my first time at a towered airport

woodstock

woodstock

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well, first time that I myself am "in charge" - I flew with Dave Krall at a towered airport (BFI) but he did the radio calls.

flying to MRB tonight (class D at certain times). any advice? I know you have to open the dialogue before you enter (much like the ADIZ) but anything tricky I should know about? I'm completely used to making my own decisions on where to enter the 45, heading, etc etc so having someone tell me exactly what to do will be an interesting extra layer. (then again it may be a really quiet evening too).

thanks!
 
Hey Woodstock--The Martinsburg tower controllers are extremely nice. They don't get a lot of traffic and are just happy to hear somebody.

Discuss with your CFI how far out you want to call. Listen to ATIS before you call them. Listen to the tower frequency before you call to see if you can get an idea of which runway is in use. Unless you show up at the same time as a National Guard airplane, there shouldn't be anything tricky.
 
woodstock said:
well, first time that I myself am "in charge" - I flew with Dave Krall at a towered airport (BFI) but he did the radio calls.

flying to MRB tonight (class D at certain times). any advice? I know you have to open the dialogue before you enter (much like the ADIZ) but anything tricky I should know about? I'm completely used to making my own decisions on where to enter the 45, heading, etc etc so having someone tell me exactly what to do will be an interesting extra layer. (then again it may be a really quiet evening too).

thanks!
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ATIS usually tells you what runway(s) are in use. Also, when you contact the tower, they will tell you what kind of approach to expect -- usually they will give you whatever the simplest approach is (least number of turns), 9 times out of ten that will be either a straight in or either left or right base.

The dialog usually goes something like this:

xyz tower, helicopter 7527D.
N7527D, xyz tower
7527D is 10 to the east, one thoudand five hundred, inbound for landing with kilo (or whatever)
N7527D expect straight in to 26 report 3 mile final

Don't be afraid to ask for clarification if you don't understand an instruction, and don't be afraid to play the student pilot card.

Have fun!
 
Here's my advice. Pick a spot 5 to 10 miles out where you think you can explain where you are. At my home airport something like "7 miles north west" is PLENTY good enough. Keep in mind you want to report farther out if the tower is busier - maybe even farther than 10 miles. I try to never report closer than 3 miles to busting the class D (7-8 miles out) on the odd chance I have to circle while i wait on the guy in the tower who is downstairs making lunch or something...

So once I get to the reporting point i picked I just say "Podunk tower, bugsmasher 1299R, about 7 miles north west at 2,500 inbound to land with AWOS."* They'll usually come back with something like "bugsmasher 99R report right base for runway 18" to which I reply "report right base for RY 18, 99R". I then make my way to the requested spot as normal and then when I get there I Just say "Podunk, 99R reporting right base for RY 18" and they'll say "bugsmasher 99R cleared to land RY 18" and I reply "cleared to land RY 18, 99R" (because I ALWAYS repeat clearances). And then I land...

*We don't have ATIS, just an AWOS, so if you say you have AWOS they won't read the winds / barometer info to you saving some time. Some of the old school pilots who fly at my field will say they have the "numbers". Otherwise they read the info to me and I smack myself for not telling them I already had that information...

Now for those perfectionists out there - this may not be exactly what the AIM says, but this is a real life example of the dialogue that I've used at my home airport (NON-FAA private contract tower) for the past 2 and a half years. For the times that I've flown into an FAA tower this plan has worked perfectly 100% of the time and I've never had a controller scold me for doing this above. Every once in a while if they need to know something else they'll ask me for the information I've forgotten to give them...
 
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inav8r said:
Here's my advice. Pick a spot 5 to 10 miles out where you think you can explain where you are. At my home airport something like "7 miles north west" is PLENTY good enough.
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At MRB, 5 miles out may be enough for the first call; at busier airports, don't get to 5 miles before attempting your first call, or you may be doing 360's waiting to get a word in edgewise. Unless already working with ATC (e.g., approach control), I make it a point to call at least 3 miles from the edge of the D-space (which means 10 miles out at SBY with its 7-mile radius D-space) even at quiet airports and 5-10 from the edge at busy ones.
 
