Learning To Fly: Practical Radio Telephony

Attention UK Pilots!
This is the book that you need for this subject:
Air Pilot's Manual: Radiotelephony v. 7 (Air pilot's manuals)

I'm writing this just after I've sat my practical R/T (Radio Telephony) examination. Wow, that was tough, a total duration of just over 1.5 hours. 10 mins intro, 20 minutes prep time then 1hr of activity.

Let's just say, before I go any further, that I passed and now I have a licence to broadcast on the air from my aircraft. But I didn't think I had once I saw the examiner's remarks paper that was covered in red pen. It turns out that he was simply making comments and only had a red pen to hand - phew!

The set up was one of the more modern examination environments. A dedicated PC along with headphones, and a comms box used to house the jack plugs for the headphones, the PTT (Press To Talk) button and a red light that came on when an emergency was underway.

I was introduced to the PC application. Most of the screen is a visual representation of a section of an aviation chart. This included AIAAs, Danger Areas, Class A airways, ground obstacles such as high towers etc. It didn't help that the section was obviously based on an area of the West Country with towns, airfields etc. all placed where you would expect them to be - but with made up names. So my head is already visualising position reports but having to use none standard names.

On the screen is a blue line showing my intended track, as if it had been plotted on a regular chart. The right hand of the screen has a DI type of instrument. I was shown how this controls the direction of the aircraft as it moves along the track. Oh yes, you have to steer the aircraft as it moves along the track. Not as difficult as it may sound, but another thing to consider. It was also possible to speed up the simulate movement between reporting points.

At the foot of the PC screen were digital representations of COM1 / COM2 and the toggle switch, as well as a simluated transponder. All these worked for tuning and setting values and would be used in the test.

I was then given some time to look at the paper work: a flight log showing directions, reporting points, altitudes, times etc., just like a regular log. A list of all known stations on the chart section, their callsigns and frequencies. The list was comprehensive and by no means would all stations been expected to be used as there were probably more than 20.

The test is to pick out the right ones for the right service at the right time. Finally a paper giving basic instructions about the flight e.g. take off from here, climb to here, do a position fix on this leg, request weather, make a decision to land - if necessary divert to here etc.

And then I was ready to go. First of all taking off from ATC using SVFR in Class A airspace. Hmmm, nothing like a nice easy start.

I was then given the choice to make my position fix either by a fix call or tune for QDM request - I chose the latter. A simulated emergency thrown in - the PC displays what has failed at the examiner's discretion!

Contact with military radar, FIR information, MATZ, radar information (LARS), etc. Lots of height changes, QNH / QFE changes en-route and the difficult bit is remembering current height - which isn't really important until you re-read the instructions and are supposed to be changing height at a certain point for an upcoming activity which forms part of the test.

I made an additional point to report position and gave my new height - it was a flight level (FL) by the way rather than regular altitude. A PAN PAN thrown in for good measure.

Towards the end, about 50 mins in, I was feeling confident and approaching my destination field. I contacted the tower - because in the field notes the approach wasn't in service during xxxxhrs to yyyyhrs - just the time period of my simulated flight was taking place.

Because I'd gone straight to tower my head was thinking this was an AFIS so I was telling the ATC what I was doing - rather than waiting instruction. Oops. My big mistake. In reality the tower may have been sterner at saying they they were not an information service!

I'd requested and checked the weather, all was good for a landing. The test was coming to an end and I was feeling good. I was number two to land behind a Cessna. Continuing approach, only the landing to do. It is odd that you are only making calls rather than really downwind, final etc. - just follow the calls one after the other.

I had also started to direct my on-screen aircraft to fly downwind and base until the instructor told me directly that I didn't have to bother - phew, a workload gone there.

Anyway, back to the approach. Am waiting for the 'clear to land' instruction when all of a sudden the aircraft ahead had had a problem on landing, broken nose wheel, airfield would be closed for some time.

Initiate go-around. Which I did. Then had to make calls to state intentions to divert. Aaargh - so close to finishing then back into the (virtual) airspace to get to my diversion field. Another 5 mins of diversion, and now to contact and land at an A/G airfield - which I did OK. Before long the call came through that the test was over and I went through for my results.

The examiner was very thorough in the debrief which was good. I had made a few elementary errors:

• in position reports I had given some of the information in the wrong orderafter cancelling a PAN PAN or MAYDAY (I had one of each!) you have to state intentions so that controllers can keep a track of you. I didn't state this so had to be asked explicity.


• on changing to an altitude I had said "approaching 2500ft" - don't know why but I did. "Approaching" is NOT a word to be used.


• I made much use of ETA rather than Estimate - and if you don't believe me the whole test is taped so the examiner can play back any piece (!) It was odd how much I thought I had said that I actually hadn't or had said differently.


• I was told to "Continue Approach" as an instruction when coming in for the aborted landing. I didn't acknowlege the instruction in full ("Continuing Approach - G-XX") rather just "G-XX". At that time I was waiting for "Cleared to Land" and when the examiner kept repeating "Continue Approach" I knew I was doing something amiss, but didn't know what.


• I had used "One, zero, zero, zero" instead of "One thousand" for a QNH setting. Also read back QNH as QFE (but was corrected in-flight - I was testing the examiner ;-))


• At take off the instructions said that I'd already booked out. So I went straight into the taxi request - to tower rather than ground - doh! I was told that I should have re-stated my intentions. Whereas in the real world at Leeds Bradford I book out and this saves all this info having to be passed over busy airwaves...

That was so difficult. I had an headache at the end. Now I can focus on the QXC and GFT as the last two hurdles on my route to the PPL licence.