Hi. I spent a few hours flying around Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey this past week. The controllers were great (the guy at Atlantic City approach is amazing, I recognize his voice , style and catch phrase every time I'm down that way). Thank you to all you who worked on this holiday weekend. J
I was able thru my instructor a while back to take a TRACON tour, So.Cal. facility out by Miramar, If you ever get the chance, Do it. They definitely know there stuff. Much added respect after that tour. Ed
For the most part I find the controllers to be helpful, professional and accommodating in most areas that I fly. However when you get a nasty one ,it sure makes for a bad day.
Syracuse Approach is always patient and helpful when I'm getting out, coming home, or just barging around in their airspace training. KSYR is pretty much the only functional ILS in the area right now with KRME down for runway reconstruction.
Ya man, controllers do amazing work. I know they sometimes get a bad rap but the JFK guys can be downright hilarious. I recently had a rather funny exchange with a JFK ground controller who couldn't find my "strip," as we requested taxi. At times JFK guys can get testy, but it's totally understandable with trying to work that mess while guys are missing calls or not understanding (foreign carriers). If you want to hear some madness, listen to JFK ground on liveatc around 7-8pm local...controlled chaos. On the other hand we have a certain ground controller in the land of dixie who is just an angry dude. Lots of reports filed against him but somehow stays on the console. Be funny and professional like the first guys I mentioned, not angry like the last guy.
Funny is frowned upon because an argument can be made that one is unprofessional. However after 27 years of doing it, I no longer care. I'm only grumpy at 3 am after someone with a good night's sleep calls with a "gooooooood morning ground..."
I should be up there in a few months, hoping to catch some of the infectious East Coast good mood from those ATC guys again. Glad you enjoyed it, let's hope they don't mind my Texas draw. I promise NOT to use "with y'all".
I still love the controller at KJQF (Concord NC). I don't think he gave me instructions on the radio during my recent visit there (heard him on the the ATIS though).
He came and filled in in Fayetteville a few years ago. ATC in KFAY rocks but this guy stepped it waaay up for a few days.
This guy does the ATIS in sorta of an Elvis Weather 1950 auctioneer type voice. Looking for some audio or video for you.
Many years ago at MHT before the new terminal was built the control tower sat on top of a building dating from WW2 with a snack bar and terminal for the pax. My crew and I were sitting in the snack bar with another crew talking with a controller I had known in the Air Force. He came from Missouri and his dad was an auctioneer so he learned the trade. At a table next to us was a crew from another airline that were being jerks to the waitresses and everyone else. We were all due to depart at about the same time the controller told us to hold on, he went upstairs and got our clearances and gave them to us on flight data strips. Being an retired Air Force controller that is all I needed and he explained it to the other crew at the table and told us what he would do when we called for our clearances and said the jerks were due out at the same time. The jerks called for their clearance first and he told them to stand by. The other crew called for theirs and he rattled it off in his best Missouri auctioneer voice and they rogered it. We were next and the same thing. Then he called the jerks, a pause on the radio then a voice comes on begging him to read it a little slower.
