Last Sunday I took a couple of my relatives flying - was my uncle's birthday and he likes flying so it worked out well. Nothing too dramatic to report, was a standard flight to Tauranga in JGP, our 180hp 172. We had a look through the museum, had a drink, I dropped my photos in for the competition the museum's running, and we came home. The reason I'm blogging this, is the hilarity that ensued when the trainee Tauranga controller tried to give me a clearance - for those of you not familiar with the area, Tauranga is pretty much east of Hamilton, and it's 42 miles, which is a nice quick flight. We overfly Matamata halfway there so there's a bit to do. Anyway, I climbed up as high as possible to give me more range on the radio, got the ATIS, and called up 20 miles west of the aerodrome (the control zone starts about 13 miles out, so I gave myself plenty of time) and announced that I was 20 miles west at 3000 ft, and asked for joining instructions. The clearance I got was "Make a Matakana 1 arrival, track to the Mount harbour entrance" (Matakana island is to the north of Tauranga). I read it back and then set about working out how in the world I could arrive from Matakana without flying a massive diversion to the north. A few seconds later the controller called me back. Conversation went something like this:
"Juliet Golf Sierra, confirm you've just passed Matamata"
"Affirm"
"How about we give you a Racecourse 1 arrival instead?"
"That makes a bit more sense, thanks."
"See, we're looking out for you guys"
Of course my passengers heard this and great laughter was heard from the back seat :-)
2 comments:
Was it the same controller than called you back with the amended clearance or was it his/her supervisor?
Yeah, it was the same controller. She sounded a bit embarrassed too :)
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