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AMICEATM!! wtf??? Comair

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Mitsipilot

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 15, 2002
Posts
60
Have any of you all seen the latest issue of AOPA that has an article about a columnist going to Comair Flight Academy for a IPC. If you haven't, read it. You will laugh your a$$ off.

Do people really teach these ridiculous acronyms (AMICEATM)? What a joke!! They also mentioned that Comair instructs students to taxi off of the taxiway centerline.

Please, Comair guys tell me this is not true.
 
AOPA Comair article

I read the article. I was chagrined, to say the least, that a professional flight school would teach students not to taxi on the taxiway centerline. I can still hear my instructor hammering me twenty years ago to taxi on the centerline. Moreover, taxiing on the centerline is your best guarantee of avoiding obstructions.

In the interests of fairness and equal time, maybe a Comair type can jump in and explain the rationale of taxiing off centerline.

I wouldn't be that critical of acronyms, though. Don't forget GUMPS, which goes back to T-6 days. GUMPS saved plenty of students from landing gear up. We taught a variation of GUMPS at MAPD in our A36s as a pre-maneuver flow as well as in the pattern.

I don't understand why someone would go to Comair just for an IPC, unless it was only to find something about which to write an article. If I were flying and were instructing, I can guarantee that I'd give a comp check that is just as thorough (and ball busting) as Comair's, and for much less money. I am not criticizing the school; just the rationale behind the magazine piece.

PS-the Trimotor article was excellent. :)
 
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I agree that using the GUMPS check is a very good idea. I use it myself, but when you start making acronyms for every little task it can get very confusing. Frankly it is just a waste of time. Also the article said that the AMICEATM is used at airlines; yeah right, name one. Airlines do not teach this way.

I think this is just hilarious. Come on now, they were flying
a C-172, not the friggin Space Shuttle.
 
Didn't read the article....worked there too long ago to remember the acronyms...

but as for the off centerline topic.... was this refering to taxiway or runway? At DAL, training department says it's a good idea at night to, when taking the active, offset from the centerline so traffic on final and downfield traffic can distinguish airplane lights from runway/airport lights.

Can't think of a good reason to do this on a taxiway though.....
 
Just asked a friend about this and he said that they taxi off centerline per ground control's request due to volume of traffic that Sanford has. This allows 2 cessnas to occupy the same taxiway.

This is from a friend who worked at the academy.
 
That's the same way it's done in DAB. There's a crack on both sides that can be used as centerline. I didn't read the article either so I don't know if that's what their refering to.
 
I have been a student and instructor for the academy. Sanford can get crazy at times and the only reason they have you taxi off to the right is to allow two-way traffic to go back and forth.
as for AMICEATM, it is actually a very reliable and good approach brief. Whn coupled with a briefing strip or any other standard approach plate brief, it is very helpful in ensuring that every item has been taken care of so yuo can concentrate and stay ahead of the airplane.
Take it easy!
 
Just a quick note here about taxiing on the center line. I fly into TEB alot. If you've ever been to TEB, you've noticed that the taxiway lights are in the middle of the taxiway but they rise out of the pavement about 1 inch. Therefore, if you taxi right down the middle of the line, you hit every light and it makes the ride very uncomfortable. I have also cut a nosewheel tire doing this (carved an inch chunk out of the tire, $200).
Everytime I taxi I keep about 1-2 feet away from the centerline so as not to hit the lights. I also witness just about every other airplane doing the same exact thing.
 
MITSIPILOT

Seeing as you are so quick to jump to conclusions about Comair Aviation Academy teaching its students to taxi off the centerline, I've decided to help you by providing you with Sanford International Airports Tower phone # and address. Maybe you should give them a call and hear just exactly why Comair students and ALL GA aircraft at SFB taxi to the right of the center line.

Sanford Airport Traffic Control Tower
2100 Airline Ave
Sanford Fl
32773
407-330-9816

"never miss an opportunity to keep your mouth shut!"
 
Lucky,

I dont think Mitsipilot ment to offend anyone with his/her post. It is just that once you go to many airports....all over the place, you find that this occurence is not common.

Now there will be airports where they have these type of rules to follow(non standard).....with that being said, many of us may not know that if we have not been to sanford.

I am assuming that you are a student at comair acadamy.....and it appears that you are very loyal to your school and stick up for them....that is very commendable(sp?).

Just my .02 cents

1900cpt
 
Taxiing on right is indeed given by ground. When not given, students taxi on the centerline. AMICEATM is just an acronym that corresponds to the CAA flow of approach set-up and brief. Everyone has their own way, and like most, this one works just fine.
 
QRTAPML- Who what?

BellyFlyer said:
Taxiing on right is indeed given by ground. When not given, students taxi on the centerline. AMICEATM is just an acronym that corresponds to the CAA flow of approach set-up and brief. Everyone has their own way, and like most, this one works just fine.

For those of us that are not Comair students would someone mind going through what AMICEATM actually stands for?

Ali
 
(A)TIS - Destination airport
(M)arker Beacons - Check them if this is an ILS
(I)D - Are we looking at the correct app. plate?
(C)ourse - Final approach course
(E)ntry - Vectors or Full
(A)ltitudes - MSA, MDA, DH, etc
(T)ime - Between FAF and MAP for non-precision
(M)issed - Procedure for missed approach

Just an acronym like so many others in aviation...
 
Acronyms....

Try to figure this acronym out.....

IMHOATATFLAJSAAWOT.

It applies even if you are taxiing backwards.
 
Lucky,

Unfortunately the article gave no reason for this nonstandard requirement. Thank you for informing me of Sanford ATC policies. I have never been to Sanford and as long as I have been flying, I have never heard of such a thing. What happens when you tell ATC that you will not taxi off of centerline due to potential obstruction clearance issues? There is a centerline for a reason. It just doesn't sound like a very safe way of operating around a busy airport. Hopefully once your guaranteed that right seat CRJ job with Comair, you will remember to get back on the centerline before you tear a wing off.

As far as the acronym, I still thinks its kinda of silly. The author says that he was looked down upon for trying to use the briefing strip already printed on the approach plate. And the biggest joke was when the Comair instructor said that this was used by the airlines.
 
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Taxiway centerlines and acronyms

Thanks for filling us in, Comair guys, on taxiway usage in Sanford. There is always another side to the story. The AOPA writer should have provided more explanation; instead, he just wrote it off (sorry) to being the "Comair way."

I found the article to be amusing because of the perspective it gave to flight school-type training. The writer was obviously writing from the perspective of being on the outside looking in. There was "golly, gee whiz, wow" splashed all over the article. You'd get a different mood and tone if the same subject was presented in Professional Pilot. To me, the author's experience sounded very much like just another day of instrument training at, e.g., ERAU, FlightSafety, Mesa, or Pan Am. Each school has its own acronyms, mnemonics and SOPs for briefing an approach.

Good luck with your training and flying careers.
 
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