Radio etiquette at uncontrolled fields?

[mv031161]

Im usually the fastest guy at my airport. Even Faster than any RV,s .

I report all my intentions, positions, etc regardless if there,s traffic or not. If there is slower traffic in front, i just use commom fellowship courtesy and extend whatever i,m doing. Why? Becuase it sucks being mean to other flyers!

My pet peeve? Mean people who think they own the sky and the traffic pattern and dont talk back regardless if others are using proper radio procedures or lingo. What if I ask for advice? That,s maybe my safety "blanket" when i approach an uncontrolled airoport. If someone is talking and you are in the apttern or with similar intentios, talk back. Its a safety issue!

As for aircraft identifier when yo call....if you are talking to ATC you must identify yourself as an Experimental tail #...... If on unicom, you can use wahtever you want to descibe yourself...

 

[mv031161]

Congrats! Well said!

As a commuter pilot on the east coast, I have to say that no matter what the rules are, you have got to know where everybody is.

We fly our Dash 8 into non towered fields all the time. And on a nice, sunny, weekend afternoon, it can be very difficult.

I would usually make position reports from about 40 miles out. "Greenville traffic, Piedmont 4202, Dash 8, 40 miles to the southwest, will be overhead in 6 minutes, inbound for landing runway XX".

Once we got closer, I would just use "Dash 8". Not many people will know that Piedmont only flies Dash 8's.

It can be very difficult to get ourselves in the pattern on busy days. When there are 3 or 4 152's in a tight pattern, timing and communication are very important. I have often flown overhead at 200 KTS to position us safely, then drop the speed back to 130 kts.

We usually do a lot of communicating to the traffic. If someone makes a position report, I will respond "Cessna that is on a downwind, this is the Dash 8 about to be overhead from the SW, we see you and will fall in behind you". This way I know where he is, and he isn't afraid a turbo prop is going to run him over.

Is this proper? Probably not. But having a true understanding of where people are, and what they are doing is very important. Otherwise you are guessing where he is and hoping you can actually see him. Just because you have TCAS, and a clean window, doesn't mean you are going to see another plane.


As a Captain, I would often fly with new FO's. The would come into these airports making standard calls. Sometimes, that just doesn't work. Pilots make mistakes. Sometimes someone was new, or busy, or just forgot to include there location, or distance, or altitude. I would make sure that we asked that pilot for more information. Then we could usually identify them on the TCAS, which would help.


Also, when in a fast plane following a slow plane, we would sometimes ask their intentions if they didn't offer the information. Full stop? Touch and go? That helps us judge how much room to give them.

Flying the airlines have taught me a lot. The rules are 2nd to safety. I have actually turned off the radios while in the simulator, during a checkride, when dealing for a serious problem during high workloads. Obviously not for long, but we needed to fly the plane, not talk to ATC. We were actually praised for doing just that.

I'm not trying to say that I don't follow the rules, or that I talk like a trucker on the radio. Every situation is different, and as a pilot, we need to know when to step outside of the box and get the job done.

Fly the plane, be standard, but don't be afraid to throw the rules out the window. And also know that if you make fun of someone on the radio, you usually sound like more of an *** than the guy who made the mistake.

Just my opinion.
Steve

 

[aerhed]

My favorite is Cheech & Chong (the Arab brothers) flying in their maid's jet.
...... "Las Vegas.... we are landing... your runway.....NOW".

 

[MauiLvrs]

When there are many planes in and around or students, we'll also give our time overhead when we call in 5 and 10 miles out (usually with our altitude). That way they expect to see us coming in overhead in 1-3 minutes. Otherwise we're there long before they expect us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by steve91t
... will be overhead in 6 minutes, inbound for landing runway XX".
Just my opinion.
Steve

 

[N941WR]

The other one that gets me is when people announce they are taxiing from their hangar/fuel pumps/whatever to the runway.

Uncontrolled fields tend not to be very crowded and I think other airplanes can see you moving round.

The reason this is an issue is it can block the radio when someone in the air is trying to broadcast their position between announcements from other pilots using the same frequencies at other airports. The guy on the ground making the unnecessary announcements can?t hear the other aircraft in flight and is just adding more noise to the frequency. Besides, if the plane isn?t taking an active runway, I don?t care that they are taxiing around.

 

[Bavafa]

Im usually the fastest guy at my airport. Even Faster than any RV,s .

I report all my intentions, positions, etc regardless if there,s traffic or not. If there is slower traffic in front, i just use commom fellowship courtesy and extend whatever i,m doing. Why? Becuase it sucks being mean to other flyers!

My pet peeve? Mean people who think they own the sky and the traffic pattern and dont talk back regardless if others are using proper radio procedures or lingo. What if I ask for advice? That,s maybe my safety "blanket" when i approach an uncontrolled airoport. If someone is talking and you are in the apttern or with similar intentios, talk back. Its a safety issue!

As for aircraft identifier when yo call....if you are talking to ATC you must identify yourself as an Experimental tail #...... If on unicom, you can use wahtever you want to descibe yourself...

I ditto your approach to flying safe and friendly.

Exactly my motto.

 

[Zero4Zulu]

O.P. "Radio etiquette at uncontrolled fields?"

I would just like to be able to understand what some of these student pilots form other countries are saying!! They hop around here at the small airports practicing and making lot's of radio calls but I can't understand D*** word they say and most of the time can't tell where they are exactly. How do they get to solo when they can't speak clearly!

 

[rvbuilder2002]

As for aircraft identifier when yo call....if you are talking to ATC you must identify yourself as an Experimental tail #...... If on unicom, you can use wahtever you want to descibe yourself...

A commonly made statement, but false...

Copied/pasted from FAA Order 8130.2F
(portion related to issuing E-AB operating limitations)

(28) The pilot in command of this aircraft must notify air traffic control of the experimental
nature of this aircraft when operating into or out of airports with an operational control tower. When
filing instrument flight rules (IFR), the experimental nature of this aircraft must be listed in the remarks
section of the flight plan.

The only time you need to identify yourself on the radio as an experimental, is when making an initial call to a control tower.

 

[Wallbangar]

over talk

Now all that said...let's all talk in the pattern all the time and say things ending in 'xxx traffic' so that all the other people think you are landing at "TRAFFIC" airport...And while you are coming into an uncontrolled airport tell everyone you are coming at least every 2.5 miles and ask for others to tell you where they are, right after they just told you...and my pet peave...from a control tower near AUS...on tower freq...where are you headed today N95 ??...Oh, I've been there and the B-B-Q is really good........Tell Mike I said Hello !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But just wait...things will change when I have control !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jbagley]

As for aircraft identifier when yo call....if you are talking to ATC you must identify yourself as an Experimental tail #...... If on unicom, you can use wahtever you want to descibe yourself...

The only time you need to identify yourself on the radio as an experimental, is when making an initial call to a control tower.

I think what he meant was that you don't need to use your tail number at uncontrolled airports. I often hear "Red RV" or "White LongEZ" at some of the local strips around here. I think this takes less time to say and gives everyone a better idea of what they are looking for. Is this still within the rules?

Also, we get quite a few foreign students (mostly Chinese I think) out of Hillsboro and Corvallis. I've found that, despite being difficult to understand them, they seem to understand me just fine. I just radio my intentions and watch for them. They seem to like practicing landings at McMinnville.

 

[jbDC9]

When there are 3 or 4 152's in a tight pattern...

No way... I don't think I've ever seen flight school airplanes in anything resembling a "tight" pattern. Take the West Houston or Hooks airports for instance; the flight school 172 drivers there seem to think they're herding B-52s around the patch. Huge patterns like I've never seen, very annoying.