Guard 121.5

[densoo]

Anyone have reference for the FAR requirement to monitor. My company removed the domestic requirement from the operating manual and I want to get it put back in.

 

[Baronman]

Anyone have reference for the FAR requirement to monitor. My company removed the domestic requirement from the operating manual and I want to get it put back in.

It wasn't a requirement at my old company. Company policy was to keep the corresponding VHF freq on #2 for dispatch to Selcal us.

 

[ERfly]

It wasn't a requirement at my old company. Company policy was to keep the corresponding VHF freq on #2 for dispatch to Selcal us.

It became a requirement there after SOC with ASA.

At my current company, it used to be one pilot had to monitor it above 18K. Now, the new wAAy is that 121.5 must be monitored any time the #2 radio is not be used for something else (Ops, ATIS, Oceanic Clearance, etc).

Domestically, you're not missing much on Guard. Trust me.

 

[densoo]

It became a requirement there after SOC with ASA.

At my current company, it used to be one pilot had to monitor it above 18K. Now, the new wAAy is that 121.5 must be monitored any time the #2 radio is not be used for something else (Ops, ATIS, Oceanic Clearance, etc).

Domestically, you're not missing much on Guard. Trust me.

I still do it as AA. It would be nice to hear the call on guard to not cross that runway. After 9/11 it was in the manual and a focus item on evals. If I recall the UHF radio in the military had an ATC+Guard position on the wafer switch so you could monitor both on one radio head.

 

[waveflyer]

121.5 is serious business. Believe me, if I catch anyone calling ops, or making a PA on guard, you will know about it!

 

[SpauldingSmails]

121.5 is serious business. Believe me, if I catch anyone calling ops, or making a PA on guard, you will know about it!

Oh, so it's you! I wonder if a guard meltdown has ever daisy chained coast to coast 100-200 miles at a time?

 

[eaglesview]

121.5 is serious business. Believe me, if I catch anyone calling ops, or making a PA on guard, you will know about it!

Gotta love the guard police.

 

[densoo]

I googled this question and a thread on an Airline Pilot Central forum had a pretty good rundown of the issue. Overview: FDC NOTAM says we must monitor it if capable, and FDC NOTAMS are regulatory.

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/major/46132-monitoring-121-50-regulation-policy.html

 

[waveflyer]

Oh, so it's you! I wonder if a guard meltdown has ever daisy chained coast to coast 100-200 miles at a time?

Any troll with 10,000 posts has to be a guard nazi

 

[Dumb Pilot]

In 92 (after I lost my first "last job in aviation") I was ferrying a C172 for a friend of mine from Florida to Dominican Republic when after a fuel stop the oil pressure started dropping..., long story short I wasn't able to reach Miami center (there was a communication blind spot after Staniel Key, or at lest there was back in those days) but I was able to get in touch with a Dominicana airlines FE that was on listening watch in 121.5, they forwarded my location to the coast guard and I was rescued a couple of hours after I had to ditch, so as you can imagine I'm a big advocate for monitoring 121.5.....!

 

[Baronman]

In 92 (after I lost my first "last job in aviation") I was ferrying a C172 for a friend of mine from Florida to Dominican Republic when after a fuel stop the oil pressure started dropping..., long story short I wasn't able to reach Miami center (there was a communication blind spot after Staniel Key, or at lest there was back in those days) but I was able to get in touch with a Dominicana airlines FE that was on listening watch in 121.5, they forwarded my location to the coast guard and I was rescued a couple of hours after I had to ditch, so as you can imagine I'm a big advocate for monitoring 121.5.....!

No kidding...How bad was the crash? Was it hard to get the raft out?

Congrats on surviving!

 

[Dumb Pilot]

No kidding...How bad was the crash? Was it hard to get the raft out?

Congrats on surviving!

Not bad really..., it is amazing how long a 172 will hang in the air with a high angle of attack and the speedometer indicating zero just gliding over the water on ground effect (it is still called ground effect if it is over water? Hum) I opened the doors and windows before hitting the water and placed the raft on the right seat..., the funny thing is that I didn't know those rafts float when they are packed..., so once the A/C got filled with water I took a look at where I had put the raft and it wasn't there.....! It was all the way back in that little space under the back windows...!

I learned something that day...., I just hope I don't get to use that knowledge ever again....LOL

 

[wms]

You also hear towers giving landing clearances on guard when a crew forgets to switch to tower.

 

[SpauldingSmails]

...and barnyard animal noises, occasional music, and yokels who think it's CTAF with their volume cranked all the way down.

 

[EngineThunder]

...and corporate pilots looking for an FBO, or airline pilots telling ramp control their gate info.

 

[densoo]

Or last night, I kid you not, "My first wife was..." on a hot mic over the Rockies.