Ron Levy said:
At MRB, 5 miles out may be enough for the first call; at busier airports, don't get to 5 miles before attempting your first call, or you may be doing 360's waiting to get a word in edgewise.
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YES! Re reading my post I realized that my tower is pretty non exciting - but at busier towers you don't want to wait... So I edited my post above to reflect this excellent advice. Thanks for catching that Ron!
 
Verbiage aside, make sure you know what you're going to say before you key the mic. If you transmit "uh, podunk tower, um, um, this is Cessna XXXXX. We're um, oh, about 8 miles northwest. And, um, we're at 2,500 feet. Uh, and, uh, we have, um, Juliet" the controller will likely give you a different level of service than if you come in with a crisp transmission. Controllers at quiet towers are more than willing to chat, so you don't really have to worry about inserting a few extra words. It's the fumbling around that makes some annoyed. (Others, however, may detect "student" in your voice and go into helpful parent mode.)
 
I like to give them a heads up that I am inbound so often at the busy D Airspaces I will call them 15 to 18 out. They will in most cases tell me to report at when I reach a certain mile point. Better to soon than late.

sere
 
all you have to do is remember one thing:


EVERYONE CAN HEAR YOU!!! :eek:



There. That should put you at ease. (where's the "evil grin" smiley?)



-Rich
 
Nice guy, Rich...

I took a neighbor up for a joy ride in the helicopter a few weeks ago. When we were back in the FBO he heard pilot announcements on CTAF and wanted to know whether everyone could hear everything we had said in the cockpit!
 
Ken Ibold said:
Verbiage aside, make sure you know what you're going to say before you key the mic. If you transmit "uh, podunk tower, um, um, this is Cessna XXXXX. We're um, oh, about 8 miles northwest. And, um, we're at 2,500 feet. Uh, and, uh, we have, um, Juliet" the controller will likely give you a different level of service than if you come in with a crisp transmission.
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At our class C, I've noticed when people stumble like above, or request say again, the controllers treat them like they're talking to 3rd graders. Kinda funny, unless you're on the receiving end.
 
Only if you had a stuck mic...! Pet peeve - people calling "stuck mic! you have a stuck mic!" Um, the only person who CAN'T hear you is the one who needs to!
 
Remember the words "Student Pilot". Remember where to hold short on taxi instructions.

MRB's pretty quiet unless the ANG is practicing, should be one of the easier towers in the DC area to deal with.
 
RotaryWingBob said:
Nice guy, Rich...
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Awwww, I was just funnin' Bob. I'd rather deal with a tower than the ADIZ, so Elizabeth's one up on me. I'm sure she'll do fine. :yes:

That said, my two pieces of advice are:

1. Listen first before talking. You can tell how the flow of things are going and when you'll have a chance to make your calls (i.e. don't make a call immediately after a clearance is delivered to someone, because they'll have to read it right back).

2. Know where you are on your initial call-up. I'm beginning to lose track of how many calls I've heard that go "Nxxx, 10 miles east"..."Nxxx, where are you?"..."Nxxx, 7 miles east"..."Nxxx, we can't find you."..."Nxxx oh 5 miles WEST" Oops. Often that's followed by the tower guy getting irate and an "everybody outta the pool" directive. Don't be that bozo.


-Rich
 
Bill Jennings said:
At our class C, I've noticed when people stumble like above, or request say again, the controllers treat them like they're talking to 3rd graders. Kinda funny, unless you're on the receiving end.
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It's catching too... I requested flight following from Atlantic City one time, and it took me three tries to get the squawk code right.

I felt better immediately after when it took the same controller four tries to get someone's tail number right...
 
wsuffa said:
Remember the words "Student Pilot". Remember where to hold short on taxi instructions.

