On the Airbands

It centres around an airline situation in Atlanta, involving Delta and USAir. As Dan explained in his native Nebraskan accent, most of the Delta pilots are “good ole boys” from the South. Dan’s own brother is a Delta pilot. They are regarded by other airlines and themselves as “the ultimate professionals”. When other crews indicate on ATC channels that they wish to communicate with Delta crews on 128.95 MHz (air-to-air), the Delta crews often as not ignore the request, considering it “unprofessional” to talk air-to-air in such a manner.

Not all that long ago at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport, a Delta 767 and a USAir 737 were taxying to the threshold for the active runway. Out of their window, the USAir flightdeck crew noticed the undercarriage nose gear locking pin still intact under the Delta jet’s fuselage as it taxied! This was the radio chatter that followed:

USAir 186: “Tower, can you have Delta 254 speak to USAir 186 on 128.95 please?” ATL TWR: “Okay Sir … err, Delta 254, go to 128.95 and talk to USAir there” Delta 254: “Negative, professional pilots don’t need to use that frequency!” USAir 186: “I think he better talk to us Tower!” Delta 254: “I say again Tower … we’re not changing frequency!”

Not a thing more is said on the subject during the prolonged taxi, which took another eleven minutes. Delta 254 finally arrived at the head of the departure queue about 20 minutes later, as earlier aircraft departed. Then … some more radio chatter on Tower frequency from USAir, who was about to get even:

USAir 186: “Tower, you might ask the Delta 254 if they think professional pilots also takeoff with the locking pin still intact in their nose gear!”

Needless to say, the horrified Delta crew realised their omission, and requested to taxi back to their parking gate. Fifty minutes later, Delta 254 got to actually depart from Atlanta Airport. A beautiful story, courtesy of Dan Tyler, about the “good ole Delta boys”.

Peter Pennycuick lives in Mansfield Queensland and tells me he has been an avid reader of this column for some years. Peter and his wife are currently studying at a Bible College on the south side of Brisbane, and he no longer has access to the receivers he used to use while working at Maroochydore, in a field allied to aviation. At the moment he has his eye on a WIN-108 handheld regularly advertised here in AA by Global Aviation.

Anyway, to Peter’s story, which concerns an Australian Airlines 737-400 during one of the refuellers’ stoppages that were occurring during 1992. When refuellers in Brisbane were out, it was not uncommon for various aircraft to land at Maroochy and take on fuel for their destination after Brisbane. This particular evening, VH-TJG had fuelled at Maroochy and was about to depart for Melbourne. Maroochy Tower cleared it for takeoff, and then instructed it to contact Brisbane Control with departure details.

The conversation with Brisbane went something like this:

VH-TJG: “Brisbane, this is Tango Juliett Golf, departed at time three six, and we’re currently six miles south of Coolangatta”

At this point in time, Peter Pennycuick looked up skyward, and saw the aeroplane passing overhead his home in Mooloolaba, some 200 kilometres from Coolangatta … and scratched his head!

BNE CONTROL: “Tango Juliett Golf, this is Brisbane Control, squawk code one four three two”

The transmission was acknowledged, then several minutes later …

VH-TJG: “Brisbane Control, Tango Juliett Golf, correction to those details, we are actually just south of Maroochy. I think I said Coolangatta before!” BNE CONTROL: “Tango Juliett Golf, we knew what you meant, and we most certainly know where you are!”

Peter states that he never realised before that embarrassment could be transmitted via radio. Yes, it can Peter! Peter thinks that VH-TJG had been going through a bad time that night, having already been to Maroochy before Brisbane, and had taken on fuel for Sydney. Apparently, in the shuffling of aircraft to overcome some unknown problem, it was altered to a Melbourne flight, and of course needed more fuel than it had taken on board. So it was back to Maroochy to top up!

