Take a pic and PM the controller, don't take matters into your own hands!

Last night at YSSY, I had a situation where Tower needed to clear a backlog of departures on 34L, so he asked me to avoid that runway for a while. I had planes on 34R on a downwind leg, so it was easy to extend them, and switch the planes bound for L to R. I had a number of the folks check in continuously, and had one poor soul (he has a week to think about it now) decide to turn base on his own and wouldn’t turn downwind after multiple requests.

The reason I set this up is to show that you might not always realize what’s behind the the instructions you are given. It’s just best to follow ATC instructions and see where it takes you. If it’s obvious something is wrong, take a few screen shots of the situation, and PM the controller asking him to explain what was going on. I’ve had a few people do that with me, and it was a good experience for all of us.

Checking in constantly, requesting altitude changes, or worse not following instructions results in degraded performance because the controller is spending a lot of time where it’s not needed.

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Yes you are right even when I fly in Expert Server sometimes I notice this problem and sometimes when controller request me to change the runway I become upset but change the runway which one is at far away point from where I am

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Great post, every controller does things differently!

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exactly, try to understand that behind a delay or change of direction, there is always a reason, we controllers communicate among ourselves, sometimes as @GHamsz said we must create more space for departures or any other problems, always follow the instructions, and all will go well.

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How do you know the handle of the controller to PM them

Nice, very good guidance. It will help many people.

If you search their name on the forum and can’t find them, you can always contact an ATC Moderator and express any concerns :)

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