"change to ground point x"

Hang 4

Hang 4

Pattern Altitude
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Hang 4
Haven't personally run into this, but have heard a couple towers on youtube say to a landing plane, "turn right at delta 3 and change to ground "point X", x being a number. Does this mean ground is the same frequency except for the decimal place? So 125.9 for tower and 125.5 for ground so tower would say switch to ground point five?

Never ran into this during training.
 
What he said. Most ground frequencies are 121 point something, so the towers have shortened it to monitor and contact ground point something.
 
Back in the day I believe all were 121.somthing.
 
Well you *could* switch to ground (121) point five, but probably not the best frequency to use. :D
 
EdFred said:
Well you *could* switch to ground (121) point five, but probably not the best frequency to use. :D
Click to expand...

Odds are decent ground would hear you on that frequency though.
 
At my home airport, ground is 119.0, so this just hasn't come up, and 99% of the time I have already plugged in the ground frequency before landing.
 
It's in the AIM:

d. A controller may omit the ground or local control frequency if the controller believes the pilot knows which frequency is in use. If the ground control frequency is in the 121 MHz bandwidth the controller may omit the numbers preceding the decimal point; e.g., 121.7, “CONTACT GROUND POINT SEVEN.” However, if any doubt exists as to what frequency is in use, the pilot should promptly request the controller to provide that information.​
 
Hang 4 said:
Haven't personally run into this, but have heard a couple towers on youtube say to a landing plane, "turn right at delta 3 and change to ground "point X", x being a number. Does this mean ground is the same frequency except for the decimal place? So 125.9 for tower and 125.5 for ground so tower would say switch to ground point five?

Never ran into this during training.
Click to expand...

If you just think about this a minute, it'll make since to you.

All civilian frequencies VHF frequencies are in the 100 MHz range. I.e. 125.9, 125.5 etc..

All ground frequencies, to my knowledge, (there may be some exception somewhere) are 121.X.

So, understanding this, it makes total since to say, change to .x.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...

Now that you you know all VHF freq are in the 100 MHz band, when a controller tells you to change frequency 128.x, (or whatever) you can automatically respond and just leave off the (1) and just say, "Cessna 1234 28.x, see ya."

Been doing this for years and never once had a controller get confused.
 
SToL said:
All ground frequencies, to my knowledge, (there may be some exception somewhere) are 121.X.
Click to expand...

Tucson is 124.4 (just to give an example; others have already pointed out this is not always true.)
 
Before the quarter Kilohertz spacing change for all FAA frequencies in the '80s, Almost all airports were 121.X.

It still feels weird when I get a freq change to "point seven."
 
Go fly in Europe if you want to hear the full frequency. Descend to Flight Level 7 contact Frankfurt 127.925. Anything above the transition altitude, which changes every day or multiple times a day due to the pressure, is given as a Flight Level ...10000 feet is FL 100
Combine all of this with various country accents and it gets very confusing. Lots of "What did he say?"

And then there is India! If you don't understand and trust me you won't and ask them to say again...it should be said to you again ...slower, because obviously you didn't understand and want clarification.....NO NO NO FASTER AND LOUDER
Call for clearance at Mumbai, I told my F/O once to not bother writing it down except for the transponder code. He asked why and I said "You'll see". Call ground for taxi and he gives you another clearance. Call tower and he is nice, he waits until he clears you for takeoff and then gives you another clearance (usually a freq difference...you think) and then contact departure and he gives you another routing clearance...and guess what! Contact their Center and your given yet another clearance. They resurfaced their main runway a few years ago 9/27 but they left the V1 Bump in the runway. I have actually lifted off my seat when I hit it before. Taxing out and watching the early morning people sitting on the wall next to the runway taking their morning constitutional. Walking through the terminal while they are fogging with DDT...ah memories that I am sure will turn up again before I die.
Friendly people, great food but the poorest people in America are RICH compared to the lowest caste there.
 
SToL said:
If you just think about this a minute, it'll make since to you.

All civilian frequencies VHF frequencies are in the 100 MHz range. I.e. 125.9, 125.5 etc..

All ground frequencies, to my knowledge, (there may be some exception somewhere) are 121.X.

So, understanding this, it makes total since to say, change to .x.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...

Now that you you know all VHF freq are in the 100 MHz band, when a controller tells you to change frequency 128.x, (or whatever) you can automatically respond and just leave off the (1) and just say, "Cessna 1234 28.x, see ya."

Been doing this for years and never once had a controller get confused.
Click to expand...

twenty six nuthin, thirty four and a half, eighteen and a quarter, twenty four and three quarters. Don’t accomplish nuthin, I do it just because it’s fun. Never had a controller say anything about it
 
ircphoenix said:
KTOA... busy class D... ground is 120.9. ALMOST 121 but not quite. :D
Click to expand...
Oooh... that's a lousy frequency. I bet the controller spends a lot of time saying "Ground one two ZERO point nine."
 
midlifeflyer said:
One would hope a pilot or two already has ground set to go in one of their radios.
Click to expand...

Not really...I typically have Approach loaded up then Tower on standby...once I make the switch to Tower last thing I am worried about during the landing phase of flight is loading the Ground frequency into standby.
 
Shawn said:
Not really...I typically have Approach loaded up then Tower on standby...once I make the switch to Tower last thing I am worried about during the landing phase of flight is loading the Ground frequency into standby.
Click to expand...

Only have 1 radio?

When coming into a place where I'm getting ground.

COM1 Primary Approach
COM1 Standby Tower

COM2 Primary ATIS
COM2 Standby - Ground

Get ATIS, hit the flip flop, now GROUND is on COM2 primary, and turn off the audio from COM2 all the while still talking on COM1 to Approach

Get handed off to Tower, COM1 flip flop.

Land, get told to contact ground, swap from COM1 to COM2, now I'm talking to GROUND. There is no dialing ground in on standby while landing.
 
121.9 has to be the most common ground control frequency in America. When I worked at SMO, the ground freq. was 121.9 and we would have airliners at LAX call almost daily after landing (their freqs were .65 and .75, I think).
 
EdFred said:
Only have 1 radio?

When coming into a place where I'm getting ground.

COM1 Primary Approach
COM1 Standby Tower

COM2 Primary ATIS
COM2 Standby - Ground

Get ATIS, hit the flip flop, now GROUND is on COM2 primary, and turn off the audio from COM2 all the while still talking on COM1 to Approach

Get handed off to Tower, COM1 flip flop.

Land, get told to contact ground, swap from COM1 to COM2, now I'm talking to GROUND. There is no dialing ground in on standby while landing.
Click to expand...
Yep. Me too.
 
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