MrMorden wrote:I didn't get a code, but flying into AHN over the weekend on initial call up I was asked to ident.
This is common practice. They just want to verify that the plane they think is you is actually you. Your 1200 VFR squawk will light up on their screen.
Squaking IDENT is more than just verifying who someone is, a cluttered ATC screen is just that cluttered. And when they contact you and ask for an IDENT they are really getting you to pop up on their screen and blink so they can locate you.
Isn't that what FlyingForFun was saying? On a display the controller wants to light me up so he can verify that I am the 1200 code he thinks I am among the sea of other 1200s on his screen.
In any event, I'd never had a tower ask me to ident before, but subsequent experiences that day lead me to believe the controller was kind of new at this, so he might have just been making double sure.
Andy Walker
Athens, GA
Sport Pilot ASEL, LSRI
2007 Flight Design CTSW E-LSA
IOW, ident is all about situational awareness -- theirs.
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CTLSi wrote:For the benefit of we know who, flyingforfun did NOT say IDENT was to give controllers a blinking hint as to WHERE the aircraft is.
' They just want to verify that the plane they think is you is actually you. ' >- flyingforfun said this.
What does that mean? that ATC isnt sure you are even in their air? that ATC wants a tail number. that ATC wants to verify that you have a xpndr? that ATC wants to check your squawk code? that ATC wants to make sure you are not already on the ground?
No.
When ATC tells you to squawk IDENT they want to see your little dot BLINK on their busy screens so they can LOCATE you immediately in relation to other aircraft. its all about separation and making sure your little airplane isn't entering the airspace in the wrong way, at the wrong height, and toward the wrong runway.
You clearly spent way too much time arguing for a living.
Andy Walker
Athens, GA
Sport Pilot ASEL, LSRI
2007 Flight Design CTSW E-LSA
I fly in and out of Reno international it's class "c" and they always give me a code to squawk. The only time they asked me to ident was when I was unable to repeat a direction quick enough. It was my second time in the airspace and I was trying to figure it out with my instructor and when I was ready to respond others were talking. The controller then asked for me to ident an repeated the instruction. But I have always been given different squawk codes every time I enter the air space. I thought that's how they always do it.
