Read-back BLUNDER on approach to an international airport 

Excellent - trying to do more of this.

Much appreciated Simon.

Did you known John Nutter - he taught me to fly at Old Sarum in the late 80s early 90s? I believe after Optica took the lease back from Wiltshire Aero Club at Old Sarum and Doug Ranger moved it to Popham where he had a Maintenance set-up and Barry Dyke CFI went to Thruxton for Henry Pelham. They had the ‘Tomahawk’ fondly called the ‘Terrahawk’ because of its spin habit when pulling an induced stall, and a Slingsby T67B Firefly. After Barry’s premature death, an ex-RAF type became CFI, but for many of us we mourned the long summers at Old Sarum and all the shenanigans that used to go on! Happy days

Thank you Nigel.

Good luck with the rest of your recovery Darren.

Gosh, there's a question I continually ask myself. Thanks Kevin.

@@TheFlyingReporter 😆

Yes. You are immediately in violation of your clearance with that one... It would make more sense with a waypoint - descend to not above 2000 by X.

I think that was what was going through my mind - hence why I ended my second readback with, descending - to indicate that It'll take me a while!

Haha - it is a bit crazy TBH.

Thank you James.

It's so easy with a tablet EFB, and just seems more sensible that trying to get through on the phone.

Haha - thank you!

I was no 2 to a 747 on my qualifying cross country into Norwich. Asked to hold over the cathedral. That put me off!!!

@@XX629-Bulldog LOL I bet……..Qualifying cross countries are nerve racking enough.

Here you go: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XR8OWi3NA2M.html

@@TheFlyingReporter Many thanks

Hi - this is one of the answers on my FAQs on my website.

@@TheFlyingReporter Thanks John, hope to see you around the airfields on my travels, I fly out of Shoreham and the club has a base in Redhill which I plan to try out due to the challenging airspace. Excuse my informality if I do see you, as watching your videos over the years gives the impression that we know you : - ) Happy and safe Flying

On a long runway like you get at an international airport, there is an aiming point painted on the runway, usually 1,000 feet from the threshold (looks like it is about 1,300 feet at Birmingham, I'm not sure why). That is where the PAPIs, ILS, etc, will bring you down to. I don't think there is any reason to land before the aiming point. Jon landed slightly after the aiming point, which was absolutely fine (and probably wise with a 737 having just landed - landing longer than it did is a good way to avoid its wake).

@@thomasdalton1508 I misunderstood the "trick" then. I thought he meant if your parking spot is nearer the far end you can throw away the first 5000 feet (and you can, just ask for it, is my point). Thank you for pointing out the context. The touch-down zone and wake turbulence are very relevant to the scenario.

@@Rodhern Indeed, if you want to land that long you should ask. I don't know if landing on the aiming point really counts as a trick, but I think that's all he meant!

Back in the early 90s, Lofty at Old Sarum Airfield used to land his VP1 (no radio) at Bournemouth Airport. One day, ATC referred to him as ‘the man sitting on the plank’ - true story. Another fellow club member landed his seaplane on Ringwood Lakes only to find out they were frozen. He skidded into the bank and had to be lifted off by crane. Another member would attempt to land his Gazelle helicopter onto a trolly so that it could be wheeled into the Optica hangar shortly after the pilot and Police Sgt had been killed in one. Great fun to watch until one fateful day, there was an alleged arson and his helicopter was destroyed. Apparently, it was not insured. At dusk, we would shine our car headlights along 24 when a PPL was late home! Just some of the happy memories of being a PPL holder before the hobby really took off! Oh and not forgetting working Boscombe Down during the week when you could find yourself flying in formation with a Phantom or Jaguar Sepecat from the Empire Test Pilots School! Thanks for sharing your modern day exploits. It’s seems so professional nowadays by comparison.

When you have such a long, wide runway, seemed rude not to butter it on.

Ah, I've been caught by one of those time checks before. It was in Croatia or Italy, and the controller's accent was very rich. Took me forever to understand what they were saying !!

Thanks. Yeh, in some ways, training at a major airport isn't much fun - extra cost, delays, hassle, restrictions, but at least you get to know how to operate in that environment.

Yes, this did surprise me - and partly explains my brief initial call actually, as my FPL would have my flight rules etc etc. On previous flights there, the FPL has been sufficient - on departure for instance - I just called up for departure clearance and start and they knew where I was going etc.

It’s an international competition. So you can enter from wherever you are!

@@TheFlyingReporter That's amazing! I was planning a trip from Houston to Los Angeles. At least now I have the perfect excuse, haha.

He says ' of course!'!!

@TheFlyingReporter yes, I can hear both now... do you recall "green needle, brain storm"?

Just one of the many lovely little differences between the way British and American people speak.

@@TheFlyingReporterthanks. But shouldn’t the original Aircraft Owner & Pilots Association be leading in this case? It is an abbreviation consisting of letters, not a name as such. Anyway, love your channel, keep up the good work. Cheers

This is true - but more than an hour away by car, and up to 3 hours away by public transport. Depends on your priority and mission I suppose - my meeting/filming was at Birmingham Airport and involved a late departure.

@@TheFlyingReporter Ah yes, that makes sense! Great video

Haha. Always embarrassing though at the time!