The Pilot Radio Communications Handbook. Sixth Edition

Mastering Aviation Radio Communications

"Once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned Skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return." --LEONARDO DA VINCI

Proper radio procedures are perhaps the most overlooked and underemphasized subject in pilot training programs. Over the years, survey after survey has consistently confirmed that about 9 out of every 10 pilots feel that radio communications is the hardest part of flying. It would be rare to find a pilot who has not felt uncomfortable or nervous at some point when talking on an aircraft's radio. Like anything else, with a little practice those butterflies somehow seem to just disappear. Some people associate talking on the radio with speaking to a large audience, very nerveracking to say the least.

Without exaggeration, aviation radio communications is the subject that probably receives the least amount of attention and explanation of all of a pilot's flight training. The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) publication known as the AIM, or Aeronautical Information Manual, takes a stab at a few examples, but in our opinion, the examples are far too limited for proper procedure guidance. We will therefore do our best to teach the proper phraseology, as well as policies and procedures, by supporting our lessons with references and consistently striving to give you the best possible instruction on aviation radio communications.

The problem found with flight training is that very little time is spent on radio communication; often just the basics to get through the pending test ride are covered. When you really stop to think about it, how much time do you spend talking on the radio on a flight? There's Ground Control, maybe 20 seconds, and then there's the tower's air traffic controller (known as the Local Controller) for takeoff clearance, perhaps another 20 seconds. If you start adding up the one, two, or three

5 to 10 seconds of dialogue by you and the tower, you will find that it really does not add up to much in an hour's flight. Perhaps shooting touch-and-goes for an hour, plus taxi time, may total about 8 to 10 minutes of dialogue, but even so, the total time is minimal. Over a course of 40 flight instruction hours, you till will end up with an amount of air time that is minimal considering the level of safety involved in this aspect of flying. Communications training impacts the pilot's level of safety and overall flight professionalism to the point that it deserves to be given much more than minimal time and effort. Hopefully, instructors, new pilots, and/ or experienced pilots will soon realize the need for quality effort in utilizing proper aviation radio communications after giving some thought to the subject, or perhaps after reading this book. Also a few minutes of listening on a handheld radio at an airport will quickly demonstrate to any pilot that there is a wide difference in radio communications, which ultimately reflects on the level of training received and the personal desire to strive for quality radio communications.

This is where the book comes in: to work with you and to help you by providing the important information that you will need in order to confidently maneuver your aircraft in today's airspace. Our hope is that you will feel that comfortable

confidence deep inside that says you're okay with this; you've mastered aviation radio communications and you know it.

A Few Words about Phraseology

As we begin illustrating the various radio calls we want to be sure that some basic phraseology principles are understood. There's nothing difficult about it, but there is a certain standardization that is both accepted and expected. In a few cases, reasonable variations are, of course, permissible. The examples that follow in this book, however, generally reflect the approved wording and structure as mandated by the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) and the FAA's Air Traffic Control Manual, 7110.65, for controllers.

You will note that at times we use the aircraft's type and full N-number, such as "Cherokee One Four Six One Tango." On other occasions, it's "Cherokee Six One Tango." What's the difference? When making the initial contact with each controller (Ground Control, Tower, Approach and Departure facilities, each Center sector, etc.), the type of aircraft should be identified and its full N-number given (just in case the controller is handling another aircraft with a call sign of "Six One Tango," a distinct possibility in congested areas). The FAA mandates in the AIM that you may shorten the call sign such as "Cherokee Six One Tango" after the controller does. Once the controller abbreviates your call sign, there's no point in giving the complete identification in subsequent calls to the same controller. However, many pilots do not properly follow this mandate, and will shorten their call sign before the controller does, and also at UNICOM and MULTICOM airports, even though the FAA specifically demonstrates in several examples in the AIM that the entire call sign is not to be shortened after an initial call to the field, but that proper phraseology calls for it to remain as a complete call sign number and letters. The FAA also mandates in the AIMS Section 4-1-9-h-1-c that pilots are to "speak slowly and distinctly . . . in communicating with a UNICOM station. . . ."