Tips for talking to ATC
Posted by EducationalGuava4542@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 101 comments
I'm a new student pilot and I actually just took my first lesson today. But one of the things I feel I really struggled with was talking to the tower. When my instructor was walking me through what to say I had a hard time remembering when it came time to say it. I have been listening to live ATC and have taken notes on it but I still find it daunting and difficult and I don't want to waste ATCs time. I was just wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks getting better at talking on the radio thanks!
ReadyplayerParzival1@reddit
It was your first time talking to atc it’s normal to have a few missteps. Atc is often portrayed as this scary entity that can take your license away and get you in trouble but at the end of the day they are people as well. As long as you do what they ask and follow the rules you’ll be fine. Everyone messes up sometimes. Fess up and you’re less likely to be penalized. They are not purposefully trying to get you in trouble
Moonman711@reddit
Here is what I had my student do in order to get them ready to talk to ATC and be very good at it.
I started by giving them a script on what was normally said throughout the whole flight from taxiing, take off, exiting the airspace and coming back to land. I would have them print out a second copy sit down with someone else and have then play the role of ATC. I told them to do this until they could do it by memory. When they got to that point, I told them to switch roles and have them be the pilot and they be the tower. Same thing as before, they would do this until they could do it by memory. Back on the plane I told them they had 3 flights where they could read the paper and practice with me before calling ATC. When we got to that fourth flight, I took away the paper and they would always be comfortable with it and very proficient with it. Obviously if something they have never heard before I would helped them but our airport is two taxiways that run parallel to one runway in the middle of them. Normally I would start this process after their second flight.
ilias80@reddit
Besides what's already been said, always ask for clarification if you didn't understand the instructions. Ask for a repeat of instructions.
Horror-Artichoke2638@reddit
Do flight insight’s comms lesson. He is super calm and the transcripts are really useful.
KymarJuventus@reddit
Hey man, I’m a 40 hour student pilot and I’ll give you some advice being not that far from you in the grand scale or things.
I sucked bad at ATC communication. I jumbled my words and never could understand them. My flight instructor was always having to step in to reply while we were in the pattern and I felt in awe of him for being able to talk effortlessly. I felt like it was impossible.
Then one day I showed up to a flight lesson one day and all of a sudden it… just clicked?
I called ground and told them I had information and was ready to taxi, and realized holy crap I just did that. Called tower, took off, and flew a pattern with perfect communication (not perfect flying though 😅). Told them I wanted a full stop, contacted ground taxi’d back and felt proud of myself.
My instructor didn’t say anything about my radio work during debrief so that meant it was great. He did talk a whole lot about my flying though!
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Thanks man that really helps I think it's just one of those things I'm gonna have to just work at.
AmdiralArdVark@reddit
As far as cadence, a good tip I learned that has worked for my career… so far… is to talk as if ATC is right next to you at a bar. You don’t talk to fast and you don’t talk to slow. Normal conversation speed.
What to say and when to say it will come with practice.
jaylw314@reddit
An irreverent description of your initial call up I heard once was
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Yup the 4 Ws lol that's a good way to remember them.
Positive_Yak_4585@reddit
There are 5, the other poster forgot "What the fuck do I have?"
brucebrowde@reddit
So-called fucking mnemonics.
Positive_Yak_4585@reddit
You forgot
downwiththemike@reddit
Get a script read it a few times you’ll be great
ControllinPilot@reddit
Also, to add to all of this. Take a tour of your local tower. The FBO should have the tower's phone number. We love having pilots come up and show them around.
brucebrowde@reddit
Curious, how are the tours structured? I.e. how long do they take, do you just get shown how it looks and escorted out, do you sit beside the controller while they are working, do you need any security clearance or anything of sorts, can you go alone or does it have to be a group, how likely is it that your request is accepted, etc.?
Or to ask differently - how does the typical process work from making the initial call to getting out of the tower?
ControllinPilot@reddit
Contract towers are pretty informal event. FAA towers you need some sort of security thing. Just call and ask. Usually about an hour, we show you all of your equipment, answer your questions, and let you watch us work a little if you want too.
FossilFuelBurner@reddit
Just write down what you’re going to say until you get what’s going on
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Yes I did do this before we took off my instructor wrote down what I needed to say so I would get it right. It was the responses and stuff I struggled with the spontaneous important things.
didsomebodysaywander@reddit
I'm a student pilot and have listened to countless hours of ATC before starting my training, so I'll throw in my 2 cents:
1) You will not talk to ATC the way that commercial pilots talk, nor will you talk how instrument pilots talk. Terms like RNAV, visual approach, etc are not helpful to you at this time. Don't put too much stock in listening to airline pilots talking. Other than knowing a few things like the alphabet and how runways are numbered, 30+ years of listening to ATC didn't give me much of a leg up.
