tips for communicating

AlexEdit

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AlexEdit
Hi guys -
I just started working towards my private license and wanted to ask.

What are the top three things that students have issues with?

What do you recommend I should do to master those issues early on?

thanks in advanced.
 
Hi guys -
I just started working towards my private license and wanted to ask.
What are the top three things that students have issues with?
What do you recommend I should do to master those issues early on?
thanks in advanced.

When you say communicating, are you referring to radio communications? Communicating with your CFI? Communicating with your spouse when you tell him/her how much this whole thing costs?
 
Why does this guy sound more like a magazine writer than a student pilot?

Top three things? Prepare, prepare and prepare.
 
I am not a magazine writer @MAKG1 I m just trying to predict what I will have most issues with.

@labbadabba - I meant communicating on the radio
 
Radio.... think before you speak. Then push the mike button, open mouth, and speak clearly.

Too many students, and professionals, seem to do it backwards.

Who you calling, who you are, where you are, what you want, with atis info if used.

"Podunk tower, Cessna 12345, 10 east, landing with alpha."

Until you get used to it it might help to say out loud what you want to say before broadcasting on the radio. And don't worry, we were all in your shoes at one time.
 
@Zeldman thanks!

one of the issues right now is that people speak SOOO fast that I can barely understand what is being said.
 
For me, the most important thing was to realize that you don't have to be perfect. It's obviously good to use standard language and keep it brief, but even the pros screw up sometimes, and it's not at all uncommon to hear pilots make mistakes. Once I heard other people make fools of themselves on frequency a few times, I relaxed and was able to do much better without the pressure of trying to be perfect. "At least I'm not as bad as THAT guy".....
 
Confidence and not over thinking radio transmissions. A lot of students rely on instructors to "save" them on the radio. I do the opposite. If they look at me, I just shrug my shoulders and tell them to ask ATC to say again. If it gets out of hand and the student is too overwhelmed, I'll step in. Other than that, I try to let them do the radios as early as possible so they're not shy.
 
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@Zeldman thanks!

one of the issues right now is that people speak SOOO fast that I can barely understand what is being said.
I had that problem too, but after you do it for awhile and understand what information is being given when and why, it isn't so hard to absorb. I still struggle sometimes with complex taxi instructions, but I make them repeat until I get it. asking for a repeat slower is also allowed and helps.

I had problems missing calls from the tower in the pattern when I was learning and still saturated with flying the plane. Ask your instructor to help with comms until you're able to handle it yourself. It will come soon enough.
 
@labbadabba - I meant communicating on the radio

Well, it depends where you're doing your training. If you're doing your training at a field with a tower, chances are, you'll pick up talking on the radio pretty quick.

What I did, is a had a script that I put on my note pad:

Who am I talking to: Anywhere Ground
Who am I: Cessna N12345
Where am I: At the FBO
What I want: Request taxi VFR
Where I'm going: Eastbound departure (with the weather)

Then I had a space for the instructions:
N12345, taxi to and hold short of runway 36 via Alpha Bravo

So for every major radio communication, (e.g., taxi clearance, take-off clearance, pattern entry, landing clearance) I would use that script. It was a bit laborious at first but once you do it a few times it starts to stick and you become more comfortable. Most communication follows that order and so your ears begin to listen for the keywords.

If you're flying from a non-towered airport then it's a bit harder to pick up on that kind of stuff. There are the standard radio calls for non-towered ops that are in the Airplane Flying Handbook that follow a slightly different script:

Who am I talking to: Anywhere Traffic
Who am I: White and Blue Cessna N12345
Where am I: 5 miles south
What I intend: Will enter left downwind for runway 18
Who am I talk to: Anywhere Traffic

Here you don't really get instructions that you need to explicitly read back but you may get other pilots around that can provide useful information as to their position.

If you practice those scripts for different scenarios on your own, you'll get it pretty quickly.
 
Buy yourself a handheld radio. Start listening in between lessons .
Yes, I did this on the first week. Thanks for that. I am now looking for a long range antenna to be able to listen while driving and at the office

thanks all of you - this is really helping! - keep the tips coming :D
 
@Zeldman thanks!

one of the issues right now is that people speak SOOO fast that I can barely understand what is being said.

