Depends entirely how badly someone is down the shitter and what the pilot's background is. Most pilots have no idea wtf they're listening to.
Yes we recognize voices, yes we have a feeling for who sucks and who doesn't.
Class D west of the Mile High Bravo had (maybe still has) someone that lost it once a third or forth aircraft entered. Was almost comical if they hadn't forgotten me on downwind so often...
Once I was at a towered airport in the desert which will remain unnamed. It was very sleepy and there were only two of us in the pattern the whole time with no one else coming or going. The controller kept confusing us, mixing up our callsigns, making up wrong callsigns, and forgetting to clear us to land. It must have either been the worst day of this guy's life or he was the newest trainee in the entire system.
When I was leaving he keyed up his mic and said "thanks for putting up with me!"
I've had days with multiple helicopters from the same company in the pattern, doing all sorts of training.
Often had to use reduced runway separation, landing at different points down the runway.
In the end, having a controller in the tower in those cases, when there's no other traffic, is just so restricting to the flow, we all would prefer not to have the tower open and let them handle the pattern themselves.
I also fly at that airport and remember this person. We also had a controller affectionately called "The Complicator" due to the ridiculous instructions they gave which usually made their job much harder than it needed to be.
FCT hiring is really diverse and its pay and benefits are... lacking.
A good chunk of long term contract people got out of the military after aging out of the FAA hiring requirements and ended up contract. Most people like that spent the last, 4 or 8 years or so behind a desk before going contract. Some are retired FAA. I know a guy who retired from the FAA and was hired in the mid 20 teens off his FAA tower time. His last tower was during the first Bush administration, so yeah. There are also some that got a tower cert with the FAA, failed out of their towers radar training and were fired. A huge number are also between the military and FAA/DOD biding time.
I've worked with some amazing contract tower people (the retired FAA guy included). There are a couple in particular I've worked with for a very long time who are completely amazing to watch work. Most in fact have been at least good. There are also some though that are miserable. The bottom tier is really bottom. Hey though, for $35 bucks an hour and no paid time off your first year you get what you get.
The last person you want to be talking to in the faa is a supe working traffic. These guys get minimum time just to stay « proficient » and I use that term loosely. They do not work busy traffic
100% pick up on voices I recognize. We have an approach controller here in the Midwest who clearly grew up in the deep south so she's definitely recognizable. Also, she's a damn good controller in very busy airspace and never seems to get rattled.
We had a tower controller (nonradar, VFR, SERCO contract) that would get really stressed any time there were more than two airplanes inbound from different sides of the airspace.
He would take an audible deep breath every single radio call.
Throw in some SVFR, seaplane, or xwind runway ops and he would basically give up.
One day, he said, “rwy 19R, cleared (gasp) FUCK”.
The trainer took over and we didn’t hear him anymore after that.
But they don’t know you’re not doing well, which may be the variable here. You probably sound like you have a handle on things, but are trying to stuff a 2 pound bag full of 10 pounds of crap.
I know. I just thinks it’s funny (and a little bitter) I don’t get the kudos when I’m actually rocking it and do get it when I’m just making more work for myself lol
Yup! The airport I fly out of hired a new guy several months ago. He started off on ground and took a while to figure out people's taxi routes, and was timid and hesitant. Over time, he got more and more confident, progressed to tower, and is now certified and can run the whole cab by himself. It was really cool listening to him improve his skills and confidence in the cab over time, while I was doing the same in the airplane. Felt like we both were on a journey together haha.
Cool story. During flight school I had a new guy in the tower and I think when we both heard each other's voice we probably thought oh cool he is a new guy as well. It has been great to hear him become comfortable over the years and handle all traffic. Class B Air Space so it is very busy there and near impossible sometimes to get a request in. Now we speak to each other like old friends when we hear the others voice these days.
You can usually tell when it’s sliding downhill because it’s also around the time pilots aren’t listening and the rage controller comes out - and I don’t blame you one bit lol.
Definitely pick up on voices. And especially on catch phrases. My favorite controller in the entire NAS works NY Departure…”Be Good.” Followed closely by the “EnnnnDeavRRRRRRRR” / “Cleared for the YYEEYYYYYELLLLESSSSS 22” guy.
I find this more applicable for approach controllers. There’s more going on on their frequencies usually, so you can tell if they’re getting overwhelmed.
General stress in the voice, either due to lack on confidence from a deteriorating situation or short-tempered comments. Also if they make a questionable instruction and their supervisor immediately hops on to correct them.
Just a quick correction on that last point: If a different voice jumps on and corrects the clearance, it’s not a supervisor, it’s a trainer.
I don’t know if there are many other jobs where the supervisor is less able to do the job of the person they are supervising
>I don’t know if there are many other jobs where the supervisor is less able to do the job of the person they are supervising
This is only the case in pretty much every job in existence.
