Communications

AIRCRAFT COMMUNICATIONS

This tutorial covers communicationstechniques in various facets of flight operation.

In operating an aircraft there are a variety of situationsthat require a variety of communications techniques. In this tutorialit is broken down to:

Initial start-up & taxi
Departure
Enroute
Approach
Landing
Taxi to parking & shut-down

In addition, the type of communicating done depends on if youare flying VFR (Visual Flight Rules) or IFR (Instrument FlightRules).

Terms used in this chapter &their definitions

Unicom: Unicom is a "open air" radiofrequency that is used at uncontrolled & controlled airports.

Clearance Delivery: A frequency used by a ControlTower to issue instrument & VFR clearances. In some casesClearance Delivery may be a frequency that goes direct to a near-byARTCC (Air Route Traffic Control Center).

Air Route Traffic Control Center (Center): TheUnited States airspace, and that of other nations is broken upinto various "Centers." More or less the fewer the airplanesthat fly in that Center's airspace the larger the geographicalarea that Center covers. Centers are in turn broken down intoSectors whose size is also dependent on aircraft volume.

FAR's: Federal Aviation Regulations. The rulesthe United States Government, by way of the Federal Aviation Administration,publishes for aircraft and administrative operations.

note: Operations discussed in this chapter are basedon those used in the United States. The authors of the X-PlaneManual welcome input from our friends in other countries as tospecifics of operations in other nations.

Flight Service Station (FSS):

These are the people that take weather observations, give youyour weather briefings etc. They used to be at the major fields,but funding cuts and down-sizing have made your chances of havinga face-to-face briefing rather rare.

ATIS (Automatic Terminal Information Service):

Continuous broadcast on a discreet radio frequency of an airportsweather conditions and terminal procedures. Updated hourly, oras changing weather dictates. Each change gets a new phoneticname: "Information Alpha", "Information Bravo",etc.

The ramp:

The parking area for aircraft at an airport. When calling fortaxi clearance, or traffic advisories you may refer to your locationas "the ramp." With more than one parking area you mayhave terms like "North ramp", "Shamrock AviationRamp" etc.

VFR DEPARTURE, VFR ENROUTE, VFRLANDING

Initial start-up, taxi:

O.K., you're on the ramp in your Cessna, N1557G. Your fueled,received your weather briefing, done your preflight inspectionof the aircraft and are ready to go. If there is no tower at thefield, you make a blind broadcast on the fields Unicom frequencyalong the line of "Mayfield traffic, Cessna 1557Golf is taxingout from the North ramp area for departure on runway 36."

Departure:

Once youíre ready to go and the airspace is clear makeanother blind call "Mayfield traffic, Cessna 1557Golf istaking the runway, runway 36 at Mayfield". After lift offanother call is made "Mayfield traffic, Cessna 1557Golf isoff of runway 36 and departing VFR east bound".
Enroute:

Once enroute it gets pretty quiet on the radio. If you havefiled a VFR flight plan, give the nearest FSS a call and openyour flight plan with your time of departure. If you are familiarwith the folks at the airport that you just left you can alsocall them on the Unicom and ask them to contact the FSS and openyour VFR flight plan.

Traffic advisories enroute:

If you know the frequency of the Center in the area you areflying in (published on some VFR charts) you can give them a callfor traffic advisories. This call up would go along the lines:"Memphis Center, Cessna 1557Golf" Center replies: "Cessna1557Golf, Memphis Center, go ahead" You: "Memphis Center,Cessna 1557Golf, VFR enroute from Mayfield to Farview at 6,500feet- advisories if you have the time please." Memphis maycome back and say "Roger Cessna 1557Golf, squawk 12345 andident please." You dial in the 1234 code in your transponderand hit the ident button. (Assuming you do this in a timely fashion,there is no reason to call Memphis Center back and say "Roger,squawk 1234 and ident." The controller will see your target"bloom" on his scope & know you received his call.By not reading this instruction back you help to keep the sometimescrowed airwaves a little less busy.)

So, Memphis comes back and says "Cessna 1557Golf radarcontact 10 miles east of the Mayfield airport. Maintain VFR. Adviseme of any altitude changes and stand by for advisories."That's it- now you have an extra pair of eyes looking out foryou, and Center knows who you are & what your intentions are.However, during busy periods Center may just as well come backafter your initial contact and say "Cessna 1557Golf no timefor advisories at this time. Good day."

Either way, keep those eyeballs peeled for traffic. VFR advisoriesto you are way down on the Center's list of priorities- they areunder no obligation to call all traffic for you. When you reachthe edge of the Controller's airspace he will call you with somethinglike "Cessna 1557Golf for continued VFR advisories contactMemphis Center on 124.75. Good day." Once again, unless youdidn't catch the frequency, a simple reply of "Good day"will do.