There was a period of silence on the freq from ATC and the pilots waiting (hoping) for the rest of what he was saying. Spent the rest of the flight wondering. Rich, sexy, short, a CPA, mobbed up? What?!

 

[SpauldingSmails]

Ha! Two funny accidental one liners I've heard over frequency.

One was going through Chicago center around 11pm, coulda been on guard - probably center: "You gonna come up here and get this damn tray!?"

The other was in the AM over Memphis center: "Yeah. Behind closed doors."

The second one really intrigued me, what the heck were they talking about?

 

[Mach 80]

You're on Guard!!!

Quote:
While recklessly clogging 121.5 with stupid sound effects cannot be condoned, I do think the occasional, inadvertent transmission of a PA or in range call should be forgiven without the public chastisement. I have flown with a few people for whom I have seriously considered printing out the following to help them put their Guard duties in perspective.

8) The steady thrum of the mighty P-dubs drone incessantly into the night. I am almost oblivious to their presence as I maintain my vigil, patrolling 121.5 from Timmins to Toronto like a pacing Doberman. The toothpick rides up front, balanced on my lower lip just above the soul patch, the tip vibrating like a tuning fork. A sudden burst of static flares out of the #2 radio, causing the adrenaline to race madly for a split second before subsiding. The toothpick shoots up like a power antenna and then lays flat once more, waiting patiently for the next intrusion. “Easy, my friend”, I mutter under my breath. “They’ll be back….”

“Whas that?” The left seat warmer emerges from behind his papery tent of Globe and Mail, an inquisitive look on his face. “You say sumpin?” I wave him away impatiently and return to the task at hand. You see, chaps, I have no time for such frivolous recreational pursuits such as reading when flying. :roll: My mission is far bolder and my purpose clear: I am a self-trained, highly experienced member of the guard police. 8) In fact, if the guard police handed out ranks, I would probably be a corporal. To date, I have over 2367 confirmed penalized violations on 121.5, all swiftly punished by my ruthless and relentless curt radio transmission: “YOU’RE ON GUARD!!” These three powerful words smite violators like a scimitar, laying bare your error for all of your peers to judge. No matter if you are a hapless student pilot calling final on the wrong radio, or a chubby corporate flyer calling ahead for a lav dump at the FBO, nobody escapes my swift intervention into your shocking transgression. I consider it a personal travesty that a trained professional could be so irresponsible to transmit on the wrong freq, and delight in clenching the transmit button and snarling my stern correction from my listening post in the Dash. I’m like an AWACS in that sense, gents.
I pause from my post briefly and watch the lights of Sudbury slide by in the inky blackness. Maybe everyone will behave tonight and maintain strict radio protocol after all. I make a routine entry in the guard police black notebook. 2230 local. All is quiet.

And then it happens.
A heavy Korean accent making a position report. :evil: Stammering and stumbling over fuel quantities, time over, next waypoints….and all on 121.5! The mullet curls up in anger like an epic wave, and the toothpick stands straight up at attention, vibrating like a guitar string. My fingers twitch over the mic button, waiting for the horrific crescendo to be complete. Excitement pummels the seat cushion beneath me as the flight deck fills with a gaseous explosion consisting of limburger cheese, baked beans and broccoli. The Left Seat Warmer slumps over, grasping for the wemac, the Globe and Mail flapping feebly like a limp sail! ops:

Silence now, but only for a second. I stab the mic button with a sweaty grasp and howl my protest into the northern Ontario darkness. I bellow my distaste in a hail of abuse and rage. “On guard! On guard! YOU ARE ON GUARDDDDD!!!”

I release the mike and slump back in my seat heavily. Another successful round of punishment issued. I scratch the number with pride in my little black notebook: 2368.
Watch those transmissions out there, blokes. I’ll be listening. Notebook in hand.
credit: AVCANADA ? View topic - The Guard Police

 

[densoo]

Not bad really..., it is amazing how long a 172 will hang in the air with a high angle of attack and the speedometer indicating zero just gliding over the water on ground effect (it is still called ground effect if it is over water? Hum) I opened the doors and windows before hitting the water and placed the raft on the right seat..., the funny thing is that I didn't know those rafts float when they are packed..., so once the A/C got filled with water I took a look at where I had put the raft and it wasn't there.....! It was all the way back in that little space under the back windows...!

I learned something that day...., I just hope I don't get to use that knowledge ever again....LOL

Did you get the raft out? Or just tread water until they got to you.

 

[Dumb Pilot]

Did you get the raft out? Or just tread water until they got to you.

I got the raft out and deployed it....! I floted for about three hours before the coast guard sent a couple on a sail boat that was on the area my way. They welcome me with a cold Heineken and a plate of spaghetti bolognese...! They remain dear friends to this day.