At the towered airport where I do most of my training; (SMX) if the student identifies themselves as a student ATC will usually slow down.

When training at a non towered airports I feel it helps to identify yourself as a student so that other pilots will know your communications may not be accurate of complete.

I found the book “Say Again, Please” by Bob Gardner helpful with radio communications.

If you know what they may be saying it makes it easier to understand.

Never be afraid to say “Say Again, Please” if you don’t understand something.
 
A lot of new student pilots get hung up on the ground just trying to taxi to the runway. Repeat all taxi instructions, especially hold short instructions WITH the runway number AND your aircraft call sign. I was trying to contact ground the other day and had to wait because it took this one poor guy 5 tries to get it right.
 
Yes, I did this on the first week. Thanks for that. I am now looking for a long range antenna to be able to listen while driving and at the office

thanks all of you - this is really helping! - keep the tips coming :D
For "off airport" listening, try the app LiveATC.
 
For "off airport" listening, try the app LiveATC.
To add to this, they have a website as well. Liveatc.net

With radio work, the best advice I got was "Ask questions!". If you're unsure of what ATC said/meant, ask for clarification.
 
It's a frickin radio, you use it to communicate, don't over think it, biggest problem most folks have is they try to use 100% pilot speak and over thinking things and stressing themselves out.
 
For "off airport" listening, try the app LiveATC.
This is what I did. I trained out of a towered airport that was 30 min away. I would listen to liveatc on my phone there and back and I think it may have helped.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk
 
There are two types of radio comms. The first is when around a non-towered airport. The other is talking to ATC. Listen often to http://www.liveatc.net/
You can also google for YouTube videos on all subjects aviation including radio comms.

Study for and take your written as soon as you can in your training. Learning to fly the aircraft takes practice. You need to establish muscle memory before you can begin to keep pace with the flight. Landing well takes the most practice.
 
The best advice I had from my CFI with respect to radio communications was:
You're just talking to another person.

This allowed me to calm down and not worry so much. They screw up, too.
 
At the towered airport where I do most of my training; (SMX) if the student identifies themselves as a student ATC will usually slow down.

.

As a CFI and retired controller, use "student pilot" and it'll go better for you as Vance Breese says. Have your CFI arrange a tower visit and you'll meet the folks that are talking to you.

Just don't visit Timbeck's tower, he mean! ;)
 
Before you key the mike look at what frequency is in the active window.
 
As a CFI and retired controller, use "student pilot" and it'll go better for you as Vance Breese says. Have your CFI arrange a tower visit and you'll meet the folks that are talking to you.

Just don't visit Timbeck's tower, he mean! ;)

Never had a student do that, besides I think most controllers can figure out their radio prowess rather quickly and adjust (if they are going to) accordingly.
 
Hi guys -
I just started working towards my private license and wanted to ask.

What are the top three things that students have issues with?

What do you recommend I should do to master those issues early on?

thanks in advanced.
Grammar, spelling, and punctuation. And asking people to do their homework research for them.
Don't say you are a helicopter if you are in a Husky. :)
What's the difference!
 
Never had a student do that, besides I think most controllers can figure out their radio prowess rather quickly and adjust (if they are going to) accordingly.

Doesn't mean we other CFIs haven't James. I've done it for years.
 
The AIM (4-2-1) tells us to use "whatever words are necessary to get your message across," which is another way of saying that there is no such thing as improper phraseology. There is commonly used phraseology, which we all recognize when we hear it, but there is no regulatory requirement to use specific words. Many low-time pilots stumble over communications for fear that they will say something wrong...don't be one of those pilots.

Bob
 
Years ago I had a student that I was taking to a towered airport for the first time. He keyed the mike and said "Tower.....uh......this is......uh......Cessna.......uh.......12345.......uh.........inbound from.........uh..........the northwest.....uh........northeast........uh.........ten miles out." He then looks at me with a worried look and says, " I forgot to tell him I was a student pilot!" I just responded, "He knows". It took him a second, and then we both burst out laughing.
 