MRB's pretty quiet unless the ANG is practicing, should be one of the easier towers in the DC area to deal with.
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And at controlled airports, it's important to either know where you want to go and how to get there, or ask. Don't ever taxi on the assumption that the controllers will keep you out of trouble if you fumble.
 
In addition to above posts while airborne, if unfamiliar on the ground ask for "progressive taxi" because some airports are just as complicated on the ground.
 
lancefisher said:
And at controlled airports, it's important to either know where you want to go and how to get there, or ask. Don't ever taxi on the assumption that the controllers will keep you out of trouble if you fumble.
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Cessna 123PA is unfamiliar, request progressive.
 
thanks everyone! Dave, nice to see you online, I'll shortly send out photos. my home computer died and lucky for me I didn't delete them from the camera... but I had to redo everything.

my CFI always said I was a natural on the radio (despite limited experience), I guess it's b/c I like to talk so much. :D
 
woodstock said:
I'm completely used to making my own decisions on where to enter the 45, heading, etc etc so having someone tell me exactly what to do will be an interesting extra layer. (then again it may be a really quiet evening too).
Click to expand...

Just remember that even though you receive instructions such as "enter left base", tower owns separation responsibility on the runway only; separation in the sky is still solely your problem.
 
Ed Guthrie said:
Just remember that even though you receive instructions such as "enter left base", tower owns separation responsibility on the runway only; separation in the sky is still solely your problem.
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they even tell you when to turn BASE? holy cow.
 
Not always, but they can. Just remember, ASK if you have any questions. And make sure you hear "cleared to land" before you touch down (ask if you don't!)
 
woodstock said:
they even tell you when to turn BASE? holy cow.
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They can tell you a number of things.

Is there a fairly busy class C somewhere near your training area? You should ask your instructor take you somewhere like that and stay in the pattern and do T/C's while it is busy. You'll learn all the things tower can ask you to do in short order. You'll also get hands on in learning to avoid wake turb, etc.
 
BillG said:
Not always, but they can. Just remember, ASK if you have any questions. And make sure you hear "cleared to land" before you touch down (ask if you don't!)
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If the local controller want's you to delay turning base till he says OK, they usually say "I'll call the base", otherwise the pattern turns are pretty much on your own.
 
rpadula said:
2. Know where you are on your initial call-up. I'm beginning to lose track of how many calls I've heard that go "Nxxx, 10 miles east"..."Nxxx, where are you?"..."Nxxx, 7 miles east"..."Nxxx, we can't find you."..."Nxxx oh 5 miles WEST" Oops. Often that's followed by the tower guy getting irate and an "everybody outta the pool" directive. Don't be that bozo.
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Best tip to solve that problem was something I learned from my instrument training. Read your "direction from" the airport off the bottom of your DG. Never fails.

If you're headed towards the airport on a heading of 320, then you'll have 140 at the bottom of your DG, smack dab between the S and the E on the dial... just report that you're "x miles SE of the airport."

I love that "off the bottom of the DG" trick.
 
Troy Whistman said:
Best tip to solve that problem was something I learned from my instrument training. Read your "direction from" the airport off the bottom of your DG. Never fails.

If you're headed towards the airport on a heading of 320, then you'll have 140 at the bottom of your DG, smack dab between the S and the E on the dial... just report that you're "x miles SE of the airport."

I love that "off the bottom of the DG" trick.
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That has to be the easiest method of determining reciprocal bearing. Sadly, what you are implying is a complete lack of navigational skills of most pilots. Given that my 1st baby pacifier was a wet compass I find it difficult how a pilot cannot constantly know his position relative to a fixed point. Anything to make it easy and accurate is good in my book.
 
Richard said:
That has to be the easiest method of determining reciprocal bearing. Sadly, what you are implying is a complete lack of navigational skills of most pilots.
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Richard, you're right, that is incredibly easy. But then again, some people can't find their own butts with both hands and a flashlight.:confused: I just pray when I hear such radio confusion that the voice on the other end is a student pilot and there's hopefully time to straighten them out.


-Rich
 
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