Safetycom etc
 

I received my Light Aviation mag this morning and there is a letter on page 15 that has confused me a little.
It mentions Safetycom 134.475 and Microlight channel 129.825 as channels that may be used.
Most airfields have a nominated channel on which pilots communicate,then when out of circuit use the local ATC channel.
I am showing my ignorance but when would these other channels be used,because I can only listen on one frequency at a time?
Lister

You only use Safetycom at strips with no allocated radio frequency. Remember to include your location in the call, eg right hand down wind for 22 at XXX. It is very useful and the result of a very long campaign to get it allocated.

Rod1

Rod,thank you.
The letter does explain in detail how to use it,as you describe, but not the situation in which it would be used.
Apparently the microlight channel is abused by general chatter ,so is not much use.
I'm sure this wasn't covered in the RT lessons/exam and is not in my RT Manual,maybe it should be?
Lister

I have not got my mag yet. I have been to several flyins which were on strips with no radio allocated and there was a hopeless mix of people using safetycom and the micro frequency. As vis was generally poor it was not the best solution, especially if you throw in 50% non radio traffic as well. At the strip I fly from it is compulsory to use safetycom if you have a radio and it has defiantly made things safer.

Rod1

We use Safetycom at our unmanned strip as it allows two way communications. We don't have a A/G or ATC service.

I believe it has helped as previously all we could do was announce our intentions to the Lakenheath MATZ controllers ands listen out for anyone else doing the same. We couldn't have a 2 way conversation.

I think it was only introduced 2 years ago so may not have made its way into the radio proceedure textbooks.

ZA

See CAP 413 Chapter 4 Section 6.

So if one is going to fly into an unmanned strip it would be wise to check out procedure beforehand,which would normally be done to ascertain approval or not.

Zulu,on another note,I had 40 mins in an Extra 200 at Cambridge this week,to improve my spin recovery technique.
What an aircraft,bit different from the Cub!
Lister:)

Spitoon,
Thank you,CAP 413 downloaded and saved.
Lister

Welcome to the dark side! The Cub may never seem the same again.

Re Safetycom, I agree with Phoning first, some places use Safetycom and others don't. We use it.
One problem is that many people don't put the airfield name at the beginning and end. So you get a call G-XX downwind for yy and you have no idea where they are.

ZA

Just to be clear - Safetycom is 135.475

Sorry to be pedantic.
It's pilots that use it, not aerodromes.

RTFM.

I fully agree that you should state the field you're going in to at both ends of your message. It's also quite surprising how far the signals go. I was calling our strip in Cambs and shortly thereafter heard a chum, I'd just been with at a Fly-In, calling his strip in Wiltshire. I resisted the temptation for a chat.

VHF transmission is by line of sight,normally stopped by curvature of earth,or terrain.
In good conditions even a low power transmissiom can go for many miles.
Lister

Safetycom should not be used further than 10 NM from the intended strip.

ZA's point about using airfield location at the beginning and the end of the transmission a la US Unicom though not mentioned in the above CAA document is a point well made: from overhead our strip (same strip as ZA) I have heard a/c making approach broadcasts without mentioning any airfield name: I only excluded our airstrip in the Tx when runway orientation mentioned didn't compute.

Cusco.

RTFM.

See CAP 413 Chapter 4 Section 6 para 6.2.2. To save you the trouble of looking it up, it says

SAFETYCOM is a single common frequency and pilots should be aware of the possibility of congestion and breakthrough. It is particularly important when using SAFETYCOM that RTF transmissions identify the aerodrome name (suffixed 'traffic') in order to indicate the relevance of the report to other aircraft. Transmissions must be correct and concise.

Apparently the microlight channel is abused by general chatter ,so is not much use.
I'm sure this wasn't covered in the RT lessons/exam and is not in my RT Manual,maybe it should be?
Lister
I fly a 3 axis microlight from an unlicenced airfield and most pilots use 129.825 to announce arrival, always stating which airfield, never heard anyone " abusing the channel "

The safety-com frequency (135.475) was well advertised when it was first introduced, so it's surprising that it has slipped under the radar so to speak.We monitor 'safety-com' at our airfield but you do hear it being used elsewhere like it was discrete frequency.

Tango
 

"I fly a 3 axis microlight from an unlicenced airfield and most pilots use 129.825 to announce arrival, always stating which airfield, never heard anyone " abusing the channel "

The quote I gave was from the letter in LA mag.
Lister

Kindly RTFM yourself Spitoon: while CAP413 suggests adding 'traffic' to the airfield name it does not (as I was suggesting - as the Americans do) suggest to finish the transmission with 'XXXX traffic' as well as commencing the transmission with the same identifier.

This would avoid problems when one misses the initial bit of the transmission but then picks up that someone in range is approaching/downwind/landing at a strip which may be the strip you yourself are at or one close by.

In the example I gave I only excluded that it was our strip by the runway orientation given : no names were transmitted at all (yes I heard the entire message).

We have a slight problem at our strip as one pilot resolutely refuses to use safetycom..............

:ugh: Cusco

RTFM
 

Sorry,I'm thick,what does it mean?
Lister