Hi, little question that has been bugging me for awhile.Frequently when receiving taxi clearences it will be in the form"ABC1234, taxi to runway 18L"which I'm curious if I should interpret as "taxi to and hold short" or "taxi into position at". In the past I've always assuming taxi to and hold short unless instructed otherwise but I'm just curious if that is a requirement. I certaintly prefer being able to get into position and line up on the runway before having to advise ATC I'm in position and holding and frequently traffic is never a factor.I have about 250 hours on VATSIM so I proably should know the answer to this, but at least I won't have to spend the next 250 in blissful ignorance :)Scott,

Hi Scott,Taxi to runway 18Left , means taxi to runway 18Left and hold short, you'll be given you take-off clearance by the tower there or asked to taxi into position for e.g. departure separtion.Regards,Norman

"Taxi to" allows you to cross any and all runways between your present position and the runway EXCEPT for the active runway. It does not at any time authorize you to taxi on the active runway. "Hold short" is implicit in the clearance.

also, ground is not responsible on the active runways, so you cannot get into tower's airspace without permission from Tower, or Ground if they cooperate...Cheers

>Taxi to" allows you to cross any and all runways between your present position and the runway EXCEPT for the active runwayIN THE UNITED STATES. :-) Your milage WILL vary...In other countries, this is not necessarily the case. In Australia for example, you must receive explicit clearance to cross ANY runway; so;"Taxi to 34L" means you must stop short of each runway you meet on the way and request crossing clearance. Otherwise ATC would say;"Taxi to 34L, clear to cross 07/25"Incidentally I've always wondered why the US doesn't adopt this to try and prevent runway incursions - the NTSB / FAA go on about runway incursions (or maybe it's just the media :-) ), but then have a system where aircraft can enter what the *think* is an inactive runway whenever they like... strange...I understand this would result in significant extra comms / people for Ground movement, = money... so maybe the reason it doesn't happen is obvious... :-rollcheers;John