"If you can hear me rock your wings" LOL

[beechsundowner]

BTW, don't assume that you'll see the light gun signals just becasue we're using them. Especially during the day. Those guns are OLD, and the bulbs and/or reflectors aren't the best. Also, the next time you're taxiing, really pay attention to how much time you spend watching the tower for a light gun signal. If you KNOW you're NORDO, maybe. But what if you DON'T know?

It sounds like the FAA needs to get training up to speed with lightguns or get updated light guns but that is a whole topic on it's own....

If I don't know I am nordo after leaving the non movement, then obviously I would be adhering to any taxi clearance given, and I would expect the controller to expect that if I don't respond keeping ground traffic clear of my clearance. 

I also suspect I would find out I am NORDO once I am ready to contact tower for departure.  Of course, this would be the tricky part on my end on what to do next since my clearance was only to the departure runway.

I have encountered two situations where I was "partially nordo" once after departing my own non controlled airport and at KJAN.  Both situations were where I could here, but could not transmit.

For the departure situation, I switched the headset jacks to the passenger side and that fixed my problem with COMS until I got to Daytona where I got the PTT fixed.

Second situation, I used the IDENT feature to ground to alert them that I was having a problem and they acknowledge after IDENTING a few times and I was able to communicate I needed to get back to the ramp.   So NORDO does take some ingenuity in using all tools.

Allen
Aviation videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/BeechSundowner

[NatcaDog]

It sounds like the FAA needs to get training up to speed with lightguns or get updated light guns but that is a whole topic on it's own....

Yes, it is   But it's not the training, it's the ability of pilots to see them, especially during the day.

If I don't know I am nordo after leaving the non movement, then obviously I would be adhering to any taxi clearance given, and I would expect the controller to expect that if I don't respond keeping ground traffic clear of my clearance. 

Ah...when you say that you would "obviously" "be adhering to any taxi clearance given," is where some people fall into the trap. Are you saying that you would NEVER make a mistake during a taxi? Of course not - mistakes happen. We're ALL human. Remember the two FSDO inspectors? And when, not if, but when that mistake happens, we have to fix the problem. Maybe traffic WAS being kept clear of your assigned route, but since a Mistake was made, that same traffic is now in conflict with you. So, one way to try and fix the problem may require you to stop or turn, which may be hard to do if you are NORDO. And this happens A LOT!!! Again, it's just one of many tools we have.

I also suspect I would find out I am NORDO once I am ready to contact tower for departure.  Of course, this would be the tricky part on my end on what to do next since my clearance was only to the departure runway.

And this happens A LOT also.

Second situation, I used the IDENT feature to ground to alert them that I was having a problem and they acknowledge after IDENTING a few times and I was able to communicate I needed to get back to the ramp.   So NORDO does take some ingenuity in using all tools.

What happens when you are at an airport that DOESN'T have ground radar, which is the majority of them, by the way?

I'm not trying to pick you apart here, just showing that there are MANY situations that we deal with everyday, and that we have to use ALL the available tools we have to make some things work. Unfortunately, as long as there are mechanical and electrical components involved, and imperfect humans working with that equipment, situations like this are going to happen.