2) Do listen to GA-oriented ATC. Youtube can be great, LiveATC is the best. If your airport is available, then listen to that, otherwise I suggest picking a class Delta near you that's available on LiveATC and listen. Get the Airport Diagram and follow along.
3) If your airport is on LiveATC, listen to the recording after each flight. I did this for the first \~10 hours or so and it helped me recognize mistakes, hear how others made their calls, and let me piece it together post-facto when I wasn't task saturated.
4) The easiest call and response to get good at is your initial call to Ground. Make the same call in the same format everytime and it'll get easy in no time. Ground, Cessna 12345, Parked at FlightSchool, Information Hotel, Requesting taxi for closed traffic. There's only 2 responses I'll get: "standby" and "Cessna 12345, Ground, taxi to Rwy31 via Yankee, Y1, Zulu, advise when runup complete". Framing the call the exact same every time builds confidence and competence. The next easiest is the taxi back to parking, because it's also the same every time.
brucebrowde@reddit
Dedication.
didsomebodysaywander@reddit
I've flown a lot of miles on UA, since I was a little kid. I was hooked on Ch9
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Ok yes I have the taxi call-out down I have been practicing that live ATC is definitely my friend!
FossilFuelBurner@reddit
Oh well yeah the responses are a free for all, just use English and attempt to tell them what you want to do. You’ll suck until you don’t like everyone else.
Maybe your instructor can run you through a scenario or two on the ground and pretend to be atc.
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Next lesson I'm gonna bring it up to him and ask for a little more help I don't want to make myself look stupid lol.
rtd131@reddit
Just keep listening to ATC recordings (live ATC, VAS aviation).
Once you get an idea of what to say, when to say it and what ATC will respond to you with it's easier.
csl512@reddit
Do it more.
It's like any skill. You're going to suck for a while. It may seem obvious because it's just English, right? But it's fast, you're already busy with a bunch of other sensory overload, most of the calls are not for you...
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Yup I just have to get used to it gotta get my brain used to it.
csl512@reddit
No shame in having your instructor handle comms while you focus on flying the airplane.
Separate_Bowl_6853@reddit
Picture them naked.
N546RV@reddit
instructions unclear, tried to fly the airplane with the wrong stick
brucebrowde@reddit
"Flying is such an enjoyable job" just got a new meaning.
bhalter80@reddit
You haven’t met enough controllers then
grease_gun@reddit
Why use many words when few words do trick?
McDrummerSLR@reddit
Cut yourself some slack! You had your first day today. Repetition is the only thing that helps. Listening to live ATC is a good way to practice at home. And whatever you do, don’t be afraid to clarify an instruction. If you don’t understand but you just repeat what you hear because you don’t want to piss off a controller, you’re doing it wrong.
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Thank you I've definitely seen that it's a lot of repetition I just have to get my brain used to the fast pased nature and multi tasking.
McDrummerSLR@reddit
You’ll get there. Give it time.
Dbeaves@reddit
Practice
dudechickendude@reddit
Radios were a struggle for me for a while.
I’m at the point where I’ll be taking the ppl check ride on the next couple weeks, ~72 hours in. The one thing that helped me the most on the radios was being familiar with the taxiways and runways of my home airport. That helped me predict and understand what the tower was going to instruct me to do. Now, if I hear something different than what u expect, it’s easy to pick up, and also easy to know what I’m supposed to do because I know the taxiways.
I like to think of it as someone telling me the route to get to their house once I enter the neighborhood. If it’s an airport I haven’t been to before, I’ll bust out my chart supplement and study the taxiways/runways there for a couple days before the flight.
Whether it’s at 12 hrs or 40 hrs, it will click. You’ll gain your confidence on the radio, and it will become another part of the fun of flying.
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Yeah what I've taken from everything is it just takes time and practice.
Peteonrddt@reddit
Controller here. We just want to provide a service and keep things safe. One of the most dangerous things we see from student pilots is parroting our instructions without actually comprehending what is expected. If you don’t understand something, it is never a waste of time to tell us you don’t understand or to ask for clarification. Don’t feel scared to use plain language too! Sometimes the jargon gets in the way.
