On the Airbands

Geoffrey Davey from Chatswood in NSW writes with a situation monitored at Sydney’s Bankstown Airport some years ago when a Cessna 440 was lining up for takeoff on Runway 11, and was momentarily delayed by three large wild hares which were sunning themselves on the warm runway piano keys. With the arrival of the aircraft, the hares moved away. The Cessna 440 pilot’s name was Warwick, and he is known to our correspondent. (Warwick now flies a Beechjet 400A out of Sydney’s Kingsford-Smith International Airport.) Anyway, without further delay, our story ….

Bankstown Tower calls Cessna 440 VH-ABC with takeoff clearance:

Tower: “Alpha Bravo Charlie, Clear For Takeoff.”

After a few seconds, the Cessna had not moved.

Tower: “Alpha Bravo Charlie, Are You Rolling Sir?”

Vh-abc: “Not Yet Tower, We’re Waiting For Hareways Clearance!”

Tower: “We Were Waiting For That One, Believe Me, It’s Not Original!”

(The hares at Bankstown are very long term residents. Because they live in grass nests and do not burrow, they are not considered a problem or a pest, and they are very used to the noise of aircraft engines, which certainly doesn’t frighten them.)

Warwick Young of Wantirna in Victoria requests information on an antenna that may assist him in his aircraft monitoring. Warwick is a keen “On the Airbands” reader, who uses a Bearcat UBC220XLT scanner to monitor aircraft. This is an excellent radio Warwick, so with a decent antenna, you’ll really be “looking good”. The main channel of interest is the Victorian Police Airwing on Australia wide Police “company” allocation of 131.6 MHz. Using an SCBASE antenna purchased at Dick Smith Electronics, Warwick noticed an improvement in reception but still finds it hard to hear Essendon and what they are trying to impart to Police choppers. He sometimes hears nothing at all, and has the same problem at times with Tullamarine. There is a possibility that the antenna is performing well except for the coaxial cable lead-in, and maybe you should look seriously at this. Test the cable with a multimeter. If it’s okay, perhaps you would consider what I believe to be one of the finest antenna products available on the market locally, and it’s Australian designed and produced. Oztenna’s “Longreach” Aircom antenna, which is tuned specifically for the comms band between 118 and 137 MHz. There’s also Oztenna’s general scanning antenna, the Airscan, which is a good performer across multiple bands. They’re at 465 Balcombe Road, Beaumaris Victoria 3193. Phone (019) 94 7524. I use several of their antennas and I am a very happy customer. The Airscan comes in brushed aluminium, with an SO 239 connector, and is priced at $130. All the Comms antennas are anodised, and fitted with “N” type connectors, and are priced at $150.

Our next correspondent I will refer to as “Matt”. That’s not really his name, but he requires anonymity and that’s exactly what we’re providing. He is employed as a First Officer with a regional airline, flying Embraer turboprops. Matt states that “when we’re rostered to fly to CTAFs on Sundays, we instinctively take extra precautions to protect ourselves from the dreaded weekend warriors. I actually remember myself fitting into that category not all that long ago.” Matt was on one Sunday inbound to Roma CTAF on a scheduled service, when two VFR aircraft pilots began talking air-to-air amongst themselves.

Pilot 1: “Traffic Roma, Err … Ah … Alpha Bravo Charlie, Err… Inbound, Four Thousand, Circuit At One-eight.”

Pilot 2: “Alpha Bravo Charlie, This Is Delta Echo Foxtrot, We’re Inbound Also For Roma From The South East, Estimating Circuit Two-zero. What Are You?”

Pilot 1: “Delta Echo Foxtrot, Err …charlie, We’re Dale And Rhonda!”

Pilot 2: “No … What Aircraft Type!!??!!”

Pilot 1: (sheepishly) … Err, A One-seven-two.”

David Catling from Mallabulla NSW writes with some STUD frequencies for RAAF Williamtown. Each one confirmed by careful meticulous monitoring. We’ll start at STUD 14. STUD 14=234.9; STUD 15=266.0; STUD 16=296.2; STUD 17=270.8; STUD 18=255.6; STUD 19=259.4; STUD 20=253.3. Thanks David. David is a member of the Australian Volunteer Coastguard at Port Stephens, and says he was attracted to radio as a result of handling radio equipment as part of his Coastguard duties. David’s main interest these days is monitoring aviation frequencies. Ah, Alpha Bravo.

