Say Again Please Radio FiletypepdfqSay Again Please Radio Filetypepdf

Say Again, Please – Guide to Radio Communications

6th Edition

by Bob Gardner

Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc.

7005 132nd Place SE

Newcastle, Washington 98059-3153

asa2fly.com

©1995–2019 Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any ways, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this volume, the publisher and Bob Gardner assume no responsibility for damages resulting from the utilize of the information independent herein.

The flight and radio talk examples used throughout this book are for illustration purposes simply, and are not meant to reflect all of the possible incidences and communications that may occur in actual flying, nor does the writer advise by using existing facilities that the flying example given covers all possible parameters of an actual flying to or from those facilities. The airdrome photographs and nautical chart excerpts are not for navigational purposes; refer to the current charts and the Chart Supplement U.S. when planning your flight.

ASA-SAP-6-EB

ISBN 978-ane-61954-775-9

Photo and Illustration Credits: Aerial views of Washington Country airports, courtesy Washington State Department of Transportation, Aviation Sectionalisation; p.viii, Jim Fagiolo; p.2-two, p.2-3, courtesy Garmin; p.2-5 through 2-12, Telex Communications, Inc.; p.2-x (top), Aloft Technologies; p.ii-11 (left), Sigtronics; p.2-13 (top) King Argent Crown; p.2-thirteen (bottom), Terra; p.2-15, Narco Avionics; p.ii-17, courtesy Garmin; p.3-ii, three-4, 3-7, 6-i, 10-iii, Bob Gardner; p.three-14, Henry Geijsbeek; p.vi-ix Olympia airport guide, courtesy Airguide Publications, Inc.

Cover Photo: Jay Stilwell

About the Author

Bob Gardner has long been an admired member of the aviation community. He began his flight career as a hobby in Alaska in 1960 while in the U.S. Coast Guard.

Bob'southward shore-duty assignments in the USCG were all electronic/communications based. He served in the Communications Partitioning at Coast Guard Headquarters and was Chief of Communications for the Thirteenth Coast Guard Commune. He holds a Commercial Radiotelephone Operator's license and an Avant-garde Class Apprentice Radio Operator's License.

By 1966, Bob accomplished his Private land and sea, Commercial, Instrument, Instructor, CFII and MEL. Over the next xvi years he was an instructor, charter pilot, designated examiner, freight canis familiaris and Director of ASA Footing Schools.

Currently, Bob holds an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate with single- and multi-engine land ratings; a CFI certificate with instrument and multi-engine ratings; and a Ground Instructor'southward Certificate with advanced and musical instrument ratings. In addition, Bob is a Gold Seal Flight Teacher, has been instructing since 1968, and was awarded Flight Teacher of the Yr in Washington State. To top off this impressive list of accomplishments, Bob is also a well-known writer, journalist and airshow lecturer.

He can be contacted on the Internet at bobmrg@comcast.internet.

Books past Bob Gardner:

The Complete Private Pilot

The Complete Private Pilot Syllabus

The Complete Multi-Engine Pilot

The Complete Advanced Airplane pilot

Software and Sound Review past Bob Gardner:

Communications Trainer

Introduction

We live in a technological age. It is possible to wing without radios or electronic aids to navigation and rely solely on the Marker I eyeball, but there is no question that safety is enhanced when pilots tin can locate one another across visual range. The avionics industry continues to provide pilots with improved products which make communication easier and more reliable, but technology lone is not enough—the user must feel comfortable with the equipment and the system.

Nosotros all experience comfy with the telephone, and an increasing number of pilots feel comfortable with radios that operate in the denizen's or amateur radio bands. However, if there is a controller on the other end of the chat many pilots freeze up. The goal of this book is to increase your comfort level when using an aircraft radio by explaining how the arrangement works and giving examples of typical transmissions.

A brief word of explanation. I am a flight instructor, and flight instructors talk, and talk, and talk. Information technology is impossible for me to close off my flight instructor instincts and convert myself totally into a writer. You will pick up on this right away because I repeat myself. Over 30 years of instructing I have learned that if something is repeated in unlike contexts it will exist remembered, and then you tin can count on the same information showing up in more than one chapter. That is non sloppy editing or carelessness, it is good instructional technique. Also, some types of airspace change classification when the tower closes down or the atmospheric condition observer goes home—in that location will exist some overlap as I discuss each state of affairs in the chapter on each type of airspace.

Conventions

I will not spell out numbers in this text; the AIM says that numerals are to exist pronounced individually: 300 is spoken as three zero null, runway thirteen equally runway one iii, etc. I know that I can count on you to make the mental conversion. Altitudes are handled differently, as you will learn in Affiliate 3. As well, controllers exercise not say degrees when assigning courses and headings, then neither will I.

In radio advice, the different classes of airspace are spoken as their phonetic equivalents (again, see Affiliate 3), without the give-and-take class:

Cessna 1357X is cleared to enter the Charlie surface surface area…

In the text, however, they will exist referred to as Class B, Class G, etc.

