If you are a new pilot, Jason Schappert, the pilot blogger behind MzeroA.com, has recently written a great short post for Let’s Go Flying with a couple of useful tips for communicating with ATC. Jason began his post by noting that one big stumbling block for most new student pilots is how to communicate on the radio with ATC as well as with other pilots in an uncontrolled environment.
Jason then noted the following tips for communicating over the radio:
- Be Clear and Concise. Radio time is valuable and limited. Hence, you need to know what to say before you say it and you need to say what you want to say as concisely as possible.
- Listen to Others. Just because ATC might be watching and listening does not mean that you do not have to listen to the radio to find out where all of the other aircraft are and how they intend to enter a traffic pattern.
- Pause Before Speaking. When two pilots get on the mic and start speaking at the same time, all that will be heard is a screeching noise and no message will be conveyed. In other words, pause and listen first before speaking over the radio.
If you are looking for further tips about how to effectively communicate with ATC or how to communicate over the radio in general, check out this lengthy video that Jason put together which focuses on Class D airspace radio communications.