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
This actually makes me feel a lot better thank you!
NiimoMykah@reddit
Stop being afraid of messing up we all mess up.
bluemustang02@reddit
Most new students struggle with ATC, biggest thing to remember is this flow: Who you’re talking to (approach/tower etc.) Who you are (Tail number) and where you are and what you want (10NM north inbound close traffic). Also just remember you’re talking to a human too, if you mess up a few times it’s not the end of the world. Once you get more hours you’ll be able to expect what they’re gonna tell you so that helps a lot. I’m working on CFI right now and I don’t hesitate asking ATC to repeat or ask a question to be sure of their requests. You’ll get there, best of luck !
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Thank you!
imaginaryspencer@reddit
The more you do it the easier it gets! It was only your first lesson — you’ll be a pro in no time. Practice, watch some YouTube videos, listen in to LiveATC. And most of the time, controllers do not mind! You’re a student. There’s grace
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Yea I started stuttering and choking when I responded to a call out and I looked at my instructor and he took over the rest nothing was said so that made me feel a lot better that airport gets a lot of students so I'm sure they expect it.
Fun_Monitor8938@reddit
Visit your local tower or TRACON. At the end of the day we’re people on the other side of the radio too. Most of us want to help you learn and all of us want to keep you safe. Seeing a facility in person and meeting the controllers goes a long way for easing your nerves.
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
That's actually a great idea thanks!
AK_Dude69@reddit
You this is Me, here’s what I want.
Heel-Judder@reddit
You mean to tell me you weren't an expert at radio communications during your first lesson? Maybe you're not cut out for flying.
csl512@reddit
Are music learning subreddits like this too?
XiaoWings@reddit
You joke but I had over 1000 hours on Vatsim prior to my first lesson. ATC wasn't hard for me from the beginning. Now steep turns on the other hand..
BTW does anyone have any tips on how to manipulate the throttle preferably any videos to get precise movements. I've been using an overhand grip but a friend said use an upside down claw grip resting on the quadrant friction if that makes any sense.
Aggravating-Medium51@reddit
I really don't get the downvotes. Why was I able to talk to atc just fine on my first lesson after using vatsim for like 500 hours. Beats me!
TypeAncient5997@reddit
Don't feel bad about the downvotes. This sub loves to shit on flight simmers. Which is sometimes deserved (the trope of "I have 947 hours flying the PMDG, I could totally land the real airplane"), but I fly on VATSIM regularly and have found it very helpful for my radio work as I came back from a long-ish period of not flying.
The throttle question isn't dumb. Using the wrong grip can result in accidentally changing power settings in turbulence if you're just holding it without bracing somehow.
In a Cessna I put my index finger on the dash and use my palm and other fingers to adjust. Sometimes upside down, sometimes not. In a Piper I do something similar to what I think your friend is describing.
Heel-Judder@reddit
What a chad. Can talk to people but doesn't know what to do with his hands.
DisregardLogan@reddit
You’re overthinking it. Just use your thumb to push it in and a gentle grip to pull it out. Keep your hand on the throttle nearly almost all the time when you’re in the pattern
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Yeah lol I know right maybe I need to find another career path.
HRFlamenco@reddit
I train out of a Charlie so I get a lot of experience speaking with ATC. For me the biggest tips to quickly improve are to: 1. Cut out unnecessary words like “for” or “like.” For example trade “X approach we’d like to request touch and goes for runway 24 N1234” with “X approach requesting pattern work runway 24 N1234”
You can achieve step 1 by planning your request before you make it. Know where you want to go and why. Take the second with your instructor before you make a radio call to confirm what you’re gonna say. Hell even write it down so you can glance and remember your plan.
Pavlov your plane’s call sign into your brain. Repeat it three times, touch your call sign card on the panel, whatever you have to do. So whenever tower or ATC says your number your ears perk up. Shush your instructor if you have to lol
TxAggieMike@reddit
Some good book references:
Say Again Please by Bob Gardner
VFR Communications by Pilot Workshops.
olek2012@reddit
It takes some practice! I believe ATC has specific terminology they have to use but if you don’t understand you’re always allowed to ask for clarification and then they’ll usually help you out. My recommendation is to practice at a less busy Class D because then the tower controllers will have more time to help you out. You’ll be surprised at how quickly the radios become second nature!
