Quote:
Originally Posted by Stone Cold  Re-read my post...I never said on "every call up". . |
Sorry, didn't mean "every callup". Meant every
initial callup when on an
assigned heading. That's what Don Brown was pontificating about. Every pilot that he criticized apparently thought that the controller appreciated and desired the information, but they were incorrect. The only way to really know what someone thinks is to ask them, and, when asked, controllers generally say they don't need this information.
There are other ways to handle the situations you described, rather than providing information that is unneeded at least 1/2 the time (by your own estimate), and only indirectly provides you with what you want.
If a controller gives some indication of having abandoned his duties, inform him then, instead of the majority of the time when he knows what he's doing. If on an extended vector and you think you've been forgotten about, request "on course." If he demonstrates ignorance of where you're cleared to, then tell him.
That's what they do to us. They generally don't get into pilot's business until we start to demonstrate incompetence and then they ask "Cessna 1234X, uh, where ya going?"
Seems like we owe them the same courtesy.