Text 1079, 77 rader
Skriven 2006-05-10 07:56:08 av Mike Luther (1:396/45.0)
   Kommentar till text 1071 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
Ärende: Re: none
================
Ward ..

We're both aviation oriented people.  And from other echo work you know in my
bag of worktools I'm also a high time multi-engine instrument instructor.  As
well, I actually have also held one of the very few First Class Telegraph
Commercial lincenses issued in the USA.  And yes, that ticket had the Avaition
Endorsement as well!  Plus I still can copy up over 60WPM by ear and use CW
almost exclusively as a ham here (W5WQN).

The comment on flight progression operations using CW is not correct at all in
one VERY important aviation use.  To this day, in one very special in-flight
emergency situation CW can be counted on to save lives.  Every time. if it is
needed.  As you and I both know, if you lose communications with Air Traffic
Control (ATC), under instrument conditions, you are to proceed as per your
flight planned route or last cleared route and altitude agreements to your
destination.  ATC clears all other traffic from your path so you are, in
theory, able to have a clear, yet contactless, safe ride to your landing
airport.  But there is one communication technique which *CAN* be used if you
are capable, and your voice circuit fails.  And no, this isn't transponder
touch yes or no.  It is CW of all things!

If you lose your microphone audio, the mic fails, but your psuh to talk button
still works, you *CAN* use it to send CW to the ATC!  Slow, but effective.  And
if you are really capable, you can yank the mic wires out of the microphone. 
you can clip the hot key line wire under your metal kneepad clipboard clamp. 
You can then take the ground line of the three wires.  You can hold it in your
hand.  You can touch the metal clipboard with it rapidly,like an old fashioned
straight key.  And lo and behold you can send perfect CW to ATC asking for
flight radio that way!!  And *YES* here is what happens next.

ATC will then search through the system to find one of their own to copy CW.
They will then actually patch your VHF (HF) channel to that person.  And he
will first ask you, "Aircraft on CW, can you read me?  If so acknowledge." Of
course he is on voice.  You tap the wire to your clipboard and send him back
expected "R" or dit-dah-dit on CW.  He will then ask you for you aircraft call
sign, or if they have coorelated this with your radar location already, he will
ask you, "Aircraft on CW if you are N7896Y, please send an 'R'."  You respond.

From that point on your whole flight, the entire deal will go all the way to
your destination and final landing with you talking to ATC on CW, including
your verification of route changes, assignment of altitudes, even you approach
to landing and clearance operations!

I absolutely know how this works.  I've actually done it.  And that tail number
above is the actual aircraft that went from just out of Fort Worth,Texas to our
home in College Station, Texas that way.  The FAA fellow that they found to
handle the flight on CW was actually Ted Wiley of the CLL Flight Service
Station here.  He did a beautiful job on the patch through link that strange
very thunderstorm very bad weather day.  And when we touched down, the whole
FAA crew was standing their cheering at the save.

The entire scenario was written up here in the USA in the FAA professional
journal as a formal life saving technique issue.  Ted was given a formal
citation for a 'save' here in the USA and the honor in his permanent record.
And the technique *IS* known as a last minute way to possibly save lives and
solve problems if it is presented by a captain to the ATC.

You see .. CW *IS* still the very formal last ditch effort which can be used to
even save lives and property .. provided the skill is there to use the tool
when it is needed.  And it *IS* still very much respected in even covert
operations crews where .. if needed, even a single Morse Code letter that can
be sent with nothing but a couple of loose wires, can mean the identification
of the location and existence of even one person who can act to either start or
stop an aviation or other scenario process.  That can mean the difference
between life and death for one .. or even a huge number of people, if it meant
the stopping of even a terrorist attack.  And whomever that got stopped
couldn't copy CW .. or missed a few curious letters that just sounded like a
loose wire or static to the untrained ear.

No .. CW is far from dead.  Especially in the world of aviation.

Mike Luther

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