lineman position!(left side of the plane)!

Keefe Overby

Well-Known Member
has anyone ever tried to marshall a plane in while standing in the proper position (on the left side of the plane in plain view of the pilot),i have tried it is FUNNY!!the pilot will try to line up with your position,instead of following your hand signals!!I would mostly get the guys in the small planes all confused:crazy:but some actually understood what was going on!and just followed my hands.
 
You mean they actually follow your signals? Most of the time the pilots seem to do what they want. But to answer your question most of the time I stand to the left side is when I am marshaling a tail dragger.
 
has anyone ever tried to marshall a plane in while standing in the proper position (on the left side of the plane in plain view of the pilot),i have tried it is FUNNY!!the pilot will try to line up with your position,instead of following your hand signals!!I would mostly get the guys in the small planes all confused:crazy:but some actually understood what was going on!and just followed my hands.
How do you know it's not the guy in the right seat taxiing? Stand where you want us and it'll make life easier. And also, please do not move (walking, that is) as you are trying to wand us in. Thanks.
 
How do you know it's not the guy in the right seat taxiing? Stand where you want us and it'll make life easier. And also, please do not move (walking, that is) as you are trying to wand us in. Thanks.

Don't even get me started on that. We flew into Auburn, AL one day. Not a lot of ramp space. The line guy was standing in the middle of the taxiway right in front of us - so I assumed that's where he was going to park us, and then move us later. Nope. As I was pulling up I shut down the left engine only to discover the guy wanted me to make a 270 degree turn to the right. Needless to say it was a real bitch trying to turn the airplane 270 degrees in a small amount of space with the wrong engine. Granted, I should have left the engine running, and will from now on, but just stand where you want me, I can figure out how to get the plane there - but be sure I can see you...

[/rant]
 
your right i did that with JETS and such(stand in line with the spot),but some little prop job and a pilot that does NOT follow your hand signals to the tee and that prop will get too close for comfort!have you ever had a single engine airplane just keep coming at you!its not fun,and if you try to get out of the way(moving to one side) and he is STILL CHASING you down with a PROP,i almost had to throw my chalks at the guy!
 
I stand in line where I want the plane to be. From a distance it provides a clear reference point to the crew as to where they should be coming to. Also if you stand to your right, airplane left, the other pilot may not be able to see you. You want both pilots, if there are 2, to be able to clearly see you and your signals as the PIC may not stop when you tell him to. Just food for thought.
 
The only time I would "offset" from center was marshaling a taildragger. Most biz jets can be taxied from both sides, and you should not offset.

In a complicated spot stand with your body facing the direction you want the plane to come at you from with the far arm stationary pointed down the line, and the near arm waving in the direction you want the airplane to come at you from.
 
if you will read my post i have said that i do stand on the centerline during marshalling of jets and stuff,BUT its just not a good idea to do that with a single engine plane,maybe its just me but im PRETTY sure that standing to the left IS the CORRECT position for a lineman during marshalling,but hey those are just rules!
 
It's been my experience that where you stand is where the pilot goes to whether they're a single engine piston or jet. I just make sure that I can see the pilot at all times and I stop a prop plane well short of where I'm standing so if the pilot ignores me or their brakes fail, I have plenty of time to get out of the way. Seems to work.

Cheers!
 
I'll give you a corporate jet pilot's perspective on this and may clarify some of the things that go on. First of all, the large majority of airline guys spend every flight pulling into and pushing back of a long yellow/white stripe line with a marshaller. Corporate pilots fly into and out of large and small airports some of which are uncontrolled and have no ground communication. Parking ramps at many FBO's is done on a space available principle. We're always parking someplace different and sometimes we park in some weird positions and locations. I've been to the same airport many times and am parked according to the FBO's needs. Also at some of the smaller fields, there are no marshallers and we park ourselves. Also at some airfields, they have parking spaces that are spray painted for C 172 size aircraft so it makes it more difficult for us to get from the end of the runway to the ramp without bending metal. Now I can also say, that we have our share of pilots that don't follow instructions and do what they want, but for me, when I see a professional such as yourself, it makes my job a whole lot easier with you out their doing your job correctly. Keep up the good work.
 
