A simple request

Don’t worry, there’s def some controllers where we all wonder how they’re certified. And I wholeheartedly agree about the jump seating and facility visits. They should be mandatory parts of training.
You can’t “officially” jump seat but is there anything that prevents you from flying on a day or two away from work?
 
Since we're bitching and moaning:

It's not so much an issue in the US (though occasionally), there are some controllers out there who request abnormal things without communicating their general plan. One of my favorite things about flying into HKG is that if they pull you off the arrival they tell you how many track miles you have to fly until landing, thus allowing you to still do your descent/fuel planning.

tl;dr: If you're doing something other than the arrival, tell us what we can expect so we can plan accordingly.
 
You can’t “officially” jump seat but is there anything that prevents you from flying on a day or two away from work?

in the cockpit? I assume FAA/airline regs.

In a Covid free works we do have a wat to jump seat but it’s a pain in the ass and I have to shave
 
Since when did those mean anything to you?

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Since we're bitching and moaning:

It's not so much an issue in the US (though occasionally), there are some controllers out there who request abnormal things without communicating their general plan. One of my favorite things about flying into HKG is that if they pull you off the arrival they tell you how many track miles you have to fly until landing, thus allowing you to still do your descent/fuel planning.

tl;dr: If you're doing something other than the arrival, tell us what we can expect so we can plan accordingly.

half the time I don’t know the plan either
 
If ATC tells you for example “fly heading xxx when able direct abc”, don’t keep flying your present heading until you program direct into the box. Please turn first. I issued the turn for a reason.
My fave - "fly present heading" when you are over a waypoint and just started turn. "We are turning, say heading?" "This works" .....(sync the heading bug to wherever nose is pointed, knowing that it most definitely won't work, start the timer) 30 secs later "I guess you already started your turn (duh?), turn left 30 degrees"
 
To your original point though, no pilot should require a facility visit to understand that they should turn to an assigned heading when it’s issued, then screw with their automation for the next fix. The heading was a right-now, the fix was a when-able. It’s not rocket science.

Kinda funny how we know, based on the controller's voice, whether to start the turn immediately or after the read-back.
 
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