AngryAtNumbers@reddit
Learn the NATO alphabet first. That way when you need a letter it's automatic. Use digital flash cards to help memorization. Personally, my rule is to "have it ready in your head like a script" before you key the mic. It will become natural over time. But you're asking the right questions, and actively trying to learn. You're already in the correct mindset for flying, which is good.
phxcobraz@reddit
Listen to liveatc, use Plane English, practice with your instructor during a ground lesson or in the air with him/her playing ATC. It comes pretty quick and the less afraid you are of it, the less issue you will have when you get to instrument training and are talking with them constantly. The biggest thing is know what they expect to hear, and what you are expecting to hear back from them, and it comes much easier.
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Yea it seems that its all just gonna come with practice.
Virtrudian@reddit
I second Plane English. The app is pretty jank but it's helped me a lot
Worldly-Alternative5@reddit
The controllers you are talking to have been training for years (literally) to give instructions the same way using the same phrases. You will hear variations, but the standard phrases are hammered into them in training. By the time they reach a tower they were tested on language for a year, and by the time they certify and work independently, it’s another year. You may need several weeks of listening to liveatc and talking during lessons before this becomes obvious, and practice with just the VFR language will get the process ingrained in your head. In the meantime: - who you want - who you are - where you are - where you’re going - what you want. Many airports they want you to tell them the letter of the ATIS you wrote down.
incidental_findings@reddit
When driving alone, practice saying out loud all the things you’ll need to say — to ground for taxi, to tower for take off clearance, to tower on return from practice area, to reporting your position on the downwind leg, etc.
Imagine what they’ll say back to you, and respond out loud. It helps.
Not_Portuguese@reddit
Start off by letting them know you’re a student pilot and just keep it slow. I suggest talking slow because it’ll be smoother and ATC will likely match your pace which will make it easier for you to understand them. Keep a notepad with you or use your ipad or phone or whatever to write down what you are going to say to ATC, practice it out loud, then call ATC and actually say it. Write down what they said so the read back is easier. Eventually it’ll all start coming more naturally but it’s rough at first
Capital-Warthog9906@reddit
I highly recommend PilotEdge if you have a computer that can run xplane or microsoft flight simulator. It’s a subscription but the controllers are the real deal. I made a lot of my “rookie” mistakes there before I ever started actual flying. I still am not perfect but I am flying solos to other class D airports at 30 hours TT now, and while I’ll occasionally read something back incorrectly the first time I’m not getting numbers to call, and if it wasn’t for PilotEdge I very well might have lol.
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
I do have Microsoft flight sim I'll have to look into that
Capital-Warthog9906@reddit
Definitely. I found they can be pretty stern if you mess up, but better in the sim than in real life!
fsmn26@reddit
https://youtu.be/BZGjBjlPkiM?si=C_h1Jwy0ZDfdG7LB
This video actually helped me a lot in understanding how to interpret ATC calls and how to respond to them.
Own-Ice5231@reddit
Your CFI can probably summarize it, but you should do it more. On one lesson you won't probably get it, with the stress of multitasking and such. But talking to tower control, you'll usually do it during these basic times:
Requesting take-off (you'll probably be holding short of a runway after your checklists are complete): "Patooty Tower, Cessna 123AB, holding short of runway 1, ready for departure, #1 in inline"
When approaching class D controlled airspace and you want to land there. Say you're flying VFR and 15 miles out, you'll state always who you're talking to, who you are, where are you, and what are you planning to do. "Patooty Tower, Cessna 123AB, 15 miles to the northwest, inbound full-stop with information Zulu"
When handed off from approach control or ARTCC. This will happen when approaching to a Class C or Class B airport.
After landing and tower is not busy, they might give you a taxi route to parking (or hand out off to Ground Control if they are busy)
Practice with your instructor and also practice by yourself. PlaneEnglish is a good app to practice with.
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Ok yeah I've heard a lot about plane English it must be pretty worth it I'll check it out.
Accomplished-Ice-604@reddit
Think, button, talk. Be organized, consistent, and boring. Creativity can wait.
IREQUIREPROOF@reddit
The way I always look at it is there are standard things they are going to say to you and then when the time calls for it, they may hit you with some nonstandard stuff. Most of the time it is standard (what runway to land on, where to taxi after landing, what altitude to fly at or altimeter settings) and a lot of it is call and response. They say to do a thing, you respond by saying I’m gonna do the thing, and then you do the thing lol
If you’re on the ground freq trying to taxi to a runway, you are going to say “plane name, with the ATIS letter, ready for a (direction) departure.” Then they will say “ok plane name, go to this taxiway and then if there’s more, take all these taxiways to this runway”. Your response is “ok I will take my plane down the list of taxiways you told me to that runway we talked about”. Obviously the letters and number change but 9 times out of 10 when you’re training, that conversation is going to be exactly the same every time you taxi to that runway i.e. taxi via Alpha November for runway 28. Same in the air, sometimes you switch to a frequency of a certain approach control and you say “hi it’s me, plane name, and I’m at 5,000 feet” and they say “hello plane name, Roger, altimeter is 28.86” and then you say “altimeter is 28.86, plane name” and then set your altimeter.
