Radio Calls .....UGH!

[drseti]

I am an above average student with a hangup that is enough to make me just hang it up unfortunately.

Carguy, are you maybe looking for an excuse to hang it up? If so, you've found one. (OTOH, if your goal is really to become a competent pilot, I'm sure you'll find a way to get past this.)

[ct4me]

Stick with it. I've done all the tricks mentioned above, and still do many. Each time I head for the airport, I go through mock radio calls in my head. And many times, I'll pause and think through a call before pressing the microphone key. All this, in spite of the fact that I spent about a decade on the air daily as a radio announcer!

[kitcarguy]

I am an above average student with a hangup that is enough to make me just hang it up unfortunately.

Carguy, are you maybe looking for an excuse to hang it up? If so, you've found one. (OTOH, if your goal is really to become a competent pilot, I'm sure you'll find a way to get past this.)

Not not looking for an excuse. I had/have grand plans to purchase an aircraft when I was done. Had a really bad experience with a school back in 2012, and now I am having a really good experience at this new school. Everything other then this (oh and my poor attempts at landing..hahah) are great.

I have been flying everyday for the past 2 weeks, but this one issue is causing me to be uncomfortable with everything..

[rsteele]

What I did: Fly with a flight simulator (X-Plane). Stay in the pattern and make all the calls just like you do when really flying. There is something about splitting your attention between manipulating the controls and trying to remember phraseology that makes this a lot harder for some people (me) than for other. When flying the sim, you are forced into the same attention splitting situation as in a plane. It's not quite the same as driving as you can probably turn a car without thinking about it, but you are aren't quite as comfortable in a plane.

caveat: don't overdo the sim thing. Its great in small doses but it's easy to pick up bad habits at this point in your training. Fly it as accurately as possible, nail the landings, nice straight legs, stay on center line at takeoff, crank in some crosswind.

Ron

[jnmeade]

As has been alluded to, there is a format for nearly all normal aircraft communication. Certain things are said by certain people at certain times in a certain order. You don't have to worry about the unknown if you know the situation you are in and the appropriate template. There aren't that many and they are not that hard or long.
Look in the AIM and the Pilot's/Controllers Glossary.
http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publicat ... IM/aim.pdf

After you've done a few, you will be comfortable that you will know the next general words out of ATC's mouth and the structure of your response.

In other words, take a minute to get someone to show you the big picture - the forest - and then you will understand where the trees fit in the forest. And, if something unusual comes up in the communication, at least you will know about what information is being passed so you understand the context of the conversation.

[kitcarguy]

Thanks everyone.

[Flocker]

Write them down if you have to... patience, it will come...

[David]

Kitcarguy did you practice this weekend with the suggestions? Don't get discouraged - keep practicing in the car and then transition it to your flying.

[drseti]

Here's a PowerPoint lesson that might help you master radio communications:

http://avsport.org/pwrpoint/lesson03.pps

(Depending on whether you have a PowerPoint Reader plug-in activated in your browser, you might have to right-click the above link, select "save link as..." and then open the file from your own hard drive in Microsoft PowerPoint. These lessons are not necessarily compatible with an iPad. )
Look in particular at slides #28 to #42. Good luck!

[deltafox]

"One of the most fear-inducing aspects of learning to fly is talking on the radio." aviation educator and humorist Rod Machado.

http://www.generalaviationnews.com/2013 ... th-laughs/

[jnmeade]

Here's what I used to do and what I'd do if I was CFI with the OP. On the way out to the runway, after the runup and all that stuff, I'd say that many radio communications consisted of four things. Who you are talking to, who you are, what you are going to do and where you are going to do it. Then, I'd say, we are going to talk to the people in ground or air traffic around this airport, so repeat after me, "Springfield traffic" Student says, "Springfield traffic".
"Now, we are going to tell them who we are", and I point at the N number placard on the dash, "Cessna 12345". Student says "Cessna 12345".
Then, I say "we are going to tell them what we are going to do": "Back taxi 15" Student says "backtaxi 15"
"and last we are going to tell them where we are going to do this" so I say "Springfield" Student repeats "Springfield"
Next, I say "what we just said was "Springfield traffic, Cessna 12345 (pointing at the placard) back taxi 15 Springfield. You say it". Student says "Springfield traffic, Cessna 12345 back taxi 15 Springfield"
Now I say, good. Squeeze the mike button and say just what you just said.
Student does it. I say great. After that, the student does all the calls unless I need to do it to enhance instruction for some reason. When we get in position, I tell the student that we are going to go through the same four steps again and all we are going to change is what we are going to do, so it is "Springfield traffic, Cessna 12345 taking off Springfield".
Once the student gets over the initial mike fright by learning the structure of what is to be said and practicing it once, they catch right on.

[Targetbuster]

Looks like this fella has made the decision to quit. I totally understand the feeling and i think most of us who have been through it had our own versions of "wanting to quit" either because of the cost or some aspect of the skill set that didnt come easily to us.
Too bad, he will never know the sense of accomplishment that becoming a pilot gives you....oh well. Its not for everyone, thats for sure.