Peter Pellegrini from Perth asks “What equipment do I need to monitor aircraft flying oceanic routes on HF?” You need a shortwave radio Peter, capable of tuning the band segments from 2850 kHz through to 23350 kHz. The shortwave radio must be capable of tuning in SSB or single sideband signals, in the USB (upper sideband) mode. The radio can either be a portable or a tabletop receiver. Of course, it goes without saying, the better the radio, the better its selectivity. Far superior reception of distant aeronautical stations will result from a sensitive receiver. Even the very best shortwave receiver will not perform well without an adequate antenna system. Outdoors longwires (random wires strung between house and trees or similar) from 10 to 30 metres in length are preferred by serious listeners. For flat dwellers, and those who can’t erect wire antennas, or people with limited space, the new breed of electronic “active” antennas perform very efficiently. Really serious aviation HF monitors use two receivers, one to sit on a frequency that will become active eventually, and the second receiver is for general dial-twiddling, frequency hunting. Hope that’s been of assistance Peter.

John Hindmarsh of Hawley Beach in Tasmania requests “any information you can give me on flight testing conducted by the Boeing Airplane Company relating to frequencies they may use to communicate with their aircraft out of VHF range.” Well, there is really only one HF channel Boeing commonly uses from Seattle to talk to special testing missions, that is 9017. Rockwell Collins does a fair bit of testing, and they can mainly be heard operating on 8822, 11288, 13312, and 17964 kHz. John also asked me for Royal Air Force frequencies from the UK in the HF bands. The RAF mainly uses 9032, 11200, 11234, and 18018 for intercommunication with its aircraft aloft around the world.

Grant Campbell from Mount Hotham in Victoria says he was recently monitoring Melbourne Center on 128.85 when he heard the following, just after VH-EAK had requested a climb from FL 310 to FL 370:

Melbourne Center: “Ahh, Echo Alpha Kilo, I Wonder Sir Would You Be Good Enough To Show A Friend Of Mine The Cockpit. She’s On Board Your Flight Today, And Her Name Is Madden, I Believe She Is In Seat 15-charlie. She’s A Blonde Lady.”

Vh-eak: “Have You Heard How To Confuse A Blonde?”

Melbourne Center: “No.”

Vh-eak: “It’s Easy. You Place Her In A Round Room, Then Ask Her To Sit In The Corner!”

Melbourne Center: “Very Good, But I’d Advise You Not To Tell My Friend That One. She’s A Bit Sensitive To Blonde Jokes.”

Vh-eak: “Don’t Worry, We’ll Look After Her For You. What’s Your First Name Sir?”

Melbourne Center: (name Provided But Edited From This Story)

Vh-eak: “Yes (names Controller’s Name), We’ll Tell Her You Told Us The Joke! Unless Of Course We Get That Higher Level.”

(Now that’s one I personally haven’t heard pulled before. Very enterprising!)

Monitoring tip of the month! You have your HF receiver going, or your scanner, tuned to your favourite aviation frequency. But you have things to do around the house that will take you away from where you have your radios housed. What can you do to enable you to continue to monitor while you’re busy around the house? ANSWER: Transmit your scanner or comms receiver audio through wireless stereo earphones, working on infrared. Infrasound manufacture such a headset, which allows you great flexibility while listening to whatever radio source you wish to connect to the small transmitter. You then don the headset receiver unit, and voila! The full kit comprises transmitter, earphones, and 12 volt AC/DC adaptor. The headset runs on three AAA batteries. Morley House sells the units for $49.95. The phone number is 1300 36 9844.

I’ve just traded in my AOR AR1000XLT handheld scanner on a Uniden Bearcat UBC3000XLT handheld state of the art scanner, and haven’t looked back. I highly recommend the Bearcat for serious listeners. It includes military UHF and is available from numerous dealers including Dick Smith Electronics and Andrews Communications. At the moment, I would give most of the Tandy scanners a miss. They just aren’t a patch on the Uniden Bearcat range, or the AORs. Some people may argue that the AOR AR1000XLT’s 1000 channels outdoes the Bearcat’s 400 channels. But seriously, I never need more than 400 frequency positions.

