talking to air traffic control radio communications and how to master them

coming up

Hey everyone Carl with the Aviation Guys here and if you like training tips going

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Lets start out by saying who this video is for. This video is primarily for student pilots

who are ready to take control of the radios, but it's also for certified

pilots who don't usually fly into control airports. But the whole idea is

to help you learn how to get around, fly into, and out of your local airport.

But here's the bottom line the FAA requires certain communications

to happen on the radio and that puts a lot of pressure on air traffic control

and so they have to put pressure on the pilots to make sure they're in

compliance as well so let's make radio communication as simple as possible

there's three basic parts the request instructions and confirmation

so you make a request to air traffic control they give you instructions and then you

repeat those instructions back to confirm that you heard them correctly

then unless they've asked you to contact them or you have a new request you only

receive instructions and confirm it as air traffic control gives you updated information

that's it that's all radio communication is but because what you

say and how you say it matters we're going to dig a little deeper.

so we're going to walk through this as if we're going on a flight and at an airport with air

traffic control there's multiple controllers if you're on the ground

you'll start by contacting ground control to get you to the runway and

after you have the runway you'll contact the tower to clear you for takeoff so

since we're on the ground we're gonna start with our initial

contact with ground control. this initial contact is basically asking permission

to enter the movement area which is anywhere where there's taxiways and

runways in order to enter those areas you have to give them all the

information that they need to be able to graduate entrance into the movement

area watch here as I make my initial contact with ground.

We on ground?

Looks good.

Is it really that today?

Is it really that what?

quiet

Yea, I know right?

dear valley ground Cessna seven five six zero zero

at romeo eight requesting taxi for Northwest departure with information

Zulu.

Again your communication with air traffic control on your initial contact

has to have a lot of information. To keep things simple we're going to use the

W's use of ATC communication. When you make your initial contact

with air traffic control, whether you're in the air or on

the ground it has to include these five things.

who you're talking to

who you are

where you are

what is your request and intentions

and with what airport information

This is everything air traffic control needs to know to give

you clearance and instruction. Now the W's aren't the end-all in radio

communication. It's just a good technique to help you get going.

In fact the order of what you are, where you are, and what your requests are

doesn't even matter. But by using the W's in your communication it helps things

flow better and feel more natural. Now, the first communication was the hardest

one from here you just have to listen to what air traffic control says and repeat

it back to them so they know you heard them correctly. Let's watch the rest of

this transmission

Cessna Seven five six zero zero, taxi to northwest run-up via Alpha

advise run-up complete.

Taxing to northwest run-up area via alpha will advise when complete six zero zero

Now that we're cleared to taxi we'll follow the

instructions air traffic control gave us to the run-up area.

Just a side note,

not all airports have a designated run-up area like mine. Sometimes you complete

your run-up at the end of the runway or the runway access point, but what's

important here is that I just entered a non-movement area,

as indicated by these lines which means that once my run-up is complete I

have to contact ground again for clearance into the movement area.

But, because I already gave them all the information they needed about me and my

initial contact, I only have to advise them on the things that they requested.

Which, in this case, is that my run-up is complete.

Deer Valley Ground, Cessna seven five six zero zero

run-up is complete

by now you should have noticed

two things that I'm doing with every communication. The first is that I'm

addressing who I'm talking to and saying Who I am.

These are the first two W's use instead of our steps. Anytime you're

making contact with air traffic control, Unicom, or even air-to-air frequency you

should always start with who you're talking to and who you are.

Second I close my transmission by using my tail number or rather, in this case the last

three of my tail number to help speed things up. It's technically not required

to do so you could just end your transmission by lifting the push-to-talk

button but using this technique is common and helps others in the area know

that you're done communicating. Also speaking of using the last three of your

tail number to help speed things up, air traffic control might do the same thing

so make sure you're actively listening for the last

three of your tail number whenever you're inside of a traffic area.

Now back to my taxi and just like before I'm going to listen to the instructions I'm

given and confirm them.

Cessna six zero zero runway seven left, taxi via

alpha, alpha four.

Taxing via alpha to alpha four for seven left six zero zero

alright now we followed the instructions given to us by ground control,

completed our run-up, made it to the runway, and are holding short.

But ground control can't give us clearance to take off

only tower can. So we have to change our radio

frequency to tower to make our next transmission.

dear valley power Cessna seven five six zero zero is holding short of seven left

ready for departure.

now because we switch over to a different controller we

not only had to tell them who we are again but we had to use our full tail number

But also tell them where we were and what our request is and in this case

it was a request to depart. The rest of our intentions like where we were going

and what airport information we had, was already handed over to tower from ground control

So we didn't need to tell him that again.