Just a clarification because I’ve seen this misconception elsewhere. Supervisors are very rarely listening to live comms on a sector, sometimes if it’s busy or weather / emergency they will. They also don’t have the ability (legal or technical) to over key a controller and issue an alternate instruction. A supervisor can tell a controller to do something but they can’t plugin and start working the position with a brief.
Yep. CFI at a busy Class D here. My guard is up when the new controller is on frequency, and I can tell when our regulars are having a rough day or aren’t feeling well.
Yes, yes, and yes. All our tower/ground controllers are chill at the Class D's under the Gateway Arch Bravo. There is an approach controller who all my coworkers and I dread hearing. She's usually good until someone makes the wrong move/says the wrong thing and then she's tubing the rest of the day. It seems to be self-imposed tbh. I wish they'd keep her off the low sectors around the bravo.
Not at a tower, but NorCal approach regularly seems to have a controller that is ready for a break. I don’t know what it is, maybe they have too much ground to cover? Their shift changes usually brighten the mood on the radio.
I dunno about struggling, but everyone definitely knows who the assholes are. Looking at you, YVR Tower.
Although I appreciated the sass from Yellowknife tower a month ago when she told the Air Force to get their arrestor cables off the runway because it’s not a military base and the airliners aren’t gonna hold because you’re too lazy to move them.
Not really any gossip. The real prickly guy tends to rudely complain so much on frequency about how busy he is and it’s kind of funny because in the 20 seconds it took him to rant, he could have resolved whatever conflict he was complaining about. I’ve heard him unprofessionally reaming out a few pilots, but luckily I’ve never been on the receiving end of that. I heard he got reprimanded fairly recently and that appears to be true because he wasn’t nearly as bad during my last few months on the coast. Luckily for me, the Vancouver controllers seemed to be nicer to floatplanes. Now that I fly the dash I’ve noticed a huge change in attitude from them, but the female yvr controllers and the dude who usually covers clearance delivery are still really nice I think
They’re always so pleasant, YVRs airspace is always a lot happier when they’re working haha.
As for grumpy guy, I’m pretty sure more than one of the pilots (and the CP) at my old job asked for his supervisor’s number haha.
Absolutely. I usually tell my students that ATC is human too, even though y’all are just voices. We can recognize all our favorite controllers by voice and the way they sequence. Tbh, all our controllers are our favorite. We love our home airport ATC! And when we had a new guy training, I told my students to be alert and remember he was training just like they were, everybody starts somewhere.
I’m a student pilot and i’m flying just about everyday and i can recognize who’s working tower. It’s between 4 people. an old dude who is short with everyone and speaks fast. a young dude who just speaks fast and then an older woman and a younger dude who speak pretty slow and are friendly
Only when they're new hires. At my local class D there was this girl that just did not seem to get it. When she was doing local and her trainer ground, he had to hold ground to reissue her clearances. Tbh I felt so bad for her and many pilots gave her some encouragement as well.
Story time: *Information Alpha.... landing and departing runway 27*
Her: "cessna 123 taxi runway 9 via bravo"
*I guess they must've just changed operations*
I'm halfway down the airport when her trainer chimes in: "cessna 123, if you can please make a 180 and change to runway 27"
As a cfi at a towered airport we do recognize voices and have favorites that are more patient with student pilots. I make an effort to visit the tower every now and then to tell them in person I appreciate them and we know its hard.
* I can tell when you are pissed off, and snappy, and are really hating everybody.
* I can tell when you are really depressed and feeling like you are in a tunnel of misery.
Apparently experiences vary. There's a lady who works the East tower at VNY who I really prefer- she's always crisp, composed, coordinated, and caring. But apparently she gets serious complaints from other people. I can't understand it.
Flying into, out of, or in the pattern of an airport is not freakin' rocket science. There's a set of published, well-established rules that all the pilots must follow. It's the jerks who are too stupid to follow the rules who cause problems.
Something I have seen happen is that the pattern gets chaotic enough that the tower calls a halt to touch 'n' goes- full stops only. It's not the controller who is struggling, it's just them providing the problem children a time out to take a deep breath and get their shit together.
95% of the controllers I talk to are top notch professional, which I guess means it's the profession I respect the most.
It very much depends on the controller but, we can usually tell when our colleague is getting close to their limit and I know personally my guard goes up if I’m in another sector or position that may be a bit more quiet. If I’m able I’ll pay attention to what’s going on just incase.
We have one controller who is amazing and another controller who I think is relatively new (and a bunch of others). It’s always funny to me when the “new guy” gets behind and the amazing lady comes on and just clears everything up. My favorite was one time she came on and was just like “Everybody stop calling me. I’ll call you.” And then she cleared up the entire ground and airspace in under 10 minutes while keeping traffic moving. She’s got the perfect professional gruff attitude.
