Control Tower Options

Radar Contact

“Dice right, ice cream, alert, 654 Jose. . . Brown Richmond 96 double . . . hut hut!”

What?! I’ll give you a hint: Football and air traffic control. Here’s another hint: trying to understand Tower’s instructions does not have be painful if you know what is coming next. If that still doesn’t make any sense, hang in there. It will make sense when we open up ATC’s playbook and look inside.

What makes a good headset? No, really. What does make a good headset? I can’t answer that. Each pilot has a personal definition of “good headset.” We really want to hear yours–your opinion, not your headset. You’ll get a chance to transmit and receive (your opinion) in our show.

A new ATC phrase, “Climb via,” is going to go active on April 3, 2014. We’ll look at what it means for pilots who fly IFR. (If it’s past April 3 by the time you read this, you have some catching up to do.)

Let’s get caught up.

(This show and past shows are also available at iTunes. Search for the Radar Contact podcast.)

Show Notes:

1. Air traffic controllers use code words that describe a complex sequence of moves in very few words. Most importantly for you and I, the plays that controllers use come from a playbook.
2. We pilots have access to every play in a controller’s playbook.
3. There are no secrets in air traffic control and, knowing this, there should never be an element of surprise when we fly.
4. The entire playbook is called Joint Order 7110.65. Here is link to: a free copy of J.O. 7110.65U. The next edition, J.O. 7110.65V will become effective April 3, 2014.
5. The specific section of the playbook that affects air traffic control in an airport pattern is Chapter 3, Section 8 of Point 65, titled Spacing and Sequencing.
6. A little bit of time spent learning tower’s plays will save you a ton of frustration the next time you fly in an airport pattern.
7. An article I wrote for the March issue of Flight Training magazine, titled Walk the Talk, is now available online for free. Here is a link to the article.
8. Most general aviation radios do not have the high fidelity sound of the radio transmissions I use in this show.
9. The reason I play clear, high-fidelity radio transmissions on this show is to make learning easier. Most of the time, the point of the lesson is in the content, not the quality of the transmission.
10. A very good headset can filter out a lot of the audio garbage produced by lower quality radios and noisy cockpits.
11. If you have a headset that does a good job for you, or even one that you absolutely hate, tell us about it in the comments section below this article. You don’t have to write a novel.
12. In our last Radar Contact show, I put out a quiz that asked you to make some decisions as an air traffic controller. It asked how you would control traffic in specific situations at an airport.
13. I also received a few emails either challenging a correct answer I provided for the quiz or asking a question about tower control and I am very grateful for the feedback and discussion.
14. If you have been following me at Twitter, you probably read some tweets which updated progress on version 2 of the Aircraft Radio Simulator.
15. I expect to put a working demonstration of the simulator online in another week.
16. Keep an eye on at my twitter feed for announcements on the release of the demo. If you aren’t already following me at twitter, you can use the Follow icon in the right edge of any page at ATCcommunication.com. Or, you can go to my feed at twitter.com/atc_jeff and click the Follow button there.
17. Speaking of Twitter, here’s the most recent question posed at my Twitter feed: What is the common transmit and receive frequency used by Flight Service Stations in the U.S.? Answer: 122.2. Source: AIM Chapter 7, Section 7-1-2 Item D. “The common frequency for all FSSs is 122.2.” (I forgot to mention this in the show but there you have it.)
18. Effective the 3rd of April, 2014, air traffic controllers will begin using the phrase “Climb via” when issuing clearances to some pilots flying standard instrument departures. Here is a link to the announcement.

Your Question of the Week:

You are practicing takeoffs and landings at a tower-controlled airport. While on downwind, you make this radio transmission:

“Cessna 30 Delta requests the option.” The tower controller replies, “Cessna 30 Delta, unable stop-and-go. Other options are approved.”

Here’s your question: Given tower’s response, are you permitted to make a full stop landing from your next approach? When you think you know the answer to that question, go to ATCcommunication.com/answers. There you will find the correct answer along with a full explanation of how that answer was derived.