VFR flight to KMEI Flight Following with ATC comms - Video

[beechsundowner]

VFR flight to Meridian Key Field, Meridian MS.



Pop up VFR flight following requested.  ATC and intercom communications included in video.. 

Thought it was strange that KMEI tower would ask me to report 3 mile left base when they had radar coverage.  I was about set up for a straight in approach (30 degree heading off centerline)

Even stranger was the request for me to report clear of airspace delta after the touch and go.  I got tongue tied on that response as you will see.

Anybody know why these type of request would have been made by Tower since they indicated they had radar?

[icelandair75w]

Nice video. How do you get audio so clear like that to come up on the video's audio? I've always wondered how..

[beechsundowner]

Nice video. How do you get audio so clear like that to come up on the video's audio? I've always wondered how..

Thanks for the compliments!

I use a cheapo digital recorder to capture the ATC coms.  I bought a "patch cable" that hooks into the airplane intercom system and I plug the cord into the mic in of the digital recorder.  Type in aircraft patch cord in Google and it's the first link for the cord interface.

The reason I do this is that I want the engine sounds, so if I plug into the mic in of a camera, I would not get the engine sounds.  My camera does not have a "mic in" plug so I didn't have a choice but to get the digital recorder.

The engine sounds are captured by my camera which is a very cheap 7 year old pocket size Kodak Easy share that sits on top of the glareshield.  I have a binder behind the camera to prop it against the wind screen so it won't shift.

During the flight, for synchronization purposes, I say "camera on" and "camera off" so that I know where in the audio file where I was videoing the flight.  Of course as you can see, I edit that out in my video.

Literally no setup time before flight.  Got it almost down to a "plug and play"  Plop the camera on the glareshied, plug the recorder on, start record and off I go.

[icelandair75w]

Interesting. Thanks for the info! Does anybody here no of another way around that? Perhaps if I had a camera with a mic plug to plug it directly from the intercom -> the camera is that possible? 

[beechsundowner]

Interesting. Thanks for the info! Does anybody here no of another way around that? Perhaps if I had a camera with a mic plug to plug it directly from the intercom -> the camera is that possible? 

Yes, if you have a mic in plug, you do not need an audio recorder.  Patch cord will plug into the ships intercom system and mic in of the camera.  No syncing needed.

The trade off will be that the recording will be "sterile" without any background noises such as engine, switch settings, cabin noises such as when I set my flaps, I hear the distinct click and the like. 

[fholbert]

Interesting. Thanks for the info! Does anybody here no of another way around that? Perhaps if I had a camera with a mic plug to plug it directly from the intercom -> the camera is that possible? 

Yea, look at one of my videos here.  http://160knots.com/videos.htm 

I'm just the opposite, I don't want all the engine noise. I want the radio and intercom to be clear and noise free as much as possible.

Frank Holbert
http://160knots.com

[fholbert]

Interesting. Thanks for the info! Does anybody here no of another way around that? Perhaps if I had a camera with a mic plug to plug it directly from the intercom -> the camera is that possible? 

Sorry, I didn't do a good job of answering your question. I was getting so much email about how I shot my videos I made a page just for that.

http://160knots.com/making_video.htm   

Frank Holbert
http://160knots.com

[davolijj]

VFR flight to Meridian Key Field, Meridian MS.
Thought it was strange that KMEI tower would ask me to report 3 mile left base when they had radar coverage.  I was about set up for a straight in approach (30 degree heading off centerline)

Even stranger was the request for me to report clear of airspace delta after the touch and go.  I got tongue tied on that response as you will see.

VFR towers like to have position reports even if they do have you depicted on a tower radar display.  It's just a way of reminding them where you are if they get tied up with runway operations.  Not sure why they'd have you enter a base as opposed to straight-in, all I can tell you is the Air National Guard who operates the tower does quite a bit of training in that facility.  As far as reporting clear of delta, again just a guess here but probably so they could concentrate on the runway and not have to watch you exit the airspace on radar.  Your position report would then prompt the local controller to give you a frequency change.

[beechsundowner]

VFR towers like to have position reports even if they do have you depicted on a tower radar display.  It's just a way of reminding them where you are if they get tied up with runway operations.  Not sure why they'd have you enter a base as opposed to straight-in, all I can tell you is the Air National Guard who operates the tower does quite a bit of training in that facility.  As far as reporting clear of delta, again just a guess here but probably so they could concentrate on the runway and not have to watch you exit the airspace on radar.  Your position report would then prompt the local controller to give you a frequency change.

Ahhh, ok, this makes sense, and sure nothing wrong with having a double check system in place, hence I always call it "team work".

Just seemed that twice the radio transmissions going on. 

This was the first time I have ever done a touch and go at KMEI