Cessna seven five six zero zero, Deer Valley Tower, hold short runway seven left.

Holding short, seven left, six zero zero.

no matter what instructions you're given you just need to confirm and comply to

them in my case I was told to hold short but, they could give you any number of

instructions from here. Here are just a few of them.

hold short of runway.

You'll hear this if there's an aircraft about to land or the runway isn't clea

Fly straight out or fly runway heading.

you'll hear this if you're departing the

airport and they want you to fly until you reach the required altitude

I'll call your crosswind

You'll hear this when the tower is trying to keep

separation between traffic. They'll let you know when you can turn.

left or rightclose traffic approved

You'll hear this when you're approved to stay in the

traffic pattern for touch and go's.

turn at your discretion

You'll hear this when you're leaving the airport and you can turn for departure whenever you'd like

line up and wait

Here you've been cleared onto the runway to get ready for

takeoff but not actually do so until you get clearance

cleared for take off

this one's kind of self-explanatory

Cessna six zero zero fly straight out to advise

runway seven left cleared for takeoff

clear for takeoff on seven left for six zero zero flying straight out

Great, you're up in the air. You fly away from the airport

for some maneuvers.

You do some stalls

maybe a couple spins

your instructor simulates an emergency

Alright buddy, simulated engine failure.

soon enough it's time

to head back to the airport.

Once you're ready, you'll have to make contact with

air traffic control letting them know that you're ready to come back for a landing

just like when you're on the ground you have to contact them to be allowed into

their airspace and your transmission would sound something like this

Deer Valley tower cessna seven five six zero zero is over the shooting range

inbound requesting touch and goes with information Zulu.

so if you're paying close attention you realize I use the five W's again. The process for

contacting aircraft traffic control is the same whether you're on the ground or in

the air, the information just changes a little bit because you're not calling

out airport intersection you're calling out a local landmark that air traffic

control is used to, or you could be using a reporting point found on a sectional

from here air traffic control will give me instructions that I just have to repeat to confirm.

Cessna seven five six zero zero deer vally tower, Roger.

Left base for seven left, report over canal and freeway.

Reporting over canal freeway for seven five six zero zero

from out here air traffic control can give you all kinds of instructions in my

case they asked me to report back to them when I got a little bit closer to

the airport. Now typically I would have called air traffic control at the

reporting point that they asked me but anything can happen when you're inbound

to an airport and in my case they gave me updated instructions before I got to

the reporting point

Cessna six zero zero for traffic make a left turn and fly

eastbound I'll let you know when you can make a right turn back to downwind

make a right turn to east bound, I'll listen for your call.

Err... yes... EAST bound, LEFT TURN! for six zero zero.

HAHAHAHHAHA

In situations like these it's important to just confirm and comply because air

traffic control really could ask you to do any number of things. Here's a short

list of things that they could ask you to do.

extend your downwind I'll call your base

Air traffic control is trying to space the landings just keep flying

until they tell you to turn

enter a left or right base for runway

This information is to tell you how air traffic control would like you to approach the runway.

Enter right or left traffic for runway

This is the same thing as entering a left or right base. Air traffic control wants you to enter

the traffic pattern and is telling you how to approach the runway.

continue straight in

You're already flying runway heading so you can fly

straight in and skip the pattern

Cross over midfield and make right or left traffic

You're on the wrong side of the airport in this situation so air traffic

control is directing you to fly over the field and how have you join the patter.

Remain outside class Delta

This means stay out of their airspace.

They may have too much traffic or something else is going on and they

just don't want you in there yet.

Follow traffic at your 12 o'clock.

I used 12 o'clock as an example here but you'll typically hear this when air traffic control want you

to follow someone else in the pattern and they're telling you where to look.

If you see the traffic you would respond with

traffic in sight

otherwise you would respond with looking for traffic

cleared for the option

Typically you would have to request the option to be

cleared for it but if your traffic control says that you've been cleared

for the option you can do whatever type of landing you want. Full stop, touch and

go, and even a stop and go.

clear to land on runway

this one should be obvious but

make sure you don't land unless you hear it the same rule applies for any type of

landing just make sure air traffic control says what type of landing you're

looking to attempt

now going back to my landing, air traffic control told me why

there was a delay for my entry into their area. But usually they don't have

to tell you. But just like I was asked I flew East until I was told to come