Aviation Radio Flashcards
When within about 10 mile radius of a non-towered airport, up to 3,000 feet AGL, CTAF _______
will be used for pilots to make position and intention calls
CTAF stands for_______
Common Traffic Advisory Frequency
A CTAF is a frequency designated for the purpose of _______
carrying out airport advisory practices while operating to or from an airport without an operating control tower. The CTAF may be a UNICOM, MULTICOM, FSS, or tower frequency and is identified in appropriate aeronautical publications
Make ATC calls for air traffic
pattern _______
procedures
What is a callsign?
An aircraft callsign is a group of alphanumeric characters used to identify an aircraft in air-ground communications
An example of a callsign:
an aircraft registered as N978CP conducting a general aviation flight would use the call sign November-niner-seven-eight-Charlie-Papa. However, in the United States a pilot of an aircraft would normally omit to say November, and instead use the name of the aircraft manufacturer or the specific model
What is an aircraft registration?
a code unique to a single aircraft, required by international convention to be marked on the exterior of every civil aircraft. Also known as registration number (N-numbers in the US). The registration indicates the aircraft’s country of registration, and functions much like an automobile license plate or a ship registration
Small general aviation and unscheduled aircraft simply use what as their callsigns?
the aircraft’s registration as their callsigns.
Call signs for airlines are:
The name of the airline + the flight number. But there are exceptions such as African airways using springbok. suffixes are added when operationally relevant, like for heavy aircraft, specific fleets, or affiliate airlines. But for routine passenger flights, the standard airline name without suffixes is commonly used. The suffixes provide additional details when needed. The “Heavy” suffix is used for aircraft over 300,000 lbs, to indicate wake turbulence separation needs. So a large aircraft like a Boeing 747 would use “Delta Heavy”, while a smaller jet may just use “Delta.” There is also delta shuttle, delta cargo, delta connection, or delta charter, medevac, pan pan medical (no one’s in immediate danger, such transporting organs or transplants), mayday (distress), etc.
Example of airline callsigns:
air India 123, visitará 658, American Airlines 657, delta airlines 497
Radio call formats for each leg turn:
• Departure leg: After takeoff pilots will announce “[Location] Traffic, [Callsign] departing runway XX, climbing to X thousand, changing to advisory/center frequency.”
• Crosswind leg: “[Location] Traffic, [Callsign] turning left/right crosswind runway XX, [Location]”
• Downwind leg: “[Location] Traffic, [Callsign] turning left/right downwind runway XX, [Location]”
• Base leg: “[Location] traffic, [Callsign] turning left/right base runway XX, [Location]”
• Final approach: “[Callsign] final runway XX.”
• After landing: “[Callsign] clear of runway XX.”
The calls help other pilots in the area maintain situational
awareness. Pilots will confirm they have the traffic in sight when appropriate. The exact phrasing can vary, but announcing position, altitude and intentions is key.
Proper radio communication is an important aspect of operating safely at controlled fields.
The ICAO phonetic alphabet has assigned the 26 code words to the 26 letters of the English alphabet in alphabetical order:
Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.
Pilots pronounce numbers similar to regular English, with a few exceptions:
The number three (3) is pronounced “tree.”
The number five (5) is pronounced “fife.”
The number nine (9) is pronounced “niner
the runway number directly relates to?
the magnetic heading you would fly when taking off from that runway.
When making traffic pattern calls, you always refer to the runway number _______
you originally took off from
Class C service requires pilots to establish _______
two‐way radio communications before entering Class C airspace. If the controller responds to a radio call with, “(a/c call sign) standby,” radio communications have been established and the pilot can enter Class C airspace.
