Radar Contact
Latest Episodes
Control Tower Options
"Dice right, ice cream, alert, 654 Jose. . . Brown Richmond 96 double . . . hut hut!" - What?! I'll give you a hint: Football and air traffic control. Here's another hint: trying to understand Tower's instructions does not have be painful if you know ...
What Was That Tower Controller Thinking?
My article, "Walk the Talk" is in the March issue of Flight Training magazine. - Pilot (calling Tower): "Cessna 9130 Delta, request left closed traffic." - Tower: "Cessna 9130 Delta, make right closed traffic. Report a midfield right downwind." -
How to Land at the Wrong Airport with ATC Help
Proximity of Clark Downtown (Taney County) Airport to Branson Airport, Missouri. Last week a listener wrote to tell me about an incident in which a general aviation aircraft landed at the wrong airport. He said this reminded him of other incidents i...
Voice Activated Flying
Cessna 9130, move rook to King 1. I'm afraid I can't do that Dave. Air traffic control is voice-activated flying. Don't believe me? Consider this. You're about to enter a tower-controlled airport pattern. Tower says, "Cessna 9130 Delta enter a right base,
Sterile Cockpit Means Quiet!
"Shhh! I'm trying to use the phone radio" Borrowed from "Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure." In this week's show, we are going to talk about something called sterile cockpit and how it helps you communicate with ATC. No, Paul Reubens, aka Pee Wee, will not b
Radar Contact: Airport Traffic Pattern Position Reports
This photo has nothing to do with this article. A photo of an A-10 just increases the overall quality of the website. You are approaching an uncontrolled airport traffic pattern and you need to know where other pilots are in the traffic pattern. How...
Radar Contact 32: Finding Your Way to Talk to ATC
Round dial versus glass. Boeing 767-300 (top) and Boeing 767-400 (bottom). Learning to talk to air traffic control on the radios can be tough. Learning to talk to ATC on the radios while learning to fly a new airplane is even harder. Learning to talk to
How to Switch from Approach to Tower Control
"Chestnut 372 Victor Charlie, you're six miles north of the airport. Contact Propinquity Tower on 119.6." That is how the switch from Approach Control to Tower Control should sound. Does it always happen that way? We'll rip it apart in this week's show an
Land and Hold Short, Kimosabi
Hi-yo Silver! In this week's show we are going to saddle up with the Lone Ranger and break out a lasso, I mean, LAHSO. I know, we should quit horsing around and get down to business. We've got masked heroes on horseback; we've got fireworks and ...
FAA to Pilots: Know the Radio Standard Phraseology
 Someone pinch me, I must be dreaming. A couple of weeks ago, the FAA published two draft proposals that will change the way you and I will train for our Private Pilot Certificate and for our Instrument Rating. If the wording in the proposals gets integ