna that got it right!" hero of the day... LOL!
