RT for PPL and Above

[NJB]

I'm working on my PPL, and I'm trying to find a website or something of the like that has the exact transcript for the Radio Telephony when leaving and rejoining the circuit.

I'm struggling, but I was hoping some one else on here might have already made such a discovery or even better, made a web page with it on!

Thanks for the help

NJB

[Whirlygig]

CAP_413 (http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP413.PDF)

This will contain all you need to know. Your instructor should also be helping here with when to give the calls and any local preferences.

If you are having difficulties, have a chat with ATC; some controlllers will give extra tuition before your RT exam.

Cheers

Whirls

[NJB]

Thats great, thanks allot for the help!

[99loki99]

Hey!

I know what you're talking about! There I am, chugging along quite happily and, "pass your message" comes over the speaker....

Beh, Urrrrr, Ehhhhhhhrrrr, Duurrrrrrr! Very quickly, the limits of my mental capacity are reached. I seem to have some sort of mental 'block' over RT.

Luckily, there are a number of things that have worked out for me:

There's a pc based interactive course (Oxford aviation training), but it's quite expensive and the material is limited to a couple of x-country exercises. Once you've done them, you've done them. Also, the license only alows you to install the software twice after which time you have to buy another license so pick your PC's carefully! There's a CD recording (Asco airspeak) which you can listen to in the car. Again, it covers the syllabus competently but with limited examples. Also, there are no track breaks (on the version I bought, anyway) which can make finding specific examples time consuming. I got round this by taping to mini-disc and inserting my own track breaks. Trevor Thom book 7 elaborates on CAP 413 as well.

You can't beat good old fashioned practise though. I try to listen to actual conversations on a scanner at my local A/P and MS flight simulator 2004 has some RT built in.

All the best!

[BackPacker]

DON'T use FS2004 to learn R/T unless you take it with not a few grains, but buckets full of salt. FS2004 is (a) an American product, using US conventions ("position and hold" instead of "line up and wait" come to mind. Conditional landing clearances is another: "You are number three behind a Warrior on final and a Cessna on base. Cleared to land.") and (b) heavily dumbed down. You will never be refused a transit in FS2004, for instance. There's no other airspace than B and G. Nobody does circuit calls, everybody does IFR style direct approaches. Nobody says Hello, Good Morning, Thank you, Bye Bye. And so forth.

Best advise is above: buy a scanner and listen to actual R/T from an airfield near you. And not just casually listen, but get a piece of paper out and try to write down calls signs, circuit positions and see if you can anticipate the position reports, answers from ATC and so forth. Bonus points for all the errors that you identify!

I got a second-hand scanner for 40 euros. Best investment I ever made during my course.

And what I also did was rig up my own antenna in the attic. All you need is a bunch of RG-58 coax cable. This cable used to be used for "thin ethernet" so if you go to any place which has an IT department you can probably get miles of that stuff for free from them, if they haven't thrown it away, that is. Take the connector off one end. Then either separate the inner core from the mantle over a distance of about 50 centimeters (I don't remember the exact length, but you need a quarter wavelength of the frequency that's in the middle of the band you're trying to listen to), or use two lengths of regular household electricity copper wire (quarter wavelength again) and attach this to the core and the outer shield, respectively. Make sure the ends extend outwards from each other: the BNC cable attaches in the middle to form a T. Mount this somewhere high up, vertically (horizontal if you want to receive NAV signals, which you probably won't.) Makes a far better antenna than the tiny whip that comes with the scanner!

[BackPacker]

Oh, now that I'm typing anyway. Here's the typical exchange with our tower (EHRD, which is a controlled field, for a departure and a landing.)

DEP
===

(Listen to ATIS first. Suppose identifier is India)
Me: Rotterdam Ground, PH-SVR
Ground: PVR, Rotterdam Ground, Good Morning
Me: Ground, PVR and a good morning to you too. At the vliegclub, information India. Request startup for departure.
Ground: Information India correct. QNH 1011. Startup approved. Tower on 118.2 for taxi.
Me: QNH 1011. Startup approved. Tower on 118.2. PVR

<starting up>

Me: Rotterdam Tower, PVR request taxi for departure. (Some say that I'm too quick here and that I need to call them with just my (full) callsign. Oh well. If the frequency is quiet I just go straight ahead. Tower knows I'm coming, having been told by Ground anyway.)
Tower: PVR taxi RW 24 holding point V2.
Me: Taxi 24 V2 PVR

<taxi>

Tower: PVR hold position for the boeing 737 leaving the runway
Me: Hold position PVR

Tower: PVR continue taxi
Me: Continue PVR

<taxi, runup>

Me: PVR ready for departure
Tower: PVR roger hold short
Me: Hold short PVR

Tower: PVR behind the landing 737 line up and wait. (That's always fun.)
Me: Line up and wait behind the 737. Traffic in sight. PVR (How could I not see it...)

