Some advice on my RT please
Luvverley!
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None of us are perfect.
I'm an ATCO of a fair number of years experience - I still screw up often! Stick to the basics. If you can't remember exactly what you have to say, it's who you are, what you are and what you want.
We'll work it out. Stay confident. You'll be OK!!
Foxy
I'm an ATCO of a fair number of years experience - I still screw up often! Stick to the basics. If you can't remember exactly what you have to say, it's who you are, what you are and what you want.
We'll work it out. Stay confident. You'll be OK!!
Foxy
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Sparkyboy,
Dont worry about it chap, RT freaked me out when I started, I once replied to a radio call with "Roger That" took me weeks to live that down!!!
Remember ATCOs are just human they are there to help us OK I admit they do sit up in their tower but thay are not scary really.
I used to sit on the loo and practice or in the car, if in doubt on what to read back do it all and always have a piece of paper and pencil handy to scribble down squawks and clearances.I know youre not quite there yet but when you start flying x-country when making en-route calls try to remember this
Who you are,
Where you are,
What you want.
Remember that and youre there, if you get it wrong just say "apologies" and start over.
Remember you learnt to talk cos all day long you heard people talking, a few more hours flying and you will be amazed how fast you pick it up above all dont get in a flap about it and enjoy the flying.
good luck.
Dont worry about it chap, RT freaked me out when I started, I once replied to a radio call with "Roger That" took me weeks to live that down!!!
Remember ATCOs are just human they are there to help us OK I admit they do sit up in their tower but thay are not scary really.
I used to sit on the loo and practice or in the car, if in doubt on what to read back do it all and always have a piece of paper and pencil handy to scribble down squawks and clearances.I know youre not quite there yet but when you start flying x-country when making en-route calls try to remember this
Who you are,
Where you are,
What you want.
Remember that and youre there, if you get it wrong just say "apologies" and start over.
Remember you learnt to talk cos all day long you heard people talking, a few more hours flying and you will be amazed how fast you pick it up above all dont get in a flap about it and enjoy the flying.
good luck.
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Oh Ive just read Foxy Loxys post about who you are, what you are and what you want, maybe I sould have read that before posting the same thing!!!
I`ll get me coat then!
I`ll get me coat then!
Pitts
I've got one of those half oildrum affairs, keep on picking the lottery numbers and don't worry about us running out of sausages.
Can I have a Husky and a Waco Biplane, please?
I've got one of those half oildrum affairs, keep on picking the lottery numbers and don't worry about us running out of sausages.
Can I have a Husky and a Waco Biplane, please?
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Originally Posted by J.A.F.O.
Pitts
I've got one of those half oildrum affairs, keep on picking the lottery numbers and don't worry about us running out of sausages.
Can I have a Husky and a Waco Biplane, please?
I've got one of those half oildrum affairs, keep on picking the lottery numbers and don't worry about us running out of sausages.
Can I have a Husky and a Waco Biplane, please?
Pitts
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OVER AND OUT
Sparky dont worry about it
If you read some of the posts above you will see that most pilots are full of **** and make it up as they go along. So take a leaf out of their books and soon you will be talking **** over the airwaves too!
PS but Sparky the only thing I ask is keep the **** brief as i spend my working day every day listening to it!
If you read some of the posts above you will see that most pilots are full of **** and make it up as they go along. So take a leaf out of their books and soon you will be talking **** over the airwaves too!
PS but Sparky the only thing I ask is keep the **** brief as i spend my working day every day listening to it!
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Originally Posted by BroomstickPilot
Sparky,
It is so much easier to learn R/T in a properly equipped classroom, with a good R/T instructor, where you are not trying to control an aeroplane with your other hand and both legs, and you are not spending £2 per minute.
Good luck,
Broomstick.
It is so much easier to learn R/T in a properly equipped classroom, with a good R/T instructor, where you are not trying to control an aeroplane with your other hand and both legs, and you are not spending £2 per minute.
Good luck,
Broomstick.
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P.A.T
Position - ABDC 10 miles south west of Timbuktoo
Altitude - self explanatory, add atis/awib and qnh (as qnh is a component of what your altitude should be)
Intention - with @# POB, request joining for full stop/transit/circuits/whatever
same goes for unattended aerodrome or position calls in any MBA >> P.A.T. can't go wrong.