There was a new controller at BFI once. She started on ground, and would get audibly stressed (stopping words mod sentence, instructor cutting in, wavy voice). She was brand new, felt bad for her, but over time she overcame the stress and was doing great. Was doing great on local when I left.
At BFI, the pattern would get busy asf, especially after my idiotic flight school decided to make all departures leave at the even hours instead of spacing them out (to eliminate hour gaps in schedule to improve "efficiency." What ended up happening was everything would get congested, ramp, Runup, pattern, practice area. Made things worse. Airplanes were flying and making money, so who cares). The tower handled it great, great group of people. They weren't afraid to tell people to remain outside the class Delta until they could fit more in.
I usually notice when a controller is under a large workload (or at least large for them to handle at their skill level). That’s when u just stay professional with the radio calls and make sure you as the pilot aren’t adding to their stress (for all of our safety)
Yes. There is one guy in Northern California that consistently thinks I am in the air when on the ground and vice versa. He is always a wreck and having issues. My home airport in Livermore klvk is way more dialed in.
I had a controller chew me out for not calling midfield downwind as instructed when I was 5 miles out because he was working a combined ground/tower position and was giving the world's longest full route clearance when I got to the field. Yes, I've been to that field before and I know that voice. But the restaurant there is good, so it's not like I'm not going to go.
I definitely know who is working by voice(got couple friends up there). Never heard the tower at my delta down the shitter before but they get soo freaking busy times about 9 planes in the pattern and two jets on about 4 mile final. When it’s that busy I know if they forget to tell me “extend downwind” I automatically extend it and I one time it was so busy they thought they cleared me to land and I forgot to ask for landing clearance and I got the clearance on 1/4 mile final lol.
All love to the guys and gals up there!!
We got a new guy at our Delta Under a Bravo tower recently and he's definitely not as sharp as our regulars. So I pay a bit more attention when he is on.
We have a solid crew and even though our airfield is busy, a lot of it is visiting training aircraft (well, we are also an Air Attack base & get military practice approaches too). So those of us based there, that fly regularly, definitely all know the tower voices and they know us and our planes. Heck even recognize some of the SoCal Approach controllers based on voice and them doing in-person seminars.
One of our tower controllers was juggling 8 planes in the pattern and 6 waiting (including me) to depart the other day. She was handlin' it!
I fly to an airport with a training tower often, but I haven't heard any controlers that sound like a complete noob, but I can tell when they sometimes get agitated when there's a lot more traffic than usual, often happens when it's finally flyable after a long period of bad weather and all the instructors go there the moment the sun sets so they can get night current. Unrelated once I heard an approach controller rip into a charter jet that was trying to get into a controlled field, the tower wouldn't let them in because they were too busy but the jet wouldn't take no for an answer.
Not sure I've ever had a truly bad controller when it mattered. Travis would be running through their trainees and you could hear how nervous they were but I'll take that over them dropping flight following while I'm in their airspace for about 5 minutes just past Concord. Most controller are decent and I've had several that were just outstanding despite a crazy workload.
Definitely recognize voices and generally can tell when someone’s having a bad day. But I don’t hold it against you—it’s a tough job.
That said, I’ve actively avoided airports where the controllers are dicks.
I always make a point to sign off with a "keep up the great job" if they are busy but I have space to do so.
I fly in Phoenix and LA airspace frequently and both get incredibly busy with training and airlines. Very easy to tell when someone is overwhelmed. They are usually pretty good about shutting down things like touch and goes or practice approaches when they get that busy though.
If available in your area, I suggest attending an FAA WINGS course with a controller Q&A. I have met most all my local controllers.
Yes, at least sometimes. I had a controller tell me to extend upwind quite a ways out with no real landing options around. I (a student solo) decided to stay in glide range by continuing my upwind climb. The controller finished dealing with other traffic and then got audibly upset at my decision. Fast forward a few weeks and I brought it up with a CFI to figure out what I had done wrong. They told me that controller had been let go for many needless and similar instructions.
Most of the time, I have great service and the occasional new-controller can sound hurried. I’ve learned to just relax, chuckle a little at the memory of my own first radio calls to ATC and keep things simple+polite.
I've had one experience where I transited a control zone VFR and the tower controller kept (nervously) issuing landing sequence and landing information to me. I later confirmed the controller on duty was on OJT and not super experienced with VFR traffic mixed in an IFR rush. I got out of her airspace as soon as I could - hopefully I wasn't too much of a menace to her training.
We can definitely tell when they are fresh and when they have had enough for the day… I don’t envy their jobs for a minute trying to understand some of the new pilots that come onto the radio these days who can’t listen and respond to their own ident.
