Ride Reports

I do, I don't want to spill my coffee.

(I figure if I'm uncomfortable, the people in back are DEFINITELY uncomfortable.)

Visiting the lav on my airplane involves a walk of shame...I'm good.

Ahh the walk of shame. You know I was just kidding AB.

Not too long ago, I had an AAircraft ask for 20 left for a few miles. I had been sitting there for about an hour, it was clear and a million, and not a peep about any nastiness. A few moments later I went back to them and asked if there was wx ahead. A different voice came back and replied, "nah, just a little bumpy and I paid six bucks for this coffee."

HilAArious

Truthfully ill tell you most Enroute controllers dont want to talk about rides, most people have canned responses of "just light chop". If u are getting smooth rides or ocassional light chop why ask at all. its beyond annoying hearing that all day. If its worst then light, everyone will mention it but most people 90% couldnt give a crap if its light or less. Also if its busy, listen what is being broadcasted, you're bound to get a good idea from just listening.

That really is too bad, because if I want a ride report and if I'm having a bad ride, I'll be keying up, reporting the weather conditions (hey that's in a regulation somewhere) and seeing what I can do to make the ride better.

In other words, I still give a damn.

I have a question for the pilots. Here's the scenario: You are at FL360 with moderate, asking for reports. I tell you moderate turbulence FL340-380 (or "you can expect the same ride FL340-380") for x-number of miles along your route. You then ask for 340. Why? I just told you it's bad, too. This happens regularly, and many of my coworkers and I are curious. Why not go to 320? Fuel burn, or something else?

I think you are mixing Japanese with flying.

Without knowing all the details, it's hard to say, but fuel would be my first guess. Sometimes they give us so little fuel that we have to stick to the planned altitude. Maybe the crew requested 340 to be at the lower edge of the turbulent layer, since descending 4000ft will increase the fuel burn quite significantly, especially if you do it early in a long flight.

I think what gets annoying is the continuous exchange of the same non-critical information all day long. Everybody asks the same question, and gets the same answer. Why not listen up for 5 or so minutes before asking the question?

Personally, I don't bother with the ride report/request thing unless it's moderate- and that's pretty rare at altitude- usually just light.