2015-08-21
785
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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 |