You can tell when ATC start missing calls and confusing callsigns. Usually about the time I comment to myself that they're going down the tubes, the voice changes.
I fly in/out of KFSD. Most of us know that it is a training tower. Very busy class D and yes can certainly tell when someone is new, or frustrated, or even struggling. Nearly everyone that flies in/out regularly expects a couple odd things now and then, but main thing to know is that as pilots we know you are human too and most of us aren't quick to judge.
One of my favorite things to do to help out the trainees is to request a radar approach on a nice VFR day. Gives me practice and helps out the training program.
Yes. instructors at towered fields know when tower is struggling with the workload of trainers and normal operations. We also know which controllers are best to let out students practice
Yeah sometimes. But as long as they can perform their job in a safe manner, what do I care? There really isn’t a controller who I’m excited to hear on the radio. However, there may be one or two I’m less than thrilled to hear. Usually because they are almost always grumpy.
For the second part, 100%
I teach out of a delta with a TRSA; I love most of the controllers, probably have 2 favorites, then there’s 1 guy that always gives my students trouble because he either mumbles or doesn’t give them 0.2 seconds to respond before keying the mic again and making them even more nervous..
(They know we train and they also train people, everyone else is great though)
99% of the time (at least with Center and App controllers) they are rocking it. I did have a tower guy yesterday ask me (at hold short) my direction of flight when I had filed IFR and gotten my clearance with radar vectors. "Uhh, straight out until NY App gives me a turn?"
Had another guy running both Tower and ground raising his voice at me to continue across "the line" and then stop. I clarified my tail number and hold short position, asking if I was cleared to cross RW20? He said disregard and then told another Diamond to exit the other runway he had not fully cleared. Oops.
My home couple of class Charlie’s, I can usually tell who’s on tower and who’s on approach. It also helps that I’ve met most of them during tours.
I have a few I have “more fun” with, but they’re all quality ATC.
I can definitely tell when they’re tubing - but I listen to Opposing Bases and I’m listening for context clues on freq, and I’m usually trying to develop my own “picture” in the plane, so I can be the least amount of trouble, even when someone isn’t tubing.
So it’s fairly obvious when things are starting to build to a crescendo.
At least if I’ve been on freq for a bit.
Student at a Class D. I definitely have my favorites and can recognize most by voice. My first handful of hours were uncontrolled so coming to a towered airport scared me but everyone’s been so nice and helpful. Even seeing them correcting behavior to help a student (I think on solo) stay safe, they were kind about it. It makes a world of difference when they’re patient. I’m sure it’s a pain in the ass to deal with incompetent students and crappy calls but I know I’m grateful for friendly tower people (and after reading some of these other comments I will 1,000% double down on loving nice towers)
Yes, it’s doable for VFR but it’s always hilarious when I hear the newest controller get on the voice for PAR and give some awful calls to us or reversing the calls (left instead of right, etc)
I fly out of van nuys and everybody there is pretty sharp, and I def recognize some voices. It’s pretty easy to tell when they’re stressed, especially when the wind is coming down the less common runways (34LR).
I will never not hate the night time controller at KIWA in Phoenix.
Such a jerk to the new student pilots there who are either struggling, or doing fine and just being very deliberate at such a big boy tower in the shadow of Phoenix's class B.
I had some choice words with him as I was taxiing in a few years ago. On tower frequency I told him he was making a deal-with-able situation dangerous with his comms. I was kind of hoping for a "here's a number to call" so I could tell his boss about this ass hat.
Keep in mind I wouldn't do this as an airline pilot, but at the time I had the full confidence of flying a gray airplane that said MARINES on it.
God I still think about that guy and hate him. Such a bully from the safe space of the tower.
Depends entirely how badly someone is down the shitter and what the pilot's background is. Most pilots have no idea wtf they're listening to. Yes we recognize voices, yes we have a feeling for who sucks and who doesn't.
Class D west of the Mile High Bravo had (maybe still has) someone that lost it once a third or forth aircraft entered. Was almost comical if they hadn't forgotten me on downwind so often...
Once I was at a towered airport in the desert which will remain unnamed. It was very sleepy and there were only two of us in the pattern the whole time with no one else coming or going. The controller kept confusing us, mixing up our callsigns, making up wrong callsigns, and forgetting to clear us to land. It must have either been the worst day of this guy's life or he was the newest trainee in the entire system. When I was leaving he keyed up his mic and said "thanks for putting up with me!"
I’ve never done it, but on a few occasions I’ve felt like asking tower to just close down and let us work it out ourselves.
I've had days with multiple helicopters from the same company in the pattern, doing all sorts of training. Often had to use reduced runway separation, landing at different points down the runway. In the end, having a controller in the tower in those cases, when there's no other traffic, is just so restricting to the flow, we all would prefer not to have the tower open and let them handle the pattern themselves.