Monitored by your author at Bankstown, between ATC in the Tower and the operator of a business jet which operates out of the airport.

Vh-jet: “Bankstown Ground, Juliet Echo Tango, For Broken Hill, Pee-oh-bee Is Four, Received Information Charlie, Request Airways Clearance.”

Ground: “Roger (names Pilot), Standby For Your Airways Clearance. What Are You Doing Up There?”

Vh-jet: “We’re Off Up There For Lunch!”

Ground: “Wherever You’re Going, The Food Must Be Exceptional!”

Vh-jet: “Yair, You Wouldn’t Go There For Any Other Reason!”

News just in from Canada is that quick action by an Air Canada Lead Station Attendant at Vancouver International Airport saved the day and possibly many lives when an incident happened involving his baggage tractor and an Air Canada 767 aircraft. The attendant hurriedly backed his tractor away from the aircraft, which was preparing to depart for Toronto, when flames erupted from the rear of the tractor. Greg Campbell has been nominated for the Air Canada Bravery Award for his quick thinking and bold action. Greg had just begun his 7am to 3pm shift and boarded a baggage tractor to inspect the water gauge on a 767 due to depart for Toronto at 8am. As it was raining, Greg parked the tractor under the fuselage and set off to look at the water gauge. But as he walked away, he noticed the rear of the tractor erupting in flames. He also heard the Ground Controller calling him back on his radio, as the guys in the Tower had seen the fire. The tractor’s fuel tank was located near to the fire. Immediately, Greg hopped aboard the tractor again, shoved it into reverse, and backed it well clear of the aircraft and out of harm’s way. He then ran for a fire extinguisher, and put out the fire by himself, before Airport Rescue Firefighters arrived on the scene. “I was pretty shaken up” he recounts, “but at the time, I didn’t realise the danger I was placing myself in.” Annually, Air Canada presents awards for excellence and bravery to employees, who are nominated by their peers for the awards.

Paul Stimson of Emerald in Queensland was recently in London and wonders can I clear up a small point for him. He took his airband capable scanner with him, and heard London Control referring to “TMA”, and “STAR”, and he wonders what those terms mean. Well Paul, we use the STAR system in Sydney, and it stands for Standard Terminal Arrival Route. “TMA” refers to Terminal Manoeuvring Area. The TMA is in fact the area of London airspace where aircraft are under positive control by the arrival destination Airport, such as Heathrow. Relating to STAR arrivals, for example, flights for Heathrow from the west or south west will route to reporting point Ockham. If the aircraft is on airway “Golf 1”, it will be given a STAR of “Ockham One Alpha”. Aircraft arriving along the south coast on airways “Romeo-8” or “Romeo-41” will be given a clearance of “Ockham One Charlie”, and finally those aircraft routing to the east of Southampton on Airway “Romeo-84” will be given a clearance by “Ockham One Bravo”. Each of the STARS is detailed on charts issued by the British CAA. Heathrow has four STAR reporting points for arrivals. Ockham to the south, Biggin to the south east, Lambourne, to the north east, and Bovingdon, to the north.

Peter Jarrett from Indooroopilly, Queensland writes outlining that he is a keen aviation monitor and also listens to the local police and public safety frequencies as I have often advised, so he is constantly on top of any aviation related incidents that occur in his local area. He asks: “What are the responsibilities of police who arrive at a crash site, apart from the obvious saving of lives if there are survivors in the wreckage?” I’m not sure of the Queensland position, exactly, Peter, but in NSW, these are the police responsibilities: Assess hazards, take steps to preserve life; render assistance, mindful of electrical circuitry and possible severed fuel lines; contact aviation safety authorities; call for supervisor to control the scene; note state of safety harnesses, and positions and numbers of survivors as they’re removed; photograph, sketch or mentally note wreckage position; secure scene with scene-tape, and trace marks made by gouging propellers or fuselage impact; keep a written log in a police notebook; obtain names/addresses of witnesses, and enquire if any witness photographed/videoed the crash; advise Coroner (in fatal crashes); record the numbers, position and posture of each deceased; discuss with aviation safety authorities registration of crashed aircraft, name of owner/operator, pilot and passenger names, and goods carried on board, time and date of the crash, aircraft’s last departure point and its intended destination, location of the crash, extent of injuries suffered, nature of crash, extent of damage to the aircraft, what action is being taken to preserve the crash scene.

