On the Airbands

AUCKLAND APPROACH: “Argentina 866, cleared to two-five- zero-zero feet until you are established. Call the Tower 118 decimal 7” (followed by some very basic spanish language with accompanying background laughter).

What followed showed that the Qantas 767 on charter to Argentinas Aerolineas had a flightdeck crew with a sense of humour.

ARGENTINA 866: (Qantas 767) “Look pal, I’m having enough trouble with handling the bloody callsign, let alone trying to speak spanish as well!” The regular Argentine service had an aircraft which had gone unserviceable in Auckland, stranding Argentina bound passengers in Sydney, where the flight had been scheduled to *turn around”. Subsequently, a Qantas 767 aircraft had been chartered to allow these Sydney pax to join the aircraft in Auckland.

Another Auckland based story while we’re across the Tasman from an anonymous contributor. New Zealand 410 on Auckland Ground frequency 121. 9 MHz.

AUCKLAND GROUND: “New Zealand 410, confirm your POB is still 108 persons. ” ANZ 410: Auckland Ground, New Zealand 410, would you stand by!” (A few minutes later. . . ) ANZ 410: “Auckland Ground, New Zealand 410 confirms we have not had any more births or deaths in the past few minutes, and our POB figure stands at 108!” Hot airband information regarding the merging of Qantas and Australian Airlines.

In Cairns, frequency 129. 5 which was used by Australian Airlines has been set aside by Qantas for use only with lengthy engineering messages. 131. 9 MHz is now the Qantas Australian company VHF frequency. This situation commenced on April 1 this year. Meanwhile, Qantas Australian company frequencies used at Brampton Island, Great Keppel Island, and Dunk Island is now 132. 65 MHz. As of July 1 1993, all domestic and international flights by Qantas Australian aircraft will be call-sign as “Qantas”.

Cathay Pacific meanwhile is steadily uprooting from Hong Kong and is establishing their Computer and Communications Centre in Sydney while their Admin section is destined for Perth. By 1997, or thereabouts, while Cathay will maintain routes through Hong Kong by negotiation with the Chinese Government, they will to some extent become an Australian based Hong Kong airline with their interest in Avalon’s ASTAAS maintenance facility.

Cathay are very keen to please the CAA and have actively involved themselves assisting the CAA with Satellite Reporting Trials, known as ADS, or Automatic Dependant Surveillance system. Qantasis also involved, but the quality of Cathay’s input is clearly impressing the CAA.

Some further frequencies of interest relating to Australia wide Police operations. Current 131. 6 MHz is not a favoured frequency for the Police to occupy, as it is smack bang in the middle of the airline company allocations. Two replacement frequencies have been allocated, namely 121. 6, and 135. 2 MHz. In NSW at least, 121. 6 MHz is already used by Flight Service as a FlightWatch frequency. This would have to be vacated.

And in the new 136 to 136. 975 MHz airband, being used now ona worldwide basis, an Australia wide Defence allocation has been set down between 136. 7 MHz and 136. 85 MHz in am mode.

Qantas has appealed for On the Airbands assistance with a very worthwhile project, involving the Coles “Apples for Students dockets. The airline has combined with the Royal Flying Doctor Service to collect the orange Coles supermarket dockets, build up the numbers, and win computers for kids involved in the Broken Hill School-of-the-Air Network.

You can help by sending in your “Apples for Students” cash register dockets direct to Flight Operations, “Apples for Students”, Qantas Jet Base, Mascot 2020. The Royal Flying Doctor Service will fly all computers won for the kids-of-the-air to them, free of charge. I’ll keep you informed how this great scheme is doing.

Rod Reinikka from Boyne Island, Queensland, is a licensed private pilot, and is a big fan of On the Airbands. He says he finds the column “top entertainment in such a serious world”. Thank you Rod, who listens to his Uniden Bearcat scanner while at home, located near Gladstone.

