Transmitting Blind

When a pilot is uncertain whether his radio transmissions are being received, but continues to make radio calls, this is called transmitting blind. A pilot would do this if he were in distress in a remote area and unable to make contact with ATC, or if he were in controlled airspace with a malfunctioning radio that might still be transmitting. A new blog is a blind transmission.

Whom am I trying to reach with this blog? Not whom I should be targetting. My spare time efforts should be focused on reaching potential employers. If a chief pilot were to stumble across this blog, he'd probably spend no more time on it than he did on my resume, and at least my resume has my name on it. Imagine you're Clive Beddoe, bored at work, surfing the web and reading this. Of course you're thinking, "Wow, here's a young pilot who keeps up to date with the latest developments, has informed opinions on issues that affect our industry, and makes a focused effort not to whine about her work conditions. I must hire her immediately!" What are you going to do? Click the link below and leave a comment like "Hey, nice blog. Call me. - Clive"? Go ahead, make my day.

This blog might be of interest to other pilots, if they have diminished social lives. Oh wait, we all do. Perhaps the help it gives you to increase your knowledge of the industry will compensate for the opportunity it gives you to waste time on the Internet. It costs me nothing to give information away.

Student pilots might read this blog, for its combination of old (but new-to-them) aviation jokes, industry knowledge and insider spin on current events. You'd be better off reviewing your emergency procedures, but at least there won't be a quiz on this. And don't believe everything you read on the internet, either.

Non-aviation folk I assume would find my material dull. It's not particularly consistent. In recent posts I went out of my way to explain pax but made no such concession for flight level. Perhaps the partially explained jargon sets an atmosphere, like "negative tachyon stream inverters" on Star Trek, or snippets of untranslated elven dialogue in Lord of the Rings. I imagine them reading what I'm writing, and I enjoy explaining things, so I write some entries for you.

I'm really blogging for myself. If I read the new RVSM procedures, I might forget them. If I make a few notes on them they'll stay in my mind longer. But if I actually explain them, as I would in response to an interview question like, "Ms. Aviatrix, tell us what you know about RVSM in Canada," then I'll really remember. Plus I get to laugh at my own jokes.