Contacting an MF/FSS

[Saxub]

I know people that got their IFR ticket suspended for not doing the 5 mins calls. Save yourself some heartache and give them a quick call 5 minutes before the approach. It doesn't really cost you anything, it keeps everybody happy but more importantly, keeps everybody informed on your intentions.

Agreed. Honestly, I've never had a problem getting a call in. I guess when you wait to call at 5 minutes and you can't get a word in you get frustrated like Illya. But if you have the habit to call a bit earlier and get delayed, then if there's some pilot who likes the sound of their voice a little too much you won't be pushing the clock and life is good.

[Illya Kuryakin]

Okay, so I guess my real question is WHY?
Every FSS knows you're inbound. They have a strip on you. They even give you as traffic to other aircraft, even BEFORE you inform them of your presence. So why is this "warning, I'm inbound, hide the women and children" call even a requirement?
I suspect this came from some space dork in Ottawa to justify his existence.
Seriously. WTF? It's silly. Adds nothing to safety and ties up frequencies.
Illya

[Saxub]

I don't ask questions. They ask it to be done this way, so that's the way I do it. Does it not makes sense? To a point. But there are many things to get frustrated over in aviation and I'd say this ranks pretty low on the ladder.

[AuxBatOn]

Okay, so I guess my real question is WHY?
Every FSS knows you're inbound. They have a strip on you. They even give you as traffic to other aircraft, even BEFORE you inform them of your presence. So why is this "warning, I'm inbound, hide the women and children" call even a requirement?
I suspect this came from some space dork in Ottawa to justify his existence.
Seriously. WTF? It's silly. Adds nothing to safety and ties up frequencies.
Illya

Knowing you are inbound is only a single piece of information they need. They also need the approach you'll fly, the transition and the runway you plan on using. 5 mins ahead is not unreasonable to give a heads up to local traffic so they can start adapting their pattern for your approach.

Seriously, get over yourself.

[Donald]

Okay, so I guess my real question is WHY?

I'll take a stab at it......Cranbrook?

[Saxub]

Okay, so I guess my real question is WHY?

I'll take a stab at it......Cranbrook?

Nope.

Illya, while we're in the mood of complaining about others.. how about you tell your pilots to stop holding on the pads in Pik for 6 hours during court. Pretty inconsiderate to all the turn around traffic.

[Lloyd YWG FIC]

I haven't worked a RAAS since they took them out of the FICs, but way back, Centre used to pass the inbound info to us. Then for some reason it was decreed that they didn't have to so we stopped getting the inbounds. I always trusted that the powers that be in Ottawa knew what they were doing.

Lloyd (retired)

P.S. I put the "retired" on there so that the minions in HQ don't bother trying to call my manager to whine about me posting.

[wingandaprayer]

Okay, so I guess my real question is WHY?
Every FSS knows you're inbound. They have a strip on you. They even give you as traffic to other aircraft, even BEFORE you inform them of your presence. So why is this "warning, I'm inbound, hide the women and children" call even a requirement?
I suspect this came from some space dork in Ottawa to justify his existence.
Seriously. WTF? It's silly. Adds nothing to safety and ties up frequencies.
Illya

As an FSS, who happens to work some of the places mentioned(YTS, YMO), maybe I can clear up some of the confusion. Yes, we get a strip on IFR inbounds and outbounds. However, this strip only includes: who you are, what you are, where you're coming from/going to, and a CAATS estimate of your arrival time overhead the field. It does NOT include: your intended runway or approach information. The "heads up" calls 15 minutes out are nice because they help up plan out what we're going to need to do, lets us know if you have the ATIS information so we don't have to go into a long monologue of all the current information(weather, pireps, preferred runways, notams, rscs, etc) when you get handed over, and a more accurate ETA. When it's busy, we don't always get a point out from Centre, they give us one if they have time to, or if they're holding onto someone within 15nm.

You may not think it adds to safety, but the information we get on those calls is a huge help. Also, it closes a hole in the swiss cheese on the odd time that we DON'T get a strip on someone. In the event of a comm failure or the likes, we would have no clue that you're coming in otherwise. This happens more in YMO than it does in YTS. Has something to do with the connection between Winnipeg and Toronto that flight plans/itineraries opened by Winnipeg don't always populate.

If you have any further questions on the matter, I'll try my best to answer them for you.
Cheers,
W&P

[Saxub]

Okay, so I guess my real question is WHY?
Every FSS knows you're inbound. They have a strip on you. They even give you as traffic to other aircraft, even BEFORE you inform them of your presence. So why is this "warning, I'm inbound, hide the women and children" call even a requirement?
I suspect this came from some space dork in Ottawa to justify his existence.
Seriously. WTF? It's silly. Adds nothing to safety and ties up frequencies.
Illya

As an FSS, who happens to work some of the places mentioned(YTS, YMO), maybe I can clear up some of the confusion. Yes, we get a strip on IFR inbounds and outbounds. However, this strip only includes: who you are, what you are, where you're coming from/going to, and a CAATS estimate of your arrival time overhead the field. It does NOT include: your intended runway or approach information. The "heads up" calls 15 minutes out are nice because they help up plan out what we're going to need to do, lets us know if you have the ATIS information so we don't have to go into a long monologue of all the current information(weather, pireps, preferred runways, notams, rscs, etc) when you get handed over, and a more accurate ETA. When it's busy, we don't always get a point out from Centre, they give us one if they have time to, or if they're holding onto someone within 15nm.

You may not think it adds to safety, but the information we get on those calls is a huge help. Also, it closes a hole in the swiss cheese on the odd time that we DON'T get a strip on someone. In the event of a comm failure or the likes, we would have no clue that you're coming in otherwise. This happens more in YMO than it does in YTS. Has something to do with the connection between Winnipeg and Toronto that flight plans/itineraries opened by Winnipeg don't always populate.

If you have any further questions on the matter, I'll try my best to answer them for you.
Cheers,
W&P

As a pilot who flies into Radio airports regularly, this is good information to know. Thanks!

[Maynard]

What Illya meant to say was
" well I'll be, thanks wingandaprayer for giving me the answer I was looking for! I come on Avcanada to further my professionalism and never stop learning! +1
Yours forever,
Illya"

[Illya Kuryakin]

What Illya meant to say was
" well I'll be, thanks wingandaprayer for giving me the answer I was looking for! I come on Avcanada to further my professionalism and never stop learning! +1
Yours forever,
Illya"

You crack me up Maynard. But yup, that was the answer I was looking for.
So, thank you wingandaprayer. A lot of poop must be shovelled before one finds the pony.
Illya

[Illya Kuryakin]

Illya, while we're in the mood of complaining about others.. how about you tell your pilots to stop holding on the pads in Pik for 6 hours during court. Pretty inconsiderate to all the turn around traffic.

Well, you could put on your "big boy" pants and walk over and ask. Just might have been the only spot available when the plane arrived?
Illya

[Maynard]

He's got a point. It's like when you park your car somewhere but the guy next to you parked liked a JackAs, which forces you to also park that way, and then they leave and your left looking like the JackAs