VH-MVW, a Shorts 360 inbound to Gladstone called Sunstate Airlines’ company office on frequency 130. 25 MHz and the following conversation took place: VH-MVW: “Goodday Gladstone, we’re about eight minutes out, we have 14 pax for you today, and we also will require some motion lotion!” SUNSTATE GLADSTONE: “14 passengers, and what was the rest of it?” VH-MVW: “Some fire water!” SUNSTATE GLADSTONE: “Some what?” VH-MVW: “Power kerosene!” SUNSTATE GLADSTONE: “What. . . err, why. . . err. . . ” VH-MVW: “Some bloody fuel for the flaming aeroplane!” SUNSTATE GLADSTONE: “Ohh. . . you want some gas. . . I’ll arrange it” Geoff Bryce from Everton Hills in Queensland is interested in learning more about airline use of InMarSat, and wonders if his HF listening will eventually be restricted to Third World airlines who can’t afford the satellite technology.

Truth is Geoff that airlines will have to fit satellite communications gear to new aircraft purchased before the end of the century. HF reporting, oceanic, will just not be considered “good enough” given the available SatComs technology.

With reference to the carrying and use of airband receivers on board commercial airliners, Geoff reckons airlines should take a leaf out of United’s book, who devote one of their entertainment channels to inflight air-ground communications! On international routes, it is switched on “by request”, or “when the Captain feels like it”. Geoff spent a couple of months circumnavigating the USA, and the ability to listen to ATC made the long flying hours just that much more interesting. Take note Qantas! Geoff would also prefer a look out the front on the video screen during approaches and landings, rather than the route map.

On one of his American flights, from San Francisco to Seattle, Geoff heard an interesting interchange between two United Airlines aircraft.

UNITED 1332: “United 1123, this is United (female pilot) 1332, what’s your present position and speed?” UNITED 1123: “This is United 1123, we are 135 miles south of Seatac, at mach decimal 72. Where the hell are you?” UNITED 1332: “Ahh. . . 1123, this is United 1332, we’re 130 miles south of Seatac, at mach decimal 71. How about slowing down a little. . . like to about mach decimal 68, and that’ll give us plenty of time to get inside your approach clearance and get on the ground first! UNITED 1123: “Have you got a good date lined up?” UNITED 1332: “Nah, our legs have been real late all day, especially mine. I’ll get hell from dispatch!” UNITED 1123: “This is United 1123, actually we prefer to fly the aircraft rather than carry it, it saves our legs. . . AND keeps us on time!” At the horrendous Grafton siege where children were being held by several armed offenders, there was quite a contingent of helicopters present from the media, Police and Rescue organisations.

Present were VH-UEE from Radio 2UE, VH-HPB from the Nine Network, VH-HTV also from Nine, VH-BTV and VH-ATS from the Seven Network, along with Lifesaver 2 and Polair 1. The TV show Real Life also had chartered an unrecorded helicopter, with a very cheeky A Current Affair reporter showing up in the middle of the siege action area in a locally chartered Bell 47! Poor communications to the area initially saw TV stations making great use of UHF CB radio, conning local property owners into making phone calls through to TV stations for them. From what I saw and heard, it was a media circus.

A contribution by a Qantas Captain, who prefers to remain nameless. It refers to the Qantas 69 (767) service from Sydney to Port Moresby, where the Captain picked up a strong distress beacon on 121. 5 MHz while flying south of Townsville on a northbound track.

All Qantas aircraft carry signal strength meters, which can be connected direct to the IF stage of their receivers, so that a form of direction finding can be carried out. So Qantas 69 was requested to get a bearing and approximate the location of the beacon, which the crew attempted to do. Sure enough the direction placed it south of Townsville and CAA triangulation narrowed it down to 102 nautical miles south of Townsville. . . moving at 50 knots! Yes, further updates provided 107 nautical miles south of Townsville, then 115 nautical miles south, later on moving slightly west as well, somewhere in the region of 50 knots. But this speed was being recorded as “erratic”, ranging from 50 to 60 nautical miles an hour.

A chase aircraft was sent up by the CAA, and a positive ident of the beacon’s location was made. It was in fact a helicopter, quite intact, on the back of a low loader truck, going from Townsville to Brisbane for repairs! This highly embarrassing exercise for the chopper’s owners and the CAA was caused by the constant bumps on the road south, causing the shock activated beacon to kickstart! The CAA were agog due to the beacon being firstly, inland, secondly, a moving entity and thirdly, able to travel at 50 knots! Acute story. . . and I thank our Qantas Captain correspondent for his letter.

Contributions to On the Airbands, PO Box 16 Georges Hall 2198 are most welcome. SAEs for replies please. See you next month.