You contact the next sector on 124.75 and start the whole procedureall over again.

As you near your destination airport of Fairview Center may, ormay not, hand you off to the appropriate controller. Getting trafficadvisories from Center is a freebie, just a little edge to makeyour flight that much safer, but it can be dropped at any timeby ARTC. Also, keep in mind that you are obligated to advise themof any altitude changes you make. So, when you decide it's timeto start down make a call like "Center, Cessna 1557Golf isout of 6,500 VFR for 3,500."

Approaching you destination airport:

If you have been "handed off" by Center you willreach a point where you will descend below their minimum controllingaltitude. At this point they will call and state "Cessna1557G Radar services terminated, 15 miles west of Fairview. Goodday." On the other hand, Center may hand you off to ApproachControl if your destination airport lies in the area of a controllingfacility or if you have to cross through their airspace to getto your destination. In some cases Approach will keep you untilyou're near your airport and turn you loose with a "Cessna1557G radar services terminated, Fairview airport is your 12 oíclockand 8 miles. I see two aircraft in their traffic pattern. Goodday." (Now that's good service. Once again, it all dependson the controllers work load and his radar coverage.)

As you near Fairview tune in the appropriate Unicom frequency.Find out what the winds are by listening to traffic from Fairviewor near-by airports. Tune in the ATIS from a near-by airport,check your weather briefing- do everything possible to get anidea of what the surface wind, and therefore the active runwaywill be at your destination.

About 5 miles out make a call to the Fairview Unicom "FairviewUnicom, Cessna 1557Golf". They may or may not be maning theUnicom radio at Fairview. If they reply "Cessna 1557Golf,Fairview Unicom- go ahead" Or, if they are really heads-up(and busy) "Cessna 1557Golf Fairview Unicom. Fairview landingand departing on runway 27. Numerous aircraft in the pattern."You reply "Fairview Unicom, Cessna 1557Golf is 5 miles westlanding. We'll make pattern calls."

If Fairview Unicom doesn't answer, make a blind call from your5 mile out position "Fairview traffic (You're trying to reachthe people flying around Fairview now, not the person who didor didn't answer you on the Unicom radio. That's why you say "traffic"instead of "unicom".) Cessna 1557Golf is 5 miles westof the Fairview airport, landing Fairview."

Landing:

As you enter the pattern (usually on an upwind leg) make ablind call "Fairview traffic, Cessna 57Golf entering upwindfor runway 27, Fairview." Now that repeat of Fairview, sayingit at the beginning and the end of your transmission can be important.Here's why. Someone else may just hear a part of your transmission,and by saying "Fairview" at both ends of your transmissionyou just might catch their ear- it's just one extra word, andit can't hurt. O.K., now you turn downwind: "Fairview traffic,Cessna 57Golf is on a left downwind, runway 27, Fairview."Turning final: "Fairview traffic, Cessna 57Golf is on a onemile final, runway 27, Fairview."

Taxi to parking & shut-down:

You land, turn off of the runway and make one last call "Fairviewtraffic, 57Golf is on the ground and clear of the runway."
Taxi your aircraft in, turn your transponder to "stand-by",and your job is done. Well, one last thing- don't forget to callFlight Service and cancel your VFR flight plan.

IFR DEPARTURE, IFR ENROUTE, IFRLANDING

Initial start-up, taxi:

O.K., you're on the ramp in your Cessna, N1557Golf. Your fueled,done your weather briefing, filed your IFR flight plan, done yourpreflight inspection of the aircraft and are ready to go.

Clearance Delivery:

If you are at a larger airport it may have Clearance Delivery,a convenient service devoted to handing out IFR clearances todeparting aircraft. If this is the case, listen to the ATIS andcontact Clearance Delivery before leaving the ramp. "Clearance,Cessna 1557Golf, instruments to Fairview, Bravo (the current ATIS)".Clearance comes back with something like "Cessna 1557Golfyou are cleared to the Fairview airport as filed, climb and maintain5,000 expect filed altitude 10 minutes after departure. Afterdeparture fly runway heading, departure frequency will be 124.75."

You can read this back any way you want to, from a direct quoteto an abbreviated one that covers all the important stuff: "Roger,1557Golf cleared as filed, maintain 5,000, expect higher 10 minutesafter, runway heading, 124.75." If Clearance is satisfiedthat you have the information correct they will generally comeback with "Roger, contact Ground on 121.9." And usually,if you don't tell Clearance Delivery that you have the currentATIS they will invariably ask- might as well tell them that youdo on initial contact. Lastly, at some busy terminals Clearancewill also issue your initial taxi instructions.

Other ways to get your clearance:

There are a multitude of ways to get your IFR clearance. Youcan get it by phone from Center or a near-by FSS with a "clearancevoid if not off by (time)", at some airports line-of-sightradio communications permit contacting Center directly, or froma FSS etc. If the weather permits VFR flight from your departurefield you can depart and pick up your clearance when airborne.