Sometimes they’ll say stuff you’ve never heard before and it sounds crazy or you don’t understand, just say you’re a student and ask them to explain
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
That's a good way of breaking it down I'll remember that.
Ozkeewowow@reddit
Who you are. Where you are. What you want to do.
SnarfsParf@reddit
In addition to the advice here, I wish someone had recommended the opposing bases podcast to me prior to or during IR. It really helps to humanize and understand things from the ATC perspective and takes A LOT of the mystery out of the big scary man/woman behind the microphone
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Yeah someone just recommended that actually I'll have to check it out.
SnarfsParf@reddit
They’re fantastic (and funny af). Welcome to aviation! And rip your wallet 🫡
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Already feeling it in my wallet 😭
InternationalSort714@reddit
Read back what atc says confidently so that way if you’re wrong it’ll be obvious and they will correct you. I wouldn’t be surprised if there have been people who have quit pursuing aviation just because of talking to ATC. It wasn’t until I was half way through my instrument rating that I was super confident with ATC.
Hawker96@reddit
Listen to LiveATC and practice “receiving” accurately. Half the trick with ATC is learning to accurately anticipate their instructions.
D0ntC4llMeShirley@reddit
Maybe a half helpful comment but I know apps exist too to practice talking with ATC. I just can’t remember their name right now. But Aviation101 on YouTube endorses one of them.
D0ntC4llMeShirley@reddit
Plane English! That’s the name.
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Yeah I just saw something about that while I was doing some research.
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
I think VATSIM is one of them.
Aggravating-Medium51@reddit
I used vatsim a lot prior to flying in real life. Helped a lot. I was talking to atc on my first lesson. You'll get better at it as time goes on, don't sweat it. S turns on the other hand got me the other day good, very hard with the wind. Takes some getting used to
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Yeah I had some wicked wind today. So how does VATSIM work?
Dmackman1969@reddit
Live ATC. Great resource and keep listening. Find a a CFI that’s comfortable with this and just do it with him.
I was horrible at ATC comms until I was with a CFI that just treated them like people, had a conversation with them, followed their instructions and asked questions when necessary.
ATC are people just like us, they put their pants on the same way we do. Most are very nice and helpful. Sometimes not so much.
The podcast ‘Opposing Bases’ also helped me immensely. These guys are just normal guys giving insight to how the system works.
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Thank you I'll have to check that out.
Historical_Ad_9632@reddit
Just think of it as a scripted conversation for requests or you telling them what you want. Try and not think of them as ATC more like a person you’re talking to for info.
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Thats a good way to look at it.
awkwarddachshund@reddit
Just my two cents but your instructor should probably demonstrate how to talk on the radio what to say and how and why to say it before you start doing it on your first flight. My advice to you would be to take it slow and that it's okay that you don't know this by your first flight this is an acquired taste and you will build your skills and abilities as you continue on in training. Embrace the steps and don't be too hard on yourself
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Thanks that helps a lot it seems this is a pretty common struggle.
artnium27@reddit
I don't have any tips because I'm in the same situation lol. Talking to ATC is the only part of flying I "dislike" (not exactly dislike, more struggle to understand and keep up, and respond properly). I'm working on getting better though!
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Absolutely I'm in the same boat I don't hate it I just struggle with it it's just my least favorite thing to do even if it's one of the most important.
Fabulous-Profit-3231@reddit
Perfectly normal. Do it more. Practice at home (yes, talk to yourself or a friend—we actually did this in the air force). You could also listen to ATC.net
EducationalGuava4542@reddit (OP)
Thank you!
x4457@reddit
Do it more.
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
I'm a new student pilot and I actually just took my first lesson today. But one of the things I feel I really struggled with was talking to the tower. When my instructor was walking me through what to say I had a hard time remembering when it came time to say it. I have been listening to live ATC and have taken notes on it but I still find it daunting and difficult and I don't want to waste ATCs time. I was just wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks getting better at talking on the radio thanks!
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