ATC and radio tips

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rwstorr

Filing Flight Plan
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Rob
Hi,

First time poster and only just started flying, got about 4-5hrs logged so far.

I’m picking up manoeuvres fairly easily but I’m really struggling with talking to ATC and handling the radio. I’m sure it will come with time but are there are tips and tricks or online training aids to help manage this?

I fly around the DFW area and the area can get very congested with lots of radio chatter going on, especially coming back to base and having to talk to regional approach.

Thanks
 
Don't over think it

Remember it's just a short conversation.
 
Takes time but you'll get it. Make up some 3x5 cards with phraseology if you think it will help. Glance at the AIM in the appendix for Pilot-Controller Glossary for terminology and the definitions, a good resource.
 
Another two words: Say again. I still do this a lot when a controller is talking too quickly.

It's so much easier when you get some experience and know what two or three responses you'll get in any particular scenario.
 
SoCal RV Flyer said:
Another two words: Say again. I still do this a lot when a controller is talking too quickly.

It's so much easier when you get some experience and know what two or three responses you'll get in any particular scenario.
Click to expand...
And some experience in telling ATC what they need to know. There is a simple recipe.

1. Who you are calling: podunk tower
2. Who you are: cezzna 4321tango
3. Where you are: behind the yoke
4. What ya wanna do: taxi for pizza
5. ATIS code if applicable

Substitute some appropriate geographical descriptor for behind the yoke. Ten miles north or at Alpha one might be typical descriptors.
Also taxi for pizza might cause the tower to be abandoned in a rush for food so tell them something like landing or VFR to the north or staying in the pattern so you get all the pizza yerself.

If talking to approach ya prolly wanna get their attention before spewing all the info...even at 5 a.m. because they may be at the coffee pot instead of anxiously waiting for an intrepid aviator to converse with them.
 
The main thing to remember about ATC is they are humans too. I fly around New York airspace with some of the busiest air traffic controllers around. These guys and gals are always super helpful if you don't know what they want you to do and ask them. The few times I've heard guys get chewed a new one on frequency was when they assumed they knew what ATC was asking and they did not do it correctly. Think of talking to ATC as a conversation in which they are giving you information and you are confirming you understood that information. That's essentially all it is!

With time things will get easier but be confident on the mic, make your transmissions as short and to the point as possible and don't be afraid to say "say again" if you need to. You'll get it!
 
Go buy the comm 1 vfr radio simulator. it will relieve your anguish.
 
Repetition. I’ve seen lots of instructors “take over” the radios and not let the student make mistakes on it. There’s a time and place for that. If the student is getting flustered, I’ll take over and have them focus on flying. If they miss a call and look over at me, I’ll just stare out the window or shrug my shoulders and tell them to repeat.
 
rwstorr said:
Hi,

First time poster and only just started flying, got about 4-5hrs logged so far.

I’m picking up manoeuvres fairly easily but I’m really struggling with talking to ATC and handling the radio. I’m sure it will come with time but are there are tips and tricks or online training aids to help manage this?

I fly around the DFW area and the area can get very congested with lots of radio chatter going on, especially coming back to base and having to talk to regional approach.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Buy a small handheld or even a scanner with the air band...listen often. I'm a little hard of hearing, and I sometimes get tripped up too. I find that if you know what is probably coming, it makes it easier to hear.
 
Following up on tawood's post: If you go to www.faa.gov and search for FAA Order 7110.65 you will find a searchable Controller's Handbook. In it you will find the phraseology that controllers MUST use in different situations, so it is possible to "know what is coming." Ninety percent of the handbook will not apply to general aviation pilots, but you can find some nuggets with a little CTRL-F searching. It is interesting to note that controllers have mandatory phraseology while pilots are not restricted in any way.

Bob
 
mscard88 said:
I was too old when I retired as a controller from the Air Force, still too old.
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They've got a program now for retired military controllers. Think it goes as high as 50 and retire at 55. Used to be called Phoenix 2000 but was renamed to something else.
 
38 hours logged. Here are some things I did to help me. I still am not great with ATC communication as I am based out of a non towered airport but I survive.

Watch flight vlogs on youtube. Steveo1kinveo, flightchops, etc. Not always purely about the radios but you are exposed to it in real life experiences. Also Liveatc is great. I usually pick a smaller airport, not something like Atlanta. Also Cindy Hollman is a local CFI and she has a ton of videos online about comms and airspace.

I'm sure it has been said, but fly the heck out of your chair at home. Imagine what you would be doing in the air and make those radio calls. Whether it is uncontrolled, or talk back to yourself as ATC as well.
 
English being my second language, the first few hours of my training I couldn’t understand a word on the radio. It seemed like they were talking in a different language.
I went onto liveatc and started listening to LAX, quickly realizing that the big guys talk waaay too fast for me. So I tuned into my local airports and would listen for hours, while driving, cooking, ironing, anything, liveatc would play in the background. That helped a LOT! (also amusing when you recognize your CFI's voice)

Also, my instructor would tell me what to stay, I would write them down, practice out loud at home then do it for real in the air. Still, I would miss a few words here and there, especially unfamiliar phraseology, but the more I listened to liveatc the more it became second nature.