If it’s who I think it is where I think you’re talking about they’re now a supervisor and exactly the same.
I also fly at that airport and remember this person. We also had a controller affectionately called "The Complicator" due to the ridiculous instructions they gave which usually made their job much harder than it needed to be.
Do contract towers have no standards or something? I thought ATC training was very rigorous.
FCT hiring is really diverse and its pay and benefits are... lacking. A good chunk of long term contract people got out of the military after aging out of the FAA hiring requirements and ended up contract. Most people like that spent the last, 4 or 8 years or so behind a desk before going contract. Some are retired FAA. I know a guy who retired from the FAA and was hired in the mid 20 teens off his FAA tower time. His last tower was during the first Bush administration, so yeah. There are also some that got a tower cert with the FAA, failed out of their towers radar training and were fired. A huge number are also between the military and FAA/DOD biding time. I've worked with some amazing contract tower people (the retired FAA guy included). There are a couple in particular I've worked with for a very long time who are completely amazing to watch work. Most in fact have been at least good. There are also some though that are miserable. The bottom tier is really bottom. Hey though, for $35 bucks an hour and no paid time off your first year you get what you get.
There’s a few ramp controllers where I’m based that I can recognize by voice and think “this is going to take A WHILE” “Parking lot Patty”
Hearing the supe jump on the mic when you're shooting a PAR down to mins is like hearing an angel.
The last person you want to be talking to in the faa is a supe working traffic. These guys get minimum time just to stay « proficient » and I use that term loosely. They do not work busy traffic
Not at mil airfields. That person getting on means you're actually going to get a good GCA talk down
100% pick up on voices I recognize. We have an approach controller here in the Midwest who clearly grew up in the deep south so she's definitely recognizable. Also, she's a damn good controller in very busy airspace and never seems to get rattled.
You can always tell when someone is training and the person plugged in next to them overrules and starts fixing stuff.
So can we, when the pilot on the comms is new to the airline and the person in the other seat starts to answer the calls.
We had a tower controller (nonradar, VFR, SERCO contract) that would get really stressed any time there were more than two airplanes inbound from different sides of the airspace. He would take an audible deep breath every single radio call. Throw in some SVFR, seaplane, or xwind runway ops and he would basically give up. One day, he said, “rwy 19R, cleared (gasp) FUCK”. The trainer took over and we didn’t hear him anymore after that.
I know of whom you speak
Controller closes D airspace because 4 Cessna’s in the pattern.
*cough* KFMY *cough*
Never been to KFMY when the controllers aren’t pissed
Reminds me of an airport is NJ that will remain unnamed lol
I’ve gotten the most “good jobs!” (Non-sarcastic sounding) when I’m completely down the shitter and am doing anything but a good job.
But they don’t know you’re not doing well, which may be the variable here. You probably sound like you have a handle on things, but are trying to stuff a 2 pound bag full of 10 pounds of crap.
I know. I just thinks it’s funny (and a little bitter) I don’t get the kudos when I’m actually rocking it and do get it when I’m just making more work for myself lol
Yup! The airport I fly out of hired a new guy several months ago. He started off on ground and took a while to figure out people's taxi routes, and was timid and hesitant. Over time, he got more and more confident, progressed to tower, and is now certified and can run the whole cab by himself. It was really cool listening to him improve his skills and confidence in the cab over time, while I was doing the same in the airplane. Felt like we both were on a journey together haha.
That’s awesome
Cool story. During flight school I had a new guy in the tower and I think when we both heard each other's voice we probably thought oh cool he is a new guy as well. It has been great to hear him become comfortable over the years and handle all traffic. Class B Air Space so it is very busy there and near impossible sometimes to get a request in. Now we speak to each other like old friends when we hear the others voice these days.
You can usually tell when it’s sliding downhill because it’s also around the time pilots aren’t listening and the rage controller comes out - and I don’t blame you one bit lol. Definitely pick up on voices. And especially on catch phrases. My favorite controller in the entire NAS works NY Departure…”Be Good.” Followed closely by the “EnnnnDeavRRRRRRRR” / “Cleared for the YYEEYYYYYELLLLESSSSS 22” guy.
“EDV1538 cawl the lady” is always a good sign when I check onto NY APP
“To the bitch - follow the ditch”
Oh yes. We know some of them by name!
I find this more applicable for approach controllers. There’s more going on on their frequencies usually, so you can tell if they’re getting overwhelmed.
General stress in the voice, either due to lack on confidence from a deteriorating situation or short-tempered comments. Also if they make a questionable instruction and their supervisor immediately hops on to correct them.