Don't forget to practice saying "oooonnnnn guuuaaarrrrrd" with a smug air of superiority.

It really should be in the PTS and the only factor with which examiners use to determine whether you get your license.

I suggest you practice on your drive to and from the airport.



:D


And take a quick pause think about what you are saying, then say it.
 
Hi guys -
I just started working towards my private license and wanted to ask.

What are the top three things that students have issues with?

What do you recommend I should do to master those issues early on?

thanks in advanced.
I think the biggest problem I had starting out with comms was with read-backs. I felt if I wrote everything down, they'd be waiting too long for me to respond, but then if I repeated everything back instantly(before I forgot it), then I would forget it before I wrote it down(crap, what was that squawk again). I started out with a template for departing with blanks that I'd fill in, then just got to where I didn't need that. Don't be so nervous, if you miss something, just use 'say again'.

I found it easier to use smaller bites, don't try to cram too much stuff in your initial call, or they'll cram too much stuff in the response.
 
Watch...and uhhhhhhhhh learn uhhhhh rookies

 
I think the biggest problem I had starting out with comms was with read-backs. I felt if I wrote everything down, they'd be waiting too long for me to respond, but then if I repeated everything back instantly(before I forgot it), then I would forget it before I wrote it down(crap, what was that squawk again). I started out with a template for departing with blanks that I'd fill in, then just got to where I didn't need that. Don't be so nervous, if you miss something, just use 'say again'.

I found it easier to use smaller bites, don't try to cram too much stuff in your initial call, or they'll cram too much stuff in the response.

On this point...there are darn few mandatory verbatim readbacks...some controllers refer to pilots who do this as parrots. I have heard more than one airline pilot respond to a long clearance with "We'll do all that."

Bob
 
Keep in mind that some times that PTT (Push To Talk) button needs to be re-labeled as PTF (Push to Forget).

During my primary training, I had what I wanted to tell the controller down perfectly in my head... then push the button and I was sounding like the Barely Air video.


And if not mentioned already, Bob's "Say Again Please..." book is a very good resource for student pilots. http://www.asa2fly.com/Say-Again-Please-Guide-to-Radio-Communications-P2010.aspx
 
On this point...there are darn few mandatory verbatim readbacks...some controllers refer to pilots who do this as parrots. I have heard more than one airline pilot respond to a long clearance with "We'll do all that."

Bob

On a long clearance I have just repeated the squawk and departure frequency instead of the entire clearance, unless I missed one part.
 
Alex

Love your enthusiam but a word of advice. Chill. Slow down. Trying to do everything really fast means you'll miss something important.

Great proverb...."Make haste, slowly"
 
On a long clearance I have just repeated the squawk and departure frequency instead of the entire clearance, unless I missed one part.

Always thought waitresses with their shorthand would make great IFR pilots :)
 
Had a sharp female student once flying out of an uncontrolled airport. We'd scoot over to the towered airport and get some experience. One day I told I'd meet up with her at the controlled airport. She thought about that and said, "how are you going to that?" I said you're going to fly solo to the airport and I'll be waiting at XYZ FBO. She wasn't sure but she did it, we went up to the tower cab for a tour, and then we went out for the lesson. Then she dropped me off and flew back solo to the uncontrolled airport. Oh and she used "student pilot" James, in case you're wondering. ;)
 
@Zeldman thanks!

one of the issues right now is that people speak SOOO fast that I can barely understand what is being said.
What you will find is that most of what you hear from ATC is very standardized phraseology. Once you are familiar with it you will hear it more as a message than as a string of words. Understanding will be easy.

Example: As a student I was pretty comfortable on the radios as I had been a ham radio operator. One day in the pattern, though, Tower decided to change the active runway while I was on downwind. She might as well have been speaking Arabic for the amount of her transmission that I understood! Completely new phraseology that I had never heard before. My instructor bailed me out, but a "Say again please" would have worked just fine as well.

Hang in there. Read the Pilot/Controller glossary once in a while, too.
 
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