Tower: PVR the wind 220 at 6 knots. Hotel departure 1000 feet. Report Whiskey. Runway 24 cleared take-off. (They knew I needed a Hotel departure because it was in my flightplan. Otherwise Ground would have asked for it.)
Me: Cleared take-off for a Hotel departure 1000 feet. Wilco Whiskey. PVR

Note that at EHRD the Hotel departure is 1000 feet, and Hotel arrival is 1500 feet via the same route (VOR radial). Sometimes we get confused so typically ATC will mention the altitude anyway, just to be sure.

<take off, climb out>

Me: PVR at Whiskey
Tower: PVR roger. Frequency changed approved. Bye Bye.
Me: Thank you. Frequency changed approved. PVR


ARR
===
At least 10 miles out sign off with my en-route FIS, listen to the ATIS, then switch to tower frequency.
Me: Rotterdam Tower, PH-SVR
Tower: PVR, Rotterdam Tower go ahead (or standby if it's busy. I think in the UK at this point they say "pass your message")
Me: Tower, Good afternoon, PVR is west of Dordrecht, 1500 feet, information India, request Romeo arrival.
Tower: PVR roger. Information India correct. QNH 1011. Report Romeo.
Me: QHN 1011. Wilco Romeo. PVR

Note that the Romeo arrival is fully described in our procedures (in the AIP), including the altitude: Both are "keep right of the highway, 1500 feet", with various mandatory VRP on the way. Therefore there's no need to communicate the altitude here. But sometimes we do anyway.

Me: PVR is Romeo
Tower: PVR roger report Oscar
Me: Oscar next, PVR

Me: PVR is Oscar
Tower: PVR roger report Papa
Me: Papa next, PVR

Me: PVR is Papa
Tower: PVR roger cross midfield make a right downwind 24 maintain 1500 feet
Me: Cross in the middle right downwind 24 maintain 1500 PVR

Me: PVR downwind 1500. (Or right downwind 24, 1500 if there's any chance of confusion)
Tower: PVR roger maintain 1500
Me: Maintain 1500 PVR

Tower: PVR make an orbit left 360 (pronounced as three-sixty, not three-six-zero) for separation, maintain 1500
Me: Left orbit 1500 PVR

<left hand standard = 2 min turn, unless they tell me otherwise>

Me: PVR downwind again
Tower: PVR descent 1000 you are number 2 number 1 is a 737 on short final. Caution wake turbulence
Me: Descent 1000 number 2 to the boeing, traffic in sight, PVR

<now it becomes tricky. I need to judge when to turn base so that he's off the runway when I'm short final, and I need to consider his wake turbulence. Either I stay above his path, landing after where he touched down, or I sit it out for 2 minutes or so. I might even ask tower for another orbit at 1000. Anyway, I need to stay at 1000 until I turn base.>

Me: PVR turning base (I only report this when it might not be clear when I'm turning base)
Tower: PVR roger

Me: PVR final
Tower: PVR roger

Tower: PVR cleared to land 24. The wind 220 at 6.
Me: cleared to land 24, PVR

Note that my landing clearance could have been given earlier. Even on downwind. It only depends on when the 737 has left the runway.

Me: PVR vacated (only if the tower did not see that and did not issue me with any taxi instructions already)
Tower: PVR taxi Lima (which is the taxiway to our club).
Me: Negative. PVR Request taxi to the fuel station.
Tower: Okay, taxi to the fuelstation via Y.
Me: Fuelstation via Y, PVR

Me: PVR at the fuelstation, switching off
Tower: Switchoff approved, bye bye
Me: Switchoff approved, talk to you later PVR

Note that the new regulations at EHRD do not require us to ask for switchoff anymore, but we're so used to it...

Hope this helps!

[BEagle]

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP413.pdf

http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/LASORS_07.pdf Safety Sense Leaflet 22.

Quite large files, so you'll need broadband.

[eharding]

I have an RT tuition tape - from Pooley's I think - which I used to play in the car - reasonable useful, but a bit stilted. The case got covered in coffee, but I think the tape still plays, from about 4 years ago - PM me and I'll stick it in the post.

IMHO, a key part of successful and succint RT is to a) relax and b) know that the person you're talking to *is* on your side...and c) when you press the transmit button, you're not talking to the entire nation - it's not Radio 4 - which is part of the solution to (a).

Unless, of course, you're in a Yak and you *think* you've pressed the right button for a private conversation with the other cockpit, make some unguarded comments, and then realise you have the wrong button, and broadcast to a much wider audience. :eek: ...especially if you use a very bad word indeed....