Position - ABDC 10 miles south west of Timbuktoo
Altitude - self explanatory, add atis/awib and qnh (as qnh is a component of what your altitude should be)
Intention - with @# POB, request joining for full stop/transit/circuits/whatever
same goes for unattended aerodrome or position calls in any MBA >> P.A.T. can't go wrong.
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Like everyone else has said just practise. I used to walk around mumbling under my breath the call I would make and then the calls I would get back from Tower, and later on did the same thing to learn the IFR departure calls etc. It works! As for the phraseology, start by getting your message across (briefly), the right terms will come.
The main thing is to relax. Once you hear airline pilots screw it up, maybe that will help. I was on delivery the other day, got out the callsign, and that was about it, followed by an ummm.... errrr..... and a bit of silence before I remebered the golden rule, if you screw it up, just take your finger off the button. Then try again. Of course the controller knew what I wanted and gave me the clearance.
A good piece of advice would be to accept that you are gonna screw up, everybody does, so just learn from it. Don't let the fear of screwing up hold you back.
The main thing is to relax. Once you hear airline pilots screw it up, maybe that will help. I was on delivery the other day, got out the callsign, and that was about it, followed by an ummm.... errrr..... and a bit of silence before I remebered the golden rule, if you screw it up, just take your finger off the button. Then try again. Of course the controller knew what I wanted and gave me the clearance.
A good piece of advice would be to accept that you are gonna screw up, everybody does, so just learn from it. Don't let the fear of screwing up hold you back.
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Originally Posted by MelbPilot85
Don't let the fear of screwing up hold you back.
PS
The advice I used to give was
Get word perfect in your living room if you cant get the script correct on the ground you will not get it right in the air.
RT is abbreviated talk so be brief-- you dont have to read everything back to ATC thats why the phrases Roger and Wilco exist.
Remember at the end of day ATC are paid to provide a service for you its not the other way around.
Nobody is born with an Rt licence, everyone has to learn
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As mad as it sounds, next time your in the car, read off every single number plate of every car which passes, using the correct phonetics and numerics. Should help everything come more naturally before long.
The other advice I can give you is if you have a copy of MS Flight Sim, sign up for VATSIM and practice your RT online. Plenty of very experienced controllers running the VATSIM network and loads of people to give you some instruction. It helped me no end before I started flying and my instructor commented on how naturally my RT was after only a couple of actual lessons. check out www.vatsim.net.
The other advice I can give you is if you have a copy of MS Flight Sim, sign up for VATSIM and practice your RT online. Plenty of very experienced controllers running the VATSIM network and loads of people to give you some instruction. It helped me no end before I started flying and my instructor commented on how naturally my RT was after only a couple of actual lessons. check out www.vatsim.net.
Thread Starter
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Originally Posted by speedbird676
As mad as it sounds, next time your in the car, read off every single number plate of every car which passes, using the correct phonetics and numerics. Should help everything come more naturally before long.
The other advice I can give you is if you have a copy of MS Flight Sim, sign up for VATSIM and practice your RT online. Plenty of very experienced controllers running the VATSIM network and loads of people to give you some instruction. It helped me no end before I started flying and my instructor commented on how naturally my RT was after only a couple of actual lessons. check out www.vatsim.net.
The other advice I can give you is if you have a copy of MS Flight Sim, sign up for VATSIM and practice your RT online. Plenty of very experienced controllers running the VATSIM network and loads of people to give you some instruction. It helped me no end before I started flying and my instructor commented on how naturally my RT was after only a couple of actual lessons. check out www.vatsim.net.
Cheers
Sparky
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Thanks for the pointer on the Airspeak CD. Found one on eBay and got outbid yesterday. Will probably just buy from a 'pilot shop' as the final price on auction was quite close to what you'd pay at a shop anyway.
Phillpot, I have said something similar too. In response to notification of helicopter traffic nearby. I responded "Roger that Helicopter". Innocent enough, first clue was my instructor laughing in the RHS!
With regard to VATSIM, I tried it sometime back. I found that only big airports had any controllers. To fit in I started flying the Learjet and was promptly told to come back when I had learned to fly. Presumably, by some spotty teenager who was acting controller at the time. It's mostly kids on there in my experience. Their RT not quite the same quality and breadth as real life controllers.
