Learn to Make Radio Calls Like a Pro

“Sky Arrow four fife eight sierra alpha, taxi via bravo charlie, hold short one zero at charlie two.”

 

 “What in the world did I just hear?”

 

Figuring out how to make radio calls really is like learning another language. You have to learn an alphabet, you have to learn what different phrases mean, and you have to learn how to speak. It can feel intimidating, especially when you have to use that language to fly a plane. In this post, I’m going to provide some tips for making radio calls, so you can begin to easily communicate from the cockpit.

 

One of the first and easiest things you can do is listen to LiveATC. This is a website where you can listen to live radio communications at pretty much any airport you want. Listening to live communications made by professional pilots and air traffic controllers can help you become familiar with what good radio calls sound like. You can listen to phrases and try to figure out what they mean. It can even be fun, especially if you’re traveling, and you listen in at the airport you’re at. I would suggest finding a local class D airport, where there is a good amount of traffic, but not so much that it becomes confusing, unless you’re up for a challenge.

 

Another important part of making good radio calls is having the phonetic alphabet memorized. A good technique for practicing this is looking at words and using the phonetic letters to spell them out. Do this with anything you see throughout the day. For example, you might come up to a stop sign and spell out the word “stop.” Sierra tango oscar papa. Do this often, and you will have the phonetic alphabet down quickly. You can do this with numbers too, especially to learn tree, fife, and niner.

 

Remember “who, who, where, what.” This is the information you need to communicate to ATC whenever you make a radio call. The first who is who you are calling, the second who is who you are, the where is your location, and the what is what you want. For example, “Lafayette tower (who), Cessna one two tree alpha bravo (who), ten miles south (where), inbound for a full stop (what).” Checklists are important in aviation, so think of this like a mini checklist to go through every time you make a call. This will ensure you don’t forget any important information.

 

Even then, remembering all the information to repeat back can be difficult. Get in the habit of writing everything down. This will help you repeat information back to ATC quickly and correctly because all you have to do is read back what you wrote down. It will also ensure that you have the right information. For example, if ATC tells you to taxi to Runway 25 and hold short at charlie 2, you might forget that you were supposed to hold short at charlie 2 and instead taxi to the end of the runway. By having the information written down, you can double check what your instructions are. Also, learn to write shortened codes to make it easier for yourself. Runway becomes RW. Cleared for the option becomes OPT. Having a system for writing things down will improve your radio calls greatly.

 

Another good habit to get in is familiarizing yourself with the airport diagrams for the airports you are going to be landing and taking off out of. This will help you understand your instructions better. When ATC gives you your taxi route, you will have an idea of where you are going, rather than trying to figure it out using only the signage. You are more prone to make mistakes if you have to figure everything out as you go.

 

Finally, if you are just getting started, let ATC know you’re a student pilot. This will help them understand why there may be mistakes in your calls, and they can help you understand your instructions better. They will likely speak slower for you and annunciate words, so you can clearly hear what they are saying. ATC cares about keeping things safe, and most of the time, controllers want to help you make good decisions. Letting them know you are a student pilot can improve the communication and trust between you and the controller.

 

Implement these tips and you will be making great radio calls in no time. Once you understand the language, it can be pretty fun to use.