A CONVERSATION BETWEEN A FLIGHT DISPATCHER AND A PILOT
A pilot can give his flight plan to an ATS Unit or he can hand it to his flight dispatcher. In fact, that is what the First Officer of UN 739 was doing when the conversation between them turned to the pilot's destination.
Flight Dispatcher: "So you are heading for O'Hare
Aerodrome? Isn't it the busiest aerodrome in the
world?"
Pilot: "It certainly seems that way when you get
into that traffic circuit. I have flown in there many
times and the traffic is always stacked."
Flight Dispatcher
─ "What type of aircraft (1) are they for the most part?"
Pilot
─ "Every type from jets to the smallest Cessna. However, although it is an international airport, (2) its traffic is mainly domestic flights." (3)
Flight Dispatcher
─ "I suppose London is the busiest airport for international traffic."
Pilot
─ "Yes, of course, it has all the international traffic crossing Europe. I was stacked there on a holding point (4) for half an hour one morning waiting to get my approach clearance. It was in turbulent conditions too, and the passengers were not very happy. By the time we were on downwind leg we were almost an hour behind schedule."
Flight Dispatcher
─ "Imagine how much fuel you must have consumed. Come to think of the Concord takes-off and lands at Heathrow. A supersonic like that must be stacked at a very high level when it has to hold. Have you ever flown the Concord?"
Pilot
─ "No, I have only flown subsonic." (5)
Flight Dispatcher
─ "Before they use up all the fuel in the world I want to fly on Concord. Then when we have reverted (6) back to the horse and shall sit in the village square and tell all the kids about how flew on the Concord."
Pilot
─ "They will probably say, "Poor old gaffer - he never did, you know
VOCABULARY
1. Type of aircraft
─ The make; the model of aircraft e.g. DC8; Boeing 747. Also category of aircraft e.g. jet aircraft, twin engine aircraft, etc.
2. International airport
─ Airport of entry and departure for international air traffic.
3. Domestic flights
─ Flights which operate in the country in which the aircraft is registered.
4. Holding point
─ A location over which an aircraft in flight is maintained in accordance with ภาั clearance. In the vicinity of airports aircraft are stacked over the holding point.
5. Subsonic
─ Jet aircraft flying below Mach 1.
6. To revert back
─ To stop advancing and go back.
CONVERSATION
1. Is a Cessna a small type of aircraft? Is it a twin engine type aircraft? A jet? What type of aircraft is a Cessna? A Beechcraft? A Concord? A Boeing 747?
2. Does an international airport receive flights from other countries? Does it receive gliders? Balloons? What type of aircraft does an international airport receive? Where do planes come from that operate in and out of international airports? Name some of the well known International airports?
3. Do domestic flights also use international airports? Do domestic flights follow the same traffic circuit as international flights? Do domestic flights have their own aerodrome? Is military aviation domestic? Are planes from other countries domestic? What planes are domestic? Domestic flights follow the same safety standards as international flights?
4. Is a holding point situated above an aerodrome? Are flights stacked at a holding point? Why are they stacked at a holding point? Who gives them clearance to leave the holding point? What is another name for a holding point? Where are flights generally going from a holding point, up or down?
5. Is a Boeing 707 a subsonic aircraft? Are military planes usually subsonic? What type of plane is a B- 707? Military jet? Concord? etc.
6. Do you like cars? Radios? Motorbikes? Would you like to revert back to the days before cars and radios? Why wouldn't you like to revert back to the 19th century? What would we lose if we reverted back to the 19th century?
WRITTEN EXERCISES
Instructions to students: Using the following vocabulary or expressions, invent appropriate air traffic
controllers' instructions to pilots.
Example: "Hold short of, you say something like: "Hold short of runway two fower ". Write on a
separate sheet of paper. You may use more than one of the following words or expressions in the same sentence.