Radio Techniques, Tips, and Procedures
Depending on where you learned to fly, the VHF comm. radio was either something you became comfortable with from the very beginning, or you lived in fear of doing anything more than the minimum recommended traffic calls in your home airport’s pattern.

As a student pilot learning to fly under the St Louis Class B (then TCA) airspace, I was more nervous in the traffic pattern of uncontrolled airports on my solo cross country flights than talking with St Louis approach. As a long-time CFI I have seen students with the same perspective as well as those with the polar opposite “comfort zone.”

One of my very early military instructors instilled a deep sense of respect for the finite amount of “air time” available that must be divided up amongst those that desire to use it. Okay, it was the military, and “instilling” probably means that he “beat it into me.” In any case, I am to this day a stickler for brevity on the airwaves. For those who would say that in our civilian world we don’t have the demands of the military environment, I have to say I don’t know which is worse. Due to radio equipment limitations, in Desert Storm, our entire package—composed of some 60+ aircraft—worked on the one frequency night after night (most of us had a second radio that was also in use for our individual formations). On the civilian side, I always think of Olive Branch, MS (KOLV) as the prime reason for economy of speech. Although it may have a tower by the time you read this (it is scheduled to gain a control tower), in the three years I was stationed in MS, KOLV was non-towered—with 246 based aircraft and an average of 317 daily operations. It was common to be number four for takeoff with six or seven aircraft established in the pattern—and more arrivals inbound.

In my research for this article, I used the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM), 7110.65 (ATC’s “bible”), and AC 90-42F (Traffic Advisory Practices at Airports without Operating Control Towers), as well as consulting with experts from both sides of the mic.

At the top of my list of pet peeves is what appears to have become a favorite practice among commuter/corporate operators and those who emulate them—the blanket “any traffic please advise” call. When I first heard this, I actually took the trouble to contact the flight department of the company to find out why they did this—after all, my airline training conditioned me that every required action was a result of some previous “lesson learned.” It turns out this call was not required by that company (or any other that I have contacted or the major airline that I worked for). Think back to the Olive Branch airport—if all the aircraft on the CTAF responded to a “any traffic…” call, no one would be able to make a position report for several minutes. Several aircraft would be accomplishing landings, touch and goes, and takeoffs without the benefit of a traffic advisory call.

Although there are no other airports in the immediate vicinity that share OLV’s CTAF, that is a luxury rarely afforded. Of the eight UNICOM/MULTICOM frequencies available, four (122.7, 122.8, 122.9 and 123.0) are in widespread use with the remaining (122.725, 122.975, 123.050 and 123.075) showing up gradually. Remembering that VHF is subject to line-of-sight for reception, every radio call you make is heard for many miles by other airborne aircraft. Take a look at your sectional, draw a 50nm radius circle around your home airport, and count how many airports share your CTAF. Today, while doing ground reference maneuvers with my student, we—and every other aircraft in “earshot”—listened to a commuter pilot’s lengthy pattern dissertations at Victoria, over 75 nm away!

The AIM recommends the following radio calls when arriving at a non-towered airport (for simplicity, I am not covering operations where a FSS provides an airport advisory service—refer to AIM paragraph 4-1-9 for more information). When within 10 nm of the airport, all aircraft should monitor the CTAF. This includes aircraft transiting the area at an altitude near the pattern altitude, doing instrument approaches, as well as those inbound for landing. At 10 miles, report your altitude, aircraft type and identification, location (relative to the airport), intentions, and request wind and runway information. Then report downwind, base, final, and clearing the runway.

I highly encourage the technique used by many pilots of including the airport name on both ends of your transmission (and the AIM now advocates the same thing). That way, listening pilots have a second chance to find out if you are in their area. Many pilots wonder if they should use their “N” or not. Accepted radio phraseology allows us to use either N12345 or Cessna 12345 in our radio calls. It is useful to think of our radio call in terms of the receiver—the one listening to the call. If you say “N345 downwind” I know to look for an aircraft on downwind. If you say “Cherokee 345 downwind” I am expecting a low wing aircraft. If the airplane I see is a bright yellow, high wing Champ, I know that someone else is out there and I better keep looking! (Again a technique: I use the ‘shortened’ callsign, truncating to the last 3 digits of the N#—it is easier for everyone else to remember, and nobody cares about the whole thing anyway. Unless there is a similar callsign on frequency, that is.)

Why haven’t we heard from the Champ? Although becoming less common, remember that there is no requirement for a radio! Due to a failure in our current intercom, our Champ has been reduced to “receive only” for the time being. It has no electrical system and we use a handheld radio with headsets and an intercom. Remember this the next time you are tempted to fly something other than the standard traffic pattern. (And CLEAR please!) (Another point is worth mentioning here—if following a tailwheel aircraft, allow enough room for that pilot to come to a complete stop before beginning the next takeoff. For one thing, the FARs require a full-stop to count for currency.)

If you are flying instrument approaches into a non-towered airport, you have some additional challenges to think about. For one thing, ATC may not let you switch to advisory frequency (CTAF) until you are fairly close. If you have a second radio and can do so without compromising your situational awareness, it is a great idea to monitor CTAF on the second radio. You might find it easier if you turn the volume down a bit so it doesn’t block ATC comm. on the primary radio. When making your traffic calls on CTAF, think about who is listening and say something that they will understand. “…Cessna 123 NACHO inbound…” means nothing to a student pilot. A better call would be “…Cessna 123, 5 mile final runway 13…” is a whole lot more informative to traffic established in the pattern. Why not add “any traffic please advise”? Two reasons: first, the next 3 miles might be spent trying to decipher multiple answers, in which several airplanes talk at once and no one makes sense, and second, by the time you actually get to the pattern, you will have heard everyone you care about make their “downwind”, “base”, and “final” calls. Except the Champ. And he won’t answer a “any traffic” call either.

My keys to great CTAF call?
Put the airport name on both ends of the call
Use a descriptive callsign (e.g., ‘Cessna’ or ‘Champ’ instead of ‘N’)
Make a 10 mile, downwind, base, final, and clearing the runway call
If it will build situational awareness (SA), add a crosswind call (for example, somebody has called “inbound” and you don’t know where they are, but suspect they may be approaching downwind)
If doing a stop and go or full stop, add that to your base and/or final calls so the guy behind you can plan and give you more room
If a ‘surprise guy’ shows up (maybe an instrument approach) and he or you is a possible factor, a courtesy call at your present position (e.g., “short final” or “midfield downwind” builds everyone’s SA
And finally, the most important: think about your call—if you were listening to it, would it tell you what you want to know, or just cause questions?

Fly safe.

Jim McIrvin