"N" number call out not required?

[rvn817j]

My Practical Take on this Issue

It's nice to see this kind of interest in real world flying topics on a simulation website. I've flown (and continue to fly) "real world" for more than 40 years and much of it has been in and around uncontrolled airports. Bottom line of radio communication is safety of flight and the technical requirements have grown from that bottom line of safety. Safety of flight encompasses both the issue of collision avoidance and minimizing use of a limited resource (the radio frequency) by one (1) pilot. If you are interested in the technical requirements, you can refer back to a couple of prior replies. Essentially on a first call you do the following: (1) identify who you are calling ("Approach" or "X Airport Traffic"), (2) identify yourself (aircraft type and call sign without "N"), (3) location (usually in relation to the airport you are calling or closest to), and (4) the message you want to communicate (entering downwind for runway "X", over flying the field, etc.). [IF you are "pop up" traffic and contacting "Approach" for the first time number (3) is just "REQUEST". The reason you do it this way is to allow approach to work you into the "flow" of the current work load. Approach will call you back and then you tell them your location, squawk and request...like "5 miles west of your airspace squawking VFR (1200) request radar following through your airspace west to east". Approach will likely give you another squawk code and ask you your destination and to "ident".]

So, getting back to the primary thread discussion "around uncontrolled airports". First, identifying the facility is important because if you are on the wrong frequency someone may let you know. Being on the correct frequency is important! All the safety benefits of communicating are lost if you are not talking to the people flying close by! Second, your type of aircraft is important for relative speed information (a safety of flight issue). Your call sign actually is not all that important, but specifically identifies you if someone needs to talk to you. (For example, when I'm at an uncontrolled airport and can't see someone that called I usually just say the aircraft type at "X" facility and ask them to say their position again.) Location information is VERY important, as well as the message you want to communicate (AND that should usually be your INTENTIONS). (Please note, I never mentioned color of aircraft! Not relevant unless you are assisting someone in locating your aircraft. My aircraft is YELLOW so I can be seen, but I never say that unless someone says "No joy" or something like that.)

The other issue I have with some people at uncontrolled airports is when they make a call and ask "anybody in the area please advise". You should be listening to the facility radio for several moments and anyone using that facility should have made the calls required! When I'm in or around the pattern and I hear someone call in, I respond with a position report which includes the runway I'm using. For example "Airlake Traffic Experimental 817J is midfield downwind Three Zero Full Stop" and sometimes I add "Looking for Traffic" so if someone just called in they get the hint that they should be looking also. Easy.

The intent of uncontrolled airport radio communication is safety of flight, SEE and BE SEEN! It isn't difficult and if done correctly is quick and unobtrusive. Keeping the radio frequency free from unnecessary chatter is also very important.

(I fly a lot of single pilot VFR and I worry about congestion in the air. I don't trust others to always do what is right and supplement radio calls with (1) PCAS (personal collision avoidance system - a small black box from ZAON) and (2) Stratux ADSB showing "traffic".) There are still a lot of things in the air (birds, drones, the occasional Cub or ultralight) that don't have radios or transponders, so you can never relax!)

There are several books, and one or two computer programs, on how to make your radio calls correctly and concisely. I know that controllers appreciate it when you talk to them like a professional. Hope this helps.

P.S. Frequently, when using FSX, I practice my required calls. I'm sure my wife wonders what is wrong with me?

 

[griphos]

Jay and several prior posters give good information. In relation to the OP's question about what is required at uncontrolled airports, the answer is nothing, with respect to radio traffic. You are not required to have a radio to operate at uncontrolled airports. You are required, by the regs, to fly safely, to see and avoid, and to maintain right of way rules, which are clear and explicit. Using a radio at uncontrolled airports helps you do those things.

I've flown for many years out of a grass airport with lots of experimental and classic traffic. Some of those planes don't have or use radios. Those that do often identify themselves in terms of color, such as "yellow Cub" or "silver Luscombe," which is actually a little bit redundant in both those cases.

The main thing, as Jay has noted, is to communicate clearly where you are and what you are doing and intending to do. So, good radio etiquette at uncontrolled airports means ALWAYS starting with the facility name you are departing or arriving at, and whose traffic you want to communicate with. It is best to repeat that information at the end of the transmission in case people didn't start listening right off the bat (we often miss the first bits of information from communication we weren't expecting). So, something like "Kittie Hill Traffic, Aeronca 86249 (or Yellow Chief) entering left downwind for runway 17, full stop, Kittie Hill." People mostly call a few miles out initially, with altitude and position "over Lake Georgetown at 2000" and then again on downwind, base, and final. Always start with facility and end with it.

You don't have to do anything, but if you do use the radio, you should probably use it in a way other pilots expect, and you had better, for your own safety and that of others, use it in a way that makes your position and activity clear to everyone listening.

Here's a handy guide by the AOPA: http://flash.aopa.org/asf/radiocomm/downloads/a8s1_sample_radio_calls.pdf

It doesn't include Class E airspace -uncontrolled airports - because no radio is required there.