My best buy so far for my RT has been a cheap little airband radio. Tuning into the local frequencies has taught me that some folks who already hold licenses are worse than me. I can pick out at least one pilot almost straight away due to his bumbling RT and insistence on talking just as he would do over a telephone ie. absolutely no RT phraseology. He hasn't been told off yet so I must be at least tolerable in comparison!
splatt
Phillpot, I have said something similar too. In response to notification of helicopter traffic nearby. I responded "Roger that Helicopter". Innocent enough, first clue was my instructor laughing in the RHS!
With regard to VATSIM, I tried it sometime back. I found that only big airports had any controllers. To fit in I started flying the Learjet and was promptly told to come back when I had learned to fly. Presumably, by some spotty teenager who was acting controller at the time. It's mostly kids on there in my experience. Their RT not quite the same quality and breadth as real life controllers.
My best buy so far for my RT has been a cheap little airband radio. Tuning into the local frequencies has taught me that some folks who already hold licenses are worse than me. I can pick out at least one pilot almost straight away due to his bumbling RT and insistence on talking just as he would do over a telephone ie. absolutely no RT phraseology. He hasn't been told off yet so I must be at least tolerable in comparison!
splatt
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I haven't read the whole thread but listening to radio traffic on a radio is of limited value for learning the radio calls. I would say the majority of GA pilots don't use the correct phraseology, and many are so bad one wonders when they last used the radio.
Yesterday I left the ICOM on in the house (to flatten the battery so it could be properly recharged) and was listening to the Farnborough frequency 125.25; quite staggering. ATC must tear their hair out sometimes.
Personally I found the radio very hard during training, and again very hard during the IR in the USA due to their different phraseology. What I found helpful was writing down the standard radio calls (before flight) on bits of post-it pads and sticking them somewhere. It looks daft but one soon learns it.
The other bit of really good advice I picked up was: "speak to as few people as possible and when you do, say only what they need to know". This is not quite how the radio is taught in the PPL; students are told to call up London Info with everything including their inside leg measurement, but the service they get is close to useless (no radar).
Yesterday I left the ICOM on in the house (to flatten the battery so it could be properly recharged) and was listening to the Farnborough frequency 125.25; quite staggering. ATC must tear their hair out sometimes.
Personally I found the radio very hard during training, and again very hard during the IR in the USA due to their different phraseology. What I found helpful was writing down the standard radio calls (before flight) on bits of post-it pads and sticking them somewhere. It looks daft but one soon learns it.
The other bit of really good advice I picked up was: "speak to as few people as possible and when you do, say only what they need to know". This is not quite how the radio is taught in the PPL; students are told to call up London Info with everything including their inside leg measurement, but the service they get is close to useless (no radar).
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IO540,
As a Farnborough ATCO there are times when we do dispair with the RT. I would emphasise though that everyone has to learn somewhen. In a previous life I held a PPL and learnt to fly in Guernsey. I used the "listen on a scanner" method to improve my RT, but then I was listening to Guernsey Approach with professional pilot types on it.
From a personal perspective the two main problems I get on 125.25 is pilots turning the volume down on a busy frequency (results in us being unable to deconflict you against large business jets! or unable to tell you about the hunter about to buzz you also on a FIS), and the all too regular occurence of pilots not listening before transmitting, and stepping on a readback of another pilot which of course just delays everyones requests whilst I confirm that the readback was correct.
Another post to this forum recommended visits to ATC. I thoroughly agree and most of us at Farnborough welcome anyone that wants to spend some of their valuable time with us. TICKETS ARE FREE AS WELL
As a Farnborough ATCO there are times when we do dispair with the RT. I would emphasise though that everyone has to learn somewhen. In a previous life I held a PPL and learnt to fly in Guernsey. I used the "listen on a scanner" method to improve my RT, but then I was listening to Guernsey Approach with professional pilot types on it.
From a personal perspective the two main problems I get on 125.25 is pilots turning the volume down on a busy frequency (results in us being unable to deconflict you against large business jets! or unable to tell you about the hunter about to buzz you also on a FIS), and the all too regular occurence of pilots not listening before transmitting, and stepping on a readback of another pilot which of course just delays everyones requests whilst I confirm that the readback was correct.
Another post to this forum recommended visits to ATC. I thoroughly agree and most of us at Farnborough welcome anyone that wants to spend some of their valuable time with us. TICKETS ARE FREE AS WELL
