The extremely friendly and professional woman ATC I spoke to answered my questions, whether they've changed their position reporting procedures when arriving from the north and if their taxi procedures have changed. The last time I flew into their field was during a practice instrument approach that Phoenix Approach forgot to communicate to DVT tower and forgot to hand me off. This resulted in a very interesting 3 mile short final when I was landing 25L. After that experience, I decided to head off any possible problems before I arrived there again by giving them a call on the phone.
Usually when I fly into DVT, I go IFR ("I Follow Roads") which is usually I-17. The ATC I talked to recommended if arriving from the north, say along I-17 for us from PRC, announce that you're "arriving from the northwest". This gives them a better idea of your position and lets them decide ahead of time what kind of entry they'll give you.
As for their taxi instructions, their procedures changed a few months ago and they have a different process than PRC which also has a parallel (albeit offset) runway.
After landing, tower will advise you to switch to ground for taxi clearance and instructions. If you happen to land on the northern runway (25R/7L) and need to taxi to transient parking which is on the southern side of the field, here's where it gets a little tricky.
After exiting runway 25R/7L you're told to switch to ground, you then you get cleared to taxi and hold short of the other runway (25L/7R). You're then told by ground control to "monitor tower frequency". According to the ATC I spoke to, there has been a lot of confusion from many pilots, especially transient ones, how to handle these instructions. ATC wants you to "monitor" tower, but do not call them, they will call you. Once they call you, they will clear you to cross the other active runway. Once you're clear of that runway, you are then told to switch back to ground for further taxi instructions.
When I explained to ATC on the phone that a lot of pilots interpret "monitor" as listen to but do not respond, she said that might be the cause of a lot of the problems they've been having since the FAA mandated this new procedure.
She said my suggestion of changing their vocabulary to "switch to tower and wait for instructions" had merit and she would bring it up in a meeting they were having next week.
My point of writing this article is two-fold.
One. Hearing my flight instructor from many moons ago drill into my head "COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE" along with reading flying articles encouraging to "ask if you have questions" really does hold water.
Two. Sometimes dialogues between ATC and pilots can be a little strained when you're "in it" if the pilot doesn't understand what's being asked of him/her.
I don't do it every time I go somewhere new, but in situations where I'm not clear, by my calling ATC at my destination has really helped me understand what their local process is and what they expect. This has made arriving much more enjoyable and taken the stress out of the unknown.
In this recent flight to DVT, after landing on 25R and receiving their taxi procedures, I was aware of what they expected and the end result was a safer and less confusing end to a flight.
Hope this helps others.
-The happy pilot: "Smoke On"
Credits: Photo of DVT by www.airnav.com
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Excellent job Jason.
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