Editor's Notation

The examples of radio talk between pilots, controllers and other communications facilities in this text are printed in a assuming and italics, not-serif typeface. These are besides identified by modest labels, which are sometimes abbreviated, as visual aids to the reader to testify who is talking. Definitions for these labels tin exist establish in Appendix A, Communications Facilities.

Example:

PILOT Cessna 1357X requests track 23.

Acknowledgements

The writer wishes to acknowledge the assistance of the following experts in reviewing the text for accuracy and completeness:

Suzanne Alexander, Director, Boeing Field Tower

Jim Davis, Plans and Procedures, Seattle-Tacoma TRACON

Terry Hall, American Avionics, Seattle

Mike Ogami, Seattle Automatic Flying Service Station

Annotation about the examples used in this book:

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) commissions contractors to search the NASA database for lessons to exist learned from accidents and airplane pilot reports. Likewise, NASA publishes Callback, a free monthly newsletter that provides its subscribers with selected incidents from the Aviation Prophylactic Reporting System (ASRS). Except for those few cases where I received an chestnut straight from an ATC controller, the examples in this book come from NASA sources.

If y'all want to receive Callback, but transport your address to ASRS, Box 189, Moffett Field, California, 94035 or view online at:

http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/publications/callback.html

If you want to hear and see this book in activity, check out the Communications Trainer (order number ASA-ESAP) software product, which also includes an Audio Review so you tin listen to many more than examples of advice exchanges on your habitation or car stereo.

Affiliate 1

The ABCs of Communicating

The Airplane pilot-Controller Partnership For Safety

Aviation communication is a team try, non a competition between pilots and controllers. Air traffic controllers are just every bit anxious as you lot are for your flight to be completed safely. They will cooperate with you whenever they can practice so and even so remain consistent with prophylactic. They are not the equivalent of the stereotypical law enforcement officer but waiting for yous to do something incorrect. They hate paperwork equally much equally anyone, and filing a violation against a pilot starts an avalanche of forms and reports. On the other hand, they have a tremendous amount of responsibility and can be severely overloaded with traffic; that ways you can't expect a controller to ignore everyone else in club to requite you special treatment.

Inherent in the teamwork concept is equality. Yeah—controllers can and will give y'all instructions that you must follow (unless it is dangerous to do then), just they are not aviation law with books of tickets just waiting for you to make a mistake. They are on your side. Like all of us, they accept bad days, then don't read too much into a controller'due south tone of vocalisation. And don't ask for permission (i.east., practise not use the discussion permission). That sets my teeth on border. Instead just say, for example, Asking taxi instructions; Request ten degrees left for weather; Request straight Bigtown Municipal…and the like.

Many pilots are reluctant to apply the radio because they experience that they are imposing on the controller. They should put themselves in the controller'south seat: In that location are 20 targets on the scope and the controller knows the altitude, form, and intentions of xix of them considering they are on instrument flight plans or are receiving radar flying following services. For the 20th target, the controller knows simply its altitude and present direction of flight (VFR flight plans are not seen past the air traffic control organization). Will that target change altitude and/or form and create a conflict? There is no way for the controller to know, and thus the unknown target imposes a greater workload on the controller. Don't be that target.

Many pilots are reluctant to interact with ATC considering they don't want to carp the controller. Controller's pay levels are based in part on traffic count, so by failing to communicate you striking the controller in the pocketbook. They welcome your call.

Doing Things by the Book

The controller's actions are spring past FAA Handbook 7110.65, the Air Traffic Command Handbook. This publication tells controllers exactly what phraseology to use in nigh every situation, and woe to the controller who has had a sideslip of the tongue when he or she sits down with a supervisor to jointly monitor tapes during a quarterly evaluation. That is non to say that the controller operates in a procedural straitjacket. If yous don't understand what a controller has said, or do understand simply don't know what you are being told to do, just say I don't empathise, or words to that consequence. The controller won't be out pounding the pavement, since the intent of the communication was to extend a helping manus and make your life a little easier.

As a pilot, y'all exercise not have a manual of canned phrases that are expected to come across every situation. The Aeronautical Information Manual contains a department on communication procedure, and if y'all read it (and you lot should) you volition receive guidance on the best manner to get your message across to the controller.

Both the Aeronautical Information Transmission (AIM) and the Air Traffic Control Handbook contain the Pilot/Controller Glossary. The intent of the Glossary is to ensure that certain words take the same meaning to both the pilot and the controller. Before you enquire your instructor a question like What does 'resume own navigation' mean? wait it up in the Airplane pilot/Controller Glossary. There are very few terms used in normal aviation communication that exercise not appear in the Glossary.

Figure 1-one. AIM and ATC Handbook

An historical sidelight: The Airplane pilot/Controller Glossary didn't exist earlier 1974. Information technology became apparent but after a major airline blow that some phrases meant one thing to controllers and something entirely unlike to pilots, and the glossary was born. A very practiced reason for yous to familiarize yourself with the P/C Glossary in the AIM.

Can't Nosotros All Just Get Along?

