Traffic assist on unicom - common?

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BG841

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BG841
I was susprised by a "traffic assist" voice over Unicom yesterday. I was landing at KSGU, there were a few other planes in/outbound, and as I was on short final someone started chattering on Unicom like ATC. At first I thought - "holy crap did they open a tower since I was hear last?" :confused: - then I realize that there wasn't a lot of value add (in my case) or control to the transmissions, so I chalked it up to traffic assist. He basically repeated what pilots were saying, advised me to taxi to the FBO once I cleared the runway, etc.

I had not heard that before and I have landed at SGU about 20 times. I pulled this off Wikipedia in regards to non-towered airports: Even though they do not have control towers, many non-towered airports have radio operations such as UNICOM to assist aircraft arriving, departing, or maneuvering on the ground.

Was this just airport operations or the FBO being helpful? Have others experienced this type of assist and if so did you find it valuable?
 
Some of the local FBOs like to be "helpful". I tend to think it clogs up the freq for just a guy being a parrot.
 
The only times I find this helpful is if he advises me of either:
- a nordo plane in the pattern
- wind direction and strength if there is no AWOS
- unusual parking setup (places where the FBO is not where you would think it is and you end up parking on some private corporate ramp)


Other than that, I can do without the babble.
 
Our local FBO is will always chip in with winds and "no other traffic in the area". I've been told that with a Citation and Pilatus in the pattern, both of which had called out within 30 seconds before.
 
It is not common, and many FBO's flatly ban their employees from doing this as it could result in civil liability if something bad happens. I don't like it at all if all they do is tell me what was just said on the CTAF as that just clogs up what around my home is a usually very busy frequency shared by several airports. If they see a non-radio airplane in the pattern that nobody's aware of and they make others aware of it, that's one thing, but just telling me what I would already know if I was listening is quite another.
 
What Ron said.

And equally loved is the guy who calls UNICOM, sometimes repeatedly, for an airport advisory when they have automated weather.

These guys peg my clueless moron meter far more than the ATITAPA crowd.
 
timwinters said:
And equally loved is the guy who calls UNICOM, sometimes repeatedly, for an airport advisory when they have automated weather.
Click to expand...

When I use to work dispatch I would give an airport advisory when any of the regulars were coming in. Our ASOS tends to read the wind wrong especially when its coming out of the southeast.
 
"87.213 Scope of service.
(a) An aeronautical advisory station (UNICOM) must provide service to any aircraft station upon request and without discrimination. A UNICOM must provide impartial information concerning available ground services.
(b)
(1) UNICOM transmissions must be limited to the necessities of safe and expeditious operation of aircraft such as condition of runways, types of fuel available, wind conditions, weather information, dispatching, or other necessary information. At any airport at which a control tower, control tower remote communications outlet station (RCO) or FAA flight service station is located, UNICOMs must not transmit information pertaining to the conditions of runways, wind conditions, or weather information during the hours of operation of the control tower, RCO or FAA service station.
(2) On a secondary basis, UNICOMs may transmit communications which pertain to the efficient portal-to-portal transit of an aircraft, such as requests for ground transportation, food or lodging.
(3) Communications between UNICOMs and air carrier must be limited to the necessities of safety of life and property."

We had a local case where it became necessary for an Ops Inspector to advise a pilot that there are limitations on what Unicom can be used for; the regs apply to ground stations as well.

Bob Gardner
 
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State College used to do this before they got their tower. They had a student in the FBO playing ground controller pretty much. Frankly, except on football weekends when it is a zoo, I find the process annoying and had a negative contribution to safety.
 
BG841 said:
I was susprised by a "traffic assist" voice over Unicom yesterday. I was landing at KSGU, there were a few other planes in/outbound, and as I was on short final someone started chattering on Unicom like ATC. At first I thought - "holy crap did they open a tower since I was hear last?" :confused: - then I realize that there wasn't a lot of value add (in my case) or control to the transmissions, so I chalked it up to traffic assist. He basically repeated what pilots were saying, advised me to taxi to the FBO once I cleared the runway, etc.

I had not heard that before and I have landed at SGU about 20 times. I pulled this off Wikipedia in regards to non-towered airports: Even though they do not have control towers, many non-towered airports have radio operations such as UNICOM to assist aircraft arriving, departing, or maneuvering on the ground.

Was this just airport operations or the FBO being helpful? Have others experienced this type of assist and if so did you find it valuable?
Click to expand...
Millville, NJ (MIV) has a service like this. Not quite a UNICOM, but not quite ATC. They're helpful. It takes you by surprise the first time you go in there and are not expecting it.
 
I've encountered something like this at fly-ins to uncontrolled airports with a pilot on the ground using a handheld. Often it's just to coordinate back-taxiing with landings but I've also seen occasions where the "controller" would mention how many airplanes were already on final.
 
Sluggo63 said:
Millville, NJ (MIV) has a service like this. Not quite a UNICOM, but not quite ATC. They're helpful. It takes you by surprise the first time you go in there and are not expecting it.
Click to expand...
What Millville has is not the same. It is official Remote Airport Advisory Service, provided by Flight Service. See AIM Section 4-1-9d for details.
 
flyingron said:
State College used to do this before they got their tower. They had a student in the FBO playing ground controller pretty much. Frankly, except on football weekends when it is a zoo, I find the process annoying and had a negative contribution to safety.
Click to expand...

Yeah I've experienced it once and it was at KUNV. I found it bizarre and offputting and ended up ignoring it anyway.
 
The airport manager or employee at 3AU will do this win bigger stuff (jet's) come in. One time he did it when there was a nordo in the pattern along with a couple others entering at odd places in the pattern including two who were right on top of each other. In this case I would like to think he helped but hope that the pilots would have figured out where they were in relation to each other and taken the appropriate action.
 
bartmc said:
A guy at my last airport built his own control tower...,I'm not kidding.
Click to expand...


The State of Hawaii built a tower at Dillingham Airfield (PHDH) and pays for the guy who occupies it during the day whose job it is to offer airport advisories on the Unicom.

I flew out of there once, in a glider:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmCQgXLvV3o
 
My ex-wife gave advisories on the Unicom for a couple of years at Mammoth/Yosemite, then just Mammoth Airport.

There were enough complaints from pilots to finally get her fired, she didn't know north from south but that never slowed her down at all.
 
The FBO at Frederick used to give advisories based solely on status of the little sign they had next to the radio. It frequently went:

714YF: Frederick Unicom, Cessna 714YF airport advisory
FDK: Frederick is using 23 Left traffic.
73FR: Well everybody in the pattern is actually using right traffic for runway 5.

Except for being able to report the winds to you (and this is less necessary with the prevalence of AWOS) a unicom operator isn't anywhere near as useful as keeping your eyes and ears open.
 
On initial call inbound, without fail, the girl behind the counter will radio (in a very friendly voice)

"Welcome to the Houston Executive Airport, wind is XX at XXX, altimeter XXXX".
 
In the old days,like the late 60s ,on inbound it was common to call on Unicom,and ask for active runway. Now it's easier to get the asos and listen to airport radio traffic.
 
Occasionally the airport manager at KHAF chimes in on CTAF to ***** people out for using the wrong traffic pattern.
 
I was always told that should be no need to ask for advisorys unless a special event was going on. That is what the ASOS and your ears are for.
 
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