Ground Control:

If there is no Clearance Delivery then Ground Control willissue your clearance for you.

Departure:

After departure you just fly your clearance. For those interestedin lost communications procedures it is best to read the FederalAviation Regulations- this subject can get quite complex.

Enroute:
Once enroute follow your flight plan and the requests from Center.Try to keep in mind good radio operating procedures and to notburden the airwaves with unnecessary "chatter." Forexample, if Center asks for an ident just press the "ident"button on your transponder- they'll see your target bloom andyou just saved saying "Roger, 1557Golf ident." Also,when you check in on a new frequency tell them what altitude youare at, they'll want to verify it anyway "Center, Cessna1557Golf with you, 9,000."

Approach:
As you near your destination of Fairview, Center may start youdown to a lower altitude. At some point, depending on the airspaceyour destination of Fairview is located in, you will be handedoff to:

A sector frequency if yourdestination is not under the control of a Approach Control orTower. In this case you will receive a "Cessna 1557Golf contactCenter on 125.75." You call them and receive "Roger1557G you are cleared to the Namit Intersection, descend and maintain4,000." "1557Golf cleared to Namit, we are out of 5,000for 4,000." And a little down the line "Cessna 1557Golfis cleared for the approach to Fairview, maintain at or above4,000, report Namit outbound." "Cleared the approach,at or above 4,000, we'll call Namit outbound."

If you are really out in the boonies Center may call with:"Cessna 1557Golf, how do you intend to cancel your IFR?"This is a really good clue that there probably is no radar coverageall the way to the ground, and that communications with Centervia radio once near or on the ground is not possible. Your optionsare to call the nearest FSS by land line (telephone), call Centerby land line (ask now for a telephone number) or if the weatheris decent, and you have good VFR conditions, cancel your IFR atthis point.

Approach Control ifFairview is near a major airport, or you have to traverse a majorairportís airspace to get there. "Cessna 1557Golfcontact Big City Approach Control on 123.55." You reply "123.55,good day." (It's a good idea to tune in Big City ATIS ifthey have one as far out as possible so that you can have theappropriate approach in mind for Fairview if there is more thanone.) "Good morning Big City Approach, Cessna 1557Golf, outof four point seven for four, we have Big City Information Whiskey,landing Fairview." (The controller's strip shows you landingat Fairview, but it eliminates the possibility of your being vectoredto the Big City airport by accident- it happens. "Roger 57Golf,turn left heading 080, descend and maintain 3,500. The Fairviewairport is your 12 oíclock and 15 miles."

You may be asked to state which approach you intend to shootinto Fairview if there is more than one- be prepared to answer."Cessna 1557Golf is 5 miles West of the Fairview VOR, turnright heading 085, descend and maintain 3,000, you're clearedthe VOR 18 approach at Fairview, maintain at or above 3,000 untilon a published segment of the approach, report the VOR inbound.""Cleared the VOR 18 approach, right to 085 and out of threepoint five for 3,000, at or above 3,000 until established- 57Golf"Assuming that Approach will vector you in for a straight-in approach(they usually will) you maintain at or above 3,500 until you areon a published segment of the approach- sector, radial, DME arcetc. At the VOR inbound you call Approach with: "Approach,57Golf is Fairview VOR inbound, out of (whatever the Final ApproachFix altitude is)."

You commence your descent at the VOR, or whatever the FinalApproach Fix is & follow the published procedure to Fairview-which, due to you expertise, looms right in front of you, justwhere it should be. A note of caution here. If Fairview is anuncontrolled airport, there may be traffic flying around in thepattern even though ceilings and visibilities are low.

Just because you are on an instrument approach does not meanthat you have the right of way to the landing runway. If you havetwo radios it is a good idea to "guard" the Unicom frequencyfor Fairview. If you have a chance, make a call on the Unicom"Fairview traffic, Cessna 1557Golf is IFR inbound from theFairview VOR." It can't hurt. If Fairview has a tower yourclearance from Approach will be to ".....contact the FairviewTower at the VOR inbound." or something along that line.And, if there is a Tower they will keep traffic clear for yourlanding.

Landing, Taxi to parking &shut-down:

After landing, be certain to turn you transponder to "standby"so that you don't needlessly clutter up Approach Control's scope.Taxi to parking, shut-down and sit there for a moment evaluatinghow you handled your flight. Did you make any errors? (Prettytough not to in today's complex airspace and procedures.) Whatshould you have done, what will you change next time, etc.

Remarks:

It is impossible of course to cover all of the possible scenariosfor instrument flight. This example is meant as an over-all guideto flight operations so that you can enjoy your "X-Planeexperience" that much more.

If the reader feels that any of the above is confusing, inerror, or should be elaborated on, please contact me.

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