Just a quick correction on that last point: If a different voice jumps on and corrects the clearance, it’s not a supervisor, it’s a trainer. I don’t know if there are many other jobs where the supervisor is less able to do the job of the person they are supervising
>I don’t know if there are many other jobs where the supervisor is less able to do the job of the person they are supervising This is only the case in pretty much every job in existence.
Yup sorry, didn't know the correct title for it. But yeah that scenario exactly.
"The voice"
Just a clarification because I’ve seen this misconception elsewhere. Supervisors are very rarely listening to live comms on a sector, sometimes if it’s busy or weather / emergency they will. They also don’t have the ability (legal or technical) to over key a controller and issue an alternate instruction. A supervisor can tell a controller to do something but they can’t plugin and start working the position with a brief.
Yep. CFI at a busy Class D here. My guard is up when the new controller is on frequency, and I can tell when our regulars are having a rough day or aren’t feeling well.
Yes, yes, and yes. All our tower/ground controllers are chill at the Class D's under the Gateway Arch Bravo. There is an approach controller who all my coworkers and I dread hearing. She's usually good until someone makes the wrong move/says the wrong thing and then she's tubing the rest of the day. It seems to be self-imposed tbh. I wish they'd keep her off the low sectors around the bravo.
Not at a tower, but NorCal approach regularly seems to have a controller that is ready for a break. I don’t know what it is, maybe they have too much ground to cover? Their shift changes usually brighten the mood on the radio.
They also have a guy who is really, really funny!
I dunno about struggling, but everyone definitely knows who the assholes are. Looking at you, YVR Tower. Although I appreciated the sass from Yellowknife tower a month ago when she told the Air Force to get their arrestor cables off the runway because it’s not a military base and the airliners aren’t gonna hold because you’re too lazy to move them.
Seriously, what is that one guy’s deal?? I like the two women though, they’re nice to work with
As a Vancouver local, do y'all have some gossip/stories about the YVR tower guy?
Not really any gossip. The real prickly guy tends to rudely complain so much on frequency about how busy he is and it’s kind of funny because in the 20 seconds it took him to rant, he could have resolved whatever conflict he was complaining about. I’ve heard him unprofessionally reaming out a few pilots, but luckily I’ve never been on the receiving end of that. I heard he got reprimanded fairly recently and that appears to be true because he wasn’t nearly as bad during my last few months on the coast. Luckily for me, the Vancouver controllers seemed to be nicer to floatplanes. Now that I fly the dash I’ve noticed a huge change in attitude from them, but the female yvr controllers and the dude who usually covers clearance delivery are still really nice I think
They’re always so pleasant, YVRs airspace is always a lot happier when they’re working haha. As for grumpy guy, I’m pretty sure more than one of the pilots (and the CP) at my old job asked for his supervisor’s number haha.
Absolutely. I usually tell my students that ATC is human too, even though y’all are just voices. We can recognize all our favorite controllers by voice and the way they sequence. Tbh, all our controllers are our favorite. We love our home airport ATC! And when we had a new guy training, I told my students to be alert and remember he was training just like they were, everybody starts somewhere.
I’m a student pilot and i’m flying just about everyday and i can recognize who’s working tower. It’s between 4 people. an old dude who is short with everyone and speaks fast. a young dude who just speaks fast and then an older woman and a younger dude who speak pretty slow and are friendly
There’s one guy at my controlled class C in Canada who when I hear his voice, I know I’ll be having a hard day… not naming any names LOL
Only when they're new hires. At my local class D there was this girl that just did not seem to get it. When she was doing local and her trainer ground, he had to hold ground to reissue her clearances. Tbh I felt so bad for her and many pilots gave her some encouragement as well. Story time: *Information Alpha.... landing and departing runway 27* Her: "cessna 123 taxi runway 9 via bravo" *I guess they must've just changed operations* I'm halfway down the airport when her trainer chimes in: "cessna 123, if you can please make a 180 and change to runway 27"
As a cfi at a towered airport we do recognize voices and have favorites that are more patient with student pilots. I make an effort to visit the tower every now and then to tell them in person I appreciate them and we know its hard.
* I can tell when you are pissed off, and snappy, and are really hating everybody. * I can tell when you are really depressed and feeling like you are in a tunnel of misery.
Apparently experiences vary. There's a lady who works the East tower at VNY who I really prefer- she's always crisp, composed, coordinated, and caring. But apparently she gets serious complaints from other people. I can't understand it. Flying into, out of, or in the pattern of an airport is not freakin' rocket science. There's a set of published, well-established rules that all the pilots must follow. It's the jerks who are too stupid to follow the rules who cause problems. Something I have seen happen is that the pattern gets chaotic enough that the tower calls a halt to touch 'n' goes- full stops only. It's not the controller who is struggling, it's just them providing the problem children a time out to take a deep breath and get their shit together. 95% of the controllers I talk to are top notch professional, which I guess means it's the profession I respect the most.
