Aero-Tips!
A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard
this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer
statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of
"there are no old, bold pilots.")
Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner,
master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us
-- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators. Some of them, you
may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be
something we might never have considered before, or something that
didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized
it for the practical test.
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Aero-Tips 12.10.06
If you're new to flying into tower-controlled airports (and even
if you're not), you might be a little confused about the order of
radio calls as you prepare to depart.
IFR or VFR, you can look the frequencies up in the
Airport/Facilities Directory, or more conveniently, you can go to
AOPA's online airport directory,
enter the towered-airport identifier in the appropriate field, then
click on "Taxi diagram" to get a pdf of the airport layout along
with frequencies. Print a copy and take it with you to the
cockpit.
The figure above is such a diagram, for Wichita Mid-Continent
Airport, Wichita, KS. Note that the frequencies are all in the
upper corner. Trouble is, the frequencies are not presented in the
order of use for a departure. So here's the sequence for departing
a tower-controlled airfield:
- Listen to ATIS. The Automated Terminal
Information Service gives weather information, runway in use, and
Notices to Aviators (NOTAMs) that may be helpful, for example,
taxiway or runway closures. The ATIS recording will be identified
by a phonetic letter (ex: "Information Hotel"); jot that down as
you copy down the ATIS information. Now you have the background
data needed to depart, in a manner that keeps controllers to read
the same information over and over to individual airplanes.
- Contact clearance delivery. Whether you're
departing VFR or IFR, "clearance" will check your proposed route
and altitude against other airplanes, and determine if you'll need
special instructions for flying out. So clearance can make this
determination, you need to provide:
-
- Aircraft type
- Aircraft identifier
- Whether you are IFR or VFR
- Destination
- If VFR, initial heading and requested altitude.
- Clearance will call you back with:
-
- Clearance (if needed through Class B airspace)
- Route (or initial heading)
- Altitude, if any restriction applies
- Frequency (for departure control, if to be used)
- Transponder code
Note: Some towered airports with light traffic
do not have a discrete Clearance frequency. If none exists, use
Ground Control.
- Ground control. Clearance tells you how you'll
fly through the airspace, but Ground gives you permission to taxi
to the runway. After you have your instructions from Clearance call
Ground. Tell them you have heard the ATIS information
("…with information Hotel.") and that you're ready to
taxi.
- Unless told otherwise, stay with Ground all the way to
the runway, complete all before takeoff checks, and call
the tower when you're ready to take off. Note:
some locations want you to notify Ground when you're ready to
depart, and they'll hand you off to the tower for takeoff
clearance. Usually this will be stated in the ATIS recording. Go
with the flow...
- Stay on tower frequency until instructed to
contact departure, or you're told a "frequency change is approved",
meaning you free to change to any radio frequency.
Aero-tip of the day: ATIS, Clearance, Ground,
Tower…VFR or IFR, it's the order of contacts for departing a
towered airport.