It's been my experience that where you stand is where the pilot goes to whether they're a single engine piston or jet. I just make sure that I can see the pilot at all times and I stop a prop plane well short of where I'm standing so if the pilot ignores me or their brakes fail, I have plenty of time to get out of the way. Seems to work.

Cheers!

Maybe I should come to the flight center and rev my engine if your marshalling haha

Oh and thanks for the urea I got from you guys!
 
I hate:

Marshallers not using lighted wands at night/in low light situations; Marshallers who supposedly walk the wings giving up once the airplane is straight in on the way to the line for the jetbridge. ATL Rampers do this ALLLLL the time. It seems to be quite normal that DAL and NWA ramps have wand problems, not always using 2 wands, not always lit, etc. Not always two wing-walkers either (and in fact in CVG the wing walker stood on the side that had TONS of room!!!).

Supposedly professional rampers suck. The guys that work at FBOs for private aircraft are WAY better.
 
Lots of the FBO guys can be considered professional as well. :)


Well alright if you want to nitpick :D I should rephrase that. Airline rampers seem to *suck*. They don't take their job seriously and I think it compromises safety and timeliness (I can't believe how long NWA aircraft have to wait for a ramp crew when they ACARs that they're in range).

FBOs have much higher professional standards, obviously.
 
Being both a pilot and having worked the line I see some really stupid things. Mind you that some guys don't follow the marshaller but most do. But what kills me is when you have two lines of airplanes parked the same facing each other. Now common sense would tell you that you are going to park on one side or the other. But every now and again we get some bonehead who will just taxi right down the middle where the other planes are taxiing out of. Oh and to my fellow pilots both young and old, students or ATP's, please refrain from turning on all, and I do mean all, of your lights when you are going to sit and run before you are ready to taxi. A simple quick flash of the taxi/landing light will be good enough. But to sit there with your strobes, taxi, landing and every other light on is just stupid. And if you do feel the need to do all of that, don't blame me when your retarded f'in self hits another plane because I can't see.
 
yesterday i had a corporate jet come in and i was standing there pointing to the spot were i wanted him,LIKE I ALWAYS DO,and he gets close enough that i start to marshall him with the proper hand signals,BUT he cuts the turn completly off and comes DIRECTLY at me,i try to get him to turn back torwards my intended parking spot but nothing he just continues right at me,so i just stop waving my arms because he is going where he wants,this doesnt bother me much,but when he gets out i tell him right in front of his passengers that "hey you missed my mark by a mile",he says,"but you were looking right at me",I didnt know that i was supposed to marshall by reference to eye contact???:rolleyes:(sarcasim)anyways they had to restart and move the aircraft to get the fuel hose to reach since we have a fuel island....:pI thought that was FUNNY!!!but they were SUPER NICE guys and let me ride inside while they moved the LEAR 45XP IT WAS SUPER SWEET brand new!!!100 hrs on the thing...i broke the ice by mentioning that i passed my private pilot checkride,next time FOLLOW MY HAND SIGNALS!!!!!!
 
I don't know exactly what you meant above with the eye contact comment. But I did notice that after I started looking at the pilot in the eyes versus looking at the airplane when marshalling, I have had greater success with them doing what I direct them to do.
 
One gripe I have occasionally is the lineman's choice of parking. Putting my little 4400 lb T-34 directly behind a Super Hornet that is leaving before I am is not great planning. The other one is when a lineman presumes that you will "read between the lines" so to speak, and lead his turn signal to straighten out or turn in. When I am taking taxi signals, short of a quick clear left/right check, my eyes are entirely on the hands of the lineman and not elsewhere. This normally leads to close in corrections which can be a pain in the a** w/o nosewheel steering
 
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