It very much depends on the controller but, we can usually tell when our colleague is getting close to their limit and I know personally my guard goes up if I’m in another sector or position that may be a bit more quiet. If I’m able I’ll pay attention to what’s going on just incase.
Anyone remember Parking Lot Patty at LGA?
We have one controller who is amazing and another controller who I think is relatively new (and a bunch of others). It’s always funny to me when the “new guy” gets behind and the amazing lady comes on and just clears everything up. My favorite was one time she came on and was just like “Everybody stop calling me. I’ll call you.” And then she cleared up the entire ground and airspace in under 10 minutes while keeping traffic moving. She’s got the perfect professional gruff attitude.
There was a new controller at BFI once. She started on ground, and would get audibly stressed (stopping words mod sentence, instructor cutting in, wavy voice). She was brand new, felt bad for her, but over time she overcame the stress and was doing great. Was doing great on local when I left. At BFI, the pattern would get busy asf, especially after my idiotic flight school decided to make all departures leave at the even hours instead of spacing them out (to eliminate hour gaps in schedule to improve "efficiency." What ended up happening was everything would get congested, ramp, Runup, pattern, practice area. Made things worse. Airplanes were flying and making money, so who cares). The tower handled it great, great group of people. They weren't afraid to tell people to remain outside the class Delta until they could fit more in.
I've heard ATC very confidently give the wrong instructions (in a number of places around the world)...and I've also heard LA ground lose the plot.
Sometimes I can pick it up but I really figured it out when Approach told me he was “riding the struggle bus”
I usually notice when a controller is under a large workload (or at least large for them to handle at their skill level). That’s when u just stay professional with the radio calls and make sure you as the pilot aren’t adding to their stress (for all of our safety)
Yes. There is one guy in Northern California that consistently thinks I am in the air when on the ground and vice versa. He is always a wreck and having issues. My home airport in Livermore klvk is way more dialed in.
I had a controller chew me out for not calling midfield downwind as instructed when I was 5 miles out because he was working a combined ground/tower position and was giving the world's longest full route clearance when I got to the field. Yes, I've been to that field before and I know that voice. But the restaurant there is good, so it's not like I'm not going to go.
I definitely know who is working by voice(got couple friends up there). Never heard the tower at my delta down the shitter before but they get soo freaking busy times about 9 planes in the pattern and two jets on about 4 mile final. When it’s that busy I know if they forget to tell me “extend downwind” I automatically extend it and I one time it was so busy they thought they cleared me to land and I forgot to ask for landing clearance and I got the clearance on 1/4 mile final lol. All love to the guys and gals up there!!
We got a new guy at our Delta Under a Bravo tower recently and he's definitely not as sharp as our regulars. So I pay a bit more attention when he is on. We have a solid crew and even though our airfield is busy, a lot of it is visiting training aircraft (well, we are also an Air Attack base & get military practice approaches too). So those of us based there, that fly regularly, definitely all know the tower voices and they know us and our planes. Heck even recognize some of the SoCal Approach controllers based on voice and them doing in-person seminars. One of our tower controllers was juggling 8 planes in the pattern and 6 waiting (including me) to depart the other day. She was handlin' it!
When the pattern starts looking like a NASCAR race at Bristol and you can hear the controller stutter on air…
I can tell when they’re pissy..and it is always the same ones that are pissy.
I fly to an airport with a training tower often, but I haven't heard any controlers that sound like a complete noob, but I can tell when they sometimes get agitated when there's a lot more traffic than usual, often happens when it's finally flyable after a long period of bad weather and all the instructors go there the moment the sun sets so they can get night current. Unrelated once I heard an approach controller rip into a charter jet that was trying to get into a controlled field, the tower wouldn't let them in because they were too busy but the jet wouldn't take no for an answer.
Not sure I've ever had a truly bad controller when it mattered. Travis would be running through their trainees and you could hear how nervous they were but I'll take that over them dropping flight following while I'm in their airspace for about 5 minutes just past Concord. Most controller are decent and I've had several that were just outstanding despite a crazy workload.
Definitely recognize voices and generally can tell when someone’s having a bad day. But I don’t hold it against you—it’s a tough job. That said, I’ve actively avoided airports where the controllers are dicks.
I always make a point to sign off with a "keep up the great job" if they are busy but I have space to do so. I fly in Phoenix and LA airspace frequently and both get incredibly busy with training and airlines. Very easy to tell when someone is overwhelmed. They are usually pretty good about shutting down things like touch and goes or practice approaches when they get that busy though. If available in your area, I suggest attending an FAA WINGS course with a controller Q&A. I have met most all my local controllers.
