Comms and Aeronautical Lexicon

plongson

plongson

Pre-Flight
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Jan 8, 2022
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KCDC, Southern Utah
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plongson
I'm just starting to learn to fly and have whopping 8 hours of seat time. I'm finding it more of a challenge than I ever gave it credit but I am learning and getting more confident after every flight.

What I'm really struggling with is communications...and I'm not even flying from a towered airport! CTAF just to other flyers around our regional. My CFI is amazingly helpful and patient but as soon as I press the mic button, I pull a blank...even when it's simple. I cannot even imagine what it could be like if ATC gave a string of complex commands.

The funny thing is, I'm very outgoing and a very good public speaker...I have no problem when called on to talk before a large gathering.

This is going to be my biggest obstacle in becoming a proficient pilot

I'm sure I'm not alone here, what is the key and how do I learn the vocabulary of this "NEW" language?
 
Listen to LIVEATC, perhaps? Take your pick of a city, perhaps Salt Lake for some familiarity, or your closest towered-airport.

I mean, ultimately, it's who you are, and what you want.

"Cedar City traffic, Cherokee 123 is 10 miles to the South inbound for landing" is about as easy to say as anything.
 
Live ATC is a good idea. In addition,...

Got a handheld radio or a scanner? Sit out at your airport watching planes and listening to them.

Do you have phonetics down cold? Alpha, bravo, charlie,...
 
Yeah, LiveATC is great. I loved listening to Fisk arrival at Oshkosh last year. There are any number of YouTube videos & simulator apps with good coms, too.

also, ditch the idea it's all random. There is a predictable sequence & flow to comms around an airport, particularly vfr at uncontrolled airports. Fall into the pattern of the patter and you'll do better.

The hard part about CTAF is listening for calls that apply just to your airport while mentally rejecting chatter further away, while at the same time paying attention to your instructor and flying an airplane.

And remember that you don't have to remember every detail of a radio call. It‘s enough to know that there is a Cessna entering downwind at your airport while you are on base. (He's behind & above you in the pattern). If you are on crosswind after a takeoff, you know about where to look to find & follow the plane that just entered downwind.
 
rhkennerly said:
The hard part about CTAF is listening for calls that apply just to your airport while mentally rejecting chatter further away,...
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:yeahthat:


The CTAF at my home drome is shared with at least 3 other nearby airports, one of which has a busy flight school and one that has a jump operation. One (Apopka) also has automated wx over the CTAF rather than a separate AWOS. Consequently there’s a LOT of radio traffic, especially on a nice Saturday afternoon with many people flying, and sometimes you’ll hear heterodyne squeals as transmissions step on each other.

It’s important to identify your airport and runway as well as position in the pattern. After a while you get accustomed to ignoring other airports’ calls.
 
For reference material use:

Pilot/Controller Glossary (in the AIM). These are the words to use and what they mean (as well as a lot of other good information)

AIM Chapter 4, Section 2: Air Traffic Control, Radio Communications Phraseology and Techniques.

Listening to LiveATC is a very good idea, too, but you're going to hear a lot of people doing it wrong so reference what you hear back to the AIM and P/CG.
 
Half Fast said:
:yeahthat:

remember when we used to all be crowded down on Unicom at 122.8?


The CTAF at my home drome is shared with at least 3 other nearby airports, one of which has a busy flight school and one that has a jump operation. One (Apopka) also has automated wx over the CTAF rather than a separate AWOS. Consequently there’s a LOT of radio traffic, especially on a nice Saturday afternoon with many people flying, and sometimes you’ll hear heterodyne squeals as transmissions step on each other.

It’s important to identify your airport and runway as well as position in the pattern. After a while you get accustomed to ignoring other airports’ calls.
Click to expand...
 
The manual from Pilot Workshops linked below is pretty decent. Almost every scenario you can think of is covered.

Role playing with your instructor on the ground works great too. Pretty much all communications follow a standard "script." Knowing what to expect and how to respond will help get rid of communications anxiety.

https://pilotworkshop.com/products/vfr-communication/
 
To @MauleSkinner ’s point I have aviation in my head all the time. I get vectors from the commuter train to my approach into my building, I’m cleared to take the dog out for a walk and I request flight following headed to the bathroom. Going over the Kareem calls around the living room table is perfect.

Who you talking to, who are you, where are you and what do you want?

Cedar City Traffic, Cherokee two niner whiskey departing 36, staying in the pattern, Cedar City.

Then you are downwind. Base and then final.
 
Lots on YouTube to listen to also. YouTube search VFR communications, read the AIM and the Pilots Handbook.

It’ll all click.

It’s only “random” because it’s new. After a bit, you’ll learn it’s all similar procedures.
 
It’s a language with a small number of words and sentences. Practice while driving, showering etc. it will take some time to get to where you don’t have to think about it.
 
Try talking to yourself when driving, too. “Ford foxtrot one-five-zero turning south india two-niner-five.”

I learned the phonetic alphabet as a radio amateur, and back then I used to spell out billboards, street signs, and license plates phonetically while driving.
 
I think one of the keys here is to actually talk. We can think about what we’re going to say, but until the words come out of our mouths, we don’t know that we can say them. ;)
 
Hang 4 said:
It’s a language with a small number of words and sentences. Practice while driving, showering etc. it will take some time to get to where you don’t have to think about it.
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:yeahthat:

In addition, what you need to say is usually known well before you need to actually say it. I'm guessing that part of the difficulty lies with being behind the airplane. As you get better, the comms will generally follow.

When you get away from CTAF and into comms with ATC, there's a certain rhythm and tempo to it. So just a bit of advance warning, you're going to have to overcome that curve too when you get to it.
 
Terry M - 3CK (Chicago) said:
I request flight following headed to the bathroom.
Click to expand...

“Say intentions. On second thought, please don’t say intentions.”

“Squawk one two… whichever.”

“Gas, Undercarriage, Mixturate…”

(c’mon, PoA, I know you’ve got more!) :)
 
@MauleSkinner i talk out loud, especially in the car or walking the dog.

Getting off the commuter train in Chgo it makes me safer to mumble my clearance to myself . . . Ok I don’t talk out loud there, but I do around my house, in the car and walking the dog.

Practice how you’ll play. Play how you practice. Agreed.
 
Most of my lessons were out of a towered field, so while driving my car I started using my tail number and repeating everything my iPhone GPS said to me, and tried to visualize it without looking at the screen. Turn it on even if you’re running a quick errand; Heck, enter a random address and go now.
 
luvflyin said:
Take it on into the bedroom to:fingerwag:
Click to expand...
Once shared with a past girlfriend...

Laughter in the bedroom during romantic time is perfectly okay...

just don't point at it.​
 
Plongson you are not alone as I had what my instructor called “mic fright” also. As we approached the airport we would rehearse and when it came time to make the CTAF calls I would key them mic and say nothing. It will come in time as it did with me. I suspect my problem and maybe yours is the calls take place at a critical time in the flight such as takeoff and especially landing. Being a low hour student those phases of flight are very intensive and you are overwhelmed with what to do more than communicate. I clearly remember in the beginning there was just no way there was enough time to fly the pattern and talk on the radio it all seemed happening so fast. Now it seems to take forever to fly the landing pattern. The better your flying skills become in landing the less overwhelmed you will be and the better your communication will be. When you get to that point just one tip, speak clearly and concise. Some pilots on CTAF talk so fast it is over before you can even comprehend what they said. Others tend to not be concise and seem to talk forever with non pertinent info. Let your instructor guide you thru what is important to say and what just clogs the airwaves.
 
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