The nature of this next story doesn’t really allow us to identify the location or the identities involved. Or indeed the correspondent, whom we shall refer to as “Ken”. Ken wrote to “On the Airbands” from a major General Aviation airport where he works as an Aerodrome Controller. The following conversation involves the persons on board a Cessna 172, and the workmate of “Ken”, who was manning the Aerodrome Control, or “Tower” control position that morning, while Ken did a stint on Surface Movement Control, or Ground. The aircraft had been doing circuits culminating in touch and go landings for some ten minutes, when all of a sudden, the radio mike from the aircraft came alive on the Tower frequency. What followed was occasional instructions from the male instructor on board, to the female student relating to the circuit being flown, but more regularly, there were comments from both indicating that the pair had spent the night tucked away together, and were indeed planning to relive the events again this next night! After two minutes of locked on mike, with “hotter than hot” comments flying to and fro, and with the aircraft being the only aircraft in the training circuit, the Tower Controller simply said: “Guys, hope you have a great time, but remember to practice safe microphone techniques when you come see us again!” Thanks to “Ken” for taking the time to write to us.

If you’ve constantly monitored aviation radio, but have never been aloft in your part of the world, consider taking a sightseeing tour with one of the multitude of aerial tour operators around the country. In some areas, you can enjoy up to a 20 minute flight for as low as $19.00 per person. My tips are to make sure you have a qualified pilot and airworthy well-serviced aircraft, and a company which offers aircraft with high-wings, you’ll see much more that way. Some companies will even let you bring your scanner along and use it, but check with them about that first. Better to be safe and sure than embarrassed!

Robert from Hurlstone Park in NSW only wants partial identification for his Air Pacific 913 story, which he monitored on Sydney Departures frequency 123.0 MHz. The aircraft had just departed, around 1.30pm local.

Departures: “Air Pacific 913, Departures”

Fj 913: “Go Ahead”

Departures: “Are You Based In Fiji, Or Somewhere Else?”

Fj 913: “Fiji Sir”

Departures: “Do You Have Monsoonal Rains At This Time Of The Year, Or Have They Finished?”

Fj 913: “They’ve Finished Sir”

Departures: “Is It Nice In The West Of Viti Levu?”

Fj 913: “Most Definitely … You’ll Enjoy Yourself”

Yes, you guessed it. The controller was heading to the South Pacific sunspot for a holiday, and just wanted to check out the weather expectations for that time of the year. Thanks to Robert for sending us the report.

Peter E Adler from Sydney requests any information on a good startup receiver that I would recommend. Peter states.. “I live in Vaucluse overlooking the ocean, and can watch many flights arriving and departing KSA, and as I’ve recently retired, I now have the time to enjoy some form of hobby such as monitoring aircraft movements.” A practical and easy-to-operate receiver for VHF/UHF, which is within the price bracket of most purchasers is the excellent Uniden 120XLT scanning receiver. This handheld radio has nine bands and one hundred memories, improved super-fast scan and search functions (you won’t want any faster!), and covers 66 to 88 MHz Australian mid-band business allocations, 108 to 174 MHz aviation VHF and high band business allocations, and UHF 406 to 512 MHz. You get a nicad battery pack included, along with an AC wall charger and detailed instructions to operate the radio. The price is about $370.

Andrew Thorpe, from Murray Bridge in South Australia was monitoring Trenton Military in Canada on frequency 9006kHz USB, and heard a callsign “Husky” and wondered what it is. I don’t know the aircraft type, but it is from Trenton, and is part of a squadron known as 437 Group. Also on that frequency, during SAR operation, Andrew overheard two codes discussed. Code Grey and Code Black. In fact Andrew, Grey is the Canadian military code for an injured person, whereas code Black refers to a dead body.

Time to close for another month. As you read this, I am completing duty with Atlanta Olympic Security in Atlanta. There’ll be lots to tell you in upcoming issues about some of the things I’ve heard here over the past three weeks “On the Airbands”. See you in September’s issue of AA, and keep your contributions coming in to the column. My book “Climb into the Cockpit by Radio” is available for $22.95 from Airband Communications, PO Box 16 Georges Hall NSW 2198. Phone enquiries on (015) 89 7332.