An important role of the teamwork concept is negotiation. Many pilots, both novices and old hands, call back that a directive from an air traffic controller must be obeyed without question. Those pilots have forgotten that the Federal Aviation Regulations make the pilot-in-command of the aeroplane solely responsible for the safe of the flight. A controller cannot direct you lot to practice something that is unsafe or illegal. You must remember that you are almost always in a better position to determine the prophylactic of a given activeness than is the controller.

For example, let'south assume that you are flying in Class B airspace (to be divers later on). In that type of airspace the controller can give you specific altitudes and/or headings to fly; you are required by fourteen CFR §91.123 to comply with those instructions. When the controller says Turn right to 330 and y'all can see that to do so would have you too shut to a deject, it becomes your responsibleness to say Unable due to atmospheric condition. After all, the controller can't see clouds on the radar screen and has no way of knowing that you would be turning toward a cloud. fourteen CFR §91.iii says that you lot are the final say-so as to operation of your aircraft and this rule supersedes all others.

Another instance: You lot have only touched downward on the rails and the controller says Turn right at the next taxiway. If you are rolling too fast to make the plow without wearing a big flat spot on your primary landing gear and overheating the brakes, it is your responsibility to say Unable. If yous are actually busy with the airplane, don't say annihilation until you lot can attain for the microphone without losing directional control.

Other situations where negotiation might be used include being assigned a landing runway that requires a lot of taxiing to get to your destination or, in light winds, a departure runway that takes you lot in a direction that you lot don't want to go. Simply say,

Pilot Cessna 1357X requests rail 23

(instead of runway 14, for example). If the change tin can be accomplished without affecting either your safe or that of other flights, your asking will exist granted. There are almost equally many exceptions to the rules as there are rules, simply besides many pilots only go by the rules without attempting negotiation.

Mike Fearfulness

We are all afraid of saying the incorrect thing, especially when dozens of other people are listening. Aviation magazines frequently impress stories of humorous advice mistakes or misunderstandings. In aviation, it is far more important to say something than to proceed quiet and proceed into a potentially tight situation—especially when traveling at two miles a infinitesimal.

Telephone call-in talk shows are quite mutual on both radio and television receiver, and the callers are in the aforementioned situation as yous are when you pick up the microphone in your plane as a start-time caller—thousands of people will be able to hear their er's and uh'southward. The departure is that their safety and that of others does not depend on their making that call—yours does.

Technobabble Not Spoken Here

(CTAF)—enquire one of the local pilots if y'all aren't sure what the CTAF for that airport is. You will hear a dozen airplanes reporting that they are landing or taking off on runway 14 (for example), and and then a strange voice will come on the frequency and ask What rails is in use? That pilot hasn't learned to listen.

Note: Advisory Circular 90-42F contains instructions for communication at airports without control towers.

That VHF receiver is your all-time source of information on how to communicate as a pilot. Get a copy of the Chart Supplement U.South., which contains the Airport/Facility Directory (A/FD) for your area and wait up the frequencies that are used past the local airports and air traffic control facilities. Wait in the Nautical chart Supplement'due south Section 4 for Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) frequencies, then tune in and mind to how the airliners communicate when en road. You volition hear lots of good examples and a few alarmingly bad examples. You lot may non be able to hear both ends of the communication unless you live inside line-of-sight distance of the ground station's antenna, but a visit to a local tower-controlled airdrome volition eliminate that problem.

When you lot are surfing the web, spend some time at world wide web.liveatc.net. On your computer, yous will be able to listen to controller-aircraft traffic at a number of facilities nationwide and internationally.

While you are at your computer, go to www.faa.gov and click on Regulations and Guidance in the right column. And then click on Orders and Notices. That will lead you lot to FAA Guild 7110.65, the Air Traffic Control Handbook. This directive tells controllers what to say and how to say information technology, and they are required to follow its dictates. This is of import to you because you will see that controller transmissions follow a fixed format for each situation; only things like headings, altitudes, and facility names alter. With this in mind, y'all will know what to expect in each state of affairs. However, if information technology becomes apparent to the controller that the approved phraseology is not getting through to you, he or she is gratis to use plain linguistic communication. By the aforementioned token, you are complimentary to say, I don't understand what you want me to do if that is the instance. Most of the ATCH will not apply to you, just read it anyhow…it is a treasure trove of information.

No thing what your instructor says, you can't say something wrong on the radio. Read AIM 4-2-1; in it, yous volition find this gem: Since concise phraseology may not always be acceptable, utilize any words are necessary to go your message beyond. With experience, we all catch on to the lingo, but failure to use specific phraseology is non a big bargain. The Airman Certification Standard for Individual Pilot does require the bidder to apply standard phraseology but a quick look at the AIM reveals that while it tells you how to report headings, altitudes, and speeds, and provides the phonetic alphabet for pronunciation of letters and numbers, in that location is not much required phraseology. Read Informational Circular 90-42F every bit a better source of information for this.

You might desire to take a look at world wide web.asf.org/askatc. This site offers pilots the opportunity to inquire controllers any and all questions nigh communications. You lot exercise not have to be an Air Safe Foundation fellow member to admission this site. The ASF also has a free program called Say it Right, bachelor at www.asf.org/courses. In it are illustrated many, if not all of the lessons in this volume.

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