Such aircraft reshuffles have been known to cause problems. Problems such as happened to Ansett and EastWest last year, when an Ansett Express F28 went unserviceable, and they grabbed an EastWest BAe 146-300 to service their route to Coffs Harbour. This in turn left EastWest short for the Maroochy service, so Ansett provided a 737. It was not until the aircraft was halfway there (or so the story goes!) that it was realised that Ansett/EastWest had no 737 steps for passengers at Maroochy. BAe 146 steps leave quite a large jump from a 737! Being a common user terminal, however, the staff of all the various airlines were on very friendly terms with each other, and often helped each other out, knowing the favour would be returned when the “shoe wound up on the other foot”. At the last minute, the other airline … Australian, provided the use of its last spare set of steps!

So this was the final outcome:

1. Passengers booked on EastWest!
2. They flew Ansett!
3. But they finished their trip on Australian steps!

That’s Peter Pennycuick’s contribution. Best wishes and best of luck with your studies Peter. Write again, please.

Brett Louis from Northmead in NSW writes to us about a story he overheard on his Uniden Bearcat 100XLT handheld scanner, along with some American and other military aircraft callsigns he has copied recently, that may be of general interest. Thanks Brett.

The story involves Sydney Control frequency 131.3 MHz, which is linked to 118.5 and 128.2 MHz. The frequencies are for transcontinental western routes out of and into Sydney. The “stars” were the Air Traffic Controller and a USAF C-5A Galaxy, callsign “REACH 13143”.

SYD CONTROL: “Reach 13143, Sydney Control, advise your estimate for Cunnamulla” (American accent) REACH 13143: “Ahh … Reach 13143, estimating COONamulla at time one-three, one-five” SYD CONTROL: “Roger, thanks” (American accent) REACH 13143: “Sydney, Reach 13143, is that the right way to pronounce Charlie-Mike-Uniform?” SYD CONTROL: “I don’t know. You’re asking another foreigner!” REACH 13143: “We’re not really foreigners, we’re just friends from abroad!”

Brett’s monitored USAF callsigns are “REACH 3-Echo-1”, “REACH 5-Echo-1”, “REACH 5-Echo-5”, and “REACH 6-Echo-1”, all of which he confirms were Lockheed C-5A Galaxies. “PINUP 88” and “YANKEE 01” were both USAF Lockheed Hercules C-130s, while “SPOOK” was an F-15 Eagle formation of two aircraft.

Also heard by Brett (presumably operating in Richmond military control zone) are “HAMMER 13” and “TYPHOON 11”, which were Royal Singapore Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft. Meanwhile, MiG-21UM now registered VH-XXI flew in using the tactical sounding callsign “FISHBED 21”.

Anthony Galante from Templestowe in Victoria writes to tell his tale of being a Uniden Bearcat 100 XLT owner too, and also a fan of this column for many years. Nice to know we have so many happy and loyal followers! He also runs an AOR AR1500 from Ace Communications, which he says is “fantastic”. At the moment he is concentrating on helicopter movements on frequency 129.8 MHz from Essendon (Tower). He says helos are very active on this channel, including the Victorian Police helicopter (PolAir). I will print Anthony’s letter from this point on pretty much “verbatim”, as I believe what he has to say he says very well:

“I’ve bought the 1993 copy of Listening In magazine, and your book Listening In to Aircraft Radio, both of which have been very helpful in my hobby. You’ve given us some great tips and ideas such as VOX tape recorders and so on, over the years. Now, I have a tip for all the readers of On the Airbands that is so good I couldn’t listen without using the equipment involved! An electronic Pocket Organiser, such as the Sharp unit. It’s a fantastic way of keeping track of all the good frequencies! Mine is used in various ways. If I hear a good frequency, I key it into the ‘Telephone Directory’ so that I can search for a frequency or user quite easily. I also have the 700 channels that are programmed into my AR1500 keyed into the Pocket Organiser, so I know exactly what each channel is. It sure saves writing them on scraps of paper or notepads! Notepads lose sheets, etc. It also has a schedule function so that if I hear a good story the date and time are automatically recorded as I key in the details. I know a lot of air monitors use full-on computers to record frequencies etc, but I find it a hassle to go through all the motions just to find out what’s on one frequency. My Sharp ZQ220 is compact and light, and travels in my pocket. All the frequency guides in the world can’t fit there! Mine cost $120.00. It has 32 Kilobytes of memory, and I think it was a bargain!”