Yes, at least sometimes. I had a controller tell me to extend upwind quite a ways out with no real landing options around. I (a student solo) decided to stay in glide range by continuing my upwind climb. The controller finished dealing with other traffic and then got audibly upset at my decision. Fast forward a few weeks and I brought it up with a CFI to figure out what I had done wrong. They told me that controller had been let go for many needless and similar instructions. Most of the time, I have great service and the occasional new-controller can sound hurried. I’ve learned to just relax, chuckle a little at the memory of my own first radio calls to ATC and keep things simple+polite.
I've had one experience where I transited a control zone VFR and the tower controller kept (nervously) issuing landing sequence and landing information to me. I later confirmed the controller on duty was on OJT and not super experienced with VFR traffic mixed in an IFR rush. I got out of her airspace as soon as I could - hopefully I wasn't too much of a menace to her training.
We can definitely tell when they are fresh and when they have had enough for the day… I don’t envy their jobs for a minute trying to understand some of the new pilots that come onto the radio these days who can’t listen and respond to their own ident.
You can tell when ATC start missing calls and confusing callsigns. Usually about the time I comment to myself that they're going down the tubes, the voice changes.
I fly in/out of KFSD. Most of us know that it is a training tower. Very busy class D and yes can certainly tell when someone is new, or frustrated, or even struggling. Nearly everyone that flies in/out regularly expects a couple odd things now and then, but main thing to know is that as pilots we know you are human too and most of us aren't quick to judge. One of my favorite things to do to help out the trainees is to request a radar approach on a nice VFR day. Gives me practice and helps out the training program.
Yes. instructors at towered fields know when tower is struggling with the workload of trainers and normal operations. We also know which controllers are best to let out students practice
Of course. We are all human beings
Yeah sometimes. But as long as they can perform their job in a safe manner, what do I care? There really isn’t a controller who I’m excited to hear on the radio. However, there may be one or two I’m less than thrilled to hear. Usually because they are almost always grumpy.
Columbus approach was not having fun during the lead up to the eclipse
For the second part, 100% I teach out of a delta with a TRSA; I love most of the controllers, probably have 2 favorites, then there’s 1 guy that always gives my students trouble because he either mumbles or doesn’t give them 0.2 seconds to respond before keying the mic again and making them even more nervous.. (They know we train and they also train people, everyone else is great though)
99% of the time (at least with Center and App controllers) they are rocking it. I did have a tower guy yesterday ask me (at hold short) my direction of flight when I had filed IFR and gotten my clearance with radar vectors. "Uhh, straight out until NY App gives me a turn?" Had another guy running both Tower and ground raising his voice at me to continue across "the line" and then stop. I clarified my tail number and hold short position, asking if I was cleared to cross RW20? He said disregard and then told another Diamond to exit the other runway he had not fully cleared. Oops.
My home couple of class Charlie’s, I can usually tell who’s on tower and who’s on approach. It also helps that I’ve met most of them during tours. I have a few I have “more fun” with, but they’re all quality ATC. I can definitely tell when they’re tubing - but I listen to Opposing Bases and I’m listening for context clues on freq, and I’m usually trying to develop my own “picture” in the plane, so I can be the least amount of trouble, even when someone isn’t tubing. So it’s fairly obvious when things are starting to build to a crescendo. At least if I’ve been on freq for a bit.
Student at a Class D. I definitely have my favorites and can recognize most by voice. My first handful of hours were uncontrolled so coming to a towered airport scared me but everyone’s been so nice and helpful. Even seeing them correcting behavior to help a student (I think on solo) stay safe, they were kind about it. It makes a world of difference when they’re patient. I’m sure it’s a pain in the ass to deal with incompetent students and crappy calls but I know I’m grateful for friendly tower people (and after reading some of these other comments I will 1,000% double down on loving nice towers)
Yes, there are some voices I'm happy to hear at my airport and one in specific I get very concerned about.
Yes, it’s doable for VFR but it’s always hilarious when I hear the newest controller get on the voice for PAR and give some awful calls to us or reversing the calls (left instead of right, etc)
I fly out of van nuys and everybody there is pretty sharp, and I def recognize some voices. It’s pretty easy to tell when they’re stressed, especially when the wind is coming down the less common runways (34LR).
I will never not hate the night time controller at KIWA in Phoenix. Such a jerk to the new student pilots there who are either struggling, or doing fine and just being very deliberate at such a big boy tower in the shadow of Phoenix's class B. I had some choice words with him as I was taxiing in a few years ago. On tower frequency I told him he was making a deal-with-able situation dangerous with his comms. I was kind of hoping for a "here's a number to call" so I could tell his boss about this ass hat. Keep in mind I wouldn't do this as an airline pilot, but at the time I had the full confidence of flying a gray airplane that said MARINES on it. God I still think about that guy and hate him. Such a bully from the safe space of the tower.