"James Horn" wrote in message
...
john graesser wrote:

Nothing is 100% reliable. You never know when you will be faced with
using
broken or impaired equipment so you have to be prepared to improvise.
thanks, John.
KC5DWD

Good point. But nowadays, why not call the tower's published telephone
number on your cell phone? In the early '70s an acquaintance used 2M
autopatch to get landing clearance for the USAF C-130 Herculese he was
flying when its radios died - thought the Barksdale AFB tower folks were
mighty surprised to get that call long before the days of cell phones...

Jim Horn, WB9SYN/6

This occured long before cell phones and perhaps even before the common
availability of HT's. He has been a ham for about 50 years and was a pilot
instructor around 30 years ago. Now he develops software and is part owner
of a utility trailer mfr. If you doubt his truth (which I don't, he is one
of the most honest people I know) contact W5WQN and ask him about it.

It was the ptt on the mic that broke, so as another noted, he couldn't just
key down on the mic and get the towers attention.

As for following proper rules, this is Texas, we tend to do what is needed,
not what some drone in Washington comes up with as rules.
thanks, John.
KC5DWD