Great tip Anthony. My wife offered to buy me a Pocket Organiser as a gift and I knocked her back. Maybe I’ll suggest to her that I’ve changed my mind! Anthony also included several stories. We only have space for one, and here it is. It involves the new Channel Ten (Victoria) helicopter arriving at Essendon for the first time.

VH-BKS: “Essendon Tower, helicopter Bravo-Kilo-Sierra for the northern pad” TOWER: “Bravo-Kilo-Sierra, track for the northern helipad, and what type are you?” VH-BKS: “Kawasaki BK 117 Sir” TOWER: “I’ve never seen one of those before!” VH-BKS: “Well before I land, I’ll fly past the Tower so you can have a good look if you want” TOWER: “Affirmative, fly past the Tower, that’s approved … oh yes!” (And then … when VH-BKS is about to land …) TOWER: “Wonderful … just wonderful” VH-BKS: “Yes it is, isn’t it?” TOWER: “I love that colour scheme.” VH-BKS: “Yes, it’s good, that’s for sure!”

Just prior to leaving Anthony, he mentions hearing “Firebird 2” at Essendon and identifying it as a Royal Australian Navy AS 350 Squirrel helicopter. But he wonders what “Striker 122” is, and asks for our help. It’s actually a P-3 Orion aircraft from the Maritime Patrol Group based at Edinburgh in South Australia.

Some good frequencies for Melbourne readers: 452.175 MHz (narrow FM) Triple M Traffic Spotter 461.675 MHz (narrow FM) Triple M Air/Ground 462.625 MHz (narrow FM) Road Traffic Authority 487.475 MHz (narrow FM) ABC TV helicopter 491.675 MHz (narrow FM) Channel 9 TV helicopter

It’s a big “thank you” to Anthony Galante for a great letter, full of useful information. Call us again on the “Airbands” frequency Anthony!

Several major world air carriers have indicated to InMarSat that they wish to take on InMarSat Aero DATA-3 services, which is the key to airborne access to the world of information services. Air France has just signed up for DATA-3, which at this stage includes access to CompuServe, a multipurpose public computer network; Magellan, the French holiday database; cc:Mail, the electronic mail system which includes Internet access amongst its capabilities; Dow Vision, for on-line financial data; Galileo, the airline computer reservation system; and “The Payoff”, on board gaming from Sky Games.

Wow! Where is it all going to end? In a few short years we go from having very limited access to the outside world for passengers on airline aircraft to this situation. It is all a bit mind-blowing! Nevertheless, we’ll keep you up to date with all the technology which is emerging and becoming available for use by airlines worldwide, as part of this feature.

For the techno heads, DATA-3 Aero System is a “connection-oriented packet mode, via ISO-8208 compatible interfaces in AES and GES”. Got that? No? Then try this: DATA-3 makes it possible for SatComs-equipped aircraft to link directly with ground data networks conforming to the X.25 international standard. “X.25”, the key, is an international standard method of connection between computers or terminals and public networks using packet switching. It’s universal in nature, well understood, and robust. In addition, the airlines’ own operational and admin networks can be accessed via X.25. Uses include crew briefing, rostering, electronic mail, flight documentation, catering planning, and medical support.

Listening In magazine Volume 2 Number 1 (April 94) is out now. Write to Airband Communications PO Box 16 Georges Hall 2198. It’s $5.00 + $3.00 pack and post, or buy it at any Dick Smith retail outlet. See you next month.