In addition, there was an ATC – FAA Wings event at my airport. One of our controller and one of SoCal approach’s guy held a presentation. Recognizing their voice and seeing them in person made me realize that they are also human :D That shed all the fears I had before. Now I’m happy to talk to them and not afraid to ask “say again” or to say “student pilot, please clarify”. They are there to help you!
 
rwstorr said:
Hi,

First time poster and only just started flying, got about 4-5hrs logged so far.

I’m picking up manoeuvres fairly easily but I’m really struggling with talking to ATC and handling the radio. I’m sure it will come with time but are there are tips and tricks or online training aids to help manage this?

I fly around the DFW area and the area can get very congested with lots of radio chatter going on, especially coming back to base and having to talk to regional approach.

Thanks
Click to expand...
All of the above. Give it time.
 
write-stuff said:
Here's a video that we live streamed from the air a few weeks ago. Lots of radio work! We enter into a busy Class D (PDK), do a couple of touch and goes, then exit. Enjoy!

Click to expand...

Love his videos. Lots of good humor. Thought about getting a set of his captains bars he wears every now and then :D
 
I also listen to a lot of ATC videos on YT. some are funny, helped me understand what they are talking about. over time it gets easy. at times you will have a brain fart and talk in long sentences, I did that a couple of flights back. for my life coudnt remember "I will do a rt 360 here", instead said "I will do a standard rate turn to the rt here and come back exactly here".. or something to that effect. controlled chuckled, so did i
 
SoCal RV Flyer said:
Another two words: Say again. I still do this a lot when a controller is talking too quickly.
Click to expand...
Two additional words... "Student Pilot"

@rwstorr -- Regional Approach is staffed good people, and when they are going 80 words a minute with gusts to 120, reminding them you're a student pilot will remind them to slow down a bit.

What airport and flight school are you training with?
 
Another thing...study the sectionals and TACs for VFR reporting landmarks in the vicinity of airports you go to. So much easier to say "Over Montclair Plaza" or something than figuring out you're 11 miles southeast of the airport.
 
Best advice I ever received was "Tell them who you are, where you are and what you want to do".
You're never really comfortable with the radio until you can anticipate what ATC is going to say.
Even still, after a day of flying, pro pilots usually always talk to each other about "what ATC did to me today". So it never really goes perfect.
 
Role play ATC with a fellow student or when flying with your instructor. others mentioned books, live atc and other great ideas to help.
 
Listening to ATC ,using a portable radio ,or scanner, will definitely help.
 
I'm about 37 hours into my training, and the radio is still my weakest point. All good suggestions here, like listening to LiveATC, and viewing the many YouTube videos out there. What has tended to help me is to not get so caught up in repeating word for word what the tower has said, but instead form a picture in your mind of what they say, then describe back to them the picture you have. I think this serves two purposes. First, you are not just being a parrot and repeating what they said, which can be done without understanding what's going on. Obviously not a safe thing to have happen. Secondly, remembering the picture in your mind is probably easier to do than remembering all the words said to you. And, as others have said, knowing ahead of time what the tower is most likely to say to you is huge.
That all said, I'm just a struggling student, so by all means, chime in if what I've said is incorrect.
I always hear from people that it gets easy at some point. I for one cannot wait to get to that point!
 
tawood said:
Buy a small handheld or even a scanner with the air band...listen often....
Click to expand...

That helped me a lot when I was a student pilot, but nowadays, liveATC.net allows you to listen to most ATC frequencies without having to buy a radio.
 
......agree with pulling the "Student Pilot" card - say that and ATC will slow down and give you slack
 
If your home field or a nearby field is on LiveATC.net just listen in for a while. Hearing various situations play out can be very helpful. Also listen to all the calls and try to form a mental picture of what’s going on. That will help build situational awareness.
 
Something else to keep in mind... while u get a feel for what they are going to say, its very imp not to hear what u want to hear. This happened to me a few weeks before my checkride, sitting in hold short line, watching a high wing land on crossing runway I expected a hold short. Tower came back and said line up and wait. I read back hold short. This was the first time I had gotten a line up and wait instruction and wasn't expecting it. I heard what I wanted to hear. Luckily CFI was there to save the day

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
jordane93 said:
Repetition. I’ve seen lots of instructors “take over” the radios and not let the student make mistakes on it. There’s a time and place for that. If the student is getting flustered, I’ll take over and have them focus on flying. If they miss a call and look over at me, I’ll just stare out the window or shrug my shoulders and tell them to repeat.
Click to expand...

Just think, now you can shrug at the FOs. ;)
 
Comfort on the radio simply comes with experience and learning what to expect and what they are really sayin or asking for.

Beyond all the tips above, get Flight Following for every single flight you make. More time talking to ATC the better you will be.

You will continually screw up...I do all the time.

Just last week I received an instruction from ATC and with the mic pushed said "OK, lets climb and try not to smack into this mountain!"...which was intended to be joking with my passenger

..."Uhhh, aircraft calling Say Again?!?"...

..."